The Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex’s Gymnastics Center provides the space, equipment, and staff to accommodate all gymnastics aficionados, from toddlers learning the fundamentals to elite athletes achieving perfect 10s.
Safety first!
Safe and enjoyable gymnastics can be performed at the venue’s design. A resi-pit and lose foam pit assist alleviate the fear of falling for beginners.
The child-sized equipment is low to the ground and has somewhat altered proportions so that even the smallest individual may make a wonderful leap into this beloved sport. It is for children 18 & under to 4 years old.
AAI brand equipment for men’s and women’s events is top of the line for more advanced competitors. Competitions can be held on two separate exercise floors at the same time.
Floor seats and a videotape-friendly observation platform are available in addition to permanent seating for up to 1,000 spectators.
List of Equipment
Equipment for men and women includes balance beams, uneven parallel bars, vault tables, rings, pommel horses, high bars and parallel bars, trampolines, and two complete sets of floor exercise equipment at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex.
History
Greek gymnastics was derived from the Greek word “exercise naked,” which was used in ancient Greece to refer to all exercises performed in the gym by male athletes. Until the Olympics were abandoned in 393 CE, several of these activities were incorporated into the Olympic Games. This old gymnastics concept included competitions such as athletics (track and field), wrestling, and boxing, which later became independent sports.
Gymnastics as we know it now is based on tumbling and a crude type of vaulting that existed in ancient times. If you’re looking for a good example of a trick performed with a partner, go no further than Egyptian hieroglyphs and a well-known painting from Crete, both of which appear to be some cartwheel or handspring. In ancient China, tumbling was also an art form, and acrobatics are depicted in Han-period stone carvings unearthed in Shandong province (206 BCE–220 CE).
Tumbling was practiced by traveling troupes of actors, dancers, acrobats, and jugglers throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Archange Tuccaro’s work, “Three Dialogues of Sr. Archange Tuccaro,” published in the 15th century, was the first to describe the practice to Westerners (the book contains three essays on jumping and tumbling). Tumbling appears to have developed independently in several cultures, and there seems to be a minimal cross-cultural influence. For example, Tuccaro’s book depicts a hoop-diving technique strikingly similar to a tumbling form practiced in ancient China. Acrobatics of various kinds were introduced into the circus, and circus acrobats initially utilized trampolines.