Slackline: it takes a lot of balance
Learn about this practice that takes the tightrope walking to a much more demanding leve and start to practice slackline.
Since immemorial times humans make their own balance an attraction, a joke and even a playful way to excel before others. For example, there are several engravings that show that, in Ancient Greece, as well as throughout the Roman Empire, the ability to balance was seen as a way of adding value to the body. In the middle ages, the acrobats always landed on foot when doing acrobatics. Today, in the 21st century, the principle hasn’t changed: here’s slackline.
Everyone knows the tightrope walker are commonly seen in the circus, but today there is a new form of urban balancing act: the slackline. Using two fixed points, usually two trees, they attach a rope stretched between the trees, at mid-height. The practitioner then rises to the rope and balances on it. However, and given the width of that rope, slackline does not stop to balance. On the contrary, it promotes balancing, through jumps, somersaults and juggling, with greater difficulty in keeping the practitioner on the rope.
Slackline was born in the United States, in the 80´s, at the hands of Adam Grosowsky and Jeff Ellington that were in Yosemite Park, and got entertained swinging on ropes and chains for their scattered there. Since then, the sport has gained lovers all over the world and it is usual to find, in Western culture, many young slackliners displaying their skills. There is even a festival dedicated to this mode, in the Austrian city of Scharnitz, its first edition was in 2006.
It is advisable to new practitioners of slackline to start with attention to footwear that they use, malleable and light shoes are recommended, and the type of rope used. At the same time, it is essential that attention to how the rope is attached to the trees, because a bad application could cause problems to the practitioner, such as an unnecessary fall. The best thing is to look for other practitioners and specialized stores that can share detailed tips to practitioners. After that, we can only wish you good jumps.
