Keisha Hill, Staff ReporteIt's one of the most popular Olympic sports for good reasons. Gymnastics competitions feature incredible skills, feats of strength, balance and coordination and near-perfect performances.
Over the next two days, potential gymnastic stars will display their skills at the 11th staging of the Gym Stars Invitational Tournament, scheduled for the University of Technology (UTech) Gymnasium.
The event, which swings off today, is hosted by the Ishimoto's School of Gymnastics in an effort to sensitise individuals regarding the presence and development of gymnastics in Jamaica.
The school, which was founded 12 years ago by Yasunori Ishimoto, has over 100 students enrolled. Classes are held from the kindergarten to adult level.
Competition and fun
The tournament should be a mixture of competition and fun as participants will be judged on routine at all levels to see if they incorporate the basic rules and perform with consistency.
The tournament is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with a level-one competition, featuring students at the beginners level. The second session will feature an inter-school competition, followed by level-two and three events and the final session for advanced individuals at 4:30 p.m.
With over 170 persons registered to participate and more than 30 gymnasts in the line-up, tournament action will start at noon with the Jamaica Amateur Gymnastics Association (JAGA) level two and three and level A and B open events.
According to Ishimoto, gym-nastics is fundamental for the development of body and mind and is good for other sports.
Strength and agility
"Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, agility and coordination," he said.
"Children as young as two years old and adults can become involved. We want to let people know that gymnastics is alive and well in Jamaica."
Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks, including skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and circus-performance skills.
The modern form of gymnastics typically involves exercises on uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and vault (for women); and high bar and parallel bars, still rings, floor exercise, vault and pommel horse (for men).
