Editor's note for Ning Dian Interview:

Today, with the continuous innovation of modern educational concepts, children's physical education is undergoing a paradigm shift from skill cultivation to comprehensive development. As an innovative sports enlightenment education model, "Happy Gymnastics" is redefining the value connotation of children's sports education. This gymnastics education designed for children aged 3-12 uses gamified and situational teaching methods to transform basic movements such as balance beams, jumps, and rolls into fun and engaging growth experiences. While ensuring safety, it comprehensively enhances children's coordination, balance, and confidence.

chaseTracing its origins, 'Happy Gymnastics'The concept is rooted in Europe and AmericaThe "HappyGym" system, borrowed from ancient GreeceThe traditional wisdom of gymnastics education in aristocratic education. In 2014, the Gymnastics Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China officially introduced this concept, aiming to promote the popularization and educational transformation of gymnastics. As an active practitioner of this concept, Wuhan Sport University has begun to explore the theory and practice of "Happy Gymnastics" under the guidance of Olympic champion Cheng Fei. It has initially established a "Happy Gymnastics" curriculum system and management model. Since 2021, under the leadership of Chen Yongqing, director of the Gymnastics Teaching and Research Office, Wuhan Sport University has established the Gymnastics Club, strengthened the theoretical and practical research of the "Happy Gymnastics" project, constructed a teaching system for "Happy Gymnastics" for young children, promoted the development of "Happy Gymnastics" practice, and formed a unique teaching model.

This interview will focus on the role of "Happy Gymnastics" in building children's psychological safety. We will have an in-depth discussion with Director Chen Yongqing on how to build a solid psychological safety foundation for children through scientific teaching design while cultivating their motor skills? How does this innovative sports education model cultivate children's social adaptability and resilience through subtle influence? Let's explore together the educational wisdom behind "Happy Gymnastics" and how it provides comprehensive support for children's healthy growth.

The "Happy Gymnastics" project at Wuhan Sport University proposes the concept of "happiness is safety". What is the essential difference between this and the early psychological training of traditional competitive gymnastics?

Chen Yongqing: The concept of "happiness is safety" proposed by the "Happy Gymnastics" project at Wuhan Sport University is fundamentally different from the early psychological training of traditional competitive gymnastics. The psychological intervention of traditional competitive gymnastics, such as pre competition psychological counseling, mainly focuses on solving the tension, anxiety, and even fear emotions that athletes may experience in pursuing difficult movements and competition results. However, "Happy Gymnastics" takes a completely different path - it does not wait for problems to arise before providing psychological counseling, but through systematic teaching design, subtly prevents the occurrence of psychological problems in daily training, and promotes the development of positive psychological qualities in children.

The fundamental difference lies in the different value orientations: competitive gymnastics pursues "higher and more difficult" technological breakthroughs, while "happy gymnastics" pursues "safe and happy" growth experiences. Specifically, in the design of teaching content, competitive gymnastics requires athletes to constantly challenge the limits of difficulty, while "happy gymnastics" designs teaching content based on the physical and mental development characteristics and individual differences of children in different age groups. From the most basic crawling and rolling movements of three - and four year old children to basic jumping and climbing movements, all training content follows the principles of simplicity, safety, and easy mastery. This' age appropriate 'teaching design itself is the best psychological guarantee - a high safety factor provides a solid foundation for children to build confidence. In such an environment, children do not need to overcome huge psychological fears to naturally build confidence through successful sports experiences.

Compared with the teaching content and methods, what unique and irreplaceable role does the teaching environment play in ensuring the safety of "Happy Gymnastics"?

Chen Yongqing: The teaching environment is the "silent guardian" of the safety of "Happy Gymnastics", so our physical education institute also attaches great importance to the design of the teaching environment. When planning the action risks of teaching content and controlling the operation process of teaching methods, the teaching environment constructs a safety ecosystem that permeates the entire area through spatial rules, physical protection, and psychological suggestion. Excellent environmental creation can turn safety into "air" - unnoticed in daily life, yet constantly uplifting life. On the contrary, even the most exquisite teaching design is like walking a tightrope in a flawed environment. Therefore, investment in environmental safety is not a cost, but an absolute reverence for the value of children's lives.

The purpose of "Happy Gymnastics" is to help children establish positive physical cognition and exercise confidence in a stress free environment. So how to build an evaluation system for "stress free" non competitive teaching?

Chen Yongqing：“Happy gymnastics "creates a unique" psychological safety zone "for children by establishing a non competitive growth environment. We adopt a growth oriented evaluation philosophy, which is completely different from the horizontal comparison system of competitive gymnastics that focuses on competition rankings and absolute results. In 'Happy Gymnastics', we first conduct basic ability assessments on each child to fully understand their individual characteristics and starting level.

The core value of this evaluation method is that we focus on the child's progress relative to their own starting point, rather than comparing them with others using a uniform standard. Because each child's family environment and early exercise experience are different, it is neither realistic nor fair to force everyone to meet the same standards at the same time. Through layered task design, we ensure that every child can receive moderate challenges within their 'zone of proximal development' - neither feeling bored due to tasks being too simple nor feeling frustrated due to them being too difficult.

In actual teaching, although the teaching content is the same, we will adjust the exercise requirements and environmental settings according to individual differences. This personalized design allows children to focus on self breakthrough without worrying about failure compared to others. When children experience the success of 'jumping within reach', this sense of achievement gained through their own efforts will be transformed into lasting internal motivation. We observe that in such a safe environment, children are more willing to actively explore their physical ability boundaries, gradually build confidence through overcoming moderate challenges, and achieve personalized growth and development.

In the progress of the project, the transition of children from "being nervous and afraid to move" to "free inversion" not only reflects the improvement of skills, but also reflects at a deeper level the establishment of psychological security? Does it have a potential impact on the child's future social safety behavior?

Chen Yongqing: In the "Happy Gymnastics" event, the process of children's transition from the initial state of tension to being able to complete a free handstand is actually a complete psychological growth process. In this process, we focus on cultivating three key psychological qualities: firstly, establishing a sense of ontological trust in the body, and through gradual training, allowing children to gradually believe that they can control body movements; Secondly, developing precise spatial perception ability and establishing spatial awareness in unconventional positions such as inversion and rotation; Finally, it is important to develop a preliminary awareness of risk assessment and teach children to judge the boundaries of their own abilities.

We pay special attention to integrating safety concepts into daily teaching. When teaching each new action, corresponding self-protection abilities will be developed simultaneously. For example, after learning rolling movements, a simulated fall scene will be designed to allow children to practice using techniques to protect themselves; In jumping training, the focus is on teaching the correct method of buffering landing. For example, when teaching how to jump from a high place, emphasize the key points of "bending the knees to cushion" movements, explain their functions (absorbing impact force, maintaining balance), and help children understand the safety principles behind the movements. And by watching examples of athletes (such as football and volleyball) instinctively using protective rollover when falling, the practical value of the skill is intuitively demonstrated. Of course, these trainings are accompanied by professional protective measures and clear explanations of safety principles to help children understand the safety logic behind each action.

The impact of this training goes far beyond the gymnastics field. Through long-term practice, children will internalize and develop three important abilities: first, keen bodily perception ability, which can accurately judge body posture and changes in center of gravity; The second is the automated safety response mode, which can instinctively take protective actions in case of emergencies; The third is a rational risk perception framework that can objectively assess the degree of environmental danger. These abilities constitute what we call 'bodily intelligence' and will become a lifelong security guarantee for children.

In terms of teaching methods, we adopt a progressive challenge strategy. Taking balance beam training as an example, transition from a 30 centimeter wide balance beam (children's balance beam) to a 10 centimeter wide balance beam (competition balance beam), and use sponge pads for protection, allowing children to gradually increase their height while feeling fully secure. Every training session ensures that the child is in a 'moderate challenge zone' - neither losing interest due to being too simple nor developing fear due to being too difficult. Through this scientific training system, children not only acquire motor skills, but more importantly, establish positive physical cognition and safety awareness, which will have a profound impact on their future social adaptability.

How to reconstruct the connotation and value system of "happiness" in the process of integrating and innovating "happy gymnastics" as an internationally introduced educational concept with local educational practices in China?

Chen Yongqing: In the exploration of localizing the international concept of "Happy Gymnastics", we gradually realized that true happiness is not the endpoint, but the growth process that runs through the spirit of sports. The "happiness" pursued by "Happy Gymnastics" is not fleeting pleasure, but the lasting satisfaction obtained in the process of challenging oneself and breaking through limits.

This understanding reconstructs our teaching practice: firstly, the "safety challenge" framework we designed makes every action a miniature life experience. For example, in pre roll teaching, the process from slope assistance to independent completion is similar to the growth trajectory of dependence to self-reliance on the road of life. Children experience not only the joy of completing actions under professional protection, but also a sense of achievement in breaking through themselves. Secondly, we integrate the wisdom of "gradual progress" in traditional Chinese culture with international teaching methods, and set different heights and widths of routes in balance beam exercises to help children understand that the charm of sports lies not in the perfect performance in an instant, but in the perseverance to stand up again after falling down time and time again.

Most importantly, we have reshaped the teacher-student relationship. Coaches are no longer just technical guides, but witnesses and companions of their growth journey. When children hesitate in the face of challenges, a simple phrase like 'Do you remember your progress last week?' can evoke inner strength; When encountering failure, the accompanying attitude of "let's analyze together" makes setbacks the best teacher. This interactive mode itself embodies the most precious quality of sportsmanship - never giving up.

This localized innovation has made "Happy Gymnastics" go beyond simple sports skill training and become a growth education that integrates international concepts and Chinese wisdom. Children not only gain strong physical fitness, but more importantly, they realize that the true essence of sports lies not in the moment of happiness blooming, but in the resilient character cultivated in the process; It's not about the brilliance of the medals, but about going further than yesterday's self every day. This profound understanding of the spirit of sports will become an eternal beacon that illuminates their life path.