There is nothing more exhilarating than the smell of a new trampoline. It has been years since I last stepped onto one of these, but I still remember my first time. I was five and it was the backyard of my babysitter’s house. The trampoline took up most if not all of the yard. You could step from the solid wood deck to the bouncy rubber trampoline and change your whole world. My babysitter liked it because for the most part she could just put me out there and sit on the deck and watch me. When I was finally done jumping around and she was done with her homework, we would lie down on the trampoline and look up at the country stars.
That first step was like a moon landing, or like falling to the bottom of the pool, suddenly you are lighter. You can jump higher than you stand. With my babysitter on, when I timed the jump just right, I could jump higher than she stood. Flying five feet in the air or more, I felt free.
Gymnastics almost comes naturally on the bouncy surface, which is probably why so many people train for gymnastics on a trampoline. Besides, if you can be graceful on that surface as you run, or even walk for that matter, you are almost sure to win. On the other hand, if you can do a summersault on the ground, you are pretty much guaranteed to be able to do a flip in the air when you are jumping on a trampoline.
I was free of school work, I was free of parents, and now I was also free from gravity. The truly otherworldly feel of the trampoline however occurs when you stop jumping and try to walk or run. Time seems to slow down as your feet hit the mesh. This was always the worst when someone got hurt and everyone would run over in slow motion.
The new trampoline that now sits in my backyard is everything I remember it to be. As I climbed onto it to be the first person to break it in, the adrenaline rushed through me. The first jump and I felt free again. I bought this because I have a new use for my trampoline, one I never thought of when I was a kid. This time as I jump, I study each jump, calculate how to get a higher jump, how to fly a little longer, how to hang in the air at the top of my jump for another second. I chose to buy my trampoline to tone my legs, and more importantly to give me some practice with my jump kicks for the martial arts class I am now teaching.
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