What will be in this place? My weird, random thoughts I can't share with my friends cause they won't listen or they know nothing about. The foremost reason I made this is to release my insights about gymnastics. Yes! Gymnastics! It's my favorite sport (to watch). I am not a gymnast. Cartwheels, spins and jumps - that's all I can do. I wish I had gymnastics lessons when I was younger. I might be in the Worlds or had been in the Olympics. Sheesh. Dreaming. Gymnastics in the Philippines is not even an emerging sport unlike football. Its's not even known here! Ask people what a Tkatchev is and they will just show you that very ignorant face and you can already tell they don't know what it is. Even explaining it as "a release skill in the bar" or "a reversed hecht to regrasp", they're faces alone will just tell you "you are one weird folk." In this country, Gymnastics is tumbling. Gymnastics is a very entertaining SHOW. Period. That's it. No Nadia or Olga.
I started liking gymnastics when I was 14 after watching Stick It! I was curious about Haley Graham talking about Rulfova, Chusovitina, and Shaposhnikova. Then, there went the series of YouTube-ing ang Googling. I watched this "Named Skills" video on YouTube and was then amazed. Then it went on like obsession. I met Khorkina and the uneven bars then years went and before I knew it, I almost memorized all the skills in WAG. Up until now, I go crazy reading a lot of gymnastics stuff. But I was alone having this all in my mind. I will put on videos on my phone and whenever I'm watching, somebody beside will peek and watch along. You can see them amazed but never curious about the sport. That's it here in our country. We have gymnastics competitions or a number of gymnasts competing internationally. The last time I checked we had two gymnasts for MAG in the 2011 Worlds. You guessed it right! they did not qualify. Triple twist hasn't landed in this country yet, I think. There are double pikes on floor, Yurchenkos on vault, back tucks on beam, flairs on the pommel. That's it. You can pick on any retired gymnast from the last, last quad, ask them to go to the gym with our gymnasts and I can tell you, they can do harder tricks even with the rest they have had. Gymnastics in the Philippines is very raw and very, very simple. On one hand, I appreciate them. Seeing a countrymen doing my favorite sport is really overwhelming. It makes me think that I am not alone kicking asses trying to understand the sport. But then again, everything is not ready for one bigger leap yet.
<Rhythmic is different story though. I think we have taken home medals from Southeast Asian Games. Anyway, RG is my lesser favorite gym discipline. I just watch it.>
There are gymnasts in this country but I am pretty confident (but really sad) to say that at this level of performance, we are not ready to compete internationally. I put here a link of one routine in the Philippine National Games (credits to the owner) and you might see what I am talking about. Take note, this is the NATIONAL GAMES.
See? Kohei Uchimura can do this in blindfold. I sometimes think that the potentials of Filipino gymnasts are not really explored. Well, what would you expect with no facilities and no NGO or government support. Gymnasts train, they compete but the people barely know the very existence of the sport. I read one YouTube comment saying that we have the potentials. We are competing strongly in cheerleading competitions. I know well the difference between the two sports. The point is, we are one step closer in having the right coaches, right training and everything so we can attain international standards. We just have it. Having "it" and utilizing "it" are two different stories.
Just to set the record straight, I am not pulling the sport down. I am comparing. Gymnastics in the Philippines is so left behind. Way, way behind. I am wishing that one day, this sport in this country will be appreciated. Sadly, gymnastics talent go in TV competitions. They will do twists and flips and the air and the people gasp in amazement. That is the level of appreciation they have. Not for its sports value but for its entertainment value. I have hoes. But I hope that that day is not that far away.
