(Being A Stuntman) And Playing With Fire


The teams work hard at Flair to make sure that each child has measurable goals to strive towards at class each week, each month, each term and each year.

Goal setting is a skill that will help your child on their journey through life as it helps them to look to the future and create a positive vision of when and what they want to achieve… The children then work hard each week and enjoy achieving each mini-goal that draws them closer to smashing each BIG ‘future’ goal..

We map your child’s progress during their skill testing classes and track their progress using their Student Training Diaries.

Our BIG aim through attaining and working towards goals at class, is for each and every child to be OR become ‘happy and confident’. As your child makes progress at their class this releases the ‘feeling of happiness’ because PROGRESS = HAPPINESS! And as they achieve some or all of their gymnastic goals they will have more confidence, because confidence comes as a byproduct of achieving our goals.

 

Being a stuntman and playing with fire

 

Your coaching team help your child to grow on their journey with us by making sure that they are consistently progressing, learning new skills, consolidating and practising foundational skills and reaching their goals each and every week, month and term. 

As I progressed on my own gymnastics journey, the more I practised, the more my skills grew and the more my confidence in my abilities began to soar. It was then that I decided that I’d like to become a stuntman.

One of my first jobs that I landed was working on the soap ‘Emmerdale.’ Suddenly I found myself travelling up and down to the ‘set’ which is based near Leeds in Yorkshire. I didn’t ever watch ‘Emmerdale’ so I can’t say I was star-struck, however it gave me a bit of a buzz to be working on one of the top soaps in the country. I got quite friendly with the actors, especially Emma Atkins (Charity Tate) and Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle) and was surprised and pleased to see that they are both still working on the soap even now. It’s a very warm and friendly cast and was a happy introduction into the world of stunts for me. The most exciting scene I got to work on during my ‘Emmerdale’ stint was the scene when Andy Sugden set fire to the barn. It became quite a famous scene and won the ‘Spectacular Scene of the Year’ Award at the 2001 Soap Awards. I was the stunt double for Andy and of course, there was a lot of fire involved (they set fire to my legs!) and falling off of ladders as the barn exploded! 

 

Being a stuntman and playing with fire

 

I have now been involved in many stunts for various TV programmes and films using fire. It is not my favourite stunt to do as there is a lot of risk involved. I wear a heat resistant gel (zel gel) on my body and then heat resistant clothing (called nomex) underneath the costume and then rely on the stunt fire team and stunt coordinator to put the fire out quickly once the director has shouted ‘Cut.’  

 

Being a stuntman and playing with fire

 

Another fire stunt that I did that comes to mind is an episode of ‘Midsomer Murders’ Season 7, Episode 6 called ‘The Straw Woman.’ About 15 minutes into the episode you see the vicar in the church spontaneously combust and that’s me! A word of caution though- (this scene is quite scary for your little ones viewing, so please check it first if they want to view it) I have been in quite a lot of episodes of ‘Midsomer Murders’ being killed off by lots of different methods! Always a fun job to do.

So ‘Playing with Fire’ is one of those times where, as a stuntman, I have had to ‘dance with fear’ as I explained in a recent blog post ‘From Fear To Confidence’. It’s all about flipping the fear into excitement and ALWAYS visualising positive outcomes (GOALS). All vital skills that we have managed to transfer into our teachings at Flair.

 

Being a stuntman and playing with fire

Through the Flair syllabus that each member is progressing through at their club, the life skills that we teach lie at the heart of every level, this in turn builds on each member’s personal skill development.

My personal mission is to help build confident, happy kids who will live fearless, breathtaking lives.. If your child is already part of our Flair family, you will be witness to this each week at their class… If you are not yet a member, WHY NOT!….

To join a Flair Gym Club and start your gymnastics adventure book online here >  www.ukflair.com/clubs

Or just call us on 01483 654440

Best wishes
Richard
Founder & CEO of Flair Gymnastics

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