Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics is the form of gymnastics with which most people, worldwide are familiar. Artistic gymnastics always takes place on an apparatus. Artistic gymnastics apparatus includes balance beams, parallel bars, uneven and vaults. Women’s gymnastic comprises four apparatus but six artistic events – team competition, individual all-around, floor exercise, uneven bars, vault and balance beam. Men’s artistic gymnastic s consists of six different apparatus and eight events – team competition, individual all-around, floor exercise, horizontal bars, parallel or symmetrical bars, pommel horse, rings and vault. There are, therefore, different events and no mixing of the genders.

Within artistic gymnastics, there are two divisions: compulsory and optional movements. Each routine for each event lasts less than or slightly more than a minute. During that time, a gymnast has to perform a routine packed with a variety of difficult and complex elements. For men, strength is a primary characteristic of all their performances; for women, judges look for grace and precision. Consider, for example, in artistic gymnastics, the choreography set to music for a female’s floor exercise routine. Expression and elegance must match the musical accompaniment.

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The male gymnasts do not perform their floor exercises to music. The judges look for strength and ability. The judges, in a woman’s floor exercise and in their other routines, seek grace and a ballet-like quality. The music and the gymnastic elements must flow into one another with easy transitions and no jarring separation of elements. The displays of flexibility, balance, grace and strength must complement each other and show case the talents of the gymnast. It is no wonder the best gymnasts seek out and treasure a good artistic gymnastics choreographer - wanted for his or her skills in helping a gymnasts put her best foot forward.

The floor exercise, while not the only event, is a crowd favorite. Other events have their adherents. In vaulting, the best gymnasts explode from the ramp. On the pommel horse, the hand placement and body positions must be complex. On the rings, the characteristics of stillness and body control are essential. On the parallel bars, speed and skill are necessary, while on the uneven, multiple hand changes and swings create a spectacle. On the horizontal bar, blind releases cause gaps. As for the balance beam, you need a harmonious blend of acrobatic elements and gymnastics. These are but a few of the many skills a gymnast requires to perform the sport.

Here are several artistic gymnastics interesting facts to mull over when you watch the events. Talk show, Jay Leno, was nicknamed “Invincible Jay,” when he was a member of Andover High School, Massachusetts’, gymnastics’ team. Short people have an advantage over short people in gymnastics. Usually the converse is true. The floor exercise, the most popular event, did not become an individual Olympic event until 1932.