This site uses cookies.
Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site,
while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used.
For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
This question was closed without grading. Reason: Answer found elsewhere
French to English translations [PRO] Sports / Fitness / Recreation / acrobatics and trapeze
French term or phrase:gainage
I actually have a definition for this word: "Position dans laquelle le corps, bras allongés de chaque côté de la tête, forme une légère courbe avec le bassin en rétroversion" but I still don't know what to call it in English. This is part of a glossary, so I need a single word or short phrase.
I finally found this, when looking for something else of course. I had just given up for the moment and decided to translate it as "rounded" position - since it is - when I found it. It appears to be a standard term in gymnastics for the opposite of the arch position. http://www.gymnasticsrevolution.com/GymInteractive-Floor-Hol...
That's interesting. In US yoga classes, I only every heard shoulderstand, but the French is "chandelle" and I did get plenty of ghits for "candle" in English, so I decided to use it - good to know gymnasts use it.
When I was a gymnast, we called the shoulder stand position the "candle" (or candlestick). I think it's the same in yoga. And perfectly straight is a "layout" (in a somersault).
Evans (X)
11:37 Apr 2, 2010
I didn't mean it was the same position as the plank, only similar in the way it works the body. In the plank you tilt the pelvis very slightly and engage the muscles but you remain as straight as possible for as long as possible in a position parallel with the floor, on your forearms and flexed feet, hence the name 'plank ( I agree it is a horrible exercise as I do it regularly for dance training!). In the 'position de gainage' the same muscles are engaged but the tilt is slightly greater and the arms are over your head, and it is a knee or arm hang or even in a shoulder stand position. I'm afraid none of my colleagues has come up with a name for this in English though!
Sounds exactly like the plank - see aded note in my answer.
Evans (X)
sorry
16:09 Apr 1, 2010
I was halfway through a long post when my computer crashed, and now keyboard has packed up and I've lost the longer set of referfences I had. Now writing on my laptop. I agree with you that there may not be an exact word for this in English. Position de gainage does seem to be a very slight curve of the upper body with the legs straight. It is referred to in gymnastic floorwork as well as trapeze in French contexts. I think the tilt of the pelvis and engagement of the muscles is related to that used in the "plank", which we use in dance training.
Pike position is really just hip flexion. In position de gainage, the thoracic spine maintains its normal flexion, and the lumbar spine is pulled out of its normal extended position by a posterior pelvic tilt into a neutral or slightly flexed position. Doing the posterior pelvic tilt will actually put the hip into slight extension compared to neutral pelvis. In a pike the spine retains its normally curves, lumbar spine extended and thoracic spine flexed, while the hip joint is flexed quite a bit so that the body makes a V. The position de gainage is actually pretty subtle, it is really a position for resisiting being pulled into the "position cambree" or arched position by the forces of gravity or momentum. I think we may just not have a word for it in English - although I keep hoping.
No, this is not an exercise, it is a position. The trapeze is relevent, the first article the word appears in is about trapeze as a circus art, and the second article is about acrobatics as a circus art. The "position de gainage" is used for tricks in both articles. And it might be adapted in either a knee hang or an arm hang, or a shoulderstand, and more tricks that I haven' read yet, although I will post further examples as I come to them Btw Gilla, thanks for that trapeze glossary, I hadn't found that one yet, it may come in useful. The client is supposed to send me a glossary too, but I have been waiting some time already for it. I will post the answer if it is there.
Evans (X)
Joan
11:22 Apr 1, 2010
I've taken another look at your description of the position in this discussion and it is clearly a "knee hang". There are basically two types of these "knee hang" and "reverse knee hang". You can see a video of a basic knee hang on this website: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual... I'm not sure we had a specific name for what you described, but it looks to me like a straightforward rather than a reverse knee hang. Still trying to get hold of someone for confirmation.
from having done this position myself (!) I can assure you it is a position and not an exercise. Unfortunately I don't know the correct name in English, so let's hope Gilla's formers colleagues will come up trumps.
or is it a reference to the back muscle known as "trapèze"?
Le gainage est un exercice qui consiste à maintenir une contraction isométrique (= sans modification de la longueur du muscle) simultanée de plusieurs groupes musculaires agonistes et antagonistes, autour de plusieurs articulations, afin de les verrouiller. C'est à dire faire l'effort de maintenir une position donnée immobile un certain temps http://www.sportsregions.fr/data/telechargement/11379.pdf
Evans (X)
it isn't clear from your text
08:47 Apr 1, 2010
whether this is a knee hang or an arm hang. I assumed the latter in my note above. There is a really good trapeze glossary here: http://www.damnhot.com/trapeze/trapeze_glossary.htm but although it includes a lot of French terms too, it does not mention "gainage". It may be useful though.
Evans (X)
believe it or not
08:08 Apr 1, 2010
I was a trapeze artist in an earlier life. This refers to the basic position you take up when hanging from the trapeze by both arms before swinging your legs up or doing any movements. Your body is slightly tilted prior to starting a swing. I can't for the life of me remember a name for this position. I will check with former colleagues to see if anyone knows.
Here is the next sentence in the definition, if it helps: Lorsque les jambes ou les jarrets sont accrochés au trapèze, la courbe se fait avec le haut du corps seulement, côtes rentrées, et les hanches sont ouvertes. Also, I think this is meant to be the opposite of the "Position cambrée", which I have as "arched position" so far.
The spine position in Mukta Hasta Sarvangasana is close to what they are talking about, but I don't think they will accept Sanskrit:( Btw, in my experience, there aren't many things you can Google in French without safesearch on without learning all sorts of things you didn't want to know:)
This is a position that might be taken on the ground, on a trapeze or in various other positions, although probably not lying down, so back-bend is too specific. Pluse the spine is actually slightly flexed, not extended, with the pelvis in a posterior tilt. They describe the position of the body in a shoulderstand as "gainage". Please note that this is not any kind of strengthening or conditioning exercise, it is a static position of the body used in various acrobatic tricks, although the abs will have to be engaged to hold it.
SJLD Local time: 23:23 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 40
17 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
position de gainage
pike position
Explanation: From what I understand from my research the "position de gainage" is a version of carpé, although slightly less curved. It is a forward curve, with the muscles tightly engaged, arms either side of the ears, legs straight. This is called pike positio carpé Définition : Position du corps avec fermeture d'au moins 90° de l'angle jambes-tronc lors de laquelle les jambes sont tendues
Langue : fr Catégorie grammaticale : adj. Statut du terme en entrée : officialisé Forme concurrente : fermeture Domaine : gymnastique artistique Sous-domaine : positions et actions de base Contexte : "Mouvement des jambes Groupé / Carpé" (http://membres.lycos.fr/pascalgym) Relations : Genre du terme : position du corps Espèce ou type : carpé écart Isonyme : groupé ; gainage Équivalent anglais : pike position http://terminalf.risc.cnrs.fr/cfm/fich-1.php?IDChercher=961&...
Evans (X) Local time: 22:23 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 8
Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs
(or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.