Straps

Two fabric straps, cotton or nylon, that are wrapped around the wrists for aerial work. For the most part straps is a gymnastic discipline where the artist demonstrates his/her (usually his) unbridled physical power within the confines of a strictly limited aerial vocabulary. There's crossover with gymnastic rings, and though the grip is different many of the same movements – and the ring gymnast's heavy emphasis on upper body strength – can be seen in work on straps.

For strength training, it's a useful method. Artistically it's all but dead, and it seems the difficulty of the discipline fully pushes out style and individuality. Generally you can expect to see straps artists: snapping from meat hook to side planche, over and over; rolling up the straps one of two ways; being lifted and flown around the giant circus ring / ice rink / sporting arena; exhibiting their bodies naked from the waist up (the male ones, anyway).