October 02, 2024 / by Tamzen Moulding / In events
Handstands
Handstands aren’t just the definition of cool by many people’s standard, and a foundation stone of acrobatics. They are also a powerful package of portable workout and mindfulness. Putting your weight on your arms may seem daunting at first, but each of the steps towards holding a handstand is a wonderful way to build your upper body strength. Plus you’ll find that your confidence and self-esteem grow too. Handstands have many aspects that can be practiced in a gym, in your front room, at the park, on a beach or almost anywhere. Achieving each step towards a hardstand and the challenges associated with them creates a great sense of accomplishment and improves your body awareness. I also find practicing them improves my focus, because I need to be calm to balance and focus on the details. I find it akin to mindfulness because it can be frustrating but getting frustrated makes it worse. I need to remember to breathe, be calm, grounded and try again. I enjoy the puzzle of balance – keeping the body in alignment to balance. There is always something that can be improved, and new transitions to learn. The journey is endless and wonderful.
Common myths
You need a really strong core for handstands You need core stabilisation rather than strength, but if everything is in alignment, the core stabilises. It’s similar to standing on one leg. You do not need to have a really strong core, you just need to learn how to control it and where adjustments in balance can be corrected.
You are too old to learn You are never too old to learn! Many of my adult students are over 50. Sometimes people think we need to learn handstands when we are young, perhaps because of the physicality. It can be really empowering to learn something acrobatic when you are older. There are many adaptations we can make to drills and exercises to make handstanding accessible for lots of people.
You need upper body strength to start learning a handstand You will gain strength as you learn. The initial exercises are very simple. For example, can you do a plank? Can you do a plank with your feet on a chair?
Technique tips
External rotation in your shoulders will help to put your shoulders in the correct position External rotation of the shoulders means that your shoulder blades separate rather than squeezing together. If your arms are above your head, you want to rotate your arms so that you try to hide your armpits from someone standing next to you. Your inner elbows will face towards each other and your thumbs face the back. This helps stabilise your shoulders.
Breathe, and focus on your hands balancing Don’t worry about your legs wobbling or your core collapsing, put your attention into your hands. Holding your breath doesn’t help, but many people do it without thinking about it. Breathing evenly helps you focus and when you are focused on your hands, you’re going to hold your position better.
Set your shoulders in the correct position before you invert The correct position is with external rotation (see above) and slight elevation. Setting your shoulders up with external rotation before you invert is better than trying fix it when you are already upside down.
Handstands workshop Saturday 26th October
We will be looking at changing shape in handstand and preparations for one-arms, maintaining balance while you change the shape of your handstand. We will also focus on straddle to straight and return, tuck to straight and return, as well as side bends and back bends in the handstand.
For this workshop ideally you should ideally be able to:
- Hold a straight and straddle handstand comfortably for 10 seconds.
Hand-to-Hand Workshop Saturday 26th October
We will be looking at pitching techniques for bases and flyers The base squats with their hands ready for the flyer to step into, and their elbows are usually touching the thighs. The flyer will step into the base’s hands and the base will give the power for the flyer to jump, leave the base’s hands then be caught by the base. The end position with will be feet-to-hand with base and flyer facing each other.
This will work towards pitch-to-catch and pitch-half-turn The start is the same as pitch-to-catch but instead of leaving the base’s hands, there will be a half turn with the base holding one foot as the flyer turns. The end position will be foot-to-hand with base and flyer forward.
Improving hand-to-hand, and foot-hand, and preparations for one-arms Tempo in foot-to-hand and hand-to-hand. Tempo is the start of any dynamic tricks. For example, a handspring where the flyer will start in a hand-to-hand handstand, there will be a tempo and the flyer will do half a somersault to land in foot-to-hand. The power for this move is generated by the base. It is important to get the timing and technique for both tempo in handstand and foot-to-hand as many dynamic tricks can evolve from this.
For this workshop you will ideally be able to:
- Stand on shoulders comfortably
- Stand in hands laying and confident to try standing
- Flyers should be able to jump into a handstand through a straddle, either on the floor or with a base laying on the floor
