Charlie Tate @charlie_tate is a 20-year-old British acrobat who is also a World, European and British Champion. He started doing acrobats at the age of five and he won his first-ever world championships in Florida 2012. Since then his career has gone upwards.
Seeing the content he uploads to his Instagram account –some crazy videos of his training– we were very curious about how is the life of an acrobat champion and also how does this sport makes part of his life.
Charlie started acrobatics at a very early age, at about the age of five, and everything you do in your childhood commonly shapes your future. In this case, acrobatics were everything for Charlie as a kid and this sport affected his personal life because of the great number of training hours it required. However, he knew that this could affect him in a positive or negative way, just depending on how he managed the situation.
“Acrobatics was everything to me as a kid. It’s how I defined myself and it was my focus throughout my childhood and beyond.”
We wanted to know what he liked the most about acrobatics and we are pretty sure it is what you have in mind: “the pure wow factor of acrobatics, the danger and the risk, the amazement on people’s faces” in Charlie’s own words. The riskier, the better. Those type of acrobatics gives everyone goosebumps and really makes the “wow” factor real.
Even though the riskier acrobatics are the best, it also requires a lot of training and also a great partners to help you out. In order to achieve such complex acrobatics, the coordination with them is essential and “insane” as Charlie says. Thanks to the number of hours of training –five or six days a week 20-25 hours morning and evening sometimes– is what they become a family. However, there are more things an acrobat has to do outside training.
“Acrobatics is anything but easy.”
In response of one of our questions asking him what piece of advice he would give to young acrobats, he gave us a very empowering statement that can be really put in any aspect of life.
“Stick it out through tough times because that’s what makes champions. Everyone loves success but that doesn’t come without hard work, enjoy and love what you do and focus for the end goal and you’ll get what you work for.”
There is no doubt Charlie is going to achieve whatever he puts his mind to with this amazing attitude.
Q: How did you start being an acrobat and when did you start winning competitions?
A: I started acrobatics when I was throwing myself around the house and being a handful at home for my mum so she sent me into the gym and then I was about 5 years old, I did a lot of small competitions with different partners but then starting winning my big competitions at my first ever world championships in Florida 2012 with the men’s 4 and that is how my career began.
Q: What does acrobatics mean to you and how do they affect your mood or personal life?
A: Acrobatics was everything to me as a kid. It’s how I defined myself and it was my focus throughout my childhood and beyond, it really affected my personal life with going out and parties because I was always training and sometimes would feel left out and also all the training doesn’t always go as planned, so it can either put you in a really good or bad mood.
Q: What kind of relationship do you have with your acrobatics partner in order to have that coordination?
A: The relationship you need to have with your acrobatics partners is insane, the amount of trust you need and the amount of time you spend together you become family but I wouldn’t change who I’ve trained and competed with for anything.
Q: What do you enjoy most about what you do?
A: I enjoy the pure wow factor of acrobatics, the danger and the risk, the amazement on people’s faces building human towers and throwing people 15ft high and always, learning new skills and bettering yourself is the best feeling.
Q: When you do acrobatics it seems easy. How many hours do you train?
A: Acrobatics is anything but easy. Especially at a high level, we would train 5/6 days a week 20-25 hours morning and evening sometimes and it’s all the outside of hours training which is hard with your diet especially and managing your busy schedule so it’s not all about acrobatics.
Q: What piece of advice would give to young acrobats?
A: My advice would be to stick it out through tough times because that’s what makes champions. Everyone loves success but that doesn’t come without hard work, enjoy and love what you do and focus for the end goal and you’ll get what you work for.
Q: Do you have any future plans regarding any matter of your life?
A: Training for so many years as an acrobat it has always been a dream of mine to take what I have learned and enjoyed for so many years to stage and perform in shows. Now that I have finished competing it would seem such a waste to not continue to train and make it my career that would be a dream come true for me and my acro partners.
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