Flying Trapeze

This Something New was suggested to me by Helen and she accompanied me on the visit to the Gorilla Circus Flying Trapeze School (http://www.gorillacircus.com/) The venue is in Regents Park, closest to St John's Wood tube station, and although I've been the park many times, I had no idea it existed. Its position by the Outer Circle makes it a hot spot for spectators in the form of families out for a stroll, joggers and cyclists - judging from people's reactions to the trapeze gear, this must be the best form of marketing the circus has!

Of the 10 places for the two-hour session we had booked, seven were complete beginners. We thought at first that we'd be spending some time practising on a low bar before getting up on the 30-(ish)-foot high one with the safety net... But after one very brief attempt at hooking legs up over the swing, it was off of the baby bar and onto the main event!

The trick we were learning involved holding onto the bar with your hands, jumping off the platform, hooking knees up over the bar, letting go with hands to hand upside down, then grabbing the bar again before performing a roly-poly dismount. Think that sounds impossible? We certainly did.

Possibly the hardest thing to overcome was the body's reticence to jump off of the platform in the first place! It felt very weird to do, and seemed to result in shaky legs, regardless of success in the rest of the trick. Pulling your legs up and over the bar involved  significant amount of shoulder and abs strength. By far the easiest part of the trick, in fact, was the tumbling dismount!

After about an hour of swinging (perhaps 3-4 swings each) those who had successfully managed the trick (every time, oh yeah!) were set up to try with a catcher on a second swing... First up was Helen, who was frustratingly close but couldn't quite get there. I was up next - and I did it! Knees hooked, upside down, arms stretched out and... the catcher caught me! A third of the beginner's then missed the timing, before Helen's second attempt - which ended in success!

Every successful attempt was really great, but achieving the final trick gave such a massive boost of elation. I felt like I was walking on air (rather than swinging through it!)

I haven't yet decided if I'll try this again, although I do know they have more availability in the last few weeks of summer when the outside kit is feasible...

This is for you if...

If you're used to wearing a harness, don't mind heights and are pretty fit. A lot of the effort required to succeed comes from the momentum of the swing, however a significant amount also comes from shoulders & abs - my aching muscles were testimony enough to prove that!

Recommendations

The lower-body clothing-of-choice seemed to be tight 3/4 length lycra bottoms. Don't worry about shoes, cos you don't wear them anyway. And don't worry if you wear glasses - mine didn't fall off ever!