Their curiosity is entirely understandable–to theuninitiated, may have a lower profile than others.However, if you are indeed very serious about your childparticipating in the sport, you can tell those people, withgreat authority, that gymnastics is an excellent way tospend time. Not only does it have a long and illustrioushistory, but it also requires attention and discipline onthe part of a child–more so, perhaps, than one involved inany other sport.

In order to become successful at the sport of gymnastics,your child will have to get into a routine of practice.

This type of routine is different from, say, soccerpractice or hockey practice, in that it does not involvethe concept of physical rivalry with other individuals. Agymnast is not typically seen nhatvip chasing after anothergymnastics youth with a set of rings as one might see ahockey player attacking another person on an opposing team.

Gymnastics does not encourage violence in the same waycontact sports do — indeed, when one is part of agymnastics team, one has to work in synchronicity with andhave a certain trust for the other members, a valuablelesson in this individualism-driven social environment.This can certainly help in any future employment,especially if your child is interested in professions thatinvolve lots of interpersonal communication.

Beyond practice, gymnastics also requires physicaldiscipline. For instance, if you do not move in the waythat you are taught to move when on parallel bars, you willhave falls and disappointment–and then, of course, youlearn from the mistake, pick up, and try it again. Playingat gymnastics braces a person for the future in that way:it prepares them for the inevitable necessity ofdetermination and endurance in any of life’s endeavors,whether in business or in education. In conjunction withschool study habits, practice for gymnastics can indeedlead a young person into a level and graceful confidence.In fact, for as physically driven as gymnastics happens tobe, it is also an extremely intellectual sport: everymotion requires forethought, for in the game, if you do notthink of what you are going to do before you do it, you’llend up on the mat.