In the late 60's there was nothing underneath the bars to stop injuries in my middle school gym. That is probably an example of why many in my generation are quite tough today.
They are different but both arise from the floor. You must be thinking of a trapeze.
SwampLady
Aug 17, 2016
Rings hang from the ceiling and the athletes do many of the same moves on them.
kittycat77
Aug 17, 2016
Yes parallel bars are different then uneven bars. Only men do the parallel bars and the woman the uneven bars.
JamieT
Aug 18, 2016
Thanks for the information. I don't know why I thought the uneven bars hung from the ceiling - maybe because when watching, I wasn't paying too much attention to the bars but to the routine.
kittycat77
Aug 19, 2016
I think what you were thinking about were the rings, again done by men. That is tough for them as they have to poses, if you want to call them that, where they have to be perfectly still.
I remember struggling on the parallel bars in P.E. class. For some reason I could never stay as parallel as they were and the "spotters" were more aptly named "catchers" That was a lot of years ago so I am sure I have only gotten worse in that particular skill.
Anyway, I couldn't do either, although parallel bars can be used for physical therapy.