Monday, January 14, 2008

Roundoff Backspring!

Last week I made some progress. Here is a video of me in the gym doing a round off back handspring on the floor, with a couple of soft mats for extra protection. Better safe than sorry.

This gave me a huge boost in confidence. It felt so great to be able to turn my body around and feel somewhat like a gymnast again. There was a bit of pain, but it wasn't excrutiating. Progress is progress. I LOVE progress!

Check out the double front pike with a 1/2 out below!

Kyle

2 comments:

Rick McCharles said...

Cool!

Stop by and try the PowerTrack at Altadore next time you are in the neighbourhood.

Might be a good transition from soft to hard.

Or even put a roll strip on top of the PowerTrack to soften it.

The gymnast and a runner said...

Congratulations, Kyle. They're very impressive steps, and boy it DOES make you feel like a gymnast again!

Just wanted to remind you that you're not alone in your journey to recovery. I've been reading here every now and then, and, having had been injured multiple times (most frustrating was tearing 3 ligaments in my ankle), I could relate to each step. You wonder how on earth your body will ever be able to do that again. My doctor told me, "When you can jump down a flight of stairs, then you can do gymnastics again." I was completely gobsmacked, that seemed so impossible!
After spending 2months at physio, rehab, and just doing strength at training, I'd gotten back to full strength without even noticing.

Now I sit, stuck on my bed, with my knee swollen up and unable to move. My teeth have been splinted back in place; my lip all stitched up. I'm struggling to eat some yoghurt - I've been trying all day - and to drink some water. Friday night at training, I kneed myself in the face doing a double tuck, knocked a tooth out, and then spent the rest of the night in hospital.

The big question to myself now is, am I brave enough to go back? Is it worth enough to me, to have to push past something that really scared me? I had such high hopes for this year, nationals, and maybe even internationals. I was on such a good path to achieving my goals.

Now, similar to yourself, it's not so certain. But we can only try our hardest, and at the end of the day, if that wasn't enough, well then no one can accuse us of not giving it our all. And in the end, competitions, medals - are they what we work for, or do we do the work because we love it, and then reap the rewards because of it?

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