flying trapeze!

yesterday I finally did it! I flew through the air with... well not necessarily with the "greatest of ease"... but it was SUPER FUN! I know... what the hell am I talking about already?!

Well, last night I took my first FLYING TRAPEZE CLASS! They just set up at the Santa Monica Pier... http://losangeles.trapezeschool.com/contactus.php check them out!

Anyway, one class is two hours long. I skated to the pier last night after work. The weather was PERFECT! I wasn't sure if they would be open but I decided on the way home from work that I really wanted to do it last night! When I got there I skated to their location and waited for someone to notice me. It looked like everyone that works there was busy working with people. There was only one person on the trapeze and one person on the silk ropes. Still, new operation, small staff.

Finally the guy by the trapeze said "can I help you?" and I said "CAN I PLAY?!"... he laughed and said that I would have to sign a waiver. I said "whatever, I'm ready now, I have my credit card!" So, they had me sign a waiver and they strapped me into my harness.

I was so excited! I have wanted to do this for YEARS! Ever since Carrie did it on Sex in the City!

Well, I got a bit of instruction and the next thing you know I was climbing the ladder to the top. Once I got there I said hello to Effe... the instructor at the top of the rig. He unhooked me from the ladder climbing harness and hooked me up to the trapeze harness. He chalked my hands and reminded me of the take off stance. You hold onto the bar behind you with your left hand with your feet half way off the edge of the platform and your body is arched... your right arm extended. Effe brings the bar to your right hand and you grab it. He is holding onto you by a loop on the back of your harness and you are literally leaning forward A LOT... like, you would fall if he wasn't holding you! So, then he tells you to let go of the bar behind you and grab the trapeze bar in front of you. "ready" means bend your knees... "huh" means step off the platform and point your toes behind you. So, I did! and I was swinging! yea!

Johnathan takes over from there. He is on the ground below the net with lines attached to the harness helping you fly. I guess my form was great for the first time. They were both impressed! I follow directions well... Now Johnathan told me to swing a bit and on the next swing forward he will say "huh" and I let go of the bar and lay flat to fall onto the net below. As I dropped I was so happy! I worked my way over to "dismount" off of the net to the ground.

There was one other guy in the class. He was more advanced than me so he was working on different stuff.

When it was my turn again they wanted me to swing my knees over the bar and hang upside down with my hands above my head... already! holy moly! ok, a bit nervous... but still very fun!

I climbed the ladder, got the harnesses switched, got chalked and was ready to go again. Ready! Huh! and I forgot to put my knees up when Johnathan said to! so, by now I was on my second swing through and loosing momentum... but I still did it. Johnathan pulls the harness straps to help you with the maneuvers. Now I am hanging upside down swinging from this bar in the sky!

Put your hands back on the bar, take your legs down and swing until we tell you to drop...

I did that about 4 times... but better each time, still never correctly!

They were delighted by my enthusiasm and my energy. I kept on going back for more really quickly. They suggested I slow down a bit because I was using up all of my energy... I was still so excited. I did take a bit of a rest after my 4th "drop".

Johnathan had me practice a new technique to put my legs over the bar and hang from my knees. He gave me a practice bar and had me lay on the ground and practice pulling my legs up together and once they are straight up in the air spread them into a V and put them over the bar under my knees. He had me practice that 10 times while I was "resting". Now it was my turn to actually swing through that move. It was a bit easier to do than the first one they had me do. I did it correctly 2x.

By now Johnathan said it was clear I was getting tired because I was "flailing" in the air. I had less control. So, he had me go up one more time for a back flip and then I would be done! A BACK FLIP!

So I climb the ladder to the top one last time. Effe gets me prepared for my swing and I'm off. Johnathan tells me I'm going to swing my feet forward, back and forward, but on the 2nd forward swing I'm going to let go of the bar and grab my knees and do a back flip... yea right!
Ok, so, he shouts the commands and I did it... he spun me through that back flip with the harness ropes and it was so much fun! I was screaming from fear and amazement! Then I lay flat and drop to the net... whew! that was my first class... I was really tired and pumped up too!'

I went to the office and signed up for 5 more classes!

Today I am a bit sore in my arms and my legs and my abs... its amazing how you are getting this total body workout but you have no idea because you are concentrating so hard on what they want you to do.

I love it! Can't wait to go again. Next class they hope I can do the knee hang where I can grab onto someone else and swing with them.

Yep, this is my idea of excitement!