PUHI — The gymnasts have come a long way in one year, said Jack Leonard, owner of Kaua‘i Gymnastics. Sunday, the public is invited to visit the groups at a free annual exhibition at the Kukui Grove Center starting at
PUHI — The gymnasts have come a long way in one year, said Jack Leonard, owner of Kaua‘i Gymnastics.
Sunday, the public is invited to visit the groups at a free annual exhibition at the Kukui Grove Center starting at 1 p.m.
Leonard said all three groups — the Iki, Hoku and Kula — will be joined by parkour participants, a new program which started in June of 2010 at the Puhi gym.
Parkour started in France by David Belle who was influenced by his father’s experience as a rescuer and military fire fighter, states online sources.
“The basic concept is to get from point A to point B in the quickest way possible,” Leonard said of parkour. “You’ll see flips, rolls, jumps as people overcome obstacles between point A and point B.”
Parkour is described as the art of forward motion in spite of obstacles, states online sources. The goal is never to move backward but to overcome obstacles fluidly, with strength, originality and speed.
“The gym is like a giant playground with obstacles,” Leonard said. “Right now, we have four classes from kids to adults.”
Leonard said parkour is good for the community because participants work in the gym but spend the greater part of their lives outdoors and can use what they learn when they see it as part of the outdoors.
Working out becomes a matter of leaping from walls, over gaps, ground rolls and precision jumping instead of just running in a straight line.
“It’s scary,” Leonard said. “Not spider scary, but roller coaster scary. You can ride the roller coaster over and over, but after a while, it’s time for another ride because it gets boring.”
During the exhibition, the Swedish Air Track, the only one in Hawai‘i, will be taken out as it was during last year’s exhibition.
The apparatus, when combined with the spring floor mat at the gym in the Puhi Industrial Park, offers greater flexibility in training during jumps and stunts, Leonard said.
“We’re the only gym in the state to have it and it’s very forgiving. The Waimea cheerleaders worked on it prior to leaving for the state competition,” Leonard said. “Kaua‘i Gymnastics offers the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation champions use of the gym so they can prepare for state. We also had the Pop Warner cheerleaders working out prior to their leaving for the national competition which is taking place through Saturday in Florida.”
Leonard brings more than 37 years of experience teaching physical education and coaching gymnastics to the island. He is a past nine-time National Champion who graduated with a degree in education from Ohio State where he was a cheerleader, states the Kaua‘i Gymnastics website.
He has coached all levels from 3-year-old beginners to Olympians, earning two National High School Coach of the Year awards, was an assistant coach to three-time Olympian Dominique Dawes and ran a successful after-school gymnastics program.
Visit www.kauaigymnastics.com for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
