History of Gymnastics Gymnastics is one of the world s oldest physical activities and its roots can be traced back

thousands of years. Gymnastics is derived from the Greek word (gymnos) meaning naked, as the men did perform sans clothing. Gymnastics can be depicted in Egyptian artifacts called frescoes which show acrobats performing various stunts such as leaping over bulls. In the 2nd century BC, men and women on Minoan Crete practiced bull leaping where they would run toward a charging bull, grab its horns, and upon being tossed into the air, execute various stunts midair before landing on the bull s back and dismounting with a flip. This can be considered a very primitive form of vaulting. Tumbling was also an art form in ancient China as well. Stone engravings that date to the Han period (206 BC- AD 220) were found in the Shandong province. The concept of a gymnasium came from a place the Roman legions trained themselves. Wooden horses were used to teach the soldiers how to mount and dismount quickly. In ancient Greece, programs of gymnastic exercise were developed for the maintenance of good physical condition, for military training, and as part of the conditioning regime for athletes. After the fall of the Roman Empire, acrobatics survived through traveling minstrel shows that performed songs, stories, and did a lot of tumbling during medieval times. Modern gymnastics was brought into the picture by Johann GutsMuths from Germany who developed a complete program consisting of exercises that were designed to improve balance, suppleness, and the muscular strength of the body. Johann s follower, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, developed three apparatuses still used to date: the high bar, the parallel bar, and the rings. Gymnastics became popular in Europe as primarily physical training for the military. Over the years, gymnastics was limited to military federations. In the late 1800s, civil federations were formed across Europe. In 1881, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), later renamed to Bureau of the European Gymnastics Federation, was formed. This organization pioneered the international competition. The first large scale gymnastics competition was held at the 1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece. The 1924 Olympics marked the beginning of gymnastics competed as it is today, with men competing for individual Olympic titles in each gymnastic event.

Forms of Gymnastics Competition events in gymnastics fall into one of three categories: Artistic Gymnastics, Rhythmic Gymnastics, and Trampoline Artistic Gymnastics y Performed by both men and women on different apparatuses y Men compete on floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal (high) bar. y Women compete on vault, uneven parallel bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. y Competition includes individual all around events and team events, scored over each apparatus. Rhythmic Gymnastics y Also referred to as modern gymnastics y Strictly a women s sport y Gymnasts perform on a 13 meter square floor area to the accompaniment of music y Performance includes the use of rope, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon, and combinations of these in the group event Trampoline & Tumbling y Tumbling includes power tumbling, performed on elevated spring runways that help tumblers propel themselves higher than a basketball goal y Trampoline includes individual trampoline, synchronized trampoline, and double mini-trampoline y Synchronized trampoline demands the same skill as individual trampoline; two athletes perform identical 10-skill routines at the same time using two different trampolines. y Double mini-trampoline is similar in concept to springboard diving, using a mat instead of water

Women s Gymnastics Vault -Gymnasts perform complicated vaults in different body positions, such as tucked, piked or stretched. Judges watch for proper body alignment, form, quick repulsion, the height and distance traveled, as well as the number of somersaults (saltos) and twists. Generally, the more saltos and twists, the higher the difficulty value of the vault. In addition, gymnasts should stick their landings by taking no extra steps. Speed, power and spatial awareness are essential to performing high-level vaults correctly. Uneven Bars -Uneven bars demand excellent upper-body strength, split-second timing and an aggressive approach. Bar routines flow from one movement to the next without pauses, extra swings or additional supports. Release moves can go from low bar to high bar, from high bar to low bar, or from releasing one bar and re-grasping the same bar. Many gymnasts also use pirouetting into release moves to earn a high difficulty value. Exact handstand positions are expected with large deductions for even minor deviations. Perfect form, straight body lines in the vertical position and a stuck landing are essential to performing well. Balance Beam -The balance beam, at four inches wide, challenges gymnasts as they must perform routines that give the impression they are performing on the floor. Routines may not exceed 90 seconds and must cover the entire length of the beam. Acrobatic and dance series of movements are used to create high points or peaks in the routines. Several requirements must also be performed otherwise deductions are taken. A fall off of this apparatus results in a 1.00 deduction. Floor Exercise -Floor exercise is meant to give gymnasts the chance to express their personalities through their music choice and choreography. Floor routines may be no more than 90 seconds and must cover the entire floor area. Gymnasts harmoniously blend elements of dance and tumbling while making versatile use of the floor space, varying both direction and level of movement.

How are Gymnastics and Physics related? Almost anything done in gymnastics can be related to physics, whether it is performing on the floor, doing a routine on the uneven bars, or vaulting. Sir Isaac Newton developed three laws of motion that are key to understanding how gymnastics can be formed. Newton s Laws 1. Every object in a state of rest or uniform motion remains in that state unless an external force is applied to it. (Law of Inertia) 2. The rate of change of momentum of an object is directly proportional to the resultant force acting on it. (F=ma where F=force, m=mass, a=acceleration) 3. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Newton s laws help gymnasts determine the amount of acceleration needed to produce a certain amount of force on the floor to achieve a certain height. Newton s third law can be applied to tumbling, as when a gymnast exerts a certain amount of force on the floor, the floor exerts that same amount of force back on the gymnast. Angular Momentum Angular Momentum equals the product of mass, velocity, and distance from mass to the axis of rotation. When a gymnast leaves the mat, they receive all the angular momentum from their push-off, since it can be neither lost nor gained. To change their rate of rotation while in the air, gymnasts must change the distance of their center of mass from the axis of rotation. The angular speed will increase or decrease when this distance is changed.

It is important to stay tight when performing various moves in gymnastics, especially somersaults. In the pictures shown above, the gymnast was trying to perform a standing back tuck. This back tuck was unsuccessful because the radius of her spin was too large for her to make it to the ground on time to land successfully. If the gymnast kept her radius smaller, by staying tight , by keeping her head tucked in and her knees closer to her chest, she would have made it around with enough time to land properly.

In this project I wanted to apply Newton s laws of motion, specifically his second law, to the floor exercise. I wanted to see the effects of applying different forces to perform the same trick. The gymnast used for this project was told to perform a round-off, back handspring, back tuck. When the gymnast ran too slowly, producing a slower acceleration resulting in a lesser force, she was unable to perform this skill. However, when the gymnast ran at the right speed, producing enough force for her to be able to perform each skill correctly, the gymnast was successful.