VIDEO: Calisthenics – Strength & Flexibility

Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and control.

The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest and abdominal muscle groups.

Alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics.

According to Wikipedia, Calisthenics are exercises consisting of a variety of gross motor movements—running standing, grasping, pushing, etc.—often performed rhythmically and generally without equipment or apparatus. They are, in essence, body-weight training.

They are intended to increase body strength, body fitness, and flexibility, through movements such as pulling or pushing oneself up, bending, jumping, or swinging, using only one’s body weight for resistance; usually conducted in concert with stretches.

When performed vigorously and with variety, calisthenics can provide the benefits of muscular and aerobic conditioning, in addition to improving psychomotor skills such as balance, agility and coordination.

Urban Calisthenics is a form of street workout; calisthenics groups perform exercise routines in urban areas. Individuals and groups train to be able to perform advanced calisthenics skills such as muscle ups, bars spins and both front and back levers.

Sports teams and military units often perform leader-directed group calisthenics as a form of synchronized physical training (often including a customized “call and response” routine) to increase group cohesion and discipline. Calisthenics are also popular as a component of physical education in primary and secondary schools over much of the globe.

The word calisthenics comes from the ancient Greek words kalos, which means “beauty” (to emphasize the aesthetic pleasure that causes the perfection of the human body), and sthenos , meaning “strength”(great mental strength, courage, strength and determination).

It is the art of using one’s body weight and qualities of inertia as a means to develop one’s physique. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica it was named after one of its earliest proponents, the Greek historian Callisthenes, even if it has been adapted to English with wrong spelling.

Disciples of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn brought their version of gymnastics to the United States, while Catherine Beecher and Dio Lewis set up physical education programs for women in the 19th century. Organized systems of calisthenics in America took a back seat to competitive sports after the Battle of the Systems, when the states mandated physical education systems.

Calisthenics is associated with the rapidly growing international sport called street workout. Street workout as a sport consists of athletes competing against one other by each showing their body-weight strength and body-control in timed routines to impress a panel of judges.

The World Street Workout & Calisthenics Federation (WSWCF) based in Latvia orchestrates the annual National Championships in up to 50 different countries (as of 2015) and hosts the World Championships for all the national champions to compete at one competition.

The World Calisthenics Organization (WCO) based in Los Angeles, CA. promotes a series of competitions known globally as, Battle of the Bars(R).

The WCO created the first ever set of rules for true 1 vs 1 competitions, including weight classes, timed round system, original judging criteria and a 10-point must system – giving the increasing number of athletes worldwide an opportunity to compete in these worldwide competitions.