Started by kbryk, July 8, 2008 · 17 Replies · 15,246 Views
If anyone has trained this skill or has any suggestion of where to start or how to start on this skill, because I believe I am past the point of single arm handstands although there's always room for improvement and I hope single arm handstands will help improve my handstands in general.
I need some basic ideas of progressions, hand placement, how to lean the body once you are in the handstand.
read this from beastskills http://www.beastskills.com/training%20archives%20nov%20dec%2006.htm
also read the york handbalancing course http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Hoffman/YorkHandBalance/yorkhb2.htm
Those are the two I've been looking at so far, I was just wondering if anyone has any personal experience or knowledge they could lend me.
Hi Kbryk,
Are you very proficient at freestanding handstands? it seems from some of your other posts you are quite advanced (compared to many others on the forum). I would suggest building up to about an easy 2 minute (to the the point where it is easy strength wise and balance wise) one. I would ask Ido, as he has experience training the one-armed handstand from both personal experience and from equilibrests (handbalancers).
I would start on a one-armed wall handstand, developing the strength. If you are unable to hold yourself there for a significant amount of time (5 seconds at 50% max) place the non-working hand ever slightly on the ground and progressively use less and less effort with it. Then once you have built the strength to hold the one-armed handstand without assistance from the other hand for at least twenty seconds you could start working on the balance. Either of two ways, firstly follow Coach Sommer's wall handstand advice except catered to one-arm, or get into a freestanding handstand and slowly lean over one arm and reduce the amount of assistance with the other arm.
Does this help? Hopefully,
Ed
Hi Kbryk,
I'm a novice, but use one arm handstands against a wall sometimes as static hold. Be careful, you can easily injure your wrist!
Greets, Danny.
I've been working handstands for awhile they are almost like second nature for me now 
. Back when I was in gymnastics our coach use to make us do 3 sets of 2 minute freestanding handstands with a spotter just in case we started to loose our hollow position or lost balance so I'm use to hard work and my shoulders burning.
I think I'll work the 2 handed handstand then slowly allow more effort on the other arm.
As for wrists I'm not to worried, there is always going to be pain when you first start something, we all just have to remember to stretch the wrists; unfortunately that's something I didn't do when I first started gymnastics training and I learned my lesson. :x
Over the past year, me and my advanced students have been working on the one handed handstand and I acquired quite a lot of knowledge on the training procedures and workouts required to achieve it. I've also trained with two equilibre artists who are students of one of the biggest masters of handstand circus training - the french Claude Vitoria.
I'm now in Russia, but once I'm home and have the time, I'll post more information for the ones who are interested in professional handstand work.
Sounds great, looking forward to the information Ido, you always have some good info.! The only problem I am having right now is sort of a cramp in the side when I begin to lean on my dominate hand more, since I am using my right hand on the floor I get a sort of cramp/slight pain in my left lower back/oblique it seems. I've been doing lower back stretches and more oblique stretches because of this, it seems my strength level is pretty good for the one arm handstand so far, it just needs some practice and work.
The one arm handstand
The one arm handstand work is one an art of itself, from the world of circus called in french 'equilibre' - balance.
It is taught by masters, mainly from three schools of technique - the french, the ex-soviets and the chinese. Each school has a different technique and training methods, but someone without a deep knowledge and understanding of the small details would find it hard to distinguish the different aproaches.
I mainly studied under the french school, although I've taken one class from a chinese master (which was completely different and challenging) and also was influenced by some material from the ex-USSR.
There is a big problem to learn one arm work without a master correcting you. Basicly, learning from a master is 90% hands on corrections and very little theory or new inovative technical exercises.
Basicly, this is the way to learn a one arm handstand:
1. Learning the basic 3 positions, who lead to the rest of the infinite ways to stand on one arm.
2. Learning the correct allignment - this is a very difficult subject and you spent most of your time, for years, on perfecting this allignment.
3. Learning some 'fix-it exercises' to help with mistakes and problems with allignment.
You can have a look at my blog to see video clips of a me training with my friend and 'Le Reve' performer Yuval Ayalon in his Vegas home. I go through one of the main exercises before disconnecting the arm from the floor, and Yuval shows a demo set of one arm handstand on both sides.
http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2008/04/las-vegas.html
One arm handstand is the most difficult physical element I have met in my life, so far. I have been training them seriously for a year, and let me tell you, it is sometimes frustrating and difficult to keep it up. Me and my student Grito are on the verge of making the one armers consistent and we both have achieved 5-10 second holds, but not every time.
The road to the one arm handstand will teach you a lot about your body.
I recommend finding a master and taking some classes/workshop under him to get things rolling in the right direction. Bad habits are the worst thing about this discipline.
Hey Ido,
Those videos on your blog are insane! You are a very good athlete! 
Keep it up and keep the videos coming!
Thank you, Gymrob.
I agree gymrob, Ido those vids are awesome! And some cool training advice on the blog too.
Ido Portal said:The one arm handstandThe one arm handstand work is one an art of itself, from the world of circus called in french 'equilibre' - balance.
It is taught by masters, mainly from three schools of technique - the french, the ex-soviets and the chinese. Each school has a different technique and training methods, but someone without a deep knowledge and understanding of the small details would find it hard to distinguish the different aproaches.
I mainly studied under the french school, although I've taken one class from a chinese master (which was completely different and challenging) and also was influenced by some material from the ex-USSR.
There is a big problem to learn one arm work without a master correcting you. Basicly, learning from a master is 90% hands on corrections and very little theory or new inovative technical exercises.
Basicly, this is the way to learn a one arm handstand:
1. Learning the basic 3 positions, who lead to the rest of the infinite ways to stand on one arm.
2. Learning the correct allignment - this is a very difficult subject and you spent most of your time, for years, on perfecting this allignment.
3. Learning some 'fix-it exercises' to help with mistakes and problems with allignment.
You can have a look at my blog to see video clips of a me training with my friend and 'Le Reve' performer Yuval Ayalon in his Vegas home. I go through one of the main exercises before disconnecting the arm from the floor, and Yuval shows a demo set of one arm handstand on both sides.
http://idoportal.blogspot.com/2008/04/las-vegas.html
One arm handstand is the most difficult physical element I have met in my life, so far. I have been training them seriously for a year, and let me tell you, it is sometimes frustrating and difficult to keep it up. Me and my student Grito are on the verge of making the one armers consistent and we both have achieved 5-10 second holds, but not every time.
The road to the one arm handstand will teach you a lot about your body.
I recommend finding a master and taking some classes/workshop under him to get things rolling in the right direction. Bad habits are the worst thing about this discipline.
Hello Ido congratulations for your blog! Are you from Brazil?
Im from brazil and here nobody knows whats handbalancing. I practise for myself following instructions i found in the internet since 2005, can you develop a little bit further the correct allignment stuff? I can hold a straddle one handstand for almost 30 secs but when i keep the legs together i barely hold 5 secs, and i think the problem is the correct allignment of my body. Thanks for the information and keep up the good work!
English is not my mother language so ignore the spelling errors.
Oi, jutajata.
Nao sou brasileiro, nasci e criei em Israel, mais visitei ao Brasil muitas vezas e tambem quase me cascei com uma Mineira muito tempo atras.
Actualy, there are many brazilians circus schools that have some equilibre program and training. I know at least two - one in Minas and one in Rio.
About allignment issues: it is a complex matter and text only would not suffice.
Me and coach Sommer are going to release a book accompenied by DVD about the one arm handstand - training, allignment, flexibility work for shoulder opening, wooden cubes exercises, and basicly all that you need to develop the one arm handstand by yourself. This project is in the works, and will be released later this year through the gymnasticbodies web site. Stay tuned.
:shock: Awesome a one-armed handstand dvd! That should be awesome.
Ed
I'd really like to get a hold of that dvd as well!
I trained a bit with a very good chinese hand balancer (but I was weak at the time and wasn't even close to being ready for one arm handstands) and a little bit with a russian coach, but only for a month or so.
Since then I have pieced together a bit of a starting point for people, though jutajata you probably know all this. ( we chatted on msn, if I recall correctly)
Just like with two hands, being 'perfectly balanced' in a one hander is not possible. You will always be slightly over balanced and slightly under balanced, constantly adjusted by your fingers. Body tightness is huge here.
Also, don't lean your weight directly towards the primary hand, but lean the direction your little finger points. (and keep your hands spread out wide, it makes things easier)
The first practice exercises I would recommend would be to get into a regular two handed handstand, and lean over until there is more weight on one hand. Keep the other hand on the floor. Get comfortable keeping balanced while moving your weight from hand to hand.
Once this becomes easy, you can start pulling your off hand up to just the fingertips resting on the ground instead of your whole hand. Work this until it becomes second nature, such that you can balance as well in one of these as you can in a regular two hander. You should be able to kick up / press into a handstand with one hand flat and just fingertips on the other.
I would also advise working the handstands on as many different objects as possible - floor (hard, carpeted, non-moving blocks, flexing posts, parallettes or parallel bars, anything else)
Then pick fingers up, one at a time, until you are comfortable holding it with just one finger + the primary hand. Try to control the balance as much as possible with the primary hand. Before too long, you will be able to just lift up the last finger.
Practice as often as possible, as much as your recovery abilities allow.
Ido-
Woah a dvd of one arm handstand, you read my mind, thanks for the great iniciative!
Great work.
Raphaelb-
Yes i remember you from youtube and msn, you really give very good advices, i think a very good thing that helped me is hips control, i can lock better the one arm handstand when my hips are very tight to the side i lean and my body weight is going over my pink finger just as you said, i feel the weight concentrating in the palm of the hand and on the lateral of my body, the fingers allow me to hold the position of the legs, this only happens when my legs are separated. :?
But im sure after this dvd we are going to learn a lot of new things about this great art and science.
Thanks for everything guys!
BTW i have a video of my presentation here in Brazil, i learn all this stuffs from yoga, nothing really awesome but its a start, i really want to put a tight one arm handstand at the end of this routine and do a lot of improvements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF4QOaLo0Dk
And here a video doing the straddle one arm handstand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2VR8ZMVLjU
Any advice is very welcome!
Hello all,
I'm new to this site and I find it wonderful to share with others the joys of hand-balancing. I've been hand-balancing for a year now and have become proficient at handstands (my longest static handstand at 1min 10sec) and various presses. Next on my agenda is the 1-handed handstand.
This is a tricky skill to learn, at times it feels impossible. I've been practicing it on/off for the past 4-5 months, but I got really serious about it just this past month and have dedicated my ENTIRE training session to learning it. Mostly because I sprained my left wrist and can't put too much pressure on the heel of my left palm, so one-hand handstand is pretty much what I'm restricted to. Since the injury I've actually had to modify my 2-handed handstand such that my left heel is lifted off the ground and only the balls of my palm and fingers do the work for my left hand.
Indeed, you learn a lot about your body and how to make each part work together when learning this. I've had to modify my body position several times to get into a comfortable position. My trick, which I know most of you do as well, is to lean to one side such that my body leans in the direction of my two outer fingers (it really does work). This allows my body to be slightly over balanced and requires my finger to just push off the ground to establish balance. Also, I contort my waist such that I end up leaning even more to one side and my left hand is in no reach of the ground and my left feet is pointed upward.
Although the longest I've ever held a 1HH was only ~4 seconds, I've gotten to the point where I can easily and quickly place all my weight on my one arm and have just a few fingers on my other hand touching the ground for stabilization, and I can hold this position for ~10-15 seconds. There's also a temptation to quickly lift my other hand off the ground in a hurry to get a one-hander.
Everyday I'm learning new techniques and have had to add that to what I already know. It's been frustrating at times, since you can't train for to long because it brutal on the wrist, but it's really exciting process.
If any of you can give me any other pointers that would great! I'll post later to keep you all updated on my progress.