Page:Tumbling for Amateurs.djvu/35

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Note.—Advanced tumbling should never be attempted alone the first time. A belt, with an assistant on either side, is the usual method of practising these exercises. Do not hurry. Practise one movement day after day until you are proficient, remembering that a difficult movement once mastered is as simple as any other, and that after learning you can execute them with ease and impunity. It is folly, not bravery, to attempt movements by yourself that you are not sure of; and you are the one to decide this, not others.

1. Back Somersault. From standing position, hands by the side, spring straight up (do not bend forward as you stoop for spring), throwing hands high above head; throw the head back, and, grasping the knees, pull them well in at the highest point of jump, at the same time kicking the feet forward; let out, and come down straight. Fig. 21.

2. From a hand stand snap to feet and a back somersault.

3. Round off and a back somersault.

4. Two, three, or four back somersaults in a swing.

5. Forward run and back somersault.

6. Cart-wheel, round off, and back.

7. Front Somersault. Run forward, and as you run increase your speed; spring from either right or left foot a distance of from 8 to 12 feet, landing on the balls of both feet, hands by the side (Fig. 70), chest out, and head erect (not forward); jump for height, lifting the body by a quick upward swing of