Gymnastics Equipment, Floor Mats, and Apparel
It’s not surprising that ancient Greeks were the first to put make gymnastics into a sport. As a society, they valued physical prowess unlike any other – hence their creation of the Olympics. They even built gymnasias to accommodate training athletes, which were large, open spaces designated for running, jumping and wrestling. Some of the skills had practical applications, including mounting and dismounting a running horse. However, after the games became soiled with corruption in the 4th century, Emperor Theodosius banned the Olympic games and the popularity of gymnastics similarly fell to the wayside. The growth of Christianity also served as a nail in the gymnastics-coffin; its teachings emphasized the wickedness of the human body.
Gymnastics made a comeback in the early 1800s when Fredrich Ludwig Jahn developed the horizontal bar and parallel bars as strength-building equipment for young men. The popularity of the “new” sport quickly developed throughout the 19th century until it was finally included in the 1896 Olympic games. The sport was standardized in 1954, with only a couple additions since (development of the women’s uneven bars is a fairly-modern addition).
There are few other sports that involve exercises combining physical strength, agility, and coordination quite like gymnastics does – which makes it one of the most pure, fluid and graceful disciplines out there.
Modern gymnastics involves bars (uneven, parallel), balance beams, rings and floor exercises that test grace, flexibility. Parallel bars have been a staple of men’s gymnastics since they became popular in the late 1800s. These gymnastics bars are elevated off the ground and emphasize static holds. Since the athletes spend most of the time above the bars, upper body strength plays a vital role in this activity.
Companies in the late 60s began to manufacture uneven bars as a separate apparatus from the parallel bars. These gymnastics bars emphasized more release-moves than the other kinds. Developments in the following decades allowed the bars to be moved further apart – which increased the difficulty of the techniques. Only women can compete in the uneven bars, and vice versa for men on the parallel bars.
Gymnastics can be a very dangerous sport and it’s not recommended to practice without the proper equipment. Mats, appropriate clothing (including leotards), grips (when performing on bars or rings), tape, first aid kits are all necessary to ensure the safety of the athlete. But good gymnastics equipment can only provide so much safety. It’s very important to practice at a reputable gym that with coaches that emphasize safety above all else. Also, get a doctor to approve of any physical activity before embarking into the world of acrobatics – and stop if there is any pain. Never play through it.
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