Okay...so I need to wrap up this series so I can blog about my boring life already!    Part 1 dealt with judging (a quick history and breakdown of how scores are currently calculated) and Part 2 covered five of the individual events (p-bars, floor exercise for men and women, high bar, vault for men and women and women's uneven bars).  Here, I shall talk about the final three events:  pommel horse, balance beam and rings.  Any questions I have received on these I will cover in a Part 4 Blog in the near future.

 

DISCLAIMER:  Still nobody is endorsing the following! 

 

International Gymnastics Judging 101

~Breaking it Down, Event by Event~

 

Pommel Horse

The men's pommel horse event is very similar in difficulty to the women's balance beam.  It takes a great deal of strength, determination, and dexterity to conquer this apparatus.  The gymnast must mount the horse and do required elements such as scissor moves and flares and must also be able to travel from one end of the horse to the other, using the pommel handles as well as the horse itself, and then be able to perform some kind of handstand dismount with a stuck landing.  Sounds easy!    So, what can you look for from the comfort of your couch as you watch these routines?

1.  Form.  Yes, gymnastics is all about form.  Look for legs together, pointed toes most of the time (in some scissor moves it is necessary to have a flexed foot in order to help stop the momentum so that another skill can be performed) and straight arms.  Form is even important on the dismount.  Any form breaks usually result in a .10 deduction.

Russia's Alexie Nemov demonstrates good form on his scissor work:  toes pointed, shoulders back when the feet are forward, and straight arms.

 

2.  Dismount.  The dismount off of the horse at the international level usually consists of a handstand movement sometimes with pirouettes and then leaving the horse and sticking the landing.  Remember, one hop on one leg = .10 deduction, small two-legged hop = .20 deduction, falling on the landing = .50 deduction.  It can never be emphasized enough that the dismount is the last thing a judge sees in a gymnasts routine, so, it could make or break the score of the routine.

Belarus' Ivan Ivankov working the pommel horse.

 

3.  Crowd-pleasing performance.  I cannot begin to describe the thrill I feel when I watch a gymnast perform an amazing pommel horse routine that consists of incredible fast hands for travelling (displaying confidence and mastery of the apparatus), amazingly high scissor and flare movements, and an incredible multi-pirouetting dismount with a stuck landing!  You know it when you see it...so does the audience.  You can hear the crescendo of excitement as the crowd really gets behind the gymnast.  If you're smiling at the end of the routine, it's gotta be a high-scoring routine! 

China's legendary Li Ning in a 1984 picture.  It is necessary for a gymnast to have straight arms while traveling the pommel horse like Li Ning displays here as his entire body's momentum rotates on his straight left arm. 

 

Your turn.  Take a look at this video from the 2006 World Championships...you're watching Alexander "Sasha" Artemev.  See any form deductions during the performance and landing?

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhSDcgsDMcc

This next video is from the same competition and it features some amazing pommel work by China's Xiao Qin.  There's two easy form faults to find...can you see them?  Other than those, this is as flawless a routine as you'll find anywhere.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW6UHFHD6cU&feature=related

 

Balance Beam

The women's balance beam is one of the scariest apparatus ever devised to compete on.  I'm not sure of it's orgins but I'm sure it has some medieval connection to torture!   It's 4 inches wide, usually stands about 4 feet off of the ground, and is 8 feet long.  It's hard as a rock when someone falls on it, or worse, straddles it, and to add insult to injury, there's the gravitational pull of the Earth that further means to destroy a gymnast's self-esteem as she falls.  Yet, when a gymnast performs a routine on this apparatus with beauty, skill, and finesse, it is indeed ballet in the air.

This is personally one of the most emotional events for me to watch, primarily because of my daughter's own love/hate relationship with the beam when she performed artistic gymnastics.  She loved it when she was doing great on it, she loathed it when she was afraid of it.  It's an event that either owns you or you own it for there is not only the required skills to perform, there's the mental aspect of the event as well.  Most gymnasts that we see have had horrible experiences with falls on the beam and it takes a lot of guts to get back up and perform the skill that you fell on originally to begin with.  Beam either makes or breaks a person.

Some of the basic requirements on this event include at least three tumbling passes, a side-flip (like an Arabian or side-somersault), a full-turn, jumps, and a dismount with a stuck landing.  A gymnast must work above the beam as well as performing at least one skill below the walking surface of the beam.  What can you look for at home when you see top-level gymnasts perform the beam?

See those toes wrapped around the edge of the beam?  Doing so helps the gymnast know where the edge is.  The panel of judges looks on....

 

1.  Form.  Yep...it's all about form.  Tumbling on the beam is different than tumbling on the floor.  The hips must be square to the beam and a gymnast cannot have their feet side-by-side (like during a backhand spring series on the floor) because of the narrowness of the beam.  Therefore, a gymnast adopts a one-foot-in-front-of-the-other stance for tumbling skills.  Most often those little toes are wrapped around the edges of the beam, like a monkey, in order to stay on the beam.  Look for leg separation during tumbling (.10 deduction), bent arms which are easiest to spot on strength elements (.10 deduction), flexed foot instead of pointed toes (another .10 deduction), and "pretty fingers."  Pretty fingers usually come in a few different styles.  One style is to just have your fingers together straight which continues the line of the arm.  Another style, more old school, is to hold the invisible egg between your thumb and ring finger.  It's a touch of elegance and sloppy fingers can result in a deduction if the judge feels snarky. 

The AMAZING Olga Korbut from the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summer Olympic games in Munich, Germany, first of the pixie gymnasts to flood the gymnastics world before the age limit was raised to 16 for Olympic competition.  I was only 9 when I saw her perform beam on television.  I was in awe of her flexibility.  I knew at that point in my life that I would never, ever be able to do gymnastics! 

 

2.  Balance checks.  Each wobble on the beam results in deductions.  This is a little tricky because there's usually a range of deductions a judge can take from a .05 deduction all the way up to .50 or more if they add each flying arm swing into the equation.  A balance check is a break in form as the gymnast struggles to maintain her balance.  Sometimes its her butt sticking out, an arm swing correction, or a side-to-side wobble.  For simplicity sakes, take .10 deduction for each balance check you see.  Pay particular attention to a gymnasts full turn element as these usually result in a balance check if not properly executed.

The USA's Shannon Miller beautifully executes a wolf jump.  After that it was common place to see every gymnast performing a wolf jump in their balance beam routine, so, the F.I.G. (Federation of International Gymnastics) devalued the skill to the point where it isn't wise to use it in a routine because it would result in a lower degree of difficulty score.  This is an example of how the sport evolves into higher valued skills as a reult of something that use to be "Wow!" becomes "Ho, hum."

 

3.  Flow.  During the beam routine, any long pause (even just a second!) between movements where no movement is present results in a deduction and can result also in a loss of degree of difficulty if two skills were not connected in a flowing movement.  Looking at the gymnast pausing during her routine is like watching the wheels in her mind moving between fear and concentration.  As much as we want to see her successfully perform the skill, this pause should be deducted for when you're watching at home...another .10.  Note:  don't confuse a pause in the routine with a "ta-da" movement.  It's also important in beam to finish a skill by raising the head and arms in a ta-da salute before continuing on.

Nastia Liukin from the USA performs a very difficult sheep jump.  It's value, in terms of degree of difficulty, is very high because the landing is blind.  My daughter use to perform this on the floor and would quite often kick herself in the head!   Ouch! 

 

4.  Jumps.  A gymnast is required to execute jumps.  Deductions are taken for not achieving the desired 180 degrees.  Look for these and deduct .10 (although the judges can take a greater deduction if, for instance, a split leap jump was only performed at 90 degrees or less).

A Chinese gymnast has fantastic form in the air during her dismount.  It's so great that it almost looks like diving!

 

5.  Stick the landing!  You know the drill, right?  As always, the landing is essential.  One step = .10 deduction, two step hop = .20 deduction, a fall = .50.

The USA's Chellsie Memmel puts the balance in balance beam!  Where is this girl's leg?  Yowsa!!! 

 

Your turn.  Here's an interesting routine by Nastia Liukin.  Unfortunately, I don't have the scores, but I suppose I could find them if I researched it.  It's from the 2006 VISA cup championships and commentator Elfie points out that Nastia's save on beam was equivalent to having fallen off.  What's remarkable is the camera angle used during her tumbling pass on the beam.  It gives the viewer an appreciation of the importance of having the hips square to the beam while landing with one foot in front of the other during a tumbling pass.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4tCed8DGD0

To contrast styles, the following Shawn Johnson 2008 Tyson American Cup balance beam routine displays Shawn's awesome power and makes the viewer realize that she owns this apparatus.  To me, Nastia Liukin with her beautiful lines remind me of the tall and elegant dancer, Fred Astaire, and Shawn Johnson is similar to the powerfully athletic and daring dancing style of Gene Kelly.  Both styles are great yet so different.  During this video, pay particular close attention to Shawn's jumps...do they reach 180 degrees?

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuylzSNKdvg

 

 

Rings

 

I have saved the mightiest of mighty events for last.  The rings, or still rings as they are sometimes refered to, are not for weaklings.  Gymnasts display incredible feats of super human strength performed with control.  I have to remind myself to breath when I see gymnasts performing on rings!  But what do you want to look for during their routines?

Ivan Ivankov from Belarus.  He ain't no wimp!!!

 

1.  Ring stillness.  The whole point to the rings event is to perform skills as if floating in space.  The movement, or swinging, of the rings disturbs this illusion and results in a .10 deduction.  Ring movement can also be caused by a balance check from either under or over rotating a movement.  However, it is necessary to have the rings seem a little crazy during the dismount portion because a gymnast must get momentum in order to perform the dismount and clear the rings themselves.

Ivan Ivankov prepares to begin his routine by testing his grips to make sure they're in good contact with the rings.  Serious injury can result if a gymnast peels off (slips off) this apparatus and falls to the ground whatever way physics dictates.

 

2.  Strength moves held for 2 seconds.  You might be familiar with such gymnastics rings moves as the iron cross or the maltese, but did you know that the gymnasts are suppose to hold these strength moves for a long 2 second count?  Not doing so results in a .10 deduction.  Bonus points are awarded when gymnasts move successfully from one strength movement into the next strength movement.  You'll know when this happens because you'll be saying to yourself, "This is not humanly possible!!!!  He makes it look so easy!" 

 

Raj Bhavsar of the USA performs his iron cross--looks like he could do this all day, doesn't it?

 

3.  Stick those landings.  Imagine the strength you need to not only perform this routine, but to still have the energy to do an incredible dismount usually involving twists and multiple somersaults AND land on your feet?  Well, it takes a lot of strength.  But, any hops, leaps, or falls still result in deductions.  Same as before, one hop = .10 deduction, two-foot leap = .20 deduction, fall = .50 deduction and leaving the landing area (extensive traveling outside of the performance area) could also result in at least a .50 deduction.

 

The amazing Jordan Jovtchev from Bulgaria at 35 years of age.  He didn't use to show so much angst in his face but because of his age, he only is at the gym for about 40 minutes per day and doesn't train as hard as he use to.  Still, he's crazy strong!  Just looking at him makes my rotator cuffs hurt! 

 

4.  Form.  A gymnast must have good form.  Not achieving good form results in deductions, usually .10 for each form break.  Form deductions include not having the legs together, bent arms, flexed feet instead of pointed toes, strength moves not at 180 degrees, and arched back during handstand movements to name the more common form breaks.

 

China's Yang Wei...need I say more?

 

Your turn.  The following home video was taken of the United State's Kevin Tan during the 2007 Visa championships.  Kevin was recently described by Tim Daggett as being so strong "that even his sweat has muscles!" 

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKDCccVvbwE

 

China's Chen YiBing performance from the 2007 World Championship where he easily won the gold medal.  This is as close to perfection as there is on rings yet the judges were able to find at most .80 in deductions (quite frankly, I don't know where they saw them!).  Enjoy.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aYbcMXBf3I

 

So, this concludes the events.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.  I'll do my best to answer them in one final Part 4 blog, including the questions from Parts 1 and 2.  Until then, I leave you with this promotion photo, probably from a gymnastics tour, for rings (never would this be performed in a meet...it's just for fun!):

 

Jordan Jovtchev, just passing the time of day, probably wondering what he's gonna eat for lunch later on. 

Yeah, I know the Olympics are over.  And now that they're over, I'll blog again because I've been too emersed in everything Olympics during the Olympics!  I'd like to discuss some basic how-to's for gymnastics' individual events so you can become an armchair judge, even though it's kind of moot right now because the Olympics are over.  In Part 1, I talked a little bit about why there is no more perfect 10.0 score.  This blog will focus on five of the individual events and how you can determine whether the judge's execution scores agree with your perceived evaluation of the event.

DISCLAIMER:  Again, this blog is not endorsed by anybody, okay?  haha! 

 

International Gymnastics Judging 101

~Breaking it Down, Event by Event~

 

The Bar Events

There are three events between the men's and women's artistic gymnastics events that I would like to address in this section:  women's uneven bars, men's parallel bars, and men's high bar.  At the international competition level the gymnast's routines are made up of complicated skills and on the uneven and high bars those difficult skills linked together can earn combination or "bonus" points when successfully transitioned.  In the uneven bars, women are required to use both bars, high and low.  The men's high bar is a single bar set high above the ground.  Since there is no other bar to transition to, the male gymnast must successfully perform his entire routine on this bar.  Parallel bars is an event where the male gymnast must use the bars in unison as well as individually as he performs the required skills.

So, what does one look for in any of the bar events without knowing the complicated skill value assignment, combination bonuses, and the basic international requirements?  It's as simple as this:

1.  Form:  A gymnast must have pointed toes, legs together when applicable, and legs apart in perfect straddle/pike/tuck positions when applicable.  Also, look for bent arms, also a deduction.  Form breaks can be as low as .05 but for armchair judging purposes, every one you see should be a .10 deduction.

Nastia Liukin of the US shows great form during this release move...her toes are pointed and she's in perfect 180 degree split.

 

2.  Handstand swings that reach vertical, or the 12:00, position.  As a gymnast swings their giants (those are one full 360 degree swing on a bar in either direction, forward or reverse, with various hand positions either two-armed or one-armed) in the uneven and high bar events, all giants must reach the 12:00 vertical position even though there may be pirourette(s) involved.  Some skills on the parallel bars involve a different sort of swing but if you don't see the gymnast reach this magic 12:00 position, that's a guaranteed deduction, too.  Not completing this basic requirement can be at least a .10 deduction for each offense.

Although difficult to see, Chellsie Memmel of the US holds her handstand pirouette at the 12:00 or vertical position with legs together and toes pointed.  Excellent!!!

 

3.  Handstands on parallel bars must be held for 2 seconds with control.  This seems quite straightforward but let me tell you the judges count slower than a real 2 second duration!  If you see a gymnast hold their handstand on p-bars (as it is affectionately knicknamed) for a split second before proceeding to their next skill (rushing), then that's a deduction.  Also, if there is travelling on the p-bars in a handstand movement, that's a big deduction!  For your armchair purposes, though, every loss of control or shorter than 2 second handstand on p-bars should be a .10 deduction.  Also watch for form breaks while in the handstand position and deduct for those as well.

Jonathan Horton of the USA takes a long 2-count in his p-bars handstand.

 

4.  Stick the landing!!!  A great routine should end with a stuck landing.  Any one-foot hops, two-feet-leap forwards, and some very fancy footwork that moves quickly from a landing to saluting the judges will/may result in deductions!  The dismount or landing is the last thing a judge sees and it will greatly influence a gymnast's score. 

Fabian Hambuechen sticks his high bar landing. 

You may hear the term "blind landing."  This is a landing where the gymnast can not see the floor and has no visual reference point and therefore must hope they get their feet under them before the floor comes up.  These dismounts are worth more if performed correctly.

 

5.  Go with your gut.  If you are watching a routine (even without listening to the commentators) and something doesn't seem quite right or there is no smooth transitioning or "flow" between the skills, then there was probably something wrong.  Take a .10 for each "huh?" moment you see.

I think this is one of those "huh?" moments from one of the Hamm twins.  This might be Paul Hamm when he broke his finger earlier this year, but I'm not sure.

 

6.  Notes on falls:  Falls off of these apparatuses will result in at least a .50 deduction.  The judges may take more deductions for incomplete skills, lost combinations, etc., and usually this may result in a lower degree of difficulty score which would drastically lower the total overall score.  Note also that a huge deduction may be taken on the gymnast's dismount if there was a fall or if their chest was waaaay below their hips (lack of control).  So, a fall = .50 deduction.

 

Your turn:  Your job is to watch the following YouTube videos of performances 2006 and later (this is so you can see the new/current scoring system for their routines).  First, take a look at South Korea's Yang Tae-Young on his P-bar finals at the 2006 World Championship.  Do you agree with the jduges?

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3cfe1aoQj0

Check out Nastia Liukin's silver medal uneven bar performance at the 2006 World Championship.  Look for legs together, pointed toes, handstands at the 12:00/vertical position, bent arms, and watch the landing.  The over-head instant replay really allows you to check for bent arms and to also admire how close she comes to the low bar in her giants.  How do you think she did?

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZvSW_E59Og

 

And, finally, on high bar, check out a favorite USA mens team member of mine, Raj Bhavsar, in the recent 2008 American Cup.  No score on this video, but look for bent arms, at least one incomplete vertical handstand and the most awesome landing with a victory hand clap of chalkdust!

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SDguiVX1W8

 

Vault

Both men and women compete vault in artistic gymnastics.  For team events, each gymnast is only allowed one vault.  For the individual event finals, each gymnast is allowed two vaults.  Now, if you've ever seen vaulting, you probably know that the more flips and twists in the air with a stuck landing, the better the score.  Well, congratulations!  That's the point in vaulting!   But why does a gymnast that falls on their landing sometime score higher than the other gymnast who only took a tiny step?  Most of the time it's because of the degree of difficulty (see the first blog, folks) that mathematically make it possible for the gymnast who fell to come out on top in the scoring.  Here's what you can do to determine whether or not you agree with the execution score (the one that starts from a 10.0 and is whittled down into how the gymnast performs):

1.  Running:  Believe it or not, there can be deductions taken for not running toward the vault correctly!  The perfect run should pick up speed increasingly with each step, like a car being accelerated from 0 to 60 mph.  Any gymnast that runs toward the vault and then slows down will receive a deduction as will the gymnast who tip-toes like a ballerina.  You rarely see this in international competition, though.  Take a .10 for sloppy running, if you see it!

Run, vaulter.  Run!!! 

 

2.  Stick the landing!!!  This is the same as the bar events #4 above.  A note, though, on men's vault, additional deductions are taken if the gymnast lands part or one of his feet outside of the parallel lines (or different mat colors) on the landing mats.  A landing that results in completely leaving the designated landing area is usually treated as a fall and receives a .50 deduction.  So, feet not together on the landing = .10 deduction, one foot-hop = .10 deduction, and two-foot hop = .20 deduction.  On the men's side, if the gymnast lands with his chest below his hips, there are further deductions taken, as much as .50!

Ouch!  This is a fall on vault. 

 

 

An Oregon State University college gymnast tries her best to look like she stuck her landing.  Her feet aren't quite together, but pretty darn close.  I think she hopes the judges will notice her nice smile! 

 

3.  Form:  This one is tricky to see without instant replay, but basically what one should look for is whether or not the gymnast's legs are tight together (unless doing a vault in the tuck position) and that the feet are not crossing each other in the air.  Also look for pointed toes in the air.  Each one of these from your armchair is a .10 deduction.

USA's Alicia Sacramone displays awesome form and height in the air as she blocks off the vault table before completing the salto/twisting part of her vault.  Note the position of her hands...she has not turned them yet after her block.  Most likely, she did a round-off onto the spring board (called a Yerchanko) and hasn't rotated them yet.  This is not a deduction.

 

Your Turn:  The following is a vault from Marian Dragulescu, the Romanian powerhouse male gymnast who can either be fantastic on vault or a disaster.  The ultimate vault of his life was performed at the 2008 Beijing Summer games; his first vault, the Dragulescu (named after him because he was the first one to perform the somersault/twist combinations in competition) was as perfect as can be.  But you probably saw those vaults so here is his 2006 World Championship Vault where he performs two vaults, the first being the Dragulescu.  After the first vault, pause the video before you see the score.  Do you agree with the judges?  Continue the video and watch the second vault.  How did he do? 

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVyo5PI3oAg

 

 

Floor Exercise (FX)

This is a very popular event on the women's side because it combines music, dance, and gymnastics for the "whole package" in entertainment.  I think most people really enjoy the FX for women.  So, what do you look for?  At least 3 to 4 tumbling passes, at least one full turn, and a jump series is probably all you need to tick off on your list of required elements.  On the men's side, although they lack the music and dance elements, their event can be almost nail-biting because of the high numbers of tumbling passes (4 or more), a strength-element (those would be the incredible feats of strength like a press-handstand) and a flare and/or scissors movements on the floor (both are borrowed from the pommel horse event).

1.  Tumbling passes.  Tumbling passes usually start off with 3 or 4 running steps, a hurdle step, and then the tumbling series.  Legs must be together unless tuck movements are being performed.  Toes must be pointed.  Look for stuck landings (no hops) and a smile!  Any form breaks, take .10 off.

Crazy action shot of Morgan Hamm tumbling on floor for the USA.

 

2.  Jump elements for women.  Required, a jump usually consist of various forms of the three basic styles:  pike (legs together) or straddle (legs apart to the sides) or split (legs 180 degrees in front/back).  Look for 180 degree legs in a jump...anything less is a deduction.

Picture-perfect 180 degree split leap by Carly Patterson, USA.

 

3.  Full turn requirement for women.  The women must display some sort of full turn during their routine.  For as easy as it sounds, it proves to be one of the most difficult moves for some gymnasts.  Wobbling, lack of smoothness, or incomplete rotation results in various degrees of deduction, but when you see it, take .10 for simplicity.

 

4.  Strength element for men.  Must be "crazy good" and slow with toes pointed, legs together at the 12:00/vertical point, and held for 2 seconds.  Most men will do a press handstand, some go with more difficult moves such as a pike Stalder press.

Jonathan Horton of the USA performs a fantastic press handstand with wide arms!

 

5.  Flare/scissors requirement for men.  The men are required to demonstrate a flare and/or scissors movement.  These movements are usually seen on pommel horse.  Look for smoothness and a landing usually in a nice split.  Go with your gut on this element, however.  If it doesn't look right, there was probably a form fault.

Morgan Hamm prepares for his flare routine.

 

6.  Foot faults.  A step out-of-bounds is a foot fault and is worth .1 to .3 depending on how many feet went out of bounds.  If a gymnast's foot steps on the line, he/she is still considered "in bounds."

 

Your turn:  This first video is of Shawn Johnson of the US.  Note:  this routine is slightly different than what you saw in Beijing.  Also, this is using her old floor routine music.  Pay particularly close attention to her jumps and her final split at the end of her routine.
Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2bahvh1MMY&feature=related

Now, check out Anna Pavlova's 2008 European floor exercise.  She's from Russia and her style is very different from Shawn Johnson.  No scores for this, but I'll betcha it was pretty darn high.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fp0vnsB9G4

On the men's side, one of my all-time favorite gymnasts is Bulgaria's Jordan Jovtchev.  Here he is at 33 years old at the 2006 World Championships.  He's crazy strong and loves the sport so much.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjNfksNa38M&feature=related

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this blog and came away with a little more knowledge of what to look for in the sport of artistic gymnastics.  I'll be discussing the remaining events on my next blog:  rings, pommel horse, and beam. 

DISCLAIMER:  The following is not endorsed by anybody, okay? 

 

 

International Gymnastics Judging 101

~Basic Knowledge & A Quick History~

 

Another Olympic artistic gymnastics competition has come to a close.  For those folks hiding under a rock, this year the Olympic competition took place in Beijing, China.  For those viewers at home (or in the stands) that only see high-calibur international gymnastics once every four years, you might be wondering what happen to the perfect 10.0?    Well, quite simply, it doesn't exist anymore. 

 

Nadia Comaneci of Romania receives the very first perfect 10.0 in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada.  Back then, the display equipment was not designed to go about a 9.99, so her score of 1.0, really a 10.0, caused quite a bit of confusion at first.

 

The 10.0's days were numbered when during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic games there was a huge controversy involving an error in S. Korea's gymnast Yang Tae-Young's parallel bar routine.  The judges had given it a start value(1) of 9.9 instead of a 10.0.  Because of this error, Paul Hamm ended up with a higher all-around score to take the men's all-around gold medal.  Due to S. Korea's not filing an inquiry DURING the meet and after months of IOC deliberation, Hamm was allowed to keep his gold medal. 

 

An ecstatic Mary Lou Retton finds out her vault was scored at a 10.0 during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California...look out Wheeties!

 

I think the F.I.G. (Federation of International Gymnastics) realized that the 10.0 was a ceiling; fixed, with no room for growth in the sport of gymnastics.  Similar to diving, a new Code of Points was adopted and a degree of difficulty score for a routine was put into place for international competition in 2006 which would eliminate the aforementioned scoring cap thus leaving room for the sport of gymnastics to grow.  Using two panels of judges (Panel A and Panel B), a gymnast's score suddenly became a mathematical nightmare for everyone, including coaches and athletes.  It doesn't have to be a nightmare, though, for the average gymnastics viewer.  Let's break it down:

Panel A consists of judges that are like teachers from school correcting tests.  Each gymnast's routine is submitted to the panel at the beginning of the meet and then reviewed by the Panel A judges to make sure that the degree of difficulty submitted matches the intended routine.  During the routine's performance, the judges then make sure that the gymnast actually performs all the skills that they said they were going to perform.  If they don't perform those skills (due to a fall, a failed connection, deliberate omission, fewer twists/revolutions or whatever), the judges then have to recalculate the routine's difficulty and come up with the actual degree of difficulty, usually a lower number.

Panel B consists of judges that use the 10.0 score but in terms of execution.  You'll hear the commentators refer to a gymnast's second score as the execution score.  Every gymnast that performs has the capability to score a perfect 10.0 but in execution of the routine only.  But if a gymnast makes a mistake, the judges have a set value of deductions that they are required to take.  For instance, a gymnast takes one step out of bounds on the floor exercise--this results in a .10 deduction which lowers the execution from 10.0 to 9.9.  If that same gymnast during the floor routine has separated legs during their back-hand spring series, another deduction can be taken.  Sometimes there's a range that the judge can take for certain deductions.  If a gymnast is on the balance beam and slightly corrects a balance check, the judge can take a .05 or .10 deduction.  However, if that same gymnast is wildly waving her arms in great big circles trying to stay on the beam, the judge can take .30 or greater.  After a routine, the number of deductions are subtracted from the 10.0 start to come up with a gymnast's execution score.

 

All-around Men's Gold medalist Paul Hamm from the U.S. is flanked by the S. Korean silver and bronze medal winners of the controversially judged 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

 

What the heck is a 15.125 score?  When Panel A and Panel B scores are added together, then we see some funky numbers that seem to have no meaning.  But really, the new score is a result of adding two numbers together.  Understanding what those two numbers are will help viewers assess whether or not they agree with the judging of that gymnast.  For instance, perhaps Panel A said that the gymnast's routine had a difficulty of 6.8.  Panel B, the execution judges, deemed there were deductions that, when averaged, resulted in an execution score of 8.325 (evidentally, there were a lot of errors in this routine example!   )  At the 2008 Olympics, a good score for most events was anything over a 16.0. 

 

The incredible Russian gymnast, Alexie Nemov, in an all-familiar release move above one of the most crowd-pleasing men's events:  the high bar.  Does anybody remember the judging fiasco on the high bar event final during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece?  In one of the most amazing, release-packed high bar routines ever witnessed, the judges awarded Alexie a 9.725 which caused the whole arena to errupt in a 10-minute booing.  Alexie, himself, tried to quiet the crowd so that the next gymnast could perform his routine without distraction.  Because of the displeasure of the crowd, two of the judge's scores were recalculated and Alexie's score was raised to a 9.762 but that still left Alexie out of the medals.  Another bitter moment of poor Olympic judging....

 

Who are the judges?  Judges at international competitions are people who have been tested and have successfully passed exams in judging therefore resulting in various judging certifications.  A judge has to work up from the lowest compulsary testing all the way to elite standard testing.  They are selected for various international gymnasts events and are usually randomly assigned to judge a particular event so therefore they must be proficient in judging all events.

But, let's step back in time for a moment.  Does anybody remember watching gymnastics on the television during the 1970's and 1980's?  My heart would go out to any western gymnast who was being judged in an event that was dominated by eastern European-block country judges.  There was so much room for playing favorites when the judges consisted of E. Germany, USSR, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, etc.  Maybe there'd be one British judge.  Anyway, if it was obvious to me, as a youngster, to see a Japanese, an American, or a West Germany gymnast to have significantly lower scores than their communist counterparts, it was probably obvious to everybody else involved in gymnastics at that time, too (note:  China had not yet entered into international gymnastics competitions).

Nowadays, In order to avoid obvious cheating, the current practice in Olympic judging is to not include on any of the judging panels a judge who is from the same country as the competitor in the event.  The goal is to be as neutral as possible.  One of the downsides, though, in my opinion, is that some of these judges are not as experienced because their own country's gymnastics programs are not on the same level as some of the current gymnastics power-house nations.  These judges may only see top level gymnastics 2 or 3 times a year in competition.

However, the judging committee tries very hard to make sure all judges are judging consistently.  Before a high-level meet, the judges actually judge a non-participant on each event (a Guinea Pig gymnast, if you will) and then have a pow-wow about what the head judge wants them to look for.  This is to try to get the judges to all be on the "same page" when the actual competition begins. 

 

Nastia Liukin of the US performs a one-arm pirouetting giant on the Uneven Bars event finals at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

 

Part 1 Conclusion:  Judges are human, believe it or not (!), just like the athletes and coaches.  I believe that everybody does the best they can to make sure a gymnastics meet goes smoothly and fairly but it's inevitable that there will be some conflict.  When all of the discussion, name-blaming, and rage dies down, the only person who will truly remember how they were treated after their performance is the athlete. 

 

In my next blogs, I'll get into how you can be a judge from the comfort of your couch without having to know everything there is to know about judging. 

 

1  Prior to the newly adopted Code of Points, a start value was based on the athlete's routine's difficulty.  Gymnastics skills, combinations, and connections were broken down into skill levels (A, B, C, D, E, & F).  The more difficult the skill, say a D, the higher the value.  These values were added together.  Note that each level of competition from the compulsary levels of junior olympics to the elite levels have mandatory requirements for a routine.  Within these mandatory requirements there's a list of skills to choose from that would meet each mandatory requirement.  For instance, on beam, gymnasts are required to display a jump skill.  They can choose to do a wolf jump, ring jump, or sheep jump (all three of these jumps have different degree of difficulty values).  So, if the start value is only a 9.9, there was no way the judging panel can award anything higher than a 9.9.  The start value was the "perfect" score and then the deductions were subtracted by the judges when they saw less than perfect performance.

I haven't been on AnD much because I am an Olympic junkie.  I love the Olympics...I love the roller coaster ride of successes, the near misses and the bitter defeat of my favorite athletes.  I memorize statistics, faces, stories, conflicts, bad judging, tumbling passes....everything I can that I find relevant to the whole Olympic experience.

 

However, I am also preparing myself for my next summer four-hour taiji workshop that will happen this Tuesday, 10am - 2pm.  It will be the second workshop where we will continue learning the Yang 108 Form.  Depending on how your Yang 108 Form is counted, we'll be starting on #56 (Embrace tiger, return to mountain--2nd time).

 

Furthermore, I'm reading a wonderful book that I need to complete and return before by the time of the workshop since it belongs to our instructor, Bob.  It's called T'ai Chi as a Path of Wisdom by Linda Myoki Lehrhaupt (bibliography at conclusion of this blog).  It has such useful information that I am also keeping a journal in order to help remember some of the more interesting tidbits.

 

So, let's set the stage as "they" say....I'm reading my taiji book and I am on a chapter entitled, "True Grit."  During my reading, the Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay (Swimming) race is on TV.  The US men's relay team is considered by many to be the underdogs on paper because their times have been slower than the French men's relay team.  Also, those French team members talked smack earlier saying something to the effect of wanting to "Smash the Americans."  For more about this world-record setting event, click here. This was the most amazing swim race I have ever seen as the US anchor of the team, Jason Lezak, came from behind in a world-breaking 100m split to beat France by .08 seconds!

The US men's swim team rejoices winning the gold medal.

And in the midst of the race, the following taiji-related excerpt from the book just seemed "right" for this auspicious swim team moment:

 

"We learn something when we are challenged to stretch beyond what we think our boundaries are.  When we are always working at a level that seems comfortable, we tend to stagnate.  When we are not challenged, whatever we do learn soon fades.  When we always perform at a chugging pace, our faces never know what it is to glow with joy. (p.174)

"The secret of giving 100% is really that we give everything in the moment or activity.  Normally we think that giving everything means having to make a big effort, usually one that involves a lot of muscle.  But when we are completely present, it is effortless.  Giving, or surrendering to the moment, often means letting go of all the thoughts and dialogue that usually get in the way of just being present.  The most frequent thoughts that fill our moments are usually all the reasons that we simply can't do something.  They are reasons that have been drilled into us or come from an insecure place within ourselves.  But when we just give ourselves the chance to move, the body has a wisdom of its own.  It knows how to measure our energy and pace--and how to get us to let go." (p. 176)

 

Well, this race for me was something special and memorable:  a happy, motivating and joyful experience of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games!  But this quote doesn't have to just apply to incredible athletic performances such as this.  It has relevance to daily "average" life, even if it's as simple as trusting your fingers (muscle memory) to dial a phone number when your brain has forgotten it.  It will have special relevance to me, this coming Tuesday during the taiji workshop, when I will be asked to demonstrate how well I've learned the Yang 108 Form in front of my teacher and peers.

 

Bibliography

Myoki Lehrhaupt, Linda. T'ai Chi as a Path of Wisdom. 2001. Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston, MA.  pp. 174, 176.

The Mummy - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

I need to get this as a full-size poster!

 

Hey, ho!  I went to see the 11:30am showing of The Mummy 3 yesterday, opening day, at the local theater.  It was the second showing of the film that day.  Considering it was so early on a Friday, there was a pretty good turnout for this show.  I would estimate there were about 70 people in the theater with the youngest about 9 years old and the oldest gentleman I saw looked like he was about 75 years old.  Quite a range in ages! 

 

Rick O'Connell and his fiery dragon cannon...

 

This movie seemed to be more geared toward family entertainment compared to the first two Mummy movies, in my opinion.  Although there were some great effect homages carried over from the first two movies, such as one of the tomb worker's face melting (remind me never to sign up for the job of tomb excavator as frequently they are the victim of some hideous tomb trap!   ), they were toned down and not quite as scary.

 

 

What I loved about the movie:

 

Jet Li as the Emperor -- a fantastic portrayal of a selfish, power-hungry, blood-thirsty, manipulating ruler who, when "awoken" from the dead, still lusts for world domination.  His control over the five elements in his renanimation gives him seemingly unbeatable powers.  Now, here's a believable baddie with a lot of issues and fire power! 

 

The Emperor controls the five elements (fire, water, metal, wood, and Earth)

 

Brendan Fraser -- reprises his role as Rick O'Connell.  Brendan gives a great performance and is obviously very comfortable with his character and elevates the believability to a whole new level when confronted with issues regarding his son, love, life and death.  Oh, did I mention there's a very fine shirtless scene? 

 

Jonathan, Evy, Alex and Rick taking the Rolls out for a spin on the streets of Shanghai.

 

John Hannah -- the lovable and comical brother-in-law of Rick O'Connell who is still trying to make his fortune despite his gambling addiction; uncle and Alex O'Connell's guardian-when-Mom-and-Dad-aren't-around; and all around animal lover (you'll just double over with yak-ter when you see the movie!). 

 

The versatile Michelle Yeoh...

 

Michelle Yeoh -- As the sorceress Zi Yuan.  Does this lady ever give a bad performance?  I don't think so!  Michelle is one of the most brilliant actresses I have ever seen.  It is so easy to see that her heart and soul are enterwined with each character she portrays in her movies. 

Russell Wong -- General Ming Guo, Zi Yuan's love interest.  I would have loved to have seen more screen time but, typical of the Mummy movies, we only get the quick and dirty reenactment of ancient history so that we may be brought up-to-date for the meat of the movie itself.  Still, just the right look at the right time on his face intensified the underlying passion between his character and Zi Yuan.

Leap of faith - will audiences love this third installment?

 

Set design -- Out of this world, both in-studio sets and outdoors!  The sets in China were so realistic that I felt my eyes getting gritty from the desert sand and dust.  The massive number of extras used for this production provide the viewer with a glimpse of ancient China's most exploited work source:  human work force.

Costumes -- I really appreciate the attention and detail that productions give to the costumes.  The sheer bulky weight of the emperor's armored costume contrasted nicely to some of the more feathery, form-fitting dresses of the Shanghai nightclub women.

 

Either heading for world domination or a tasty lunch. 

 

Music -- Always the cherry on top of the banana split when it's good and this was definately the case in Mummy 3.  My hat is off to Randy Edelman, the music man!

 

Rick on possibly his last plane flight:  "What do you mean I have to pay $15 per checked piece of luggage?"

 

Comedy -- Even when confronted by the most maniacal supernatural powered baddies, there's always time for our heroes to utter a funny quip in order to relieve tension.  I love the "fun factor" of the Mummy series in this respect! 

Fight scene between Jet Li and Michell Yeoh -- It's too bad this didn't last longer, but I thought it was great!  I hope there's a gazillion outtakes from this scene between Jet and Michelle who had trouble not laughing at each other during their characters' desperate encounter!  

 

THE best fight scene!

 

 

What I wanted to love about the movie but couldn't:

 

Maria Bello -- Despite my undying attempt to watch Maria as Evy O'Connell with a clear, open mind, she just wasn't the Evy O'Connell we all know and love as portrayed by Rachel Weisz.  I actually feel sorry for Maria because Rachel has some big acting shoes to fill.  Sorry.  It just didn't work for me. 

 

Well, shut my mouth wide-open!  Evolve already!!! 

 

Luke Ford -- As the early twenty-something son, Alex O'Connell, in terms of looks he could have been the grown-up version of that cute 8-year old kid Alex from the Mummy 2.  However, that's about it for any good redeeming qualities, in my opinon.  I think Luke Ford would have been better cast as one of the abominable snowmen for all his grunting and caveman-like laughing.  I was appalled to think that he was going to be seen by Chinese audiences as Rick O'Connell's action/explorer heir apparent.  Luke's acting pales in comparison to that of Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh.

 

Did they wear sunglasses like these back in 1947?

 

Final Fight Scene -- Besides the essential final epic (mostly CGI-enhanced) battle involving thousands of undead giving it their all in the clash of "good vs. evil" theme, in pitting one of the world's finest martial-artists-turned-actor, Jet Li, against the formidable action hero Brendan Fraser in the final showdown, I was really expecting the actual fight scene shots to each last longer than a nano-second!  Then each nano-second of footage was spliced together in a mind-boggling, quick-flip "what just happened?" show.  Talk about putting the "chop" in chopsocky movies!  The editing was so quick that I know I have to go back and rewatch what happened.    Maybe I missed something because I, well, blinked.

 

A split-second shot of action....

 

 

In conclusion...

 

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Mummy movies for me is the incredibly loving relationship of the main characters, Rick and Evy O'Connell.  They show us that even after years of being together, they still are as passionate about each other as when they were introduced to us in the original Mummy movie.  So often with movies in a series (Spiderman, National Treasure, etc.), there seems to be at least one movie where the two main characters aren't in sync when it comes to love.  They're fighting, bickering, hating, nit-picking, or just rude to each other usually to discover, at least by the end of the sequel, that they really do still have feelings for each other.  I personally despise these attempts to put a new "spin" on characters in order to keep the story "more interesting," so finding the hate factor missing from Rick and Evy's relationship in The Mummy 3 is refreshing. 

The dashing Rick O'Connell protects wife, Evy, from the heavy leaning rock of death! 

 

Please go see The Mummy 3 - Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for yourself and let me know what you thought of it!

 For more information about this movie, click here.