We have now shown most of the principal movements on the horizontal bar, a great many of which, when properly acquired singly, can be performed in combination. For instance--
Start with the short circle, throw the legs over the bar into sitting position, then sit swing backwards, leave go with the hands, two hock swing backwards, and off the bar on to your feet as in Fig. 18.
Again. Upstart, clear circle (three or four times) into sitting position, sit swing forward, change hands, and hock swing off.
A very dashing-looking feat is the upstart and splits in one movement. Care must be taken not to allow the body to touch the bar, or your impetus will be stopped just when it is required for clearing the bar.
This concludes the Horizontal Bar. We will now proceed to describe the exercises on the Parallel Bars.
The Parallel Bars are very simple in their structure. They consist of two bars, running side by side, supported by uprights at a sufficient height from the ground to allow the feet to swing clear. The width should not be more than eighteen inches; length about seven feet.
The exercises that can be performed upon this apparatus are various and attractive; some of them comparatively easy, the more advanced very difficult, and requiring great strength and skill in their execution.
Rise into position as in Fig. 33, and walk with the hands to the end of the bars, keeping the arms stiff, legs straight, and toes pointed. Now walk back again. Now proceed along the bars by a succession of jumps with the hands and back again.
Let the body sink down, as in Fig. 34, and hop along in that position forwards and backwards. Be careful to keep the body steady and legs straight.
Position as in Fig. 33. Now commence swinging the legs backwards and forwards. When accustomed to this movement, throw the legs over the bars in front of you (Fig. 35), then bring the hands to the front (Fig. 36), and bring the legs over again between the bars into original position. Do this several times in succession, and vary the exercise by commencing with throwing the legs behind.
The _pumping movement_ is a splendid exercise for bringing out the muscles of the chest, and is performed as follows. Swing the body into a horizontal position, as in Fig. 37; then bend the arms and drop into Fig. 38. Swing the legs forward, and with the impulse this will give you come up into Fig. 39, and finish with a swing back into position from which the movement was commenced. In the backward ‘pump,’ commence from the position as shown in last figure, and drop with the backward swing. It is a pretty movement to combine the two--first forwards, then backwards, in alternate swings, and then to leave the bars by a side movement on to your feet, as in Fig. 40. This last movement is one of the neatest and easiest ways of leaving the bars, and can be done either forwards or backwards, and on right or left side.