h a l f b a k e r y
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Brachiation is the act of swinging from bar to bar beneath a horizontal ladder. Such ladders are commonly called "monkey bars" (strictly speaking, monkeys are lousy brachiators, though the great apes are quite good).
The ladders would be 25 metres (81 ft. 3 in.) long; if placed on an American football
field, they would reach from the goal line to the 27-yard-line. They would also be 8 metres (26 ft.) wide, so as to allow for eight lanes, each one metre (3 ft. 3 in.) wide.
Brachiators would try not to touch the ground. They could skip bars if they wished, but would not be required to. Some brachiators might like to begin a race by leaping past as many bars as possible before grabbing hold. This would be perfectly legal, but would increase the risk of falling. If a brachiator fell to the ground, he cluld drop out of the race by leaving the area. He could also continue the race from the bar from which he fell. Three falls during the course of a race would be cause for disqualification. Two false starts would be reason for disqualification.
The distances in this meet would be 25 metres (one full length of the ladder), 50 metres (one round trip, turning at the end and returning), 100 metres (two round trips), 250 metres (five round trips) and 500 metres (ten round trips). There should also be two relay events: the 4 X 50 and the 4 X 100.
Relay events would be conducted by teams of four. In the 4 X 50 metre relay, three members of the team stand behind a line two metres (6 ft. 6 in.) behind the ladder, while the lead brachiator makes one round trip. The next brachiator must remain behind this line until his teammate completes his trip and is on the ground. This continues until all four members of the team have brachiated to the end of the ladder and back. The team with the fastest time wins. The 4 X 100 meter relay is conducted in exactly the same manner, except that each brachiator makes two round trips before the next.
Finally, there would be the Brachiathlon, in which you simply brachiate for as long as you can. Round trip after round trip, the athletes try to outlast each other. The last athlete still on the ladder is the winner.
I have heard of children brachiating 100 metres, so this isn't unrealistic (though 500 may be). AFAIK, however, there are no organized competitive brachiation events.
Competitive Brachiation
http://scienceblogs...arn_to_walk_upr.php
How long until organized competitive brachiation sporting events are televised? [csea, Mar 07 2008]
[link]
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This should be an olympic event, as part of the decathlon if nothing else. |
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I like it, definetly would be fun to watch. |
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I think they had this as a female alternative to the hand bikes on American Gladiators. |
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Interesting point re: monkeys and great apes. |
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If the rules were set out carefully, paraplegics would also be able to compete successfully with other professional level athletes. I think that could be a good marketing point. |
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Could put pillars and garbage cans on the ground under the ladder, as obstacles for your feet. |
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Or an incline for more of a challenge. By 'brachiation', do you mean always having at least one hand on a bar or, swinging and launching yourself hands-free to the next bar? Both of them would be fun to watch but with the latter it would be more of a challenge and the bars could be placed farther apart. |
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Better to be a double amputee, in this sport. |
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In P. G. Wodehouse's books, somebody bet Bertie Wooster that he couldn't swing on the rings all the way across the Drones Club swimming pool. They had roped back the last set of rings, compelling him to drop into the water in full evening dress. |
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That and a few other items lead me to think that large sets of swinging rings used to be a part of fancy exercise equipment, especially in England. Olympic ring exercises are performed on a pair of rings hung on long chains. I think I remember seeing a room of rings on chains on some version of American Gladiators. |
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I'd like to see brachiation races done on rings on chains, just because it would be swoopier. Brachiating under ladders would be cool, too. + |
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There could be some sort of weightlifting category too, say crossing a 10 metre stretch with added weight, having to place both hands on every bar along the way. |
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And a big thanks to bb for bringing back memories of Jet swinging around on the UK version of Gladiators. |
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I *might* manage to complete 25m. |
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// however, there are no organized competitive brachiation events. // Hmmm. Why would that be....? |
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I understand from my aged mother that she was able to teach me about brachiation when I was a very young lad. She used to read nightly to my sister and me, including the P.G. Wodehouse episode mentioned. |
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She studied anthropology at Radcliffe, and has had a lifelong interest in human animals. |
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[MoreCowbell], I'd imagine that |
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a) nobody else thought of it, and |
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Sure, a modern track with all the bells and whistles is probably as expensive (or nearly so) as a ladder, even one with all the bells and whistles, but any poor school district can measure out an oval and have the kids run on it. |
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Ohh! Imagine the calluses on their hands! I can still feel the burning from my elementary schools days... |
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Well I suppose they would wear some sort of standardized glove or something, but still... |
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anew word and a really cool idea my my what a day! takes me back to when i was swingin from tree to tree and walkin on me knuckles back then i could scratch meself whenever i wanted to...ah shoulda stopped half dozen words ago still id put my gibbon hand up to compete and id beat all your red asses too! |
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How could I not bun this? Hell, I'll even throw in a banana so you can have a balanced breakfast. |
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I think the relay version should involve multiple athletes on the ladder at one time - say the second team member jumps on when the first has reached the halfway point, and so on. This would mean the athletes having to pass each other at some point on their trip, resulting in exciting manoeuvres as both swing to avoid each other. |
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