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gymnastics videos....

Thinking about gymnastics...

Rif posted this video on Facebook the other day which looks like some form of child abuse.  Pretty disturbing stuff.



then this montage which shows the hard work that goes into being a gymnast in China.....
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Unknown said…
That PBS documentary about the Chinese Circus School is similarly disturbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH-jQN3Ln60

But that's how champions are made I guess.
January 8, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Todd Hargrove said…
Horrible.

My five year old daughter is in a gymnastics class (which looks nothing like this of course. It's mostly good solid playful functional movement.

But at least once she has said she didn't want to go to class and I asked why. She said she didn't like the stretching! Good girl! I told her she didn't need to do it.
January 8, 2012 at 1:50 PM
Tom M said…
Although it's not clear from the post, I assume this isn't given as evidence against gymnastics?

It would be very easy to create similarly shocking videos about training at Olympic levels in other sports.

At its core, gymnastics is about bodyweight exercise and that is something to be praised, even if the culture at the top levels of the sport appears shocking.
January 9, 2012 at 1:18 AM
SafeNSharp said…
Maybe it reflects less on gymnastics and more on Communism's utter lack of respect for individual life.
January 9, 2012 at 8:56 PM
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