Another thing I’ve devoted more of my time to recently is the handstand press. While a normal handstand does not take very much strength many of the presses do. Handstand presses can be broken down into two main groups. Those done with straight arms and those down with bent arms. …
The Show Must Go On
There I was busily typing away, working on a future project, when my laptop started to make a clicking noise. I sat there mesmerized as it froze up and then died. Son of a… I tired several times to restart the computer but to no avail. A visit to a …
Diane Robinson – Contortionist Extraordinaire
From the November 1950 issue of Acro-Chat. Diane Robinson like many others has spent many happy hours working out with the gang at Santa Monica’s “Muscle Beach.” But her real training came from dancing school acrobatic teachers in Oakland and Hollywood, California. Diane’s ease of manner, grace of work …
The Hand Balancing Bible!?!
“When I received The Hand Balancing Mastery Course a wave of excitement passed over me. One of those feelings when I just knew ‘this was gonna be great’. And besides, it was said to be ‘the most complete course on the art of hand balancing ever written’. And I was about …
Revitalizing Handstands
Traveling down to Los Angeles this weekend. Just a quick 6 hour drive for me. It got me thinking about one of the uses for handstands. And that is ‘clearing the cobwebs’. Anytime you aren’t thinking straight or feel like your brain needs to be revitalized, after a long drive …
Routine for Abs
Here is a routine for abs especially for people who want to be strong for acrobatics and hand balancing. A couple of you went ahead and purchased Gymnastic Abs and that may be one of your smartest moves. But I figured you might be one of those people sitting on …
You Need Strong Abs for Hand Balancing
Let’s face it, you will NEVER become an excellent hand balancer or acrobat without having incredibly strong abs. Powerful statement but true. Have you neglected training this area with the same kind of force you train the rest of your body? I know I did for a long time but …
Changing up your Hand Balancing Training
Ever so often you have to switch up your training. If you come to a standstill and can’t seem to make any progress this is what you must do. For some time I was spending 10 to 15 minutes every morning practicing my hand balancing as well as few times …
Finger Handstand
Fingertip training is one of the less common forms of hand balancing today. In fact you hardly see it at all. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice it. First some words of caution. The fingers are small and fragile. If you move into this realm too fast, you may …
Which Handstand Style should you do?
Another article has been added to the site. If you have ever wondered what style of handstand you should do, whether arched or straight, this one is for you – Different Styles of Handstands. Be sure to check it out but before you do I wanted to mention something that …
Bridge Exercises
This picture was taken over a year ago of this bridge exercise. I’m the guy on the bottom in the wrestler’s bridge, while my friend, Tyler, is doing a hand bridge on top. I call it the Double Bridge. You might wonder what possessed us to try this stunt. The …
Handstands and Hand/Grip Positions
First off I want to remind you that the New Year’s Sale is still going. Check Hand Balancing New Year’s Sale to see how you can save 20.08% off of everything. It ends Saturday so if you’re putting it off you better do it now before you forget.For today I’ll dig into …
Ichiske Ishikawa’s One Hand Handstand Stunt
Here comes yet another story from Ray Van Cleef. Some of the greatest foreign acrobatic performers to tour this continent come from the “land of the rising sun”. The Ishikawa Brothers left a mark that will long endure in the acrobatics’ hall of fame. This Japanese troupe consisted of four …
Achieving Handbalancing Success in 2008
If you celebrate Christmas then I hope you had a wonderful time yesterday. If not, well then I still hope you had a great day. But Christmas means one thing is coming. That’s right, the end of the year is fast approaching.I have always found the new year is a …
Death Defying Handstands
Here comes another story from Acro-chat magazine. This one was written by Ray Van Cleef. Flirting with death yielded the “Open Sesame” to Inguar Anderson’s zealous desire to become a circus performer. His efforts to secure an opportunity were repulsed until he resorted to death defying stunts to gain …