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Balancing the Equation
The handstand is one of the most simple, yet one of the most humbling, skills in the span of the physical arts. It seems so simple, yet it can be an incredibly frustrating skill to learn. Because of this, many people think that handstands are reserved for gymnasts and circus performers. Let me say, though, that the handstand is accessible to anyone willing to put in the time.
A hand balance practice is incredibly beneficial for the body and mind. The amount of concentration required makes it a form of meditation. Physically, it is an incredible display of strength, body control and awareness. Balancing on your hands requires constantly making small adjustments within the body. There is no other art form that requires as much precision as the handstand.
This book breaks down the process to achieving a freestanding handstand for a beginner, starting from the very basics. This process is useful to those learning their first handstands as well as those who teach it, such as gymnastics coaches, CrossFit coaches and yoga instructors. The concepts detailed in this book are focused on learning the skill as an adult by promoting understanding of the art in order to make progress. It takes the mystery out of the skill, and presents it in a way anyone can learn.
A hand balance practice is incredibly beneficial for the body and mind. The amount of concentration required makes it a form of meditation. Physically, it is an incredible display of strength, body control and awareness. Balancing on your hands requires constantly making small adjustments within the body. There is no other art form that requires as much precision as the handstand.
This book breaks down the process to achieving a freestanding handstand for a beginner, starting from the very basics. This process is useful to those learning their first handstands as well as those who teach it, such as gymnastics coaches, CrossFit coaches and yoga instructors. The concepts detailed in this book are focused on learning the skill as an adult by promoting understanding of the art in order to make progress. It takes the mystery out of the skill, and presents it in a way anyone can learn.
- GenresFitness
155 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2015
23 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 5, 2015
This is definitely the book I wish I'd had when I started teaching myself the handstand over 5 years ago. A lot of people writing handstand books do not have handstands that I want to emulate. In my case, I'm after the straight-back gymnastics style handstand, which Yuri teaches from the beginning. Yuri has a great handstand, and for this type of thing you really want to learn from an experts.
One of the many challenges in learning the handstand is that there are so many ways to do it. e.g. Start with the arched handstand or the straight handstand? Learn to walk on your hands first before standing on them? How to get into the handstand? Head position? Shoulders extended or packed? Flat hands or 3 points of contact? Toes pointed or not? Squeeze everything tight or be relaxed? What should be compromised if you don't have enough mobility for the perfect handstand? It's not that any particular approach is necessarily better than any other, but to make any progress, one has to choose one approach. Personally, I spent years hopping around from method to method, never mastering any of them. Yuri's book tells you what to do, and he's an expert I'm comfortable trusting.
The book gives a very nice series of exercises starting from the very beginning of understanding the handstand position and alignment with exercises on the floor, gradually working towards inversion (being upside down against a wall), and going all the way through kicking up to a free-standing handstand. One of the most valuable parts of the book for me is a series of exercises for training many different types of balance corrections in isolation. I'd seen some of them before, but most were new to me.
The only caveat I'd give about the book is that it doesn't have too much guidance or comforting words for somebody who wants to try a handstand without having full shoulder mobility / perfect handstand alignment. I think you can follow the book's exercises anyway, but it would be nice for that to be addressed directly.
I highly recommend this book. I think it would have massively accelerated my learning of the handstand if I had it at the beginning, and even now I'm finding it extremely useful for increasing the consistency of my handstand.
One of the many challenges in learning the handstand is that there are so many ways to do it. e.g. Start with the arched handstand or the straight handstand? Learn to walk on your hands first before standing on them? How to get into the handstand? Head position? Shoulders extended or packed? Flat hands or 3 points of contact? Toes pointed or not? Squeeze everything tight or be relaxed? What should be compromised if you don't have enough mobility for the perfect handstand? It's not that any particular approach is necessarily better than any other, but to make any progress, one has to choose one approach. Personally, I spent years hopping around from method to method, never mastering any of them. Yuri's book tells you what to do, and he's an expert I'm comfortable trusting.
The book gives a very nice series of exercises starting from the very beginning of understanding the handstand position and alignment with exercises on the floor, gradually working towards inversion (being upside down against a wall), and going all the way through kicking up to a free-standing handstand. One of the most valuable parts of the book for me is a series of exercises for training many different types of balance corrections in isolation. I'd seen some of them before, but most were new to me.
The only caveat I'd give about the book is that it doesn't have too much guidance or comforting words for somebody who wants to try a handstand without having full shoulder mobility / perfect handstand alignment. I think you can follow the book's exercises anyway, but it would be nice for that to be addressed directly.
I highly recommend this book. I think it would have massively accelerated my learning of the handstand if I had it at the beginning, and even now I'm finding it extremely useful for increasing the consistency of my handstand.
June 26, 2023
Excellent book.
Yuri gives a framework that helps you explain what is going on and also offers many practical tips and progressions.
It's the best resource I've come across on the topic. (And I've checked many)
Yuri gives a framework that helps you explain what is going on and also offers many practical tips and progressions.
It's the best resource I've come across on the topic. (And I've checked many)
June 20, 2019
Bolje da pročitate knjigu pre nego što počnete da učite handstand. Skratićete znatno period učenja
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