The Shakti Gymnast

  These are some of my favorite snacks I pack in my backpack to take to practice.  Usually I don't have time to eat them at practice, I eat them on the way home in the car.  I'm usually really hungry and thirsty after practice ending at 8pm, so these are good.  I also pack some of these snacks for after meets, along with some fresh fruit.  The seaweed and coconut water are my favorites.  My mom gets them at Trader Joe's. What are your favorite snacks?

I thought I would like Victory Gymnastics but after two tryouts I decided I didn't feel comfortable there. I really liked Mission Valley Gymnastics at Toby Wells YMCA. My coach's name is Crystal and she is really nice and she was really patient the first couple of weeks since I was still adjusting to the the time zone change.  She coaches level 4 and up. Two weeks ago I had my Inter-squad Meet there.  They brought in a National judge and she was really harsh.  She gave low scores to everyone in levels 3-5.  Lots of 7's, but I got one of the few 8's on vault, which was awesome. I guess the USAG changed a lot of the things in the judging for compulsories and they have more things they can deduct points on.  A week ago Coach Crystal gave us a binder and told us that these were going to be our binders for goals, corrections and whatever else.  We also can earn "Gym Bucks" where we can buy stuff at the end of the year like grips, leotards, and other stu

  We were in San Diego this past month and we were looking at gyms because we are going to move.  I did a team evaluation at Poway gymnastics and I liked that one okay but we also found Victory Gymnastics and I think I like this one better even though I haven't done an evaluation here. They have the TOPS training  and they are an Elite gym.      This is what it looked like on the right hand side. It has a lot of encouraging signs on it like the gym I go to now. I like that my mom or dad can watch me from the floor instead of behind a closed room with windows.  The gym is also brighter and has fresh air because they can open the big roll top doors in the back of the gym. We move the first week of August so I'm looking forward to trying out Victory and taking a look at San Diego United Sports Training Center  where they have a Junior Olympic Development Team program.

  This is what I write in my Goals book sometimes. It is for my skills and how many I did without help or did without falling. First I write the date at the top, then I write the event and then under it I write the skill. I put the word hit and miss and keep track when I do an event.  For example if I do a vault without any help or do a routine without falling I put a mark under "hit". If I do an event and fall or make a mistake, I mark it under "miss".   These are my goals for every event and this is how I write them. On the bottom there are some questions that I have to answer about why I am doing gymnastics and what is my favorite part. I keep a book for goals so I can keep track and not lose them on individual pieces of paper.  My coaches write in my book about what I need to work on and what I am doing good.  Usually I give them my book on Friday and they give it back the following week.   Keeping track of goals helps me a lot.  I look at them

On Christmas day last year I got my grips and I was looking forward to wearing them.  But then my coach would not let me wear them right away since I din't have my straight arm kip consistently.  Then when I had my kip, my coach was afraid my hands were too small for grips and I would ping off the bar while wearing them.  Finally the head coach of my gym said it was okay!  Being able to wear grips is the mark of a serious gymnast.  I've definitely worked very hard for them them! Below is what my hands looked like before grips.  Before grips I had a lot of rips. There were bloody ones, regular ones, baby rips, and the bloody baby rips were the worst. Now that I have grips, my hands are protected better.  It doesn't mean I won't get a rip, it just means it will happen less often. When I started using grips I had less rips and my coaches really liked them. They are the Ginnasta brand and they are super soft. They didn't take any time to break in.  My hand

This is a poem I wrote for a poetry contest at Maitland Library earlier this year. We had to write a poem about our place in Florida History.  I want to thank Elaine Person , writer and poet, for her poetry class at the library that got me excited about writing in prose.  My Place in Florida History at Legacy Gymnastics by Anika Shakti   Fix my hair, get in the car. Drive to practice, it’s not too far. Out of the car, into the gym. Starting warm up, first we run. ‘Round and ‘round the cones we go, I like the run because it’s slow. After run we get a drink, must move quickly or be late. We get in lines and spread out, start our stretch and we’re out I start my stretch with a pike, then I do things that I like. Move on to events, Vault, Bars, Beam, and Floor, I want to do them evermore. We stretch, condition, or have fun, But not too long, my mom has come. I train for meets, because I like to compete. I get lots of medals, what a treat! Traveling al