Modern Educational Gymnastics

Book excerpt: Modern Educational Gymnastics provides a guide in gymnastics based on Rudolf Laban’s analysis of movement. This book sets out a discipline and standard, demanding perseverance, grit, and determination in individual ways of moving that provides every individual with an opportunity to achieve not only possibilities in movement and physical prowess, but ideas as well. The topics covered include weight transference; fundamental body action of bending, stretching, turning, and twisting; awareness of the body; way or how a person moves; time, space, and flow factors; use of space; apparatus work; and working with other people. Brief discussions on forming a lesson, achieving good poise, and use of observation to the teacher and students are also deliberated in this text. This publication is intended for gymnastics teachers, but is also useful to students or individuals hoping to acquire knowledge on the fundamentals and basic principles of gymnastics.