You Can Achieve Great Balance With Trampolines And Gymnastics

By Dave Vower

Gymnastics is a wonderful sport for children because it can help them develop dexterity, balance and suppleness. It can also help develop skills such as self-discipline and concentration. Children usually start gymnastics at ages 3 or 4 and in a beginner class. Trampolines of all sizes are used in the sport. Trampolines and gymnastics go hand in hand.

Watching Olympic gymnastics perform on TV is fascinating. They do incredible stunts on trampolines, rings and uneven bars. The novice gymnast will learn the basics such as tucks, roll-overs and handstands. Certain muscles need to be strengthened in order to hold your own weight. Children aged 3 or 4 quickly learn exercises and their bodies become supple very quickly.

Using a small trampoline at first, you will learn tumbling. Soft, small trampolines are for beginners, and the slightly larger ones are used for the double mini. Even larger trampolines are used by the more advanced pupil for more complex maneuvers.

Coaches talk about students getting air-time on a trampoline. This means the more time they spend bouncing and learning control, the sooner they can learn other skills. Somersaults and other more difficult moves are for the more advanced student.

Because trampolines have a sprung surface, they are safer to land on than a floor. There is less chance of getting RSI (repetitive stress injuries) when landing on a trampoline. When practicing, you can do many repetitions in a quicker time on a trampoline.

To give your child a chance to practice gymnastics at home, you should purchase a 14 foot 'in-ground' trampoline if you space for it. You can also buy free standing trampolines in sizes of 10 feet and lower. The whole family can get fit on a trampoline. Even a mini trampoline is good for exercising. - 31491

About the Author:

Dave has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years now. Not only does this author specialize in health, fitness and relationships you can also check out his latest websites on Last Minute Weekend Breaks and Sunbeam Heating Pad.

How to Use Yoga to Master the True Martial Art

By Al Case

There are two paths in the martial arts. The directions are sport, and art. One of these leads to decay, the other leads to enlightenment.

If one does the martial arts as a sport, he engages in contest, and that actually defines the difference between sport and art. If one practices the martial arts as art, he is attempting to conquer himself. Subdue the self, or subdue another, the difference is easy to see.

If one is attempting to subdue another, he is holding the world responsible for his problems, fighting the world, not taking his own responsibility. Wether the accumulation of wealth, or just trying to beat somebody into a bloody pulp, the student is not using the art the way it was designed, as a mirror for the soul. It is the soul, the individual, the spirit, the I AM that is the point of the martial arts, not the smacking down of somebody else.

When one is doing the art as sport, he is making a strong body, and then risking that body to destruction. When one is doing the art as art, he is obsessed with finding out the truth about himself. He is engaged in defining what impulse is behind the muscle and quiver of fighting.

The True Martial Way can be defined by the degree of motion within the art. A young man studies the excessive motion of Karate and Shaolin and that type of art. As the student ages, he practices tai chi, slowing his motion down, trying to take responsibility for his every action.

Eventually, man becomes tired, still, and begins to think life. At this point he has become motionless, a person who watches motion, and this is where he finds the truth. In motionlessness, he sees the truth of himself.

When one does Yoga one is exercising, making the body strong, but not through the make up of combat. This does create a weakness, as the universe is motion, and we should duplicate that motion to understand it. That one weakness aside, yoga does allow one to go to the heart of the matter.

Putting the body through slow exercises, breathing, watching, we slowly become aware of who is doing the watching, who is making the motion. We find the I AM that is behind all the motion of the universe, and thus we transform into souls, individuals unique and creative and filled with passion. We could wait, and grow old without any discpline, or we could pursue violence through the martial arts until violence is exhausted, or, we could just accelerate the process with yoga, through posture and slow breathing, and find out who we really are. - 31491

About the Author:

Al Case has studied the martial arts for over forty+ years. He has written for the magazines,, including his own column, Case Histories. He is the developer of Matrixing Technology and Neutronics. You can get a free ebook at his website, Monster Martial Arts.

Trampolines And Gymnastics ' A Perfect Combination

By Dave Vower

The positive aspects of trampolines and gymnastics cannot be understated. They can be a fun hobby or a more serious pastime. The number of people interested in this activity has seen an increase over the last ten years. Not only is it a great way to stay fit, it is also a wonderful method to simply feel young and let your hair down.

Basically, a trampoline is like a spring board. They often are rectangular in shape and will have a tough elastic material stretched over a strong metallic frame. There should be protective pads along the edges and on the floor to help minimize the risk of injury.

Trampolines are once again appearing in gardens and yards up and down the country. They now are available in a greater array of sizes and shapes. You could choose a miniature option for a young toddler or take possession of a larger model that is ideal for families with more space. The biggest versions will also have a fence or netting around the edges to help prevent any unwanted falls or accidents.

You can also see trampolines and gymnastics regularly on TV. Since the year 2000, the Olympics and most major international athletics competitions feature the activity. It actually takes many years of practice to become highly a highly skilled performer. And of course you can also see professional gymnasts in most circuses; the feats and stunts they pull will leave you amazed.

It's also known that regularly using a trampoline can be a wonderful form of exercising. It will improve your cardio vascular system as well as improve the tone and strength of your legs and abdomen. Be sure to warm up for a few minutes as it is easy to damage a muscle when out of practice.

Whatever your age you will find that it is always good fun to jump on a trampoline. It's a great way to unwind and release tension. - 31491

About the Author:

Dave has been writing articles online for nearly 3 years now. Not only does this author specialize in health, fitness and relationships you can also check out his latest websites on Bosch Dishwasher Stainless and Sunbeam Electric Blanket.

The Secret of Matrix Martial Arts and Real Intelligence

By Al Case

It is a proven fact that Matrix Martial Arts raises intelligence. It is a proven fact that when one matrixes his art, be it shotokan or aikido or that rare form of wudan Tai chi chuan, the art becomes better, and the person becomes more intuitive, and his intelligence goes up. What is not so obvious is why this is so.

Intelligence is measured in todays institutions through various tests. What these tests do, however, is tell you how big your memory is. What these tests do is evaluate how adequate your memory is.

Thus, current testing is checking the state of memory, and it has nothing to do with the factors of true intelligence. Current testing does nothing more than verify that the memorization methods of modern schools is working. To come to grips with what this really means we must define what true intelligence is.

True intelligence is the speed at which your mind actually functions. There are other factors, but this is the one that tells the true tale. This doesn't tell you how big or good your memory is, but how fast you can get along with the environment.

In the martial arts the student is taught by having him or her memorize strings of random data. Or memorize random strings of data, however you want it. The hope is that if you get a big enough memory then you can pull a trick out of the hat, and hopefully it is the right trick.

When you matrix the martial arts you put the data in logical order, no more random data, or random strings of data. Thus, you use less memory, and the data is filed properly for quick and accurate extraction. Thus, you are not distracted by incorrect data, the missing data and the gaps and holes and wrong arrangements of data and so on, and intuition can kick in.

Intuition means that the data being extracted for use is being extracted at near instantaneous speed. Furthermore, and here is a blessing, the data is never wrong. Thus, the true speed of the martial arts, when intuition kicks in, is in effect, and thus the students intelligence is raised.

Now, it doesn't matter what form of wudan you study, or what system of karate, all that matters is that you take the time to rearrange the data by applying matrix martial arts to it. When you use matrixing as the learning mode, you see, it is nothing more than putting the book on the bookshelf. The trick here is that we are putting all the books on the bookshelf, in the whole library, in the right order, at the same time, and that is certainly measurable as an increase in intelligence. - 31491

About the Author:

Al Case has learned martial arts for 4O+ years. He began writing for the martial arts magazines in 1982. He is the founder of Matrixing technology, which you can find out about by getting his absolutely free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

How to Punch Harder than Mike Tyson!

By Al Case

Wham and bam! Iron Mike Tyson, a few years ago, was knocking them down faster than they could stand up. More than half of his first nineteen fights ended in the first round, and always with the opposing fighter laying face down like a drunk that had been humped by a bulldozer!

No other fighter was doing what Iron Mike, who the media labeled as Kid Dynamite, was doing, and there were a lot of strong fighters out there. So there had to be something that Mike was doing that other fighters did not know about. There simply had to be a secret behind his fantastic, explosive filled, slobber knocking punches!

The secret can be detailed in two parts. The first part is that he was not as tall as the other fighters, therefore he was automatically ducking under the incoming fist, and rising up with his own. This meant that he had to use the push of his legs as part of his punch.

Because he was rising up, he learned how to push with his legs and use his hips so they assisted the angle of his punch. He just happened to be the exact height that enabled him to arc his punch at exactly the right angle, to pop that chin at exactly the right spot. Every fighter attacked him in similar fashion, he defended the same way, and he went on winning until opposing fighters analyzed him correctly and actually boxed him!

The other part of the secret has to do with his lifestyle. He was winning fights while Cus DAmato was training him, because Cus DAmato was keeping him in hand, caring about him as an individual, working with him as a person. When Cus died, however, everything changed for the man who came to be known as The Baddest Man on the Planet.

After Cus died Tyson came under the influence of Don King, who was considered quite corrupt. His marriage ended in divorce, and he eventually began taking prescribed psychiatric medications. The mental edge went away, and other fighters were no longer coming in in exactly the right manner to be taken apart by him.

So the secret of Mike Tysons fantastic, first round knock out punch had to do with taking advantage of his height to use his legs and come up under his opponent It also depended upon the discipline in his life, which was enforced through the friendship of a man who cared about him as a person. And he began losing when fighters figured him out and he no longer had a trainer who could help him solve the issue.

The lesson here is that when you train in the martial arts, be it boxing or whatever, you must assess your body truthfully, and learn how to avoid its weaknesses and exploit its strengths, not an easy thing to do, but rather requiring an honest and truthful approach to oneself. The second thing you must do is live your life the right way, staying away from people who say they love you, but who act otherwise, this is seen easily if you look at how they treat people in their past. Anybody who utilizes these two principles, being accurate in your assessment of your body and living a good lifestyle, has a chance to develop the hardest punch in the world. - 31491

About the Author:

Al Case has researched martial arts, and the science of striking, for over 40+ years. A writer for the mags, he is offering a free ebook on the martial arts. You can also visit Punch Em Out if you want a 100 page book which has the secrets of the hardest punch in the world!

How to Make the Transition from Shaolin to Wudan

By Al Case

Shaolin is one of the oldest martial arts on the planet. It was brought from India by a fellow named Bodhidharma, and has been credited with being inspirational to martial artists the world over. Interestingly, Shaolin eventually became an internal style of martial art atop Wudan Mountain.

I know there will be those who disagree with what I say here, but I hold to it, as I have watched students go through the evolution of hard to soft, and the evolution of art from Shaolin to Wudan mirrors what I have seen students go through. Indeed, as students peel layers off the art, so they peel off layers of unawaress, and attain the truly miraculous.

The beginning students learn to expend energy from the tan tan, to spread that energy throughout the body and make the body hard. Arms become like iron, stances become as if permanent fixtures to the planet. This, however, is all based on explosion, and outward expulsion of energy.

As a student explores the varieties of martial art he may encounter the concept of absorbing energy. The act of guiding a punch, instead of blocking it, brings awareness of the concept of drawing energy in, instead of just putting it out. This progression of art often starts with a hard Shaolin art, goes through a softer art like Wing Chun Kung Fu, and, eventually, ends up with Wudan Tai Chi Chuan.

The odd fact of the matter is that if the student stays within a hard art, he will evolve into the soft. The unfortunate fact of aging, of the body no longer being able to handle the explosive energy of hard arts, will bring the student into the softer arts. He will punch so that he doesn't experience whiplash in his neck, he will use his legs so he doesn't suffer hip problems, and he will naturally evolve his art from hard to soft.

As these progressions of age and art occur, students learn to be softer, using their minds and their bodies to use less effort, and yet retain the abilities they have gained from the hard arts. Instead of violently thrusting energy through their bodies, they use the energy slowly, and focus it. Thus, the blinders slowly come off, and awareness seeps in.

Instead of exploding energy brutally through their bodies, the students learn to guide and manipulate energy within their bodies. They learn to move energy easier and naturally as they become more aware. They learn that the body energy they were so proud of when they were young and robust was only a hint of things to come.

Finally, the transition is made in full, and the Shaolin adept becomes the Wudan sage. Instead of reacting with violence, the Wudan master observes his opponent, and moves with him, drawing in whole body energy and transforming it to his needs. Yet, though there is wisdom in the Wudan Gung Fu, there is no disdain, for the true sage knows the need for his early Shaolin, he knows the benefit of understanding energy on low levels if he is to transform it to high levels. - 31491

About the Author:

Al Case has taught the martial arts for 4O++ years, he began his Wudan training in 1974. You can see how soft he is by picking up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

The past Behind The Chinese Customs

By Alan Lim

Besides its wealthy history, China is world well-known for its culture, particularly the Chinese traditional Dragon dance and the lion dance. The traditions of the east have over the years turn into a rage in the west; many folks enjoy watching these dances, knowing very little or nothing concerning their origin and importance. The Dragon it's a faith in China that the people of China are the forbearers of dragon. Dragon is in fact a mythical creature, believed to possess had options of different animals like fish, deer, lion, horse, snake and vulture.

The Legendary Dragon Dance:- The dragon dance is a crucial festive tradition in China. Initially this dance was performed to please the God of water and for rain throughout the drought years. Gradually it took a type of leisure and formed a important part of all festive occasions, especially throughout the spring festival and Lantern Carnival.

Dragons are normally contrived out of bamboo, wood, cloth and paper sometimes it's an enormous creation sometimes even ranging a lot of than 100 meters. Poles are connected to the belly of the dragon and during the show; performers hold these poles and lift the dragon, beginning the grand dance with the beats of roaring drums. The dragon mask and body used for the dance is coloured inexperienced, gold and red. If this dance is performed at nighttime, then it's preceded by carrying bunch of burning torches to unwind the show.

The Lion Dance:- Chinese contemplate the lion to be a symbol of power, pride, dignity and bravery, capable of fighting off evil spirits. In Chinese legend, lion is that the ninth son of the dragon and was considered because the foremost defender; still it's seen in front of imperial palaces and huge houses.

Besides the dragon dance, the lion dance performance also has a long history within the Chinese tradition, it absolutely was formerly used for worship and to hope for rain, the lion dance is sometimes performed with the dragon dance on auspicious occasions. A smart performance is believed to convey luck and happiness.

The charming lion dance will be seen at the time of the Chinese New Year or on any ancient festival. The lion dance is performed by Wushu - Kung Fu experts. There are typically two performers who bring life to the lion - the one managing the lion's head leads the dance and depicts the lion's emotions. The opposite plays the body and tail. They hide themselves under a cloth fur attached with the head. There is also a 3rd person - a man who allures the lion, and carries a silk flower ball or wears a mask of the happy Buddha with a banana-leaf fan in one hand. He any magnifies the amount of merriment of the Lion Dance by dodging from left to right, jumping all around to form a spirited entertainment, driving lion crazy.

The centuries previous traditions of the Chinese remains alive and surprisingly gaining popularity by the day. But, it's for us to stay alive the history of those age recent traditions, cultures and practices. - 31491

About the Author:

Star Collection Entertainment Sdn Bhd, the lion dance is a vigorous form of dance that is usually performed during Chinese festivals such as Chinese New Year. Our team established in year 1990. We are one of the World Class Lion Dance Competition Management Company