Documents 

Issue 04, entitled Prop Stories, we explore the intersection between handbalance and objects. Since the beginning of handstands, they have been practised and performed on objects ranging from static blocks, canes, chairs, parallel bars, and boxes to moving objects — a trapeze, a rolla-bolla, or even living beings, like horses and people.

The theme “apparatus” returned us to a sense of playfulness. We see playfulness not only in how the handbalancer moves with their tools, but also, more often than not, in the creation of the apparatus itself.

This first issue, entitled Common Ground, offers a deeper look into the vastness of the handbalance community. Handstands are an element in various different sports and disciplines that provide an entry point for many athletes, teachers and movers who then get hooked and discover the vast range of possibilities within handbalance. Handbalance often then becomes their main discipline by itself, which brings us back to why we started this magazine in the first place.

The main feature in issue 01 showcases athletes from different backgrounds.

The second issue, entitled Stand Together, revolves around the social aspects of handbalance, offering insights into different local communities around the globe, and the way they emerge, form and are organized.

By showcasing perspectives of different communities the publication aims to provide encouragement to those who wish they had access to a local community, to reach out and start their own. And to those courageous people who took the first step to connect and stand together, this issue is a tribute. While handbalancing is a very individual practice, for many it is so much more enjoyable when shared with others!