Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

[Brankles]

<embed src="http://www.ebaumsworld.com/player.swf" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="pageurl=http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80750285/&file=http://media.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/video/31430/80750285.flv&mediaid=80750285&title=Infant Torture Training&tags=china,chinese,olympics,tortour,train ing,tough,strengh,workout,cruel,gymnastics,flips,f lares,contortionist&description=Olympics in China is serious.
You dont win gold you get more of bamboo sticks up your finger nails.
Not really but you would wish that instead.&displayheight=325&backcolor=0x0d0d0d&ligh toclor=0x336699&frontcolor=0xcccccc&image=http://media.ebaumsworld.com/2009/09/80750285/china.jpg&username=TheCEL" wmode="transparent" loop="false" menu="false" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="425" height="345" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" />

[chadskee]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

That's messed up. Can some of them even talk yet? I've heard they do the same thing with other sports, even basketball.

[rubisco43]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

you're mistaken. they're actually 17

[Chip Douglass]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

you're mistaken. they're actually 17

LOL.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

Yep, we're screwed.

[~LiverpoolRed~]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

you're mistaken. they're actually 17

[cubsfan203]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

you're mistaken. they're actually 17

Well played.

[Aggies7]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

Looks like child abuse to me

[trobinson97]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

Wow. I know they alluded to it during the Olympics but damn.

[eDotd]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

That is pretty sick.

[Dice]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

Those aren't infants. BUT that is child abuse.

[CMH]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

Yea, not infants, but still toddlers, right? Wow. At first, it looked like they were enjoying themselves then they showed that one girl crying and the little boy was just getting pushed around. I couldn't watch anymore.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

The Western world really does coddle kids. Not making a value judgment on that at all, but really, this is the norm for most places in the world... obviously China has a pretty strong focus on athletics and competition in general, but people hitting their kids and being very stern with them is more the norm than the exception. The only difference here is that they're hitting them when they do their balance beam routine wrong instead of doing something else wrong.

It's hard to watch though. I am sort of in awe of some of those kids though -- that super-stern treatment definitely produces some crazy athletes... but at what cost? Maybe remembering your childhood as a long series of abuses is outweighed by the athletic achievement -- that's probably the case for some of them, but I can't imagine that's the case for most, especially when they're getting put on this track at such a young age.

Really though, it's not that much different than the kids that get pressured from the time they're young to get perfect grades so they can get into medical/law school (I've heard horror stories of this in Japan, Korea, India, etc. as well as in the Western world). Totally ruins your life outside of school/work, often comes with mental/physical abuse, and may not be what the kid wants, but them's the breaks because the parents want to live vicariously through their kids or whatever other reasoning there is.

[BigTigLSU]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

What if this isnt Gymnastics training at all... and its really a military program for super soldiers...

[Brankles]

Re: Infant Chinese Gymnast Training

Those aren't infants. BUT that is child abuse.

Headlines sell papers.