Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 19, 1915, Page 24

l :l.il Inside o SR TR AN M e S No.I R R ek NN S UG T e Skating. HE present craze of ice-dancing will be a great thing for the art of skatlng 1f it increases the of those who skate correctly. & very bad thing it it produces of awkward, ungainly skaters. no more graceful or healthful figure-skating, but there s i i : g i 2 Right Outside Mr. Brokaw Approaching a Turn on the Outside Edge Forward. TheProper Equip- ment, the Rules of Form and the Funda- mental Principles of Figure Forward By Mr. Irving Bro kaw Champlon Figure Skater of America, Author of “The Art of Skating” Eto. are thousands of people who regard themselves as pretty good skaters, who havé been skating all thelr lives, who don't even know that each skate has two edges! They don't seem to realize the full possibilities of the sport, or, at any rate, they make no effort to attain them. That is unfortunate, It is my intention in these articles to explain the fundamental principles of figure skating and to demonstrate how anybody may, by tollowing the correcd methods patiently and persistently, be- come a proficlent ice dancer. Every woman cannot expect to become & Char- Jotte, but there is no reason why every woman who skates may not be able to execute all the regular ice dances grace- fully and becomingly. If these articles help to make the path a little easier, they will have served their purpose. It is necessary before taking up figure skating and dancing to consider some of the fundamental iples of skating. C:rract skating w:‘;l the qu;uon without the proper equipment. Expert skaters have their individual preferences the style of akates and shoes which is best adapted to their work. With regard to the best skating boot for the average individual who intends to take 1 should say that well- Gtting laced boots might even be better than the skating boot which laces right down to the tip and which is the style heretofore widely sold, but a Right Inside 3 Backward 4 Right Outside Backward Charlotte, the Famous Woman Skater, Executing a Righ. Qutside Edge Forward. makes ar stic curves impossible and 1s not suitable for figure skating. Figure skating and speed skating are two en- tirely different things and require differ- ent liquldnm‘enl‘ It is desirable to have a groove runn- ing along the flat edge of the blade, but that is not absolutely essemtial for the beginner. . Without going into the ideal dimen- of a skate, it may suffice to give the general principle that the nearer th skate brings the sole of the foot to the surface of the ice the better it is. The skate should be just high enough to allow the skater to execute curves and to make turns without scraping the side of the sole against the ice. Then again, the tip of the skate should s0ot be attached to the sole plate as in Forward Forward An Instructive Series of Lessons by Mr. Irving Brokaw, the Foremost Figure Skater of America the usual style ot hookey skates. Having ac quired a suitable 7 Left Inside Backward nental skaters, is now generally followed in this country. These rules of form and the series of figures prescribed by the Inter- national School of Skat- ing are the very best, in my opinion, for begin- ners in figure skating to follow. They com- prise a progressive course which s best adapted to develop a figure skater. ‘The rules of form are as follows: 1~Head erect, with eyes n the ice no more 18 absolutely, necessary: 2—Body upright, not bent forward or sidewise from the hips, shoulders thrown back and chest ded. -Arms, whether ac- . tive or passive, should have free play from the shoulders, el- bows slightly bent, hands with dt he p.lml jown- ward or In- ward. 4.—Skating a springy rise and dip of the y. 6~Free leg poised or swung entirely from the hip, in the socket of which it should be turned out- ward and back- ward as much as possible; ‘al- Ways separ ated from the Seen at once that figure skating is not & matter of the ::ldr -ko.(mbo&'.: deet alone, but next thing is to Diagram Showing thé Correct Slope ::"th_r:‘!:nlt: g e o of Body While Making the Right why it provides form. What cor- Outside Forward Curve. ;lll‘eh (:!r;nh:i rect form 1s, is no longer a matter of individual taste, It has been definitely settled by the of- ficlals who make the rules for the con- tests conducted by follows of the Inter- national School of Skating—the kind Wwhich the American, Jackson Haines, in- troduced into Europe fifty years ago and which, after being developed by Coatl , Copyright, 1915, by the Star Company, Great Britain Rights Reserved. general exercise. Having mastered the art of ordinary skating, which it is unnecessary to take up at length here, the skater will be ready to commence on what are known as school figures. These school figures, of which there are eight elementary and nine ad- vanced, comprise practically every strole necessary for the dances. The Eight Fundamental Strokes of Figure Skating, Showing How the Four Edges of the Skates Are Employed Left Inside 6 Left Outside Left Outside 8 Backward 25 and Mrs, Irving Brokaw Executing a Very Effective Pivot Figure, the Gentleman’s Right Foot Acting as the Pivot Upon Which His Partner Swings Around Him, Once these fundamental school figures have been mastered, it will not be a very difficult matter to acquire the waltz, the ten-step, the fourteen-step, the Jackson Haines, the Rocker Valse, the Mohawk and the various other ice dances which will soon be as familiar in name to the general publio, perhaps, as the turkey- trot, the fox-trot, the tango and the one- step have become. Before describing the various figures, it 1s necessary to explain what is meant by the four edges—the right inside, the right outside, the left inside and the Jeft outside. As all curves must be made on either one of those four edges, it is es- sential to master them., Consider first the right foot. The out- side known as the “right outside,” 1s, nat: mough, the edge to the rizht, the insid ge, known as the “right in- side” belng the edge to the left. In the case of the left foot, the outside edge, known as the “left outside” is the edge to the left, and the inside edge, known as the “left inside” is the edge to the right. Here then we have the four edges. Upon these edges it is possible to skate either forward or backward, ferent sible strokes, Right outside forward, right ward, right inside forward, right inside backward, left outside forward, left out. side backward, left inside forward and left inside backward. Each one of these edges will take the skater in a different direction. The right outside forward, for instance, will take him on a forward curve to the right; the right inside forward will take him on a forward curve to the left, and so on. Each one of these edges must be prac- tised until it has been mastered and can be skated with perfect control. The be- ginner will almost invariably find that one feot is weaker than the other. In that event, the weaker foot must be practised on all the more. Do not favor the leg which you can control best. Work the less apt leg the most. In practising the various edges, it is just as well for a beginner not to have the blade of the skate too sharp. A sharp skate is less easy for a beginner to control than one in which the keen edge 1s off. If a new pair of skates is to be used, therefore, it is wise to do some stralght ahead skating on them first 80 as to become accustomed to them. Having attained the various edges, both forward and backward, so that a fairly long curveimay be executed on the inl- tial momentum, the ekater will be in & position to attempt the elementary or fun- damental school figures. These are as follows 1—~The Circle Eight. 2.—The Change of Edge. 3.~The Three. 4~The Double Three. —The Counter. In the articles which are to follow we will take up each one of these figures and those which comprise the group of advanced school figures, and then we shall be in a position to take up the vari ous dances which are going to atfrag o0 much attention this season, ) e