Why Should Your Son Be Taking Gymnastics??

There are many articles that cover the internet as to the values of children being in a gymnastics class. But we want to talk specifically about boys today. Why? Because families of boys tend to overlook gymnastics for their sons in our area, and turn more towards soccer, baseball, basketball, football, martial arts, and the shooting and hunting sports.

Why would gymnastics be overlooked? Well, probably because the television networks spend more time showing girls at gymnastic meets and only a small amount of time on the male gymnasts. Stop and think about it. How much coverage did you see on the men's Olympic team this past year? Don't remember? Probably because it was not during prime time network coverage.  

Why should your son be taking gymnastics? Well, we have a lot of ideas that is documented truth and will share about that later. But first let's talk about some of the things that we hear parents say to us about their son being in gymnastics. Some things such as, "We thought is was a sport only for girls." Or, "My boy is not going to wear one of those stretchy leotard things!" Or how about, "Boys can't bend and do splits like girls can!". And, "Gymnastics is a girls sport, not a boys sport!"  We encourage you to read on......

Gymnastics originates from the Greek and Roman games. Some articles even say is was used as a form of physical training for the military in ancient Spain. Here is one version of origin we found on the Scholastics.com site for teachers
(https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/history-gymnastics-ancient-greece-modern-times/) . It reads:

"Gymnastics was introduced in early Greek civilization to facilitate bodily development through a series of exercises that included running, jumping, swimming, throwing, wrestling, and weight lifting. Many basic gymnastic events were practiced in some form before the introduction by the Greeks of gymnazein, literally, "to exercise naked." Physical fitness was a highly valued attribute in ancient Greece, and both men and women participated in vigorous gymnastic exercises. The Romans, after conquering Greece, developed the activities into a more formal sport, and they used the gymnasiums to physically prepare their legions for warfare. With the decline of Rome, however, interest in gymnastics dwindled, with tumbling remaining as a form of entertainment."

So, back to why your son should be in gymnastics class. First of all, gymnastics is a great way for your child to develop better physical fitness. It is challenging and never boring, well, maybe a bit boring when they get stuck on a particular skill and feel like they are not going anywhere with the sport. But that is with every sport. Correct?

But a great coach knows how to distract your son from the complaint of boredom with different variations of the drills in learning a new skill. They can make it into a fitness challenge game that you son will enjoy and eventually see improvement from. The coach will track your child's skills and probably even post them on a check off poster for a visual enhancement towards working more to achieve other skill levels! 

Besides increasing your child's fitness level, they will also learn other great skills such as balance, spatial awareness, body control, strength of mind and personal commitment. 

Gymnastics also teaches all students that a particular skill starts at "X" and ends at "Y", thus also teaching a young child to follow through until they reach the end of the skill situation. Which transfers to being able to complete school assignments and projects! School teachers love having gymnastic students in their classes because of the strict self discipline the student acquires in the training of the body and mind.   

Gymnastics as we know it today, is a competitive sport and there are opportunities of being asked to be on teams. One of the major values learned in a gymnastic class or on a team is always working towards your personal best. That when a skill does not work on a particular day, you just keep trying and continue to work towards your goals. If you fall, gymnastics teaches you how to get back up quickly and try again. Once again, a personal skill training that transfers over into school and later in life into the work force. Being able to keep moving forward in life, no mater how many obstacles is a great way to get on a team.

Camaraderie in a gymnastic class seems to be like no other. Instead of your classmates sitting on a bench, maybe checking their cell phones, when you miss a tumbling element, or grab of a bar, in gymnastics the classmates are on the mats working out as well. They encourage with high fives and constant sayings of encouragement to get back up and try again, and again.

Speaking of a bench. There is none! Well, maybe a bench to sit on to take your shoes off or put your warm ups back on, but NO BENCH to sit on when you are training! Even if others in the training have made the team, and your son is still training to make the team, there is NO BENCH and NO SIDELINE in gymnastics class. No waiting and wanting to be able to get on the floor. No wondering if someone gets hurt, will you be chosen to be the one that gets on the floor next. AMAZING! No waiting for something to happen to the better athletes so that your child can go in and continue his training.
 

Gymnastics, like Cheerleading, historically has been dominated by males. It was a male that brought gymnastics from Europe to the United States.

"The sport was introduced to the United States by Dr. Dudley Allen Sargent, who taught gymnastics in several U.S. universities about the time of the Civil War, and who is credited with inventing more than 30 pieces of apparatus. Most of the growth of gymnastics in the United States centered on the activities of European immigrants, who introduced the sport in their new cities in the 1880s. Clubs were formed as Turnverein and Sokol groups, and gymnasts were often referred to as "turners." Modern gymnastics excluded some traditional events, such as weight lifting and wrestling, and emphasized form rather than personal rivalry." (Scholastic.com)

Some of the top coaches in the US and the work have been male coaches. And gymnastics for males was in the Olympics forty years before women's gymnastics.

"Men's gymnastics was on the schedule of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and it has been on the Olympic agenda continually since 1924. Olympic gymnastic competition for women began in 1936 with an all-around competition, and in 1952 competition for the separate events was added. In the early Olympic competitions the dominant male gymnasts were from Germany, Sweden, Italy, and Switzerland, the countries where the sport first developed. But by the 1950's, Japan, the Soviet Union, and the Eastern European countries began to produce the leading male and female gymnasts." (Scholastics.com)

What can your son expect when he enters one of our gymnastic classes? The first thing he will notice is a lack of boredom! The next thing he can expect is a lot of movement and activity. New skills are always talked through and demonstrated. There is a warm up, a stretch session to develop better flexibility and then drills that help to build skills and strength. There is time for individual work on the skills each person is trying to achieve. And then there is a cool down and stretch out before the class is dismissed. 

Why should your son be taking gymnastics class? Gymnastics is training your son will achieve self discipline, a stronger body and mind positioning, time management, follow through on projects, camaraderie with other classmates, and an understanding that a sport can be part of your life, but is not life. Life is learning that no matter how many times you fall down, you can get yourself up again and again. And gymnastics can help them to learn, see and be that. A person that just does not give up on achieving their lifetime goals. 

* Mary Myers is the owner of Academy of Fine Arts in Woodward Oklahoma. She has been coaching gymnastics for 40 years. 

Why A Boys Program?

WHY SELECT A BOYS DEVELOPMENTAL TUMBLING PROGRAM OVER OTHER SPORTS PROGRAMS?
Because it is a fact:

1.Tumbling and dance provide a variety of physical challenges that encourage the development of agility, flexibilty,balance and coordination.

2.Tumbling and dance are based upon control of the body, as well as the timing, positioning, balance and coordination of movement that defies gravity.

3.In tumbling and dance, the motor and sensory systems in the body are provided an excellany opportunity to develop basic functional relationships that carry throughout adulthood.

4.Tumbling and dance students are more aware of their body as an extension of their minds.

5.Tumbling and dance training allows for basic movement sequences to develop and be stored for later activities such as competitive sports. Competitive sports programs do not take the time to perfect movement sequences with every child. This is why some will always sit the bench while other play.

6. Tumbling and dance allows for motor programming of two or more muscles at a time giving the athlete simultaneous control of two or more actions. Tumbling and dance ARE athletic and are considered sports.

7. The motor programming that a person receives up to age 10 years is the level that most experts believe is carried throughout adulthood. How well they balance on a log at age 10 years will be the how well they can balance on a log in adulthood. More balance is obtained after age 10 years, but as we age and start loosing balance skills, some kinetic specialists believe you only loose back down to age 10 years.

8. Today, athletes study dance as part of their training for several sports. Over the years, dance forms have been adapted and integrated into training for a variety of sports. Dance has been an important part of gymnastics and figure skating for years, but in the 1980's, football, basketball, skiing and diving teams began to study dance disciplines and to recognize them as an important part of training programs.

9. Professional dance companies have featured popular sports stars in their productions. World-class athletes such as Olympic gold medalist diver Greg Louganis, basketball star, Michael Jordan, professional football players such as Heisman trophy winner Herschel Walker and former Chicago Bears player Willie Gault have studied and been featured with professional dance companies.

10. In the past two years, a collegiate study was conducted in California as to who was stronger. Athletes or dancers? Dancers each time stood out as the strongest in being measured up against collegiate athletes.

The facts state the obvious. Developmental tumbling and dance training beats ALL OTHER sports programs hands down for children ages 2-12 years of age. Development specialists state that a program offering skipping, jumping, hopping, balancing, throwing and rhythmic movements should be chosen over competitive programs for ages 2-10 years of age.

Want to give your child an edge over the other athletes later or just in life general? Then highly consider registering into a dance and or tumbling program right away.

 

Super Hero Camp for Boys!

Super Hero camp starts next week and registration is available on our website. Young boys will enjoy the fun and adventure each day of the three day camp and are encouraged to arrived dressed as their favorite super hero! Adventures await the Super Heros in this camp. Call us at 580-256-3262 for more information about Super Hero camp for boys in our Woodward OK location.