Rhythmic gymnastics always brings to mind the idea of lightness, elegant plastic and female grace. But what do you think of men's rhythmic gymnastics? This young direction only takes the first and very confident steps in world sport. True, it has already caused a storm of indignation and criticism from experts and ordinary viewers. Where and when did male rhythmic gymnastics appear? And does she have a future?
Occurrence
In 1985, the World Cup was held in Tokyo (Japan). It was then that men first appeared on the carpet, demonstrating their art. Young people were dressed in tight-fitting suits and in every possible way bent to the rhythm of music, which surprised viewers from Europe very much. They took too hard then the substitution of female plastics with male dances with sticks.
The Japanese audience enthusiastically accepted men in rhythmic gymnastics. And this is not surprising! Indeed, long before the advent of modern sports trends, the Land of the Rising Sun actively practiced exercises with different objects to improve the body and spirit of a man.
National tradition formed special schools where children were given at an early age. There they were helped to develop flexibility, smell, touch and other physical abilities. One vivid example of such schools is Shinobi (or the ninja school).
Becoming
Alas, in the distant 1980s, men's rhythmic gymnastics was not appreciated. And the sports community generally did not believe that something worthy could come out of this direction. In many ways, this was facilitated by the acrobatic dominant in gymnastic studies.
Newly-made gymnasts noticeably lacked the plasticity and emotionality, which are recognized as the hallmark of this sport. It was clear that they still had serious work to do on technology and the development of physical capabilities. But are men ready for such an experiment? Time has shown that they are ready. For 30 years, a real revolution in consciousness and sports training has been made. In addition to Japan, China and Korea were on the list of pioneers.
Features
Today, men's rhythmic gymnastics has two directions: Spanish and Japanese. The first resembles the usual for us female gymnastics. Here all the same leggings, sparkles, balls, hoops, ribbons, clubs, and the same grading system. According to the technique of execution, this direction is as close as possible to the female format. By the way, it developed in the middle of the zero years. Then the guys received official permission to participate on a par with the girls in the national championships.
The Japanese style is much older and combines gymnastics and acrobatics. The difficulty level is high. Only men can pull it. Other are costumes (more brutal images, instead of leggings - pants), refereeing rules and props for performances.
Three items are commonly used: a ring, a mace, and a cane. In their choice, you can consider the Japanese tradition. A cane is a stick, and a ring and a mace are a shield and a sword, respectively. The only attribute connecting the female and male direction is the jump rope. She is also used for performances. However, the approach to staging choreography is different. Women's rooms are light and flexible. Men's, by contrast, are warlike and athletic.
Spread
Following the Asian countries became interested in men's rhythmic gymnastics in Russia. The development and appreciation here has received the Japanese direction. Today, Irina Viner, an honored trainer and teacher of the Russian Federation, is actively promoting it. Athletes themselves in relation to a new sport are urged to use "rhythmic gymnastics" instead of the definition of "artistic".
In speeches there are acrobatic (hopping) elements. Since 2005, Russian gymnasts began to participate in international competitions and have already achieved considerable success.
Criticism and stereotypes
Men's rhythmic gymnastics was not immediately accepted by the sports community and the public. Guys in leggings are far from the idea of brutality and masculinity. And today, this direction still balances at the junction of criticism and approval, as it is not officially recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation.
In Russia, Irina Wiener stood up to protect the strong half in rhythmic gymnastics. In her opinion, women successfully realize themselves in football, boxing, weightlifting. So why shouldn't men be in rhythmic gymnastics ?!
The stereotype of men's rhythmic gymnastics - that it is abnormal and unnatural - is gradually erased by the joint efforts of coaches and athletes. A weighty argument here is the attitude to the brutal Japanese direction, really designed for men.
Famous champions
Despite the long opposition of the public, the new sports direction still found its revolutionary heroes. In the Spanish style, the first champion and “father” of this sport was Ruben Orihuela. On his initiative, with direct assistance and participation, in 2009 the first men's gymnastics championship was held.
Today, the athlete is often called the Spanish Billy Eliot for the fact that he went against the canned and notorious thinking of society. And he proved that men are also subject to flexibility and romantic lightness.
In Russia, in the Japanese direction, Alexander Buklov and Yuri Denisov were awarded high marks and awards. At the World Cup in Tokyo in 2005, they won five medals: three gold, silver and bronze.
Interesting Facts
- Today, men's rhythmic gymnastics is developing in eight countries: Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Canada, the USA, Mexico, Australia and Russia. All competitions are held under the auspices of the International Gymnastics Federation. In 2009, gymnasts were allowed to participate in the Olympic Youth Festival in Helsinki.
- The question of whether there is a place for men's rhythmic gymnastics in the Olympic program remains unanswered. Time, as they say, will tell. But in 2009, Irina Wiener managed to achieve approval in the Charter of the All-Russian Federation of the paragraph on the development of men's rhythmic gymnastics in Russia. The next step was the introduction of this sport in school physical education lessons. And in the future it is planned to open special sports schools.
- The grandchildren of Irina Wiener at an early age were given to men's rhythmic gymnastics. True, one of them went to karate, but the other continues to develop in this direction.
A few words in the end
To be or not to be male rhythmic gymnastics? This is the main question for experts, athletes and ordinary spectators. In the mid-zero years, several videos were released in protest of the approval of a new direction in sports. This reaction was caused specifically by the Spanish style of performance.
As a compromise, today there is an option to create mixed pairs of gymnasts (as in figure skating or synchronized swimming), bypassing the creation of only men's gymnastics. But all this remains at the experimental level. Meanwhile, Irina Wiener and her wards continue to hone their skills in Japanese rhythmic gymnastics and introduce the younger generation to it.