Beginner's Guide to Gymnastics

Gymnastics is an acrobatic sport for both men and women. Learn more about the sport of gymnastics from a professional coach in this gymnastics video.

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Learn varying grips
Learn different style swings
Start with lower levels

About this Author

Mark Velasquez is a professional gymnastics coach with Crenshaw Athletic Club in Austin, TX. Crenshaw Athletic Club is home to junior olympic performers as well as the University of Texas gymnastics team.

Gymnastics is an acrobatic sport for men and women that consist of six events for men, four events for women. It's the most popular and oldest Olympic sport known to man and probably the most watched Olympic sports during the Summer Games. We have now brought back into the fray acrosports, tumbling and trampling and of course rhythmic gymnastics, which all these incorporate acrobatic skills, dance and tumbling, and of course one of the most difficult sports in the Olympic Games. Unlike other sports, you don't have an opponent. It's you against the apparatus and you against fear and mastering your skills. Gymnastics is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears, a lot of discipline and a lot of years. These kids, I've been working some of them since they were two years old. We've got athletes that have been in the program, and there are kids in other programs that have been doing this since they could walk. Some of the gymnasts that are going to compete at these games in the summer are going to be in their 30s. It takes a lot of time, a lot of discipline, and you've got to be tough. And that's what the sport is all about.

Beginner's Guide to Gymnastics Video

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