Читать книгу Hippodrome Skating Book. Practical Illustrated Lessons in the Art of Figure Skating онлайн

11 страница из 19

The arms should not be held close to the body nor should they be flung violently about. If the former position is taken the skater looks stiff and awkward. If too wide reaching out of the arms is permitted the skater appears to be grasping at imaginary straws like a drowning man. Both extremes are bad but of the two it is better to allow the arms freedom of poise and carry them gracefully extended than stiffly hung to the sides of the body. Fencing and interpretive or folk dancing furnish interesting examples of the right use of the arms during vigorous action. The individuality of the skater is often revealed by the carriage of the arms as much as by the tracing of the figures.

Bending of the body from the hips, sidewise, is neither necessary nor permissible. It is a fault which beginners adopt from fear of falling. But the sharp edge of the skate sustains the body in its temporary violation of the law of gravitation. Take a firm edge and let the body lean as much as is necessary or desired. Some skaters take a much stronger edge than others and therefore lean more than others.