First Trapeze Adult Level 2 Class

I went to my very first adult level 2 trapeze class. It was still down at the City Museum, but it's on Friday rather than Thursday night. The museum is open during the lesson, so that makes parking more of an issue, since we can't just park in the lot without paying $5, which would make my lessons significantly more expensive. They told me about a nearby parking lot, which we can park in for free. So, that's what I did. But, the walk to the lot from after the lesson was slightly intimidating. I kept a close eye out for shady looking people who might be looking to assault me or something. Other than that, though, the lesson was good.

There were a LOT of people in the class - probably almost 10 in total (I didn't count). The guy from my last class was there. And, I think a lady from the other adult level 1 class last time was there. I think I recognized her from the group performance. Other than that, though, I didn't really know anyone else in the class. There were a lot of younger people. I'm not sure of the minimum age to be in the adult class.

Onto the lesson. Because there were so many of us, my instructor had a co-instructor there with her. So, there were 2 trapeze bars open to practice/learn the skills. Also, she had a list of conditioning exercises for us to work on between our turns.

I'll talk about the trapeze skills first.
1. Around the World - You're sitting on the bar. Left hand is gripping the bar palm out. Right hand is gripping the rope near the left hand, gripping up high. Both arms are straight. You tuck your legs into your chest and pull up with your right hand. Your body revolves around the rope that you're holding onto. when fully around, your legs go over the bar, and you wind up sitting in the same position that you started in.

2. Ladybug - already knew this one, as it was the final trick in my performance.

3. Toe Hang and Heel Hang - Oowww, need I say more. I first did these at my private lesson. I did the Heels better than the toes this time and was actually able to hold most of my weight. Toes, I kept skipping off.

4. Wrapped Angel - Start off with the sequence from my routine - front pullover, front balance, catcher's hang. Then, reach up and grab the ropes. Then, pull yourself up so that you are wrapped in the ropes. There's another step where you go under and around again (double wrapped angel), but the ropes were really tight as is, so I just did the wrapped on this time. Better not to kill myself the first night back.

5. Iron Cross - From standing, wrap both arms around ropes, keep arms straight. Make sure the ropes are into your armpits tightly. Lift body off bar to make sure you can support your weight. Then, lift arms out to make the cross shape.

6. Thread the Needle - This is one I've been wanting to learn and will probably put it in my next performance. Stand, wrap your left leg around the rope (still standing), reach down and hold the opposite rope. Lift your right leg up and onto the rope (making a split). Walk your hands up the rope and arch your back into a nice position.

7. 1 Knee Rollup - we did a sequence into this, split under the bar, then arch your back into a deeper split, 1 knee hang, lock legs, reach up with arms, and then do the roll up (described in more detail in my post about the last private lesson)

So, that's it for the tricks for this week. For conditioning, I did 30 pushups, 3 sets of 20 V-crunches, 3 sets of 15 superman lifts, 3-4 climbs up the rope (don't remember), 3 30 second planks on each side, 3 sets of 15 dips, 3 sets of 15 shoulder shrugs, 1 set of 5 chins (assisted). On the list we were supposed to do 3 sets of 5 chins, 3 sets of 5 pull ups (different grip), and 10 climbs up the rope. So, I did most of it. I was working almost the entire 90 minutes, so I think I got farther with the conditioning than most of the people. I think the guy from my last class might have been the only one to get through everything. It was a lot of conditioning. But, it was good. Between the gymnastics and the trapeze, I'm going to get really strong.