Читать книгу Montegue Blister’s Strange Games: and other odd things to do with your time - Alan Down - Страница 30

Many children attempt the task of climbing up the inside of a door frame by placing one foot on either side at the base and gradually shuffling up until they reach the top. House Gymnastics starts with this basic idea and goes further. Much further.

House Gymnastics was created and developed by two men taking the names Harrison and Ford. The legend has it that they came up with the idea after a thwarted attempt to put up a window blind. An hour or two of sweating and swearing in a

cramped space, drilling holes whilst deciphering instructions, and a legendary strange game is born. In its purest form House Gymnastics is that perfect combination of yoga, gymnastics and art.

Harrison and Ford have developed a wonderful array of positions that can be achieved throughout the house using only the human body and the house fittings and fixtures. The previously mentioned ‘door wedge’ is present and correct, as is ‘the banister snake’, which involves bracing yourself horizontally along an upstairs banister rail, and ‘the ceiling stand’, a handstand on the banister with the feet braced against the ceiling. All manner of squeezing, bracing and balancing of the human form within a house can be seen on their website (see Internet Resources) and they have been given great names such as the Elevated Carpet Crab, the One-handed Starfish and the Backdoor Bat Hang, with each position given a difficulty rating.

The ultimate indoor gymnastics position is known as the XXX (after the Vin Diesel film). To do it you need two adjacent walls that are the same distance apart as your own height when your arms are held above your head. A corridor is often an ideal location. Next, you need to climb slowly with your feet on one wall and your hands against the other, so that you end up perfectly horizontal, outstretched, spanning the corridor but with your back as near the ceiling as possible.

The positions should be held for at least three seconds, but obviously you gain more kudos if you can remain wedged on the top shelf of a bookcase for longer. Moves and positions can also be taken out of the confines of the house and have been performed in the office, sports stadia and the great outdoors.