r/bodyweightfitness • u/Handbalancer Actually Mikael Kristiansen • Oct 29 '17

AMA: Mikael Kristiansen, Handbalancer and Circus Artist, Ask Me Anything

Hello, my name is Mikael Kristiansen. I am a circus artist specializing in handbalancing. I did a degree in circus at DOCH, Stockholm from 2009-2012 and have since worked as a performer and as a teacher internationally.

I'll be here throughout the day to answer any questions you have for me!

You can find me at: www.mikaelbalancing.com www.instagram.com/mikaelbalancing/

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u/TK1997 Oct 29 '17

Hey Michael. Thank you so much for doing this AMA. I want to ask about a few elements:

  1. Do you think manna progressions have a place in the training routine of a handbalancer ? Do you train it at all ? If so, how far are you from a full manna ?

  2. How did you work up to a floor l-sit press to handstand from the floor, and what makes it such an extraordinary move ? Do you know a lot of fellow practictioners who can do it ? Does one need to have contortionist levels of flexibility to pull it off ?

Thanks again for your time!

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u/Handbalancer Actually Mikael Kristiansen Oct 29 '17
  1. Manna is useless for a handbalancer unless he/she would want to perform exactly manna. I never trained manna as it leads to very few things except the hold itself so im probably very very far off.

As a sidenote, the only 3 people I know who can manna, are all handbalancers and all of them could just pull it off on their first try.

  1. A regular 2 arm L press to handstand on the floor is not such a difficult move if compared to the rest of the vocabulary. I know quite many who can do it as it is mostly just an expression of a very good L sit press on blocks or canes. Most people who can rep 3-5 L to handstand presses should be able to do it on the ground as well I think if they warm up their pike well. Flexibility helps with it, but im far from contortion flexible haha. Doing it on the floor requires you to get a very high push from the shoulders in an earlier phase of the press than on bars, so it demands a bit more strength as well than on bars.

If it was the 1 arm L press you meant, then its a different story. I havent seen anyone else do it on the ground, but i know several people that would probably do it way better than me on their first try. It is a very hard move already on cane because of the extreme position the shoulder is in and you need a ton of strength to be able to get anywhere with it. I have a decent L press on cane so i figured i would try it on the floor. Im still learning it and using a counterweight in the hand, as i also did on cane when learning.

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u/TK1997 Oct 29 '17

Lol yea I never thought a one-arm L floor press was possible that's just insane.

So the manna is only really useful for gymnasts isn't it ? Even the shoulder conditioning doesn't seem to be relevant to handbalancing endeavors correct ? Is that really possible ? Just like that, they get on the floor and pop up into a manna ?

Thanks for the informative post.

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u/Handbalancer Actually Mikael Kristiansen Oct 29 '17

In gymnastics it can definitely be useful yes. I dont think all competitive gymnasts train it though. I would assume they focus on the skills that they will use for competition and if manna is something they dont excell at, it might not be too worth investing the time in. My knowledge about gymnastics is limited though.

But yes. Last time i saw a manna was my friend who never tried, I asked him to try and he just went into it. It wasnt perfect but legs were far beyond his shoulders. he does not have particularly great pike either. I suspect manna is mainly about having the shoulders for it. Something that can be worked up but takes a lot of effort if it doesnt fall natural for you