From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jul 14: Bengaluru is set to host the prestigious 14th Aerobic Gymnastics National Championships from July 16 to 18.

The championships will be held at the Gopalan Sports Center, a state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor multi-sport facility, professionally run by Gopalan Enterprises, Whitefield.

Over 250 participants are expected to take part in this national aerobic extravaganza of this year under different age groups of under-11, under-14, under-17 and above 18.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Friday, G. Manohar Kamath, President of Gymnastics Association of Karnataka (GAK), said the official State body for Gymnastics has taken this initiative to promote aerobic gymnastics in Karnataka. 

Gymnastics is considered to be the mother of all sports. Generally, Artistic gymnastics is the one which is actively promoted all over the country. Very few States also promote what is called as Aerobic Gymnastics, he explained.

"It is important that as a State, we promote this particular art in its full form in the coming years. The general form of Aerobics is usually found in the Health or Wellness promoters is basically more oriented towards dancing utilizing the Hollywood or Bollywood style which is not allowed in Aerobic Gymnastics. Here, basic steps related to sports like Skipping, Jumping, Marches, Lounges are used to formulate the aerobic gymnastics routines," he said.

Director of Gopalan Group Prabhakar said: ``The Aerobic Gymnastics routines are judged by evaluating the difficulty in the routine which is restricted to a maximum of 10 elements, and also the artistic aspect, which is evaluated based on the type of music, the usage of floor, the ability of artistic presentation of the routine, and the dynamics of the person. Last is the Artistic execution of the routine based on the perfection of exhibits while performing difficult elements and still maintaining balance and synchronization with the music.’’