What does back walk-over mean?

You know what a back walk-over is just as well as I do. It’s not something normally done in public. I dream about having a back walk-over but its not one of those things that is really that easy to ask for. I mean, sad as it sounds, you have to know someone really well to ask them for a back walk-over without them thinking that you are some kind of dodgy character. By the time you do know them well enough to ask for a back walk-over your friend has probably moved onto worrying more about the rent, the kids, the bindii in the garden and whether there will be enough dosh in the bank for a ski trip this year than worry about your perverse requests.

Well, actually, there is another kind of back walk-over, and it is very much done in public. Gymnasts just love doing back walk-overs in their floor exercise and balance beam routines. You often see it done by cheer leaders during sporting matches as well. A back walkover is one of those moves where the athlete slowing arches over backwards, brings their hands to the ground behind them and then lets their legs, one at a time, first go into a handstand then continue on to the ground. Well that is about as clear as mud isn’t it. Well here is a description from Wiki to help clear things up and just to make it really clear, here is a video too.

“The back walkover performer begins in a standing position. The back is increasingly arched and abdominal muscles are stretched until the hands touch the floor and all hands and feet are flat on the floor, thus forming a gymnastic back bridge. While in the bridge position, one leg (the leading leg) is rapidly raised from the floor so as to impart momentum to the lower body. This momentum lifts the trailing leg from the floor so that only the hands are left touching the floor. Both hands remain on the floor while the body revolves backward through a handstand position, until the foot of the leading leg, followed by the foot of the trailing leg, reach the floor. When both feet are on the floor, the performer returns to an erect standing position.” (Wiki – back walkover)

SOCRATES

Short, fat, slow, uncoordinated and clumsy, ancient Athenian Socrates had very few of the physical quality required of the elite athlete. He did have, on the other hand, a better than average brain between his ears and a mouth that could talk opposing players, referees and coaches half into their graves. Socrates, as a sport analyst, is what the world needs and misses. He is an opinionated so-and-so that actually thinks deeply about sport and adventuring and likes nothing better than provoking others into deep thought. Socrates is the antithesis of the sporting jock or the West Sydney soccer supporter.