A slack rope or a tight rope walker is called a funambulist,
Latin for rope(funis) and to walk (ambulist). Although it was much appreciated
in Ancient Greece, it wasn't considered "sporty" enough for the
Olympics. It became part of acrobatics and circus acts. They tried different
materials heights and tricks. They used a bar to help balance, they juggled
colourful balls, some rode a unicycle, and some even carried people on their
back, all the time on thin wire or rope. Charles Blondin, a famous funambulist
from the 19th century has walked across the Niagara Falls mutiple times. One
time he carried utensils and a stove to the middle of the wire, cooked an
omelet and sent it down to the ship "Maid of the Mist". According to
him a rope walker was "like a poet, born and not made".
In 1977, Philippe Petit's famous high wire act between the twin towers in New York became international news. Around the same time, a bunch of rock climbers in Yosemite National Park, California, when faced with rainy weather, tied up their climbing webbing (one inch wide and flat, like a belt, made of nylon) between trees to pass the time. This became quite a challenge as the line was extremely dynamic even after adding sufficient tension. The line would sink deeper in the middle than it would on the edges and sway from side to side. For a long time, this activity was staple with climbers, who looked at it as a rest activity. It earned a new name, Slacklining, as the line would always be slack, no matter how much tension was added to it. In the 70s, rock climbing was not a mainstream sport. Mostly, it was climbers that slacklined at the time because the gear was predominantly climbing gear that wasn't easy for the average joe.
One day, Dean Potter, a famous climber in the Yosemite valley in California, tied a slackline between two massive cliffs in Yosemite. And Slacklining has changed ever since, becoming a discipline in its own right. There was new gear, new technology and experimentations with different kinds of materials for webbing dedicated for Slacklining. Since trees can be found anywhere and the gear became much simpler to use, more people took it up around the world. It's still a small worldwide community concentrated mainly in Europe, America, and Brazil.
The difference between the earlier funambulists and newer slackliners is very little. In tightrope walking , people mostly used a balance bar to help balance. They also added support ropes to the main wire to reduce the swaying. Charles Blondin and Philippe petit used support ropes in their rigs along with very heavy balance bars. In Slacklining, balancing is mostly done with hands and there are no support ropes to reduce the swaying. Slacklines, because of the materials used to make them are extremely dynamic, allowing one to explore different tensions on the same line.
Slacklining is an art, a sport and a form of meditation all rolled into a one. The only resistance one has on a slackline comes from within oneself .
The basics are simple: Look straight ahead at the end of the line
(not at your toes), focus on one point only, keep the hands loose above the
shoulders, and the knees are slightly bent. While it seems simple enough, it's
not so easy when the entire body is violently shaking on your first few tries
on a slackline. It takes some time and lot of patience before you feel
comfortable with it. Sometimes it's a fight to hold on, at others just a gentle
flow with the line. You soon realise your body inherently understands its own
balance.
At its very core Slacklining is non competitive.It doesn't require a lot of physical strength, but mental strength and can be taken up by anyone at any age, size or gender. It's a great community sport as it allows people from all walks of life to try it out and participate. Since trees are natures perfect anchors, it improves your relationship with nature.
The health benefits of Slacklining are plenty. Its a full body workout at a lower heart rate. It improves core strength and flexibility. The shoulders and hands are always working at keeping the body upright. The thighs and knees are engaged to keep your balance.
It also strengthens small
stabiliser muscles around your ankles, that aren't used to their maximum when
we are just standing. It helps improve focus and concentration. It helps
improve your posture tremendously and this prevents many problems caused by bad
posture, like hunch back and slip disks. It improves the awareness of your body
in space, and thereby makes you less susceptible to injuries. It improves your
coordination.
Funambulists and slackliners probably are "like poets, born and not made". We still continue to thrive on the side line even as Sport climbing, a competitive form of rock climbing has been added to the Olympics from 2020. Even though rock climbing and Slacklining grew side by side, tricklining, the only competitive form of Slacklining was not added. We are a persistent bunch. No matter where we go, we continue to walk the line.
Learned this art and article written by
--- Saurabh Ketkar
In 1977, Philippe Petit's famous high wire act between the twin towers in New York became international news. Around the same time, a bunch of rock climbers in Yosemite National Park, California, when faced with rainy weather, tied up their climbing webbing (one inch wide and flat, like a belt, made of nylon) between trees to pass the time. This became quite a challenge as the line was extremely dynamic even after adding sufficient tension. The line would sink deeper in the middle than it would on the edges and sway from side to side. For a long time, this activity was staple with climbers, who looked at it as a rest activity. It earned a new name, Slacklining, as the line would always be slack, no matter how much tension was added to it. In the 70s, rock climbing was not a mainstream sport. Mostly, it was climbers that slacklined at the time because the gear was predominantly climbing gear that wasn't easy for the average joe.
One day, Dean Potter, a famous climber in the Yosemite valley in California, tied a slackline between two massive cliffs in Yosemite. And Slacklining has changed ever since, becoming a discipline in its own right. There was new gear, new technology and experimentations with different kinds of materials for webbing dedicated for Slacklining. Since trees can be found anywhere and the gear became much simpler to use, more people took it up around the world. It's still a small worldwide community concentrated mainly in Europe, America, and Brazil.
The difference between the earlier funambulists and newer slackliners is very little. In tightrope walking , people mostly used a balance bar to help balance. They also added support ropes to the main wire to reduce the swaying. Charles Blondin and Philippe petit used support ropes in their rigs along with very heavy balance bars. In Slacklining, balancing is mostly done with hands and there are no support ropes to reduce the swaying. Slacklines, because of the materials used to make them are extremely dynamic, allowing one to explore different tensions on the same line.
Slacklining is an art, a sport and a form of meditation all rolled into a one. The only resistance one has on a slackline comes from within oneself .
At its very core Slacklining is non competitive.It doesn't require a lot of physical strength, but mental strength and can be taken up by anyone at any age, size or gender. It's a great community sport as it allows people from all walks of life to try it out and participate. Since trees are natures perfect anchors, it improves your relationship with nature.
The health benefits of Slacklining are plenty. Its a full body workout at a lower heart rate. It improves core strength and flexibility. The shoulders and hands are always working at keeping the body upright. The thighs and knees are engaged to keep your balance.
Funambulists and slackliners probably are "like poets, born and not made". We still continue to thrive on the side line even as Sport climbing, a competitive form of rock climbing has been added to the Olympics from 2020. Even though rock climbing and Slacklining grew side by side, tricklining, the only competitive form of Slacklining was not added. We are a persistent bunch. No matter where we go, we continue to walk the line.
Learned this art and article written by
--- Saurabh Ketkar
सौरभ, I read your article on Slacklining....very nicely written, खूप अभ्यासपूर्वक लिहिलं आहेस. Like you have mentioned, it's an art and sort of meditation.... completely agree ...😊
ReplyDeleteKeep it up👍