King of work outs

“	Originally Posted By: bobblehead Actually pullups, crunches, dips, pushups in all of their varieties would be the best place to start, that and some good yoga.	”

Can I at least do cartwheels or hand stands.

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'Someday I'll be a ninja, once I stop tripping on roof's.'

Everyone is different, so i will not say no, or yes for that matter, but those are things you may have the strength and balance to do fine already. The better your foundation, the stronger your house. Skip steps and it could haunt you later. You could start by testing yourself, how many pull-ups etc can you do, and how long did it take you? From there, your baseline, you can start to work on areas that need it, and hone the areas you are strong in.

Check out this book, you may really enjoy it as a young martial artist. Your local library should have a copy and it is easy to find used.
The Peaceful Warriors Way

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“	Originally Posted By: inufreak1 Can I at least do cartwheels or hand stands.	”

In my oppinion yes. I think it would be fine to do cartwheels and handstands. Handstand against a wall are really good to start. Put your hands about 2 to 3 inches from the wll and throw your feet up against the wall. It may be hard at first but keep trying. As for the more harder gymnastic stuuf, wait till you have a qualified coach. Untill then you should exercise and work on your martial art stuff (kicks, punches, forms/kata, etc....)

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Mark R. (student of Master John Dufresne)

IMO (and in the opinion of at least one former internationally successful circus performer) gymnastics handstands place excessive stress on the shoulders and neck. The emphasis on handstands on a bar etc requires the head to be lifted, which in turn tends to tighten the shoulders and shorten the neck and then to balance it out the ribs stick out and the lumbar collapses...

The trick to a well aligned handstand is training swinging up and swinging down and building endurance.

Start with half handstands (which are harder) at the wall - sit on the floor with your back against the wall and legs straight out and mark the point your feet reach. Stand up and do a forward bend with your back to the wall so your hands touch the floor at the point you have marked. Walk your feet back to the wall and then walk them up the wall until your legs are straight and horizontal and your spine is as near vertical as is possible (let your head hang) You should be able to hold this for 30 relaxed breaths.

After that turn round, place your finger tips against the wall, extend one leg, bend the other, and gently hop towards handstand. Once you can handstand then switch legs and come down softly with the leg that was extended. The closer you are to the wall the straighter your spine will be. The further you come from the wall the easier it will be.

In an ideal world you would do some yoga first to get used to keeping the spine aligned and the shoulders open. If you don't the tendancy will be to rely on jerking up the head or closing the shoulder joints to slow your jumps as you approach vertical and fear kicks in rather than controlling your jumps so you can break with your finger tips and your core.

In practice your handstand is about core strength and integration... which is back to the boring exercises bobblehead recomended or yoga.

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“	Originally Posted By: Jade_Dragon_03 In my oppinion yes. I think it would be fine to do cartwheels and handstands. Handstand against a wall are really good to start. Put your hands about 2 to 3 inches from the wll and throw your feet up against the wall. It may be hard at first but keep trying. As for the more harder gymnastic stuuf, wait till you have a qualified coach. Untill then you should exercise and work on your martial art stuff (kicks, punches, forms/kata, etc....)	”

I did that when I took hip hop but I had to start with a tripod.

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'Someday I'll be a ninja, once I stop tripping on roof's.'

I have to agree about the spinal stability thing with John. If you'd like to do it a little safer yoga and Capoeira both have better handstands in terms of stability and Capoeira will translate better into forms competition (if thats where you want to go)

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“	Originally Posted By: joyseau I have to agree about the spinal stability thing with John. If you'd like to do it a little safer yoga and Capoeira both have better handstands in terms of stability and Capoeira will translate better into forms competition (if thats where you want to go)	”

I know how to preform them properly so my back is safe.

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'Someday I'll be a ninja, once I stop tripping on roof's.'