The First Lesson in Spanish Web is Learning How to Climb the Darn Thing

Today in aerial, we learned how to do Spanish web. The apparatus is a rope sheathed in fabric (the "web") with a loop at the top that you put your hand in, Wiimote style, to control your movement and prevent falling. Another person sits on the floor and twirls the rope, and you use the centrifugal force to do different tricks while giving the illusion of flying. Getting to the loop definitely felt more awkward than actually doing the tricks, which was encouragement to learn that part quickly. The hardest part of Spanish web has less to do with the maneuvers and more to do with the hand that's in the loop. The pressure of the rope against your hand causes a lot of discomfort, and I also experienced a lot of forearm pain from supporting myself almost solely with one arm. I was much better at this than trapeze, although the teacher did let the trapezes down in case anyone wanted to work on that in their downtime, and I discovered that I had improved somewhat since our first day.

-Kathleen