German Wheel $$ 🎓🎓 💪💪

Another really fun circus skill you can learn.   The German Wheel is basically two large man sized circles, with crossbars connecting them.  You stand inside the wheel, on the crossbars, grab hold of handles, then shift your weight back and forth (similar to using a swing set).  Your weight shifts get the wheel rolling.   Then you do circus acrobatics inside the moving wheel.  It is a bit amazing.   Think of it as a tool to make somersaults 1000x cooler.   If you still are not sure what it looks like, take a look at Delgado's website listed near the end of this post. 


This is one of the easier and less scary, but still incredible circus activities I have tried.  

You can get a single class for fairly cheap $35 or so, but honestly you won't learn enough in that class to really do anything.   You need at least two or three classes, which is why I called it moderately priced.

It does take practice and some but not a lot muscle.

This class tends towards more woman than men.   Kids are welcome, as long as they are tall enough.  Obviously if you can't stand in the crossbars and reach the handholds, it can be a problem.


You need the right shoes - a thin, hard soled, canvas top shoe.  Converse is good.   Thick sneakers, sandals, heels, are all bad ideas. 

I took lessons at STREB Lab for Action Mechanics (SLAM).  The teacher's website is here:

http://thewheeldelgado.com/

STREB's website is a bit confusing and does not easily send you to classes, you have to look around:
http://streb.org/

Stunt man classes $$ 🎓 💪💪

Ever want to  learn how to do a stunt fall - falling 20+ ft onto a giant air bag?   Or how to survive a staged hit by a car?  Perhaps you want to look fly though the air (on or off a wire) just like your favorite kung fu movie?

Then a stunt man class is for you.  The High Falls class is the reasonably priced, but if you want the really cool stuff it gets expensive.   It's pretty easy to do, and while physical, it doesn't require you to be in good shape.   Very interesting and fun.

They also do trampoline classes - perfect if you want to learn how to do a flip.  Note, many of these classes are more athletic, the high falls class is the only 💪💪 one.  The other stuff is often very tiring, takes a lot of muscle.  Consider them 💪💪💪

High Falls is not as scare as it sounds, after all, all you do is jump/fall, so it is hard for you to screw things up as long as the bag is properly inflated.   The Trampoline is a bit less safe - a bad bounce could send you off the trampoline or into something or someone - don't have two people on it at the same time.

I did not take the 'get hit by car' class.

It's fun and something most people never actually do.

This tends toward male, but a lot of women like it as well.   You have to be older than 10 years old (at least for the cool stuff).  They do parties for kids / business events.

Is this going to make you the next Heidi Moneymaker? (Google her IMDB page, very impressive) Probably not.  But you can have a lot of fun doing it.

You want sneakers.  No sandals.

I took classes in Brooklyn here:

http://hollywoodstunts.com/

Trapeze $ 🎓🎓 💪💪💪

There are two types of trapeze - the 'flying' one which involves multiple trapezes and large swings, and the static trapeze that is more acrobatic.  This post is mostly about the flying Trapeze.

The static trapeze is similar to doing yoga while in the air.   It's fun, but everything get's better when you start swinging.
 
Everyone knows about "The Daring Young Men on the Flying Trapeze".  You climb up a rope ladder, grab hold of a swing, swing out then get grabbed by a more experienced person, stronger person on another trapeze.  Then they let you go and you fall into a hammock like net.  I think of it as a more grown up version of the playground equipment.

They start you out with a safety harness.   In my opinion, it's safer than being driven somewhere in a NYC taxi.

It takes some muscle, takes a bit of work to learn how, but it is cheap - if still on the high side of cheap to try.  If you weigh more than 205 lbs or so, it becomes more problematic but not impossible to do.

It tends toward a younger crowd - mostly 20's and 30's.  They take kids as young as 6 - they even offer birthday parties.  It trends a bit more female than male, but there are plenty of men.

The scariest part is actually climbing up the ladder to the platform for the flying trapeze.  Once you actually get on the trapeze, everything happens so fast that you don't have time to be scared.  If you are nervous but not terrified of heights, this is a good intermediate step to cure you.  I came away with less fear of heights than I had after.

I had a lot of fun.

My first flying trapeze lessons were taken at:

http://newyork.trapezeschool.com/classes/trapeze.php
 They have schools in four other major cities, so check out the link even if you don't live in NYC.

Aerial Acrobatics $ 🎓 💪💪💪💪

Sometimes called Silk Work or Aerial Silks, this is really fun.     Take a giant 20 ft long, 2 ft wide silk scarf by the middle and tie it to a hook in the ceiling, 10 ft above your head.   Put a thick gymnastics mat - or two - underneath it, for safety.  Get some chalk on your hands and climb up the silk - using your hips and legs to push yourself up rather than your arms.   Get about 8 ft up there and wrap yourself in the silk - using a special technique.  Now let yourself fall a bit, perhaps spinning, allowing some but not all of the silk to unwind.  You come to a sudden stop, preferably someplace above the ground, caught by the silk.

This will hurt - and bruise you.  Even when you do it perfectly.    You may not have hit the floor, but you still came to a stop and all that energy went into stopping you hits your body where the silk caught you.  Because it is spread out over the silk (and over time), it isn't damaging, but it hurts.  It's also incredibly dramatic, beautiful, artistic and an adrenaline rush.   That's aerial acrobatics.

Aerial Acrobatics is the only activity that I gave four 💪 to.    It is the single most physically taxing experience I have ever tried.  It requires you to do heavy exercise for extended periods of time and if you reach your limit and relax at the wrong time, you fall eight feet and break your neck.   Even when you do it right, it bruises you.  I was honestly too old (and/or out of shape) to do this so while I enjoyed it, I decided to quit before I killed myself.

It is on the cheap side to try (they offer deals for the first lesson) and not hard to learn.  It does require flexibility.

If you are out of shape, you won't be good enough to get in serious trouble.  You can still try the basics at low altitude, but it's not easy to climb the 8 ft. If you are afraid of heights, you won't be able to do this either (but if you are slowly trying to overcome your fear, this is a good later step).

This class is almost entirely female.   Certain techniques are physically impossible for men to do safely (we have these delicate bits that stick out between our legs and that's where the silk wraps - remember the bruises happen where the silk touches you...)    There are some men that do it, but they are in the far minority.   I have seen people as old as 48 doing it professionally, but it is clearly for the young.  Most people taking this class seriously are in good shape and start before they are 30.  Teenagers are welcome. 

Clothing is important.  Bare skin means you get bloody scrapes rather than just bruises, so you need to wear tights/leotards or something similar.   No baggy clothing - the tighter the better.   Women may will need a good sports bra and men definitely need a 'dance belt' to keep those delicate bits in close and safe.  Dance belts are  ballet clothing for men.

If you are in good shape and like exercise, this is a great hobby.  If you are in OK shape and like exercise, this will get you into good shape.  If you need to lose some weight, you might try it, but the more advanced stuff will be very hard.

You can do it here:
http://www.aerialartsnyc.com/

Note, this location also teaches related arts, not just the silk stuff that I enjoyed so much.