GymnasiOn 1v1
An acrobatic combat sport designed to test the human body at every level
I need your help!
I'm spending the next 10 years developing a brand new sport combining gymnastics, martial arts, exercise movements, and strategic decision-making to allow people of any level enjoy competition, risk, effort, and physical contact.
I will be asking for your input and feedback as I learn more about each of these disciplines and how they can be brought together to create something exciting and new.
I’ve spent most of my adult life learning about the human body and how to train it. But when it comes to gymnastics and martial arts, I know very very little. So I’ve chosen to challenge myself by delving into these disciplines from a point of near total ignorance.
But this also means I have the opportunity to document the learning process from day one. There is so much to cover on the journey towards creating a brand new sport out of the best parts of these fields and I definitely don’t expect to be able to do it on my own!
I plan to start by researching, practising, and developing on my own and slowly hone this craft over time. But - because I am doing this publicly - I hope to provoke others to give me advice, correction, and deeper insight along the way. If you see me doing something wrong or have an idea for how I could improve, please feel free to let me know.
Follow on YouTube and Instagram for updates.
But this also means I have the opportunity to document the learning process from day one. There is so much to cover on the journey towards creating a brand new sport out of the best parts of these fields and I definitely don’t expect to be able to do it on my own!
I plan to start by researching, practising, and developing on my own and slowly hone this craft over time. But - because I am doing this publicly - I hope to provoke others to give me advice, correction, and deeper insight along the way. If you see me doing something wrong or have an idea for how I could improve, please feel free to let me know.
Follow on YouTube and Instagram for updates.
THE RULES OF GYMNASION 1v1
(FIRST DRAFT)
1. Standing on each side of a room, two people face each other. We will call them the “red player” and the “blue player”.
2. We start with the red player calling out a particular trick or movement that they are going to attempt. This could be a gymnastics movement, an exercise movement or another movement which challenges skill, strength, balance, and flexibility. They have 10 seconds to decide and call out their chosen movement.
3. The blue player then calls out a number. They have 10 seconds to decide and call out their chosen number. This is the number of points that the red player can score if they complete the movement successfully.
4. The red player then has 10 seconds to complete the movement successfully. If they complete it, they get the points, if they fail to complete the movement properly, the points are taken away and both players switch to be at opposite ends of the room.
5. The previous steps then repeat with the roles reversed. The blue player calls out a particular trick or movement that they will attempt and the red player calls out the points to be awarded or subtracted. This continues for a pre-agreed number of rounds and the scores are counted at the end to determine the winner
(FIRST DRAFT)
1. Standing on each side of a room, two people face each other. We will call them the “red player” and the “blue player”.
2. We start with the red player calling out a particular trick or movement that they are going to attempt. This could be a gymnastics movement, an exercise movement or another movement which challenges skill, strength, balance, and flexibility. They have 10 seconds to decide and call out their chosen movement.
3. The blue player then calls out a number. They have 10 seconds to decide and call out their chosen number. This is the number of points that the red player can score if they complete the movement successfully.
4. The red player then has 10 seconds to complete the movement successfully. If they complete it, they get the points, if they fail to complete the movement properly, the points are taken away and both players switch to be at opposite ends of the room.
5. The previous steps then repeat with the roles reversed. The blue player calls out a particular trick or movement that they will attempt and the red player calls out the points to be awarded or subtracted. This continues for a pre-agreed number of rounds and the scores are counted at the end to determine the winner
Modifications to the base game:
- A contact version is introduced at the appropriate level where each time the players switch sides they try to stop each other reaching the other end of the room. if the player who failed their attempted movement manages to fight past their opposite player to reach the other end of the room within 10 seconds, they then win the points they would have otherwise lost.
Considerations:
- There should be a way to prevent people from offering only very low numbers of points every time. Possibly allowing each number to only be used once. Possibly only allowing increments of 5 or 10. Possibly having a lowest possible score.
- There should be pre-agreed standards for what counts as a properly “completed” movement. At different levels, a list of standard movements should be learned and something like a martial arts belt or a golf handicap is then awarded to each player, depending on their skill level.
- In the contact version of the game there should be some rules to prevent serious permanent harm. Possibly forbidding strikes and gouges to the face or head. Possibly a “tap out” rule where players can surrender by tapping their hand on the floor and their opponent must honour it and let them go.
More to come ...