THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 16, 2014
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Have you ever been to a circus or seen it on television? Have you seen people perform tricks like cycling on a thin wire or standing on top of each other and jumping around? Well, such acts are known as acrobatics. Acrobatics goes back to the time of the ancient Greeks and the word acrobat itself actually originated from the Greek language meaning walking on tip toe. Acrobatics is most often associated with activities that make extensive use of gymnastic elements, such as acro-dance, circus and gymnastics, but many other athletic activities such as ballet and diving may also use the same skills. Acrobatics are widely used in circuses around the world. Let’s learn more about them.
What are acrobatics? Acrobatics grew in popularity as a sport in the 18th century in Europe, especially with the popularity of the circus. Acrobatics is a demonstration involving great agility (power of moving quickly and easily) and complexity. Acrobatics is now seen in many athletic events other than the circus, where it began. Some of the well-known sports that involve acrobatics are gymnastics, ice-skating, roller-skating and diving. Most acrobats that are seen in the circus have gone through extensive training programmes that have lasted for several years. Even after the initial training, they are required to keep up their training every day in order to maintain and improve their current difficulty level. Many acrobats in the circus are former competitive gymnasts. The acrobats need to have a high level of flexibility, strength, and knowledge of their body relative to the ground. One of the main physics concepts that is taught to the acrobats is the ability for them to find their center of gravity and be able to do so quickly. If they are unable to find their center, they will not be able to hold their current position, either in a handstand or in a pyramid. The main technique required to become an acrobat is having the ability to know where your center of gravity is at all times. Many know where it is, but the difficult part is actually being able to maintain your stability while upside down or in the air. The acrobat has to be able to equate the sum of the torque (force that tends to cause rotation) on each individual part to the torque at the center of gravity. The upward force of the support has to equal the downward force of the acrobat or acrobat’s weight. The sum of these forces must be equal to each other. If these two forces are equal, then the acrobat is balanced in his or her position, or the pyramid formed by several acrobats is in balance.
Circus acrobatics Various forms of acrobats are employed in a circus where this sport first gained popularity. Whether in a circus or television you must have seen people doing fascinating and rather dangerous acts with great perfection and skill. A popular form of acrobatics in a circus is tightrope walking which is the art of walking on a thin rope or wire usually at a great height. Tightrope walking became popular in the 19th century and In the late 19th century, tumbling and other acrobatic and gymnastic activities became competitive sport in Europe. Traditionally, acrobatic skills were kept within families and passed from parents to children. This is still true especially among family circus groups, although most acrobats are now taught by larger scale education systems as circuses are now made up of many more professionals than they used to be.