Friday, March 12, 2010
Tumbling
On Location Report
Vol.01 Sneak peek into Rhythmic Gymnastics practice!Yamamoto-kun, Seto-kun and the other actors basically have no experience in rhythmic gymnastics... As the cast of the drama will perform all the moves themselves without the use of any stand-ins, they had to get used to gymnastics quickly. Actually, they had started practicing since autumn last year!!
The boys are under the guidance of Coach Yamada from Kokushikan University's Gymnastics Club.
He's a great guy with a great smile but when the cast members transform into his students, the strict coaching begins!
On the first day of practice, the boys met with the coach and started to ply themselves into flexibility. Flexibility is the foundation of gymnastics. The cast members did 180 degrees split with their legs, with their bodies flat on the floor. In the beginning, it was pretty tough on the thighs... Even now shrieks of "Ouch~" could be heard as they stretch in pairs, but still they do so smiling. It's important to practice daily. The bodies were stiff at first but with continued practice, they managed to do a proper split. I can feel everyone's power working together!
Inspired by the sight of flexible bodies all around them, the producers too thought they'd start... Yamamoto-kun who was stretching burst into laughter looking at the producer whose body refused to co-operate (*laugh*)
"I was like that when I first started too." Hearing those words, the producer said,"I wonder if I can get that flexible too..." The web staff whose hands have never managed to touch the floor during bend and stretch exercises are secretly practicing too. I wonder if we'll get flexible before the drama ends...☆
Next, with a bamboo stick in his hand, practice with music started under the coach's watchful eye.
He looks at them from the tip of their hands to their tiptoes, and makes them redo the exercises countless times... Then, he calls out "Last one!" and "Alright!" He cuts an impressive figure as he fires everyone up. For a moment he smiles and it really feels like a real team!!
As with the drama's title, they had tumbling practice too.
Doing somersaults on the mat is one of the features of rhythmic gymnastics. Back somersaults require more skill... and involves a certain amount of danger, so practice is done one-to-one! It would be scary if the landing failed!!
You cannot do a back somersault right away, so the practice starts from front handspring → front somersault → back handspring.
When the boys were still in the beginning stages of practice, there were times when they fell on their shoulders while doing the back somersaults and you can see their bodies automatically take on a defensive posture... After Yamamoto-kun jumped, you could hear him mutter "Scary...". It gives me chills just looking at them, but they looked like they were having fun as they cheered each other on!!
For the rhythmic gymnastics team to perform, teamwork is life!
With the bonds that have deepened for the actors practicing since last autumn, their real rhythmic gymnastics performance is a must-see!!!
A little about rhythmic gymnastics :
The Japanese version of men's rhythmic gymnastics has individuals performing on four types of apparatus : the double rings, the stick, the rope and the clubs. Groups do not use any apparatus. Also includes tumbling performed on a spring floor. Points are awarded based on a 10-point scale that measures the difficulty of the tumbling and apparatus handling. Wikipedia
Learn the terminology before the drama starts. Another one with animation.
Labels: Spring 2010 Drama, Tumbling, Yamamoto Yusuke
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On Friday, March 12, 2010 9:31:00 PM,
wrote...
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Thank you for the report ^_^
Just an info: I don't know for all the actors, but I can say Yanagishita Tomo had already a little experience in rhytmic gymnastics!
For the Kakushigei Taikai 2009, he did a performance with some D-Boys members (Endo Yuya, Kaji Masaki, Takahashi Ryuki and Hashimoto Taito), and other men I don't know. The coach was already Yamada Kotaro-san.
We can see the practice here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIkSdRxVjd8
and the performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYiK4thJNHo -
On Monday, March 15, 2010 4:44:00 AM,
unleashthegeek wrote...
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Thanks. I only know Tomo from Akai Ito :)
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On Tuesday, March 16, 2010 3:46:00 AM,
makichan5 wrote...
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If you know him from Akai Ito, it's already wonderfull \o/
