Gymnastics originally comes from the Greek word “gymnos”, meaning “to train naked” – a reference to the fact that athletes at the time exercised naked.
Nowadays, gymnastics is mainly a preparatory exercise that trains the body in a general and versatile way, i.e. it involves natural human movements.
The exercises and exercise sequences are extremely varied. Strengthening exercises, stretching exercises, exercises with your own body weight or with a device, exercises that can be done alone or in pairs, exercises that follow strict rules, or free exercises. In addition to general strength, the aim is to improve flexibility, mobility, coordination, reflexes, balance, endurance and body awareness.
The goal is a healthy body and harmony between body and soul. For the ancient Greeks it was clear that control over one’s own body was not a matter of course, but could only be achieved through practice. And while in this way a person becomes more familiar with his body and is able to perceive it more subtly, he must inevitably master his soul or spirit. And this approach is not at all far from what yoga was originally in India.
For me, the pursuit of health is a fundamental thing, both in training and in everyday life. It is first and foremost an awareness. An awareness that our body is a gift that allows us to experience existence during our life on earth. If we do not respect our bodies, know them, become aware of what they need, what is good for them and what is bad for them, we cannot be present in our lives as a whole.
If you understand what is in the exercises, what is behind the exercises, what is the purpose and the result of the exercises, the physical and the spiritual aspects are quite naturally connected. That is the essence of practice.
For me, practicing gymnastics is like water. It’s so basic that it’s easy to forget how important it is. Only when we slow down, don’t want to be anywhere else, don’t think about the future, do we really taste it. It’s like asking your body what kind of movement it wants to make, and then watching what kind of sensations that movement evokes in the body, and where that takes you.
Like everyone else, I have been familiar with the practice of gymnastics since childhood, but after I had the opportunity to immerse myself in sports science at Semmelweis University, I realized what should be obvious in any society: that the task and beauty of a general knowledge of movement should be part of everyday human life.
In this program we deal with general gymnastics exercises, you could say this is the surface. From here, we dive into our own bodies and immerse ourselves in the sea of ourselves through these exercises.