Balance suddenly much easier!!

I was a gymnast as a kid, and learned the straight line handstand back then.

Then now, as 20 years old I'm starting to incorporate gymnastics style training once again. And it's so cool to do it again!

I was looking through some old school handstand books online today, and I kept seeing the old school arched handstand in the pictures. I had of course seen it before, but I always thought "Oh well, there's really no use for the arched handstand, the straight line handstand is way prettier, and feels A LOT better for the back, plus it makes transitioning through handstand presses easier". Besides, I already knew how to do a straight line handstand.Then after looking through some more pages, again filled with pictures of the arched handstand, I decided just to try it out, you know, for fun.

And my GOD, what a different experience! It was SO MUCH EASIER to keep your balance when freestanding, because you can sort of use your whole body for balancing instead of just your hands. Or at least, that's what it felt like to me.

Normally I can consistently do a freestanding, straight handstand for 10-40 seconds, depending on my kick-up, but with the arched handstand it felt as if I could stand there all day!!

Any thoughts on the different styles of handstands out there, and the uses for them?

While the arch is initially a more natural feeling position, it takes more energy to balance in because the body is not stacked on top of itself.

Trust me, I initially learned by myself using the arch, and would not have gotten to the level of handbalancing that I am at without learning the straight body position.

The idea is not to use your whole body for balance as it is inefficient.

That being said, a lot of professional hand balancers have a slight arch when they balance, but the goal should still be to have hands, shoulders, hips and feet in the same line