Читать книгу Hippodrome Skating Book - Charlotte Oelschlager - Страница 5

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Skating on ice is the best sport in the world. It is also the best method in the world for developing grace of carriage, supple muscles and fine health through a fascinating exercise. I have tried all the various sports, including swimming, fencing, dancing, tennis and mountain climbing, and there is none to compare with ice skating.

Strange as it may seem, ice skating will both reduce fat and add fat; if mildly followed as a regular exercise it will stimulate appetite, digestion and that zest in life which makes for healthy, rounded physique without superfluous fat. If persisted in vigorously, it will reduce flabby fat into smooth muscle. It is especially good for the reduction of fat around the waist and hips.

Skating to music is the most rhythmic of all exercises and far surpasses dancing in enjoyment and benefit. Dancing generally implies the need of a partner who dances equally well, while skating is a sport which can be enjoyed with a partner or without one. In fact, the more expert one becomes in skating the less one is dependent upon any one else for the pleasure of the sport.

To skate properly or to learn to skate, the right equipment is absolutely essential. The skate is the first essential; one may skate fairly well with shoes which are inappropriate or costume which retards free action, but with the wrong skates it is impossible to learn the art.

The proper skate has two stanchions or uprights running from the blade to the foot and heel plates. There seems to be scientific warrant for the statement that this method of construction makes it “run farther.” The old pattern having three stanchions or supports has been discarded by the best skaters of all skating countries for years.

The toe of the skate should curve up and around the toe of the shoe, in many patterns even touching the sole of the shoe in front. This curved front is deeply cut in with very sharp sawteeth, and it is on these sawteeth that so many of my pirouettes and pivots and dance steps are made. The height of the foot plate from the ice is much less than that of the heel plate from the ice, which naturally throws the skater into a forward balance. Most of the time I am skating upon the part of the skate directly under the ball of my foot. The curve of the blade from toe to heel is about a nine foot radius.

My skates are very light, weighing only four ounces. I advocate a light skate, and I think that most of the skates being used are too heavy. As one becomes more expert, lighter skates become more important, for in spins and turns on one foot the weight of the shoe and skate can seriously affect the balance and throw the skater into a false curve.

For about two inches along the blade of my skate, almost directly under the ball of my foot, I have a slightly flattened space which permits the immense curves and spirals I execute. These would be impossible with a sharply curved blade. The blade of my skate is splayed—that is, it is wider at the centre than at the toe and heel.

I have quite a deep groove ground in my skates, and I have the outer edge of the skate slightly lower than the inner edge. The height of the skate above the ice is not very important. Some of the experts favor great height. My skates are built comparatively low.

The flat bladed skate ought not to be used by any one who wishes to learn figure skating. The hockey skate is the right skate for hockey, but the wrong skate for anything else. To learn on that type of skate means that the skater must learn all over again when figure skating is attempted.

I am glad to hear that some of the American manufacturers are even making their hockey skates with a curved blade, so that the simple curves can be learned on that type of skate. There are several excellent models of skates now being made in the United States.

The skating shoe should fit very snug around the heel and over the instep, and should be comparatively high, seven or eight inches being my preference. The heel of the shoe should be higher than that of the sporting or tramping or golf shoe now being worn by the American woman.

It is important to get such skates and shoes as will throw the balance of the body forward onto the ball of the foot when one stands on the ice. This can only be done by raising the heel of the foot, partly through the design of the skate and partly through the height of the heel of the shoe. But no such thing as French heels are intended or advocated, of course.

The shoe should lace from close to the toes up and should be a comparatively straight last. A strong, stiff leather lined shoe should be the first choice. Afterward, as the ankles strengthen, a lighter shoe can be worn. I often skate in low shoes, my ankles are so strong, and the only trouble I find with my low shoes is that the heel slips out in the toe spin.

Artificial braces are sometimes valuable aids to the beginner. The best braces consist of a bandage wrapped carefully around the ankle and foot under the stocking. A stiff piece of leather set inside the shoe between the stocking and the shoe is an excellent brace. It can be removed as the skater gains strength.

The shoe should not be laced so tight as to stop circulation or to interfere with the play of the toes, but it should be capable of being laced with rigid firmness around the instep. Skating is hard on the feet at first and makes them sore and tender. A thin lisle or wool stocking is advisable for the beginner, and cold baths will soothe and strengthen the foot muscles.

The costume for skating may now include practically all varieties of design and material, ranging from silk to leather, the latest fad. Nowhere can a woman look prettier and nowhere can she look less attractive than on the ice. Some items are essential, however. The material of the skating costume ought to be something which does not bulk up, something which falls into naturally graceful curves and straightens out quickly.

An undergarment of silk or satin in the form of a petticoat, bloomers or knickerbockers is important in skating any difficult or spectacular figures, since it serves to keep the gown from bunching around the legs. The skirt should be comparatively snug around the hips and free, even slightly flaring, around the edge. Fur bands around the edge of the skirt give an air of appropriateness.

The new unrestrained and somewhat bold way of skating necessitates skirts which permit freedom in the swinging and spread of the legs. A petticoat or short skirt of thin woven elastic goods, especially if of silk, makes an ideal undergarment for the skater, whether beginner or expert.

The length of the skirt should be about to the tops of the skating shoes. Sensible costumes are now being adopted by the best skaters of all countries. One should as soon think of swimming in a long skirt as skating in one. The skirt which reaches to the middle of the calf will be found both comfortable and graceful.

My skating costume at the Hippodrome is probably regarded as very daring, but I wish every woman who skates might test for herself how comfortable it is. There is a stimulus in suitable costumes which it is impossible to get any other way. Skating is worth a pretty and appropriate costume, and such a costume will last for years and be always in style.

AN INTERNATIONAL SKATE STYLE of American Manufacture.

Note:—The CHARLOTTE SKATE, designed and used by CHARLOTTE, is not as yet being manufactured in America, but it will be on the market next winter. Those who desire this skate should accept none as the genuine CHARLOTTE Skate unless stamped with her trade-mark on the side of the runner.