Copyright © 2015 Bert N. Langford (Images may be subject to copyright. Please send feedback)
Welcome to Our Generation USA!

This Web Page covers 
Other Sports
(not covered by sports-specific web pages above, and including physical activities that pushes performers to their brink!)

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Sports in the United States 

[Webhost Note: While this Wikipedia topic covers traditional sports (e.g. baseball, football, basketball, etc.), note that this web page also includes other sports, e.g., Chess and others which may also have a governing or sanctioning body for competitive awards]

​​Pictured:  
LEFT: Major League Baseball (MLB) --  Yogi Berra jumping into the arms of Don Larsen (New York Yankees) upon winning the only perfect World Series Game (#5) during the 1956 World Series game with the Brooklyn Dodgers: the Yankees won the game, (2 to 0) and the Series (4-3);
​RIGHT: National Football League (NFL)  Superbowl XIII (Pittsburg Steelers 35 and Dallas Cowboys 31): as reported by NFL.Com: "The great ones never lose, they just run out of time. That's what happened to Roger Staubach in Super Bowl XIII, who overcame the most famous drop -- Jackie Smith's in the end zone -- in NFL history..." 

Sports in the United States





Sports in the United States are an important part of the country's culture. Based on revenue, the four major professional sports leagues in the United States are Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL).

All four enjoy wide-ranging domestic media coverage and are considered the preeminent leagues in their respective sports in the world, although only basketball, baseball, and ice hockey have substantial followings in other nations. Three of those leagues have teams that represent Canadian cities, and all four are among the most financially lucrative sports leagues in the world.

Professional teams in all major sports in the U.S. operate as franchises within a league, meaning that a team may move to a different city if the owners believe financial benefit, but franchise moves are usually subject to some form of league-level approval.

All major sports leagues use a similar type of regular season schedule with a playoff tournament after the regular season ends. In addition to the major league-level organizations, several sports also have professional minor leagues, active in smaller cities across the country.

Sports leagues in the United States are also unique in that they do not practice promotion and relegation, unlike sports leagues in Europe and almost all other parts of the world (with Australia the only other major sporting country that does not use the promotion/relegation model).

Sports are particularly associated with education in the United States, with most high schools and universities having organized sports. College sports competitions play an important role in the American sporting culture, and college football and college basketball are as popular as professional sports in some parts of the country. The major sanctioning body for college sports is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
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Featured below are two amazing feats in Basketball and Olympic Hockey:

"The Greatest Shot in National Basketball Association (NBA) History": As Reported by Time Magazine: "A moment so sublime they coined a phrase for it. "The Shot" refers to arguably the greatest basketball player in history, Michael ("Air") Jordan, shooting arguably one of the most dramatic buzzer beaters in the history of the sport.

​His Chicago Bulls had been trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers for the entire duration of the fifth game of the first round of the NBA Playoffs; but with six seconds to go, a Jordan jumper put the Bulls in a 99-98 lead. Cleveland came back and it was 99-100 with 3.2 seconds to go. Let's go to commentator Jim Durham...”: (click for Rest of Article)

Click Here for YouTube Video of Michael Jordan - The Last Shot! Last minute of the 1998 NBA Finals


​The "Miracle on Ice" is the name in American popular culture for a medal-round men's ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, on Friday, February 22. The United States national team, made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet Union national team, which had won the gold medal in six of the seven previous Olympic games.

Team USA went on to win the gold medal by winning its last match over Finland. The Soviet Union took the bronze medal by beating Sweden in its final game. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the "Miracle on Ice" the Top Sports Moment of the 20th Century.  As part of its 100th anniversary celebrations in 2008, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) chose the "Miracle on Ice" as the century's number-one international ice hockey story.

To see Video, click here: Final Minute of the "Miracle on Ice"







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​Sports including Amateur Sports Pictured: About the Amateur Athletic Union
Sports including Amateur Sports
Sport includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, at least in part aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators.

Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a match) is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other.

Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.

Sport is generally recognised as system of activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition, and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports.

The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi, and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports.

Sport is usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, and allow consistent adjudication of the winner. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression.

Records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be widely announced or reported in sport news. Sport is also a major source of entertainment for non-participants, with spectator sport drawing large crowds to sport venues, and reaching wider audiences through broadcasting. Sport betting is in some cases severely regulated, and in other cases is central to the sport.

According to A.T. Kearney, a consultancy, the global sporting industry is worth up to $620 billion as of 2013. The world's most accessible and practiced sport is running, while association football is the most popular spectator sport.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Sports (in General): ___________________________________________________________________________

Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing and training.

In the majority of sports which feature professional players, the professionals will participate at a higher standard of play than amateur competitors, as they can train full-time without the stress of having another job. The majority of worldwide sporting participants are amateurs.

Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports and monetisation of amateur and collegiate sports, and is now strictly held as an ideal by fewer and fewer organisations governing sports, even as they maintain the word "amateur" in their titles.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Amateur Sports:






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Bowling
YouTube Video of PBA Bowling | Pro's converting huge splits.
​Pictured: LEFT: Bowler in Motion; RIGHT: Bowling Leagues (Wonderbowl.com)

Bowling
Bowling refers to a series of sports or leisure activities in which a player rolls or throws a bowling ball towards a target. In pin bowling variations, the target is usually to knock over pins at the end of a lane.

When all the pins are knocked down on the first roll, this is a strike. In target variations, the aim is usually to get the ball as close to a mark as possible. The pin version of bowling is often played on a flat wooden or other synthetic surface (which can be oiled in different patterns for different techniques), while in target bowling, the surface may be grass, gravel or a synthetic surface. 

The most common types of pin bowling include: 
Today the sport of bowling is played by 100 million people in more than 90 countries worldwide (including 70 million in the United States), and continues to grow through entertainment media such as video games for home consoles and handheld devices.

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Boxing including a List of Undisputed Champions
YouTube Video of Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier (III) 1975-10-01 "Thrilla in Manila"
​Pictured: LEFT: Joe Louis: The longest reigning heavyweight champion (World Heavyweight Championship (11 years, 8 months, 8 days); RIGHT: “The Rumble in the Jungle” (1974) (see video below) pitting undefeated world heavyweight champion George Foreman against challenger Muhammad Ali, a former heavyweight champion. Ali won by knockout, putting Foreman down just before the end of the eighth round. It has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century".

Boxing
Click here for a List of undisputed boxing champions

Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring.

Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a common fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships.

Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds. The result is decided when an opponent is deemed incapable to continue by a referee, is disqualified for breaking a rule, resigns by throwing in a towel, or is pronounced the winner or loser based on the judges' scorecards at the end of the contest.

In the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw (professional boxing). In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout.

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Extreme Sports: Rock Climbing
YouTube Video of EXTREME Climbing Chris Sharma AMAZING
​Pictured: LEFT: Man holding on while climbing a ledge; RIGHT: Lady using a rope to climb a rock.

Extreme Sports: Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls.

The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Due to the length and extended endurance required and because accidents are more likely to happen on descent than ascent, Rock Climbers do not usually climb back down the route.

It is very rare for a climber to downclimb, especially on the larger multiple pitches (class III- IV and /or multi-day grades IV-VI climbs).

Professional Rock climbing competitions have the objectives of either completing the route in the quickest possible time or attaining the farthest point on an increasingly difficult route. Scrambling, another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations, is similar to rock climbing. However, rock climbing is generally differentiated by its sustained use of hands to support the climber's weight as well as to provide balance.

Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climber's strength, endurance, agility and balance along with mental control. It can be a dangerous activity and knowledge of proper climbing techniques and usage of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.

Because of the wide range and variety of rock formations around the world, rock climbing has been separated into several different styles and sub-disciplines.

Click here for further amplification of Rock Climbing Styles, Types, Techniques, etc.







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Extreme Sports: Mountain Climbing (or "Mountaineering")
YouTube Video of Mt. Everest 2009 - Summit of Mt Everest
​Pictured: LEFT: Climber at top of steep and narrow rock formation; and RIGHT: Photo taken on Sept. 29, 2005 shows several mountain-climbing lovers climbing Mt. Chitzi, photo from Xinhua.

Extreme Sports: Mountain Climbing



The term mountaineering describes the sport of mountain climbing, including ski mountaineering. Hiking in the mountains can also be a simple form of mountaineering when it involves scrambling, or short stretches of the more basic grades of rock climbing, as well as crossing glaciers.

While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed big mountains it has branched into specializations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists of three (3) areas: rock-craft, snow-craft, and skiing, depending on whether the route chosen is over rock, snow or ice. All require experience, athletic ability, and technical knowledge to maintain safety.

Mountaineering is often called Alpinism, especially in European languages, which implies climbing with difficulty such high, and often snow and ice-covered mountains as the Alps. A mountaineer with such great skill is called an Alpinist.

The word alpinism was born in the 19th century to refer to climbing for the purpose of enjoying climbing itself as a sport or recreation, distinct from merely climbing while hunting or as a religious pilgrimage that had been done generally at that time.

The UIAA or Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme is the world governing body in mountaineering and climbing, addressing issues like access, medical, mountain protection, safety, youth and ice climbing.

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Handball
​YouTube Video of  “Handball Women | The Best”
Pictured: LEFT: 3 Outdoor Handball Courts in use; RIGHT: European Handball Federation: Spanish Women’s Team beach ball.

Handball


Handball (also known as team handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team that scores more goals wins.

Modern handball is played on a court 40 by 20 metres (131 by 66 ft), with a goal in the middle of each end. The goals are surrounded by a 6-meter (20 ft) zone where only the defending goalkeeper is allowed; goals must be scored by throwing the ball from outside the zone or while "jumping" into it.

The sport is usually played indoors, but outdoor variants exist in the forms of field handball and Czech handball (which were more common in the past) and beach handball.

The game is fast and high-scoring: professional teams now typically score between 20 and 35 goals each, though lower scores were not uncommon until a few decades ago. Body contact is permitted by the defenders trying to stop the attackers from approaching the goal.

The game was codified at the end of the 19th century in northern Europe and Germany. The modern set of rules was published in 1917 in Germany, and had several revisions since. The first international games were played under these rules for men in 1925 and for women in 1930.

Men's handball was first played at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin as outdoors, and the next time at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich as indoors, and has been an Olympic sport since. Women's team handball was added at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

The International Handball Federation was formed in 1946, and as of 2013 has 174 member federations. The sport is most popular in continental Europe, whose countries have won all medals but one in men's world championships since 1938, and all women's titles until 2013, when Brazil broke the series. The game also enjoys popularity in the Far East, North Africa and Brazil.

Click here for amplification about American Handball.





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List of Equestrian Sports​ including the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Horse Racing
YouTube of Secretariat's  record breaking win during the third and final race of the 1973 Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes!
​Pictured: LEFT: Harness Racing and RIGHT: American Pharoah winning the Triple Crown at the  Belmont Stakes (2015)​

Equestrian Sports
Click here to access the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Horse Racing.

Equestrian Sports are sports that use horses as a main part of the sport. This usually takes the form of the rider being on the horse's back, or the horses pulling some sort of horse-drawn vehicle.

Equestrian Sports include:
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Offshore Powerboat Racing
YouTube Video: Class 1 Qatar CRASH/FLIP And Victory saves it....!! powerboat offshore
​Pictured: CLASS ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POWERBOATS, IBIZA – 5TH TO 7TH SEPTEMBER 2014 – PLATJA D’EN BOSSA.

Offshore Powerboat Racing

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Offshore powerboat racing is a type of racing by ocean-going powerboats, typically point-to-point racing.

In Europe, Middle East and Asia, offshore powerboat racing is led by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) regulated Class 1 and Powerboat GPS (formerly known as Powerboat P1) 

​In the USA, offshore powerboat racing is led by the APBA/UIM and consists of races hosted by OPA Racing, OSS, and P1.

​The sport is financed by a mixture of private funding and commercial sponsors.







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Air Racing
YouTube Video of Ultimate 500 MPH Experience at Reno Air Races High Speed Pylon Flybys
Pictured: LEFT: T 6 Gold Start passing the finish pylon at the 2014 Reno Air Races; and RIGHT: Thom Richard Wins First Round of 2015 Air Race 1 World Cup (Flying Magazine)

Air Racing


Air racing is a motorsport that involves airplanes competing over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previously estimated time.

Click here for further amplification.







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Ice Skating
YouTube Video: Simply The Best. Pairs Figure Skating!!
​Pictured: LEFT: Couple at University of Delaware Ice Arenas; RIGHT: Skate below the famous Christmas tree at the Rink at Rockefeller Center (Photo: Peter Cruise/Flickr CC)

Ice Skating



Ice skating is the act of moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including exercise, leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared ice surfaces (arenas, tracks, parks), both indoors and outdoors, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as ponds, lakes and rivers.

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Jai alai
YouTube Video of ​The Fastest Game in the World - Jai-Alai
Pictured: LEFT: Playing Jai Lai in a Court: RIGHT: Woven Jai alai Mitt used to catch and throw the ball.

Jai alai


Jai alai is a sport involving a ball bounced off a walled space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held device (cesta). It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where the sport is played. The game is called "zesta-punta" (basket tip) in Basque.

The Basque Government promotes jai alai as "the fastest sport in the world" because of the ball speed. The sport once held the world record for ball speed with a 125–140 g ball covered with goatskin that traveled at 302 km/h (188 mph), performed by José Ramón Areitio at the Newport Rhode Island Jai Alai, until it was broken by Canadian 5-time long drive champion Jason Zuback on a 2007 episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of 328 km/h (204 mph).

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Kite Flying
YouTube Video of Amazing KITE Flying!
​Pictured: LEFT: Spectators watch a large killer whale kite during the annual Festival of the Winds held at Bondi Beach, on September 12, 2004 in Sydney, Australia; RIGHT: Kite-flying as a competitive sport (courtesy of NJ.com).

Kite Flying
A kite is traditionally a tethered heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag. A kite consists of wings, tethers, and anchors. Kites often have a bridle to guide the face of the kite at the correct angle so the wind can lift it.

A kite's wing also may be so designed so a bridle is not needed; when kiting a sailplane for launch, the tether meets the wing at a single point. A kite may have fixed or moving anchors. Untraditionally in technical kiting, a kite consists of tether-set-coupled wing sets; even in technical kiting, though, a wing in the system is still often called the kite.

The lift that sustains the kite in flight is generated when air flows around the kite's surface, producing low pressure above and high pressure below the wings. The interaction with the wind also generates horizontal drag along the direction of the wind. The resultant force vector from the lift and drag force components is opposed by the tension of one or more of the lines or tethers to which the kite is attached.

The anchor point of the kite line may be static or moving (e.g., the towing of a kite by a running person, boat, free-falling anchors as in paragliders and fugitive parakites or vehicle).

The same principles of fluid flow apply in liquids and kites are also used under water.

A hybrid tethered craft comprising both a lighter-than-air balloon as well as a kite lifting surface is called a kytoon.

Kites have a long and varied history and many different types are flown individually and at festivals worldwide. Kites may be flown for recreation, art or other practical uses. Sport kites can be flown in aerial ballet, sometimes as part of a competition. 

Power kites are multi-line steerable kites designed to generate large forces which can be used to power activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding, kite fishing, kite buggying and a new trend snow kiting. Even Man-lifting kites have been made.

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Hot Air Balloons
YouTube Video of Reno Hot Air Balloon Race 2006 - GBTimelapse
​Pictured: LEFT: Hot Air Balloon Festival Courtesy of Mike Jones Photography; RIGHT: “My wife's bucket list included a hot air balloon ride, which we did last fall.” (http://www.stanleylearystoryteller.com/)

Hot Air Balloon
Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet (except when the propane burners are firing), the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view. Since the balloon moves with the direction of the winds, the passengers feel absolutely no wind, except for brief periods during the flight when the balloon climbs or descends into air currents of different direction or speed.

Modern hot air ballooning was born in 1960, when Ed Yost launched a balloon with a new nylon envelope and propane burner system of his own invention. Yost's first balloon was basketless, with nothing but a seat for him to ride on, but in a few years he and other balloon enthusiasts would develop balloons much like the ones used today.

Today, hot air balloons are used primarily for recreation. According to the FAA's General Aviation Survey data, in 2012, there were about 2,300 personally owned and flown balloons, and about 495 commercial "sight-seeing" ride operators in the United States.

Since piloting a balloon requires some effort (licensing and purchase of equipment), many people opt to purchase a balloon flight from a company offering balloon rides. Balloon rides are available in many locations around the world and are especially popular in tourist areas.

Balloon festivals are a great way to see hot air balloons close up, and are an enjoyable family outing. Balloon festivals usually include other activities like live entertainment, amusement rides, etc

Hot air balloons are able to fly to extremely high altitudes. On November 26, 2005, Vijaypat Singhania set the world altitude record for highest hot air balloon flight, reaching 21,290 meters (69,852 feet). He took off from downtown Mumbai, India and landed 240 km (150 mi) south in Panchale.

The previous record of 19,811 meters (64,980 ft) had been set by Per Lindstrand on June 6, 1988 in Plano, Texas. However, as with all unpressurised aircraft, oxygen is needed for all crew and passengers on any balloon flight that reaches and exceeds an altitude of 12,500 feet (3810 metres).

On January 15, 1991, a balloon called the Pacific Flyer carrying Per Lindstrand (born in Sweden, but resident in the UK) and Richard Branson of the UK flew from Japan to Northern Canada, completing 7,671.91 km.

With a volume of 74,000 m³ (2,600,000 ft³), the balloon envelope was the largest ever built for a hot air craft. Designed to fly in the trans-oceanic jetstreams the Pacific Flyer recorded the highest ground speed for a manned balloon of 245 mph (394 km/h).

The distance record was broken on March 21, 1999 when the Breitling Orbiter 3 carrying Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones touched down in Egypt, having circumnavigated the globe and set records for duration (19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes) and distance (46,759 km).

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Hunting
YouTube Video Duck Hunting - Mallard Beat Down
​Pictured: LEFT: Hunter with a Stag Deer; RIGHT: hunting dogs stirring quail from their roost.

Hunting
Hunting is the practice of killing or trapping any animal, or pursuing or tracking it with the intent of doing so. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, to remove predators that are dangerous to humans or domestic animals, or for trade.

Lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the illegal killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game or prey and are usually mammals and birds.

Hunting can also be a means of pest control. Hunting advocates state that hunting can be a necessary component of modern wildlife management, for example, to help maintain a population of healthy animals within an environment's ecological carrying capacity when natural checks such as predators are absent or very rare.

However, hunting has also heavily contributed to the endangerment, extirpation and extinction of many animals.

The pursuit, capture and release, or capture for food of fish is called fishing, which is not commonly categorized as a form of hunting. It is also not considered hunting to pursue animals without intent to kill them, as in wildlife photography, birdwatching, or scientific research activities which involve tranquilizing and/or tagging of animals or birds.

The practice of foraging or gathering materials from plants and mushrooms is also considered separate from hunting.

Skillful tracking and acquisition of an elusive target has caused the word hunt to be used in the vernacular as a metaphor, as in treasure hunting, "bargain hunting", and even "hunting down corruption and waste".

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Golf including a List of PGA Champions
YouTube Video of ​Golf hole in one compilation series Vol 2 - Golf's greatest hole in one shots EVER
​Pictured: LEFT: Playing the major championship golf courses: Pebble Beach; RIGHT: Fazio Golf Course at PGA National Florida.

Golf


Click here for a List of PGA Champions.

Golf is a club and ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.

Golf, unlike most ball games, does not require a standardized playing area. The game is played on a course with an arranged progression of either nine or 18 holes.

Each hole on the course must contain a tee box to start from, and a putting green containing the actual hole or cup. There are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the fairway, rough, and hazards, but each hole on a course is unique in its specific layout and arrangement.

Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels.

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Marathons including a List of Marathons in the United States
YouTube Video of Boston Marathon 2016
Pictured: LEFT: New York Marathon - If you’ve never seen it before, this is what 47,000 people racing the NY Marathon looks like. I’ll never forget when my high school coach first showed me a photo like this: Photo from Women Talk Sports; RIGHT: Meb Keflezighi crosses the finish line to win the Elite Men's division of the 2014 Boston Marathon. (Getty)

Marathons

Click here for a List of Marathons in the United States.

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 miles, or 26 miles 385 yards), usually run as a road race.

The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, though the distance did not become standardized until 1921. More than 500 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.

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Softball
YouTube Video of ​ISF Men's World Softball Championship Final Game - Black Sox vs Venezuela
Pictured: LEFT: Florida wins the 2014 Women's NCAA College World Series; RIGHT: Men’s 1989 Pan American Games

Softball
​Softball is a variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. It was invented in 1887 in Chicago as an indoor game. It was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground, softball, kitten ball, because it was also played by women, ladies' baseball. The name softball was given to the game in 1926.

A tournament held in 1933 at the Chicago World's Fair spurred interest in the game. The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America (founded 1933) governs the game in the United States and sponsors annual sectional and World Series championships.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) regulates rules of play in more than 110 countries, including the United States and Canada; before the WBSC was formed in 2013, the International Softball Federation filled this role. Women's fastpitch softball became a Summer Olympic sport in 1996, but it (and baseball) were dropped in 2005 from the 2012 Games, to be reinstated in 2016 for the 2020 Games.

There are three types of softball:
  • In the most common type, slow-pitch softball, the ball, which can measure either 11 or 12 inches in circumference depending on the age and league, must arch on its path to the batter, and there are 10 players in a team.
  • In fastpitch softball, the pitch is fast, there are nine players on the field at one time, and bunting and stealing are permitted. 
  • Modified softball restricts the windmill windup of the pitcher, although the pitcher is allowed throw as hard as possible with the restricted back swing.

Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseball. Two major differences are that the ball must be pitched underhand—from 46 ft (14 m) for men or 43 ft (13.1 m) for women as compared with 60.5 ft (18.4 m) in baseball—and that seven innings instead of nine consecutive regulation game.

Despite the name, the ball used in softball is not very soft. It is about 12 in (30.5 cm) in circumference (11 or 12 in for slow-pitch), which is 3 in (8 cm) larger than a baseball.

Softball recreational leagues for children often use an 11 inch ball. The infield in softball is smaller than on an adult or high school baseball diamond but identical to that used by Little League Baseball; each base is 60 ft (18 m) from the next, as opposed to baseball's 90 ft (27 m). Also the infield in fast pitch softball does not have grass verses baseball at any level that does have grass.

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Lacrosse
YouTube Video of the Best of Lacrosse
​Pictured: LEFT: Men's lacrosse match between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (By Caroline Culler (User:Wgreaves) - Own work, Public Domain); RIGHT: Two locals in women's lacrosse Final Four | NJ.com

Lacrosse




Lacrosse is a contact team sport played between two teams using a small rubber ball (62.8–64.77 mm (2.472–2.550 in), 140–147 g (4.9–5.2 oz)) and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick.

The men's version is considered as a rough sport, with slashes and intense checks to the stick and body. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch and hold the lacrosse ball. There are many different ways to put mesh on the head of the stick, also known as "stringing the stick."

Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent's goal past the goalie, using the lacrosse stick to catch, cradle, and pass the ball to do so. Defensively, the objective is to keep the other team from scoring and to gain the ball through the use of stick checking and body contact or positioning.

The sport has four major types: 
The sport consists of four positions: midfield, attack, defense and goalie.

In field lacrosse, attack men are solely offensive players (except on the "ride", when the opposition tries to bring the ball upfield and attack men must stop them), defense men or defenders are solely defensive players (except when bringing up the ball, which is called a "clear"), the goalie is the last line of defense, directly defending the goal, and midfielders or "middies" can go anywhere on the field and play offense and defense, although in higher levels of lacrosse there are specialized offensive and defensive middies.

Long stick middies only play defense and come off of the field on offense.

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Karate
YouTube Video of Best Karate Fights*
*-- This Video is compilation of 4 great karate legends -: Kenji Midori, Francisco Filho, Kancho Matsui & Lechi Kurbanov.
​Pictured: LEFT: Defensive move (picture by Mullen Sports); RIGHT: Karate club full of fight as new belts are awarded.

Karate


Karate is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous martial arts of Ryukyu Islands literally "hand" in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane. 

Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands, and palm-heel strikes.

Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints, and vital-point strikes are also taught. A karate practitioner is called a "karateka".

Karate developed on the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Chinese. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taisho era. In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration.

In 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in mainland Japan and by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs. In this era of escalating Japanese militarism, the name was changed from "Chinese hand" or "Tang hand") to "empty hand"), both of which are pronounced karate – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style. After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.

The martial arts movies of the 1960s and 1970s served to greatly increase the popularity of martial arts around the world, and in English the word karate began to be used in a generic way to refer to all striking-based Oriental martial arts. Karate schools began appearing across the world, catering to those with casual interest as well as those seeking a deeper study of the art.

Shigeru Egami, Chief Instructor of Shotokan Dojo, opined that "the majority of followers of karate in overseas countries pursue karate only for its fighting techniques ... Movies and television ... depict karate as a mysterious way of fighting capable of causing death or injury with a single blow ... the mass media present a pseudo art far from the real thing."

Shoshin Nagamine said, "Karate may be considered as the conflict within oneself or as a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training and one's own creative efforts."

On September 28, 2015, karate was featured on a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

On June 1, 2016, the International Olympic Committee's executive board announced they were supporting the inclusion of all five sports (counting baseball and softball as only one sport) for inclusion in the 2020 Games.

Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims there are 50 million karate practitioners worldwide, while the World Karate Federation claims there are 100 million practitioners around the world.

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Kickboxing
YouTube Video of KICKBOXING : USA vs FRANCE World Championships
​Pictured: Two examples of Kickboxing

Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from Karate, Muay Thai, Khmer Boxing, and Western boxing.

Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general fitness, or as a contact sport.

Japanese kickboxing originated in the 1960s, with competitions held since then. American kickboxing originated in the 1970s and was brought to prominence in September 1974, when the Professional Karate Association (PKA) held the first World Championships.

Historically, kickboxing can be considered a hybrid martial art formed from the combination of elements of various traditional styles. This approach became increasingly popular since the 1970s, and since the 1990s, kickboxing has contributed to the emergence of mixed martial arts via further hybridization with ground fighting techniques from Brazilian jiu-jitsu and folk wrestling.

There is no single international governing body. International governing bodies include:
among others. Consequently, there is no single kickboxing world championship, and champion titles are issued by individual promotions, such as K-1, Glory, SUPERKOMBAT, Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, among others.

Bouts organized under different governing bodies apply different rules, such as allowing the use of knees or clinching, etc.

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Judo
YouTube Video of Best of Judo
​Pictured: LEFT: Judo wrestling (Graciemag.com); and RIGHT: "Tiny warriors" learn art, philosophy of judo (Claremont-courier.com)

Judo
Judo was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Kanō Jigorō. It is generally categorized as a modern martial art which later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport.

Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. 

Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori). A judo practitioner is called a judoka.

The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from koryū (traditional schools). The worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

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Cricket
​YouTube Video of a World Cricket Championship Gameplay Trailer
​Pictured: LEFT: Female Cricket Player; RIGHT: Family Playing Cricket

Cricket


Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a cricket field, at the center of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a wicket (a set of three wooden stumps) sited at each end.

One team, designated the batting team, attempts to score as many runs as possible, whilst their opponents field. Each phase of play is called an inning. After either ten batsmen have been dismissed or a set number of overs have been completed, the innings ends and the two teams then swap roles. The winning team is the one that scores the most runs, including any extras gained, during their one or two innings.

At the start of each game, two batsmen and eleven fielders enter the field of play. The play begins when a designated member of the fielding team, known as the bowler, delivers the ball from one end of the pitch to the other, towards a set of wooden stumps, in front of which stands one of the batsmen, known as the striker.

The striker's role is to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps by use of his bat, and simultaneously to strike it well enough to score runs. The other batsman, known as the non-striker, waits at the opposite end of the pitch near the bowler. The bowler's objectives are to prevent the scoring of runs and to dismiss the batsman. A dismissed batsman must leave the field, and a teammate replaces him at the crease.

The most common forms of dismissal are bowled, when the bowler hits the stumps directly with the ball, leg before wicket, when the batsman prevents the ball from hitting the stumps with his body instead of his bat, and caught, when the batsman hits the ball into the air and it is intercepted by a fielder before touching the ground.

Runs are scored by two main methods: either by hitting the ball hard enough for it to cross the boundary, or by the two batsmen swapping ends by each simultaneously running the length of the pitch in opposite directions whilst the fielders are retrieving the ball. If a fielder retrieves the ball quickly enough to put down the wicket with a batsman not having reached the crease at that end of the pitch, that batsman is dismissed (a run-out occurs). Adjudication is performed on the field by two umpires.

The laws of cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There are various formats ranging from Twenty20, played over a few hours with each team having a single innings of 20 overs (i.e. 120 deliveries), to Test cricket, played over five days with unlimited overs and the teams playing two innings apiece.

Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball, which is a hard, solid object made of compressed leather enclosing a cork core.

Although cricket's origins are uncertain, it is first recorded in south-east England in the 16th century. It spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, leading to the first international matches in the mid-19th century. ICC, the game's governing body, has over 100 members, ten of which are full members who play Test cricket. 

Women's cricket, which is organised and played separately, has also achieved international standard. It is followed primarily in Australasia, Great Britain and Ireland, the Indian subcontinent, southern Africa and the West Indies.

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Mountain Biking
YouTube Video of Enduro Mountain Bike - is Amazing 2014​
​Pictured: LEFT: Bike Routes around Lake Garda (VisitGarda.com); RIGHT: Woman riding mountain bike, Salt Flats, Utah

Mountain Biking



Mountain biking is the sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.

Mountain biking can generally be broken down into multiple categories: cross country, trail riding, all mountain (also referred to as "Enduro"), downhill, freeride and dirt jumping.

However, the majority of mountain biking falls into the categories of Trail and Cross Country riding styles.

This individual sport requires endurance, core strength and balance, bike handling skills, and self-reliance. Advanced riders pursue both steep technical descents and high incline climbs. In the case of freeriding, downhilling, and dirt jumping, aerial manoeuvres are performed off both natural features and specially constructed jumps and ramps.

Mountain biking can be performed almost anywhere from a back yard to a gravel road, but the majority of mountain bikers ride off-road trails, whether country back roads, fire roads, or singletrack (narrow trails that wind through forests, mountains, deserts, or fields). There are aspects of mountain biking that are more similar to trail running than regular bicycling.

Because riders are often far from civilization, there is a strong ethic of self-reliance in the sport. Riders learn to repair their broken bikes or flat tires to avoid being stranded miles from help. Many riders will carry a backpack, including a water bladder, containing all the essential tools and equipment for trailside repairs, and many riders also carry emergency supplies in the case of injury miles from outside help.

Club rides and other forms of group rides are common, especially on longer treks. A combination sport named mountain bike orienteering adds the skill of map navigation to mountain biking.







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Paintball
YouTube Video of ​Amazing Kids of Paintball
​Pictured: LEFT: A player taking part in a popular style of paintball known as 'woodsball’; RIGHT: Sheldon, Raj, Leonard and Howard preparing for a Paint Ball Fight (“The Big Bang Theory” CBS)

Paintball



Paintball is a game developed in the 1980s in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with dye-filled, breakable, oil and gelatin paintballs, or pellets, usually shot from a carbon dioxide or compressed air (Nitrogen) powered “paintball marker”. The game is regularly played at a sporting level with organized competition involving major tournaments, professional teams, and players.

Paintball technology is also used by military forces, law enforcement, para-military and security organizations to supplement military training, as well as playing a role in riot response, and non-lethal suppression of dangerous suspects.

Games can be played on indoor or outdoor fields of varying sizes. A game field is scattered with natural or artificial terrain, which players use for tactical cover. Game types in paintball vary, but can include capture the flag, elimination, ammunition limits, defending or attacking a particular point or area, or capturing objects of interest hidden in the playing area. Depending on the variant played, games can last from seconds to hours, or even days in scenario play.

The legality of paintball varies among countries and regions. In most areas where regulated play is offered, players are required to wear protective masks, and game rules are strictly enforced.
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Parachuting
YouTube ​Video of Haley King's Tandem skydive!
​Pictured: LEFT: Hybrid Formation By Douglas S. Smith - self-made; RIGHT: Tandem in Freefall

Parachuting



Parachuting, or skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point to Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent with the use of a parachute. It may involve more or less free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity.

Andre-Jacques Garnerin was the first to make successful descents using a canvas canopy from a small basket tethered beneath a hot-air balloon.

The first intentional freefall jump with a ripcord-operated deployment is credited to Leslie Irvin in 1919. Georgia Broadwick made an earlier freefall in 1914 using improvised equipment when her static line became entangled with the aircraft's tail assembly and she cut the static line and pulled it herself.

The military developed parachuting technology as a way to save aircrews from emergencies aboard balloons and aircraft in flight, and later as a way of delivering soldiers to the battlefield. Early competitions date back to the 1930s, and it became an international sport in 1952.

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Paragliding
YouTube Video of ​Crazy paragliding video- Check this out
​Pictured: LEFT: Reno & Lake Tahoe Tandem Paragliding; RIGHT: Paragliding in Nainital, India

Paragliding



Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure.

The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing comprising a large number of interconnected baffled cells. Wing shape is maintained by the suspension lines, the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing, and the aerodynamic forces of the air flowing over the outside.

Despite not using an engine, paragliders flight can last many hours and cover many hundreds of kilometers, though flights of one to two hours and covering some tens of kilometers are more the norm. By skillful exploitation of sources of lift, the pilot may gain height, often climbing to altitudes of a few thousand meters.

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Table Tennis (Ping Pong)
YouTube Video of ​2015 World Table Tennis Championships Final Day - Daily Review Presented by Stiga
​Pictured: LEFT: Playing Men's Doubles - Table Tennis Master; RIGHT: Ladies Singles Table Tennis (Image courtesy of Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics/Flickr)

Table Tennis



Table tennis, also known as ping pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth across a table using a small bat. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net.

Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce one time on their side of the table, and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.

Table tennis is governed by the worldwide organization International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), founded in 1926. ITTF currently includes 220 member associations. The table tennis official rules are specified in the ITTF handbook.

Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988, with several event categories. From 1988 until 2004, these were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. Since 2008, a team event has been played instead of the doubles.

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Polo
​YouTube Video of Polo Match Thrilling Game Best Ponies
​Pictured: LEFT: Horse Polo in Barbados; RIGHT: Camel Polo in Dubai

Polo


Polo is a team sport is traditionally played on horseback. The objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet.

The traditional sport of polo is played on a grass field up to 300 by 160 yards (270 by 150 m). Each polo team consists of four riders and their mounts. Field polo is played with a solid plastic ball which has replaced the wooden version of the ball in much of the sport.

In arena polo, only three players are required per team and the game usually involves more maneuvering and shorter plays at lower speeds due to space limitations of arenas. Arena polo is played with a small air-filled ball, similar to a small football. The modern game lasts roughly two hours and is divided into periods called chukkas (occasionally rendered as "chukkers"). Polo is played professionally in 16 countries. It was formerly an Olympic sport.

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Racquetball
YouTube Video of John Goth vs Tanner Gross racquetball game​
​Pictured: LEFT: Playing Racquetball; RIGHT: Racquetball Racquet and Ball

Racquetball
Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court.

Joseph Sobek is credited with inventing the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velocity and control. Unlike most racquet sports, such as tennis and badminton, there is no net to hit the ball over, and, unlike squash, no tin (out of bounds area at the bottom of front wall) to hit the ball above. Also, the court's walls, floor, and ceiling are legal playing surfaces, with the exception of court-specific designated hinders being out-of-bounds. Racquetball is very similar to 40×20 American handball, which is played in many countries. It is also very similar to the British sport racketball (see below for a comparison).

In 1974, the IRA organized the first professional tournament, and is a founding member of the International Racquetball Federation (IRF). Eventually, the IRA became the American Amateur Racquetball Association (AARA); in late 1995, it renamed itself as the United States Racquetball Association (USRA). In 2003, the USRA again renamed itself to USA Racquetball (USAR), to mirror other Olympic sports associations, even if Racquetball is not an Olympic sport.

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Recreational Fishing
YouTube Video of ​Daytime Swordfishing: Record Catch of 30 Swordfish in on Trip! (Courtesy of Boobytrapfishingteam.com
Pictured: LEFT: Freshwater Fishing; RIGHT: Saltwater Fishing

Recreational Fishing
The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a rod, reel, line, hooks and any one of a wide range of baits. Other devices, commonly referred to as terminal tackle, are also used to affect or complement the presentation of the bait to the targeted fish. Some examples of terminal tackle include weights, floats, and swivels.

Lures are frequently used in place of bait. Some hobbyists make handmade tackle themselves, including plastic lures and artificial flies, the latter of which is also known as fly fishing.

The practice of catching or attempting to catch fish with a hook is known as angling. Big-game fishing is conducted from boats to catch large open-water species such as tuna, sharks and marlin. Noodling and trout tickling are also recreational activities.

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Roller Skating including Roller Derby
YouTube Video of  WFTDA Roller Derby: 2014 Championships - Rose City Rollers vs. Gotham Girls Roller Derby
​Pictured: LEFT: Roller Derby; CENTER: Quad (4-wheel) Roller Skates; RIGHT: Inline Skates

Roller Skating



Roller skating is the traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreational activity as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in three basic varieties: quad roller skates, inline skates or blades and tri-skates, though some have experimented with a single-wheeled "quintessence skate" or other variations on the basic skate design.

In America, this hobby was most popular, first between 1935 and the early 1960s and then in the 1970s, when polyurethane wheels were created and "Disco" oriented roller rinks were the rage and then again in the 1990s when in-line outdoor roller skating, thanks to the improvement made to inline roller skates in 1981 by Scott Olson, took hold.

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Roller Derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short match ups (jams) in which both teams designate a jammer who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team.

The teams attempt to hinder the opposing jammer while assisting their own jammer—in effect, playing both offense and defense simultaneously. Roller derby is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leagues worldwide, nearly half of them outside the United States.

Modern roller derby is an international sport dominated by all-female amateur teams, in addition to a growing number of male, unisex, and junior roller derby teams, and was (as a roller sport) under consideration for the 2020 Summer Olympics. 

Most modern leagues (their back-office volunteers included) share a strong "do it yourself" ethic which combines athleticism and elements from camp. As of 2014, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), had 243 full member leagues and 114 Apprentice Leagues

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Rowing (Sport)
YouTube Video of ​Rowing like you've never seen it before
Pictured: LEFT: London 2012: DSM partners with Dutch Olympic Team, floats innovations in London; RIGHT: A female Brazilian rower takes rowing training at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park on August 4, 2008.

Rowing

 
Rowing, often referred to as crew in the United States, is a sport with origins back to Ancient Egyptian times. It is based on propelling a boat (racing shell) on water using oars.

By pushing against the water with an oar, a force is generated to move the boat. The sport can be either recreational, where the focus is on learning the technique of rowing, or competitive, where athletes race against each other in boats.

There are a number of different boat classes in which athletes compete, ranging from an individual shell (called a single scull) to an eight-person shell with coxswain (called a coxed eight).

The International Rowing Federation (abbreviated FISA) is responsible for international governance of rowing and was founded in 1892 to provide regulation at a time when the sport was gaining popularity. Across six continents there are now 148 countries with rowing federations that participate in the sport.
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Rowing is one of the oldest Olympic sports. It was on the program for the 1896 games but the rowing did not take place due to bad weather. It has been competed since 1900. Women's rowing was added to the Olympic program in 1976. Today, only fourteen boat classes are raced at the Olympics, across men and women.  

Each year the World Rowing Championships is held by FISA with 22 boat classes raced. In Olympic years only the non-Olympic boat classes are raced at the World Championships.

Since 2008, rowing has also been competed at the Paralympic Games.

Major domestic competitions take place in dominant rowing nations and include: 
  • The Boat Race and Henley Royal Regatta in the United Kingdom,
  • the Australian Rowing Championships in Australia,
  • the Harvard-Yale Regatta and Head of the Charles Regatta in the United States,
  • and Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in Canada.

Many other competitions often exist for racing between clubs, schools, and universities in each nation.

 





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GymnasticsPictured: LEFT: Aly Raisman; RIGHT: Acrobatic Gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring strength, flexibility, balance, agility, endurance and control. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest and abdominal muscle groups.

Alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. 

The word gymnastics derives from the common Greek adjective γυμνός (gymnos), by way of the related verb γυμνάζω (gymnazo), whose meaning is to "train naked", "train in gymnastic exercise", generally "to train, to exercise". The verb had this meaning because athletes in ancient times exercised and competed without clothing.

Most forms of competitive gymnastics events are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). Each country has its own national governing body (BIW) affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic events. It typically involves the women's events of vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

Men's events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar.

Other FIG disciplines include rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics.

Disciplines not currently recognized by FIG include wheel gymnastics, aesthetic group gymnastics, men's rhythmic gymnastics and TeamGym.

Participants can include children as young as 20 months old doing kindergym and children's gymnastics, recreational gymnasts of ages 3 and up, competitive gymnasts at varying levels of skill, and world-class athletes.

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Rugby
YouTube Video of ​England v Australia - Match Highlights - Rugby World Cup 2015
​Pictured: Examples of Professional Rugby Play

Rugby



Rugby football is a type of football developed at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, one of many versions of football played at English public schools in the 19th century. The two main types of rugby are rugby league and rugby union. Although these two forms share many elements, the two codes have gradually developed with distinct sets of rules.

Rugby union is both a professional and amateur game, and is dominated by the first tier unions: Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Second and third tier unions include Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Mexico, Namibia, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Samoa, Spain, Tonga, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. Rugby Union is administered by World Rugby (WR), whose headquarters are located in Dublin, Ireland.

It is the national sport in New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar, and is the most popular form of rugby globally, with the seven-a-side version of the game, known as Rugby sevens, having been admitted into the program of the Olympic Games from Rio de Janeiro in 2016 onwards. There was a possibility sevens would be a demonstration sport at the 2012 London Olympics but many sports including sevens were dropped.

In Canada and the United States, rugby union evolved into gridiron football. During the late 1800s (and even the early 1900s), the two forms of the game were very similar (to the point where the United States was able to win the gold medal for rugby union at the 1924 Summer Olympics), but numerous rule changes have differentiated the gridiron-based game from its rugby counterpart.

​Among unique features of the North American game are:
  • the separation of play into downs instead of releasing the ball immediately upon tackling,
  • the requirement that the team with the ball set into a set formation for at least one second before resuming play after a tackle (and the allowance of up to 40 seconds to do so),
  • the allowance for one forward pass from behind the site of the last tackle on each down,
  • the evolution of hard plastic equipment (particularly the football helmet and shoulder pads), a smaller and pointier ball that is favorable to being passed but makes drop kicks impractical,
  • a generally smaller and narrower field measured in customary units instead of metric (in some variants of the American game a field can be as short as 50 yards between end zones),
  • and a distinctive field (shaped like a gridiron, from which the code's nickname is derived) with lines marked in five-yard intervals.

Rugby league is also both a professional and amateur game, administered on a global level by the Rugby League International Federation. In addition to amateur and semi-professional competitions in the United States, Russia, Lebanon, Serbia, Europe and Australasia, there are two major professional competitions—the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League.







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Sailing
YouTube Video of ​"Sailing Around the World" (Sailing La Vagabonde) - Ep. 1 Intro & Sailing Turkey
​Pictured: Three Catamaran as seen through the Arch of Anacapa Island, part of the Channel Islands off the California coast (Picture by Bert N. Langford)

Sailing


Sailing comprises wind propulsion of a craft by means of sails or other airfoils and steering it over water, ice or land, depending on the type of craft. A sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails by adjusting their angle with respect to the moving sailing craft and sometimes by adjusting the sail area.

The force transmitted from the sails is resisted by forces from the hull, keel, and rudder of a sailing craft, by forces from skate runners for an iceboat, and by forces from wheels for a land sailing craft to allow steering a course on a point of sail with respect to the true wind.

While there are still some places in the world where sail-powered passenger, fishing and trading vessels are used, these craft have become rarer as internal combustion engines have become economically viable in even the poorest and most remote areas.

In most countries sailing is enjoyed as a recreational activity or as a sport. Recreational sailing or yachting can be divided into racing and cruising. Cruising can include extended offshore and ocean-crossing trips, coastal sailing within sight of land, and daysailing.

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Scuba Diving
YouTube Video of ​SCUBA Diving Egypt Red Sea - Underwater Video HD
​Pictured: LEFT: courtesy of ambergrisdivers.com ; RIGHT: Phuket Scuba Diving - Diving in Thailand

Scuba Diving
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving in which the scuba diver uses a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (scuba) which is completely independent of surface supply, to breathe underwater.

Scuba provides the diver with the advantages of mobility and horizontal range far beyond the reach of an umbilical hose attached to surface-supplied diving equipment (SSDE). Scuba divers engaged in armed forces covert operations may be referred to as frogmen, combat divers or attack swimmers.

Unlike other modes of diving, which rely either on breath-hold or on breathing supplied under pressure from the surface, scuba divers carry their own source of breathing gas, usually compressed air, allowing them greater freedom of movement than with an air line or diver's umbilical and longer underwater endurance than breath-hold.

Open circuit scuba systems discharge the breathing gas into the environment as it is exhaled, and consist of one or more diving cylinders containing breathing gas at high pressure which is supplied to the diver through a diving regulator. They may include additional cylinders for decompression gas or emergency breathing gas.

Closed-circuit or semi-closed circuit rebreather scuba systems allow recycling of exhaled gases. The volume of gas used is reduced compared to that of open circuit; therefore, a smaller cylinder or cylinders, may be used for an equivalent dive duration. They far extend the time spent underwater as compared to open circuit for the same gas consumption.

Rebreathers produce fewer bubbles and less noise than scuba which makes them attractive to covert military divers to avoid detection, scientific divers to avoid disturbing marine animals, and media divers to avoid bubble interference.

Scuba diving may be done recreationally or professionally in a number of applications, including scientific, military and public safety roles, but most commercial diving uses surface supplied diving equipment when this is practicable.

A scuba diver primarily moves underwater by using fins attached to the feet, but external propulsion can be provided by a diver propulsion vehicle, or a sled pulled from the surface. Other equipment includes a dive mask to improve underwater vision, a protective diving suit, equipment to control buoyancy, and equipment related to the specific circumstances and purpose of the dive.

Scuba divers are trained in the procedures and skills appropriate to their level of certification by instructors affiliated to the diver certification organizations which issue these certifications. These include standard operating procedures for using the equipment and dealing with the general hazards of the underwater environment, and emergency procedures for self-help and assistance of a similarly equipped diver experiencing problems.

A minimum level of fitness and health is required by most training organisations, but a higher level of fitness may be appropriate for some applications.

For additional information, click here.





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Skateboarding
YouTube Video of ​Top 10 Pro Skateboarders
​Pictured: LEFT: Professional skateboarder and alumna Amelia Brodka; RIGHT: Airborne Skateboarder

Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an extreme sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. Skateboarding can also be considered a recreational activity, an art form, a profession, or a method of transportation.

Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2009 report found that the skateboarding market is worth an estimated $4.8 billion in annual revenue with 11.08 million active skateboarders in the world. 

In 2016, it was announced that skateboarding will be represented at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Since the 1970s, skateparks have been constructed specifically for use by skateboarders, Freestyle BMXers, aggressive skaters, and very recently, scooters.

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Sledding
YouTube Video of ​Luge St. Moritz POV
​Pictured: LEFT: Dad and Kids Sledding; RIGHT: Competitive Bobsledding

Sledding


Sledding, sledging or tobogganing is a worldwide winter activity, generally carried out in a prone or seated position on a vehicle generically known as a sled (English language), a sledge (Old English), or a toboggan.

Sledding is the basis of three Olympic sports: luge, skeleton and bobsledding. The generic term sledding refers to traveling down a snowy hill using a sled such as a flexible flyer with wooden slats and metal runners.

Sledding is usually done during the winter when there is snow. Flat plastic or aluminum discs and improvised sleds (carrier bags, baking trays, cafeteria trays, sheets of cardboard, etc.) may also be used. The activity has been known to exist as a fringe recreational activity far into the distant murky past in toboggan-type sleds which seasonally supplant the ubiquitous cart.

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Surfing and the World Surf League
​YouTube Video of 100ft World Record Wave, Garrett McNamara Surfing Nazare, Portugal
​YouTube Video of a surfer (Kyle Bodenham), with a mounted head camera while riding a wave.
Pictured: LEFT: A surfer at the Cayucos Pier, Cayucos, California (Photo By "Mike" Michael L. Baird); RIGHT: Surfing on the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia

Surfing


To Access the World Surf League, Click Here

Surfing is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer towards the shore.

Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in the ocean, but can also be found in lakes or in rivers in the form of a standing wave or tidal bore. However, surfers can also utilize artificial waves such as those from boat wakes and the waves created in artificial wave pools.

The term surfing refers to the act of riding a wave, regardless of whether the wave is ridden with a board or without a board, and regardless of the stance used. The native peoples of the Pacific, for instance, surfed waves on alaia, paipo, and other such craft, and did so on their belly and knees.

The modern-day definition of surfing, however, most often refers to a surfer riding a wave standing up on a surfboard; this is also referred to as stand-up surfing.

Another prominent form of surfing is body boarding, when a surfer rides a wave on a bodyboard, either lying on their belly, drop knee, or sometimes even standing up on a body board. Other types of surfing include knee boarding, surf matting (riding inflatable mats), and using foils. 

Body surfing, where the wave is surfed without a board, using the surfer's own body to catch and ride the wave, is very common and is considered by some to be the purest form of surfing.

Two of the three major subdivisions within standing-up surfing are long boarding and short boarding and these two have several major differences, including the board design and length, the riding style, and the kind of wave that is ridden.

The third is tow-in surfing (most often, but not exclusively, associated with big wave surfing) using a motorized water vehicle, such as a personal watercraft, that tows the surfer into the wave front, helping the surfer match a large wave's speed, which is generally a higher speed than a self-propelled surfer can produce.

Surfing-related sports such as paddle boarding and sea kayaking do not require waves. Other derivative sports such as kite surfing and windsurfing rely primarily on wind for power, yet all of these platforms may also be used to ride waves. Recently with the use of V-drive boats, Wakesurfing, is where one surfs on the wake of a boat.

The Guinness Book of World Records recognized a 78 feet (23.8 m) wave ride by Garrett McNamara at Nazaré, Portugal as the largest wave ever surfed (see above YouTube), although this remains an issue of much contention among many surfers, given the difficulty of measuring a constantly changing mound of water.








Swimming
YouTube Video: Michael Phelps Wins Gold Medal at Rio Olympics 2016
Michael Phelps​
Pictured: Four Recognized Forms of Competitive Swimming Recognized by The Summer Olympics

Swimming
The goal of competitive swimming is to break personal or world records while beating competitors in any given event. Swimming in competition should create the least resistance in order to obtain maximum speed.

However, some professional swimmers who do not hold a national or world ranking are considered the best in regard to their technical skills.

Typically, an athlete goes through a cycle of training in which the body is overloaded with work in the beginning and middle segments of the cycle, and then the workload is decreased in the final stage as the swimmer approaches competition.

The practice of reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition is called tapering. A final stage is often referred to as "shave and taper": the swimmer shaves off all exposed hair for the sake of reducing drag and having a sleeker and more hydrodynamic feel in the water. 

Additionally, the "shave and taper" method refers to the removal of the top layer of "dead skin", which exposes the newer and richer skin underneath.

Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 16 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50-meter pool, called a long course pool.

There are forty officially recognized individual swimming events in the pool; however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 32 of them. The international governing body for competitive swimming is the Fédération Internationale de Natation ("International Swimming Federation"), better known as FINA.

For additional information about the sport of swimming, click here.
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Tennis as governed by the International Tennis Federation and including the Four Grand Slam Tournaments
YouTube Vid​eo of  Venus Williams vs Serena Williams US OPEN 2015 Quarter Finals
* - Venus Williams
​Pictured: LEFT: Serena Williams, currently ranked #1 as the top female tennis player; RIGHT: Roger Federer won a record 16th Grand Slam at the 2010 Australian Open. (YouTube Video above features Serena vs. her Sister 

Tennis
Click here for the International Tennis Federation.
Click here for the Four Tournaments under the Tennis Grand Slam.

Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.
 
Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users.
 
Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. The four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the "Majors") are especially popular: the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, and the US Open played also on hard courts.

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Cycling as a Sport, Including Grand Tour Tournaments, e.g., Tour de France
YouTube Video of Chris Froome winning the 2016 Paris Tour de France
​Pictured: LEFT: André Greipel claims final sprint, Chris Froome wins the 102nd Tour de France ; RIGHT: Tour de France 2015: Daniel Teklehaimanot makes history for Africa.

Cycling


Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including:
Non-racing cycling sports include: 
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling and international competitive cycling events.

The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is the governing body for human-powered vehicles that imposes far fewer restrictions on their design than does the UCI.

The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is the governing body for many ultra-distance cycling races.

​Bicycle racing is recognized as an Olympic sport. Bicycle races are popular all over the world, especially in Europe.

The countries most devoted to bicycle racing include Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Other countries with international standing include Australia, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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Track and Field
YouTube Video of Randy Barnes* world record shotput @ UCLA​
​*--Randy Barnes
​Pictured: LEFT: A 110 m hurdles heat of the Decathlon at Osaka 2007; RIGHT: Alysha Newman, winner of the Pole Vault at the 2013 Pan-American Junior Championships.

Track and Field



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Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running, and race walking.

The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, race walking and hurdling, are won by the athlete with the fastest time.

The jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer.

There are also "combined events" or "multi events", such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, and decathlon consisting of ten events. In these, athletes participate in a combination of track and field events.

Most track and field events are individual sports with a single victor; the most prominent team events are relay races, which typically feature teams of four. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the men's and women's competitions are usually held at the same venue.

It is one of the oldest sports. In ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece.

In modern times, the two most prestigious international track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body.

Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world and national levels, right down to a personal level. However, if athletes are deemed to have violated the event's rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased.

In North America, the term track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events, such as the marathon, rather than strictly track-based events.

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Kayaking
YouTube Video of Best Extreme Kayak Movie Compilation!
​Pictured: LEFT: Whitewater kayaker at Great Falls, Virginia; RIGHT: Sprint racing in London and the UK: Ed McKeever is a British kayak sprint athlete and a current World and European Champion.

Kayaking
A kayak is a small, narrow boat which is propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler.

The cockpit is sometimes covered by a spray deck that prevents the entry of water from waves or spray and makes it possible for suitably skilled kayakers to roll the kayak: that is, to capsize and right it without it filling with water or ejecting the paddler.

Some modern boats vary considerably from a traditional design but still claim the title "kayak", for instance in eliminating the cockpit by seating the paddler on top of the boat ("sit-on-top" kayaks); having inflated air chambers surrounding the boat; replacing the single hull by twin hulls, and replacing paddles with other human-powered propulsion methods, such as foot-powered rotational propellers and "flippers".

Kayaks are also being sailed, as well as propelled by means of small electric motors, and even by outboard gas engines.

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Trampoline including Competitive Trampolining in the Olympics
YouTube Video of ​Trampoline Gymnastics - Spectacular World Of Olympic Trampoline | 90 Seconds Of The Olympics​
​Pictured: LEFT: Three children on a trampoline; RIGHT: competitive trampoline athlete

Trampoline


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For Competitive Trampolining in the Olympics, click here.

A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. For Competitive Trampolining in the Olympics, click on the following link: 

The fabric that users bounce on (commonly known as the 'bounce mat' or 'trampoline bed') is not elastic in itself; the elasticity is provided by the springs that connect it to the frame, which store potential energy.

Recreational trampolines for home use are less sturdily constructed than competitive ones and their springs are weaker. They may be of various shapes, though most are circular, octagonal or rectangular. The fabric is usually a waterproof canvas or woven polypropylene material.

As with competitive trampolines, recreational trampolines are usually made using coiled steel springs to provide the rebounding force, but spring-free trampolines also exist.

In 1959 and 1960 it became very popular to have outdoor commercial "jump centers" or "trampoline parks" in many places in North America where people could enjoy recreational trampolining. However, these tended to have a high accident rate and the public's interest rapidly waned.

In recent years, indoor commercial trampoline parks have made a come-back with a number of franchises operating across the United States and Canada. ABC News has reported that in 2014 there were at least 345 trampoline parks operating in the United States. Similar parks have more recently been opened in other countries.

For more about Trampolining, click here.







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Triathlon
YouTube Video of Triathlon video - Xtra Mile events
​Pictured: The three events in the Triathlon include swimming, cycling, and running

Triathlon


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A triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, cycle, and run components.
 
The most recognized branded Ultra Distance is the Ironman triathlon.
 
A transition area is set up where the athletes change gear for different segments of the race. This is where the switches from swimming to cycling and cycling to running occur. These areas are used to store bicycles, performance apparel, and any other accessories needed for the next stage of the race.

​The transition from swim and bike is referred to as T1 and that between the bike and run is referred to as T2. The athlete's overall time for the race includes time spent in T1 and T2. Transitions areas vary in size depending on the number of participants expected. In addition, these areas provide a social headquarters before the race.
 
The nature of the sport focuses on persistent and often periodized training in each of the three disciplines, as well as combination workouts and general strength conditioning.

The governing body is the International Triathlon Union.

For more, click here.







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Volleyball
YouTube Video: Brazil vs USA - FIVB Volleyball World League Final 2015​
​Pictured: LEFT: The United States Vs. Brazil; RIGHT: Beach Volleyball

Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.

Volleyball has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964.

The complete rules are extensive. But simply, play proceeds as follows: a player on one of the teams begins a 'rally' by serving the ball (tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm), from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team's court.

The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively. Typically, the first two touches are used to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.

The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either (1): a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent's court and winning the rally; or (2): a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:
  • causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents' court or without first passing over the net;
  • catching and throwing the ball;
  • double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
  • four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team;
  • net foul: touching the net during play;
  • foot fault: the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving.

The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push (short contact) the ball with any part of the body.

A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking (because these plays are made above the top of the net, the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport) as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.

The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (English: International Volleyball Federation), commonly known by the acronym FIVB, is the international governing body for the sports of indoor, beach and grass volleyball.
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Water Polo
YouTube Video ​15 Amazing Goals
​Pictured: LEFT: Felipe Perrone Rocha #10 of Spain takes a shot on goal in the Men's Water polo quarterfinal match between Spain and Montenegro on Day 12 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Water Polo Arena on August 8, 2012 in London, England. (Aug. 7, 2012 - Source: Clive Rose/Getty Images Europe); RIGHT: Ladies Olympic Water Polo

Water Polo

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Water polo is a team water sport. The game consists of four quarters in which the two teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into their opponent's goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match.

A team consists of 6 field players and one goalkeeper in the water at any one time. Except for the goalkeeper, players participate in both offensive and defensive roles. In addition to this, teams may have substitute field players and substitute goalkeepers who are not in the water.

Water polo is typically played in an all-deep pool 7 feet deep and players require stamina and endurance to play the game.

Water polo is a contact sport. Minor fouls occur frequently and exclusion fouls (in which a player is suspended from the game for 20 seconds) are common.

Special equipment for water polo includes a water polo ball, which floats on the water; numbered and colored caps; and two goals, which either float in the water or are attached to the side of the pool.

The game consists of swimming (with and without the ball), using a special form of treading water known as the eggbeater kick, throwing, catching, and shooting the ball. All throwing and catching must be done using a single hand except the goalkeeper.

The game is thought to have originated in Scotland in the late 19th century as a sort of "water rugby". William Wilson is thought to have developed the game during a similar period. The game thus developed with the formation of the London Water Polo League and has since expanded, becoming widely popular in various places around the world, including Europe, the United States, Brazil, China, Canada and Australia.

FINA or Fédération internationale de natation (English: International Swimming Federation) is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competition in water sports. It is one of several international federations which administer a given sport/discipline for the IOC and/or international community.

For more about Water Polo, click here.







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White Water Rapids Rafting
YouTube Video ​Excellent Royal Gorge whitewater rafting in Colorado
​Pictured: LEFT: White-water rafting Whistler, British Columbia, Canada; RIGHT: White Water Rafting the Colorado River near Vail, Colorado

White Water Rapids Rafting



Rafting and white water rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, and generally represents a new and challenging environment for participants. Dealing with risk and the need for teamwork is often a part of the experience. 

The development of this activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid-1970s, evolving from individuals paddling 10 feet (3.0 m) rafts with double-bladed paddles to multi-person rafts propelled by single-bladed paddles and steered by a tour guide at the stern. It is considered an extreme sport, and can be fatal. The International Rafting Federation (IRF) is the worldwide body which oversees all aspects of the sport.

Rafting and white water rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, and generally represents a new and challenging environment for participants.
 
Dealing with risk and the need for teamwork is often a part of the experience. The development of this activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid-1970s, evolving from individuals paddling 10 feet (3.0 m) rafts with double-bladed paddles to multi-person rafts propelled by single-bladed paddles and steered by a tour guide at the stern. It is considered an extreme sport, and can be fatal. 
 
Otherwise known as the International Scale of River Difficulty, below are the six grades of difficulty in white water rafting. They range from simple to very dangerous and potential death or serious injuries:

Class 1: Very small rough areas, might require slight maneuvering. (Skill level: Very basic)
Class 2: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, might require some maneuvering. (Skill level: Basic paddling skill)
Class 3: Small waves, maybe a small drop, but no considerable danger. May require significant maneuvering. (Skill level: Some experience in rafting)
Class 4: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed.(Skill level: Exceptional rafting experience)
Class 5: Whitewater, large waves, large volume, possibility of large rocks and hazards, possibility of a large drop, requires precise maneuvering. (Skill level: Full mastery of rafting)
Class 6: Class 6 rapids are considered to be so dangerous that they are effectively unnavigatable on a reliably safe basis.

Rafters can expect to encounter substantial whitewater, huge waves, huge rocks and hazards, and/or substantial drops that will impart severe impacts beyond the structural capacities and impact ratings of almost all rafting equipment. Traversing a Class 6 rapid has a dramatically increased likelihood of ending in serious injury or death compared to lesser classes. (Skill level: Full mastery of rafting, and even then it may not be safe)

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Winter Sports
YouTube Video of ​Bobsled Helmet Cam down the Bobsled Track - Utah Olympic Park
​Pictured: LEFT: Dog Sledding; RIGHT:  Snowboarding - John Hammond making a turn at Alpine Meadows, Lake Tahoe USA.

Winter Sports


A winter sport is a recreational activity or sport which is played during cold weather months. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and artificial ice allow more flexibility. Artificial ice can be used to provide ice rinks for ice skating and hockey in a hot climate.

Common individual sports include cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, speed skating, figure skating, luge, skeleton, bobsleigh and snowmobiling.

Common team sports include ice hockey, curling and bandy. Based on the number of participants, ice hockey is the world's most popular winter sport, followed by bandy. Sports that use sleds going down ice tracks or pulled by, e.g. a team of dogs.

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Wrestling
YouTube Video: Jesse Delgado 2014 NCAA Wrestling Champion (125 lb)
​Pictured: LEFT: Two United States Air Force members wrestling in a Greco-Roman match; RIGHT: 2012 Olympics --  two Swedish wrestlers practice ahead of the Olympic test event.

Wrestling


Since 1921, United World Wrestling (UWW) has regulated amateur wrestling as an athletic discipline, while professional wrestling has largely become infused with theatrics but still requires athletic ability. Today, various countries send national wrestling teams to the Olympics, including Russia, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Gambia, the United States and several ex-U.S.S.R nations
 
Freestyle wrestling is an international discipline and an Olympic sport, for both men and women. This style allows the use of the wrestler's or his opponent's legs in offense and defense. Freestyle wrestling has its origins in catch-as-catch-can wrestling and the prime victory condition in this style involves the wrestler winning by throwing and pinning his opponent on the mat. American high school and college wrestling is conducted under different rules and is termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling.
 
Collegiate wrestling (sometimes known as scholastic wrestling or folkstyle wrestling) is the commonly used name of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in theUnited States. This style, with modifications, is also practiced at the high school and middle school levels, and also for younger participants. The term is used to distinguish the style from other styles of wrestling used in other parts of the world, and from those of the Olympic Games: Greco-Roman wrestling, and Freestyle wrestling.

Some high schools in the U.S. have developed junior varsity and freshman teams alongside varsity teams. Junior varsity and freshman wrestling teams restrict competitors not only by weight, but also by age and the amount of wrestling a competitor can partake in. For example, some junior varsity and freshman competitors are not allowed in tournament competition due to the amount of mat time a wrestler would accrue in a short time period.
 
There are currently several organizations which oversee collegiate wrestling competition: Divisions I, II, and III of the NCAA, the NJCAA, the NAIA, and the NCWA.

NCAA Division I wrestling is considered the most prestigious and challenging level of competition. A school chooses which athletic organization to join, although it may compete against teams from other levels and organizations during regular-season competition.

The collegiate season starts in October or November and culminates with the NCAA tournament held in March.

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Yacht Racing
YouTube Video America's Cup Sunday highlights
​Pictured: LEFT: Two sailboats contending for the America’s Cup; RIGHT: Built to the lines of the original 1930's America's Cup yacht owned by Harold Vanderbilt seen here powering off the waves in the around the island race: Photographer Ingrid Abery captured the magnificent J-Class Yachts as they met to race in the largest gathering of J-Class yachts since the 1930s... even Sir Richard Branson put in an appearance. (Courtesy of Yachtworld.com)

Yacht Racing


Yacht racing is a form of sport involving yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races when buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
 
Bringing yacht racing to the forefront of public life, the America's Cup was first raced in 1851 between the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and the Royal Yacht Squadron. Not ruled or regulated by measurement criteria as today, it is interesting to note the second-place finisher was Aurora, “and but for the fact that time allowance had been waived for the race she would have been the winner by a handsome margin." 

Subsequently, the Cup races were conducted, usually every 3–4 years, based on a challenge issued by one club to the current Cup holder, which till 1983 was the NYYC.
 
In general, modern yacht-racing contests are conducted according to the Racing Rules of Sailing, first established in 1928. Though complex, the RRS are intended primarily simply ensure fairness and safety. The Rules are revised and updated every four years by the International Sailing Federation.
 
The major races of today can be classified as offshore, ocean, around the world, and inshore racing all adhering to one set of rule, but diverse handicapping standards.
 
The America's Cup – established in 1851, this is the oldest, and arguably the most prestigious, exclusive event in yacht racing. Participants are restricted to a measurement formula for the boats, and the rules concerning the same have been controversial since the very beginning.

The English, who were the challengers for the first 132 years of the race, commented "England rules the waves, but America waives the rules."

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Pool (Cue Sports) including World Champions of Eight Ball and Nine Ball PoolPictured: Pool: LEFT: Playing Eight-ball Pool in the film “Hustler” (1961) (L-R: Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman); And rack formation for the two most popular pool games: Eight Ball * and Nine Ball**  
 *- Eight ball rack formation (courtesy of CC BY-SA 3.0)
 **- One of many correct nine ball racks: the 1 ball at the apex centered over the foot spot, the 9 ball at center, the other balls placed randomly, and all balls touching. (Courtesy of SMcCandlish)
​Click Here for a Glossary of Pool (Cue Sports) Terms

Pool, also more formally known as pocket billiards (mostly in North America) or pool billiards (mostly in Europe and Australia), is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having six receptacles called pockets along the rails, into which balls are deposited as the main goal of play. An obsolete term for pool is six-pocket.

There are hundreds of pool games. Some of the more well known include eight-ball (and the variant blackball), nine-ball (with variants ten-ball and seven-ball), straight pool (14.1 continuous), one-pocket, and bank pool.

In the United States, although the original "pool" game was played on a pocketless carom billiards table, the term later stuck to all new games of pocket billiards as the sport gained in popularity, and so outside the cue sports industry, which has long favored the more formal term pocket billiards, the common name for the sport has remained pool.

The OxfordDictionaries.com definition no longer even provides the obsolete meaning found in the print edition, and refers only to the typical game "using two sets [each] of seven coloured and numbered balls ... with one black ball and a white cue ball" on a table with pockets.

Pool is played on a six pocket table. Modern pool tables generally range in size from 3.5 feet (1.07 m) by 7 feet (2.13 m), to 4.5 feet (1.37 m) by 9 feet (2.74 m).

The balls range from 2.25 inches (57.15 mm) in diameter to 2.375 inches (60.33 mm) in diameter. Under the WPA/BCA (see below) equipment specifications, the weight may be from 5.5 to 6 oz. (156–170 g) with a diameter of 2.25 in. (57.15 mm), plus or minus 0.005 in. (0.127 mm). 

Modern coin-operated pool tables generally use one of three methods to distinguish and return the cue ball to the front of the table while the numbered balls return to an inaccessible receptacle until paid for again: the cue ball is larger and heavier than the other balls, or denser and heavier, or has a magnetic core.

Modern cue sticks are generally 58.5 inches (148.6 cm) long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and had an average length of 57.5 inches (146.1 cm). By comparison, carom billiards cues are generally shorter with larger tips, and snooker cues longer with smaller tips.


Two Most Popular Pool Games:

Eight Ball:

In the United States, the most commonly played game is eight-ball. The goal of eight-ball, which is played with a full rack of fifteen balls and the cue ball, is to claim a suit (commonly stripes or solids in the US, and reds or yellows in the UK), pocket all of them, then legally pocket the 8 ball, while denying one's opponent opportunities to do the same with their suit, and without sinking the 8 ball early by accident.

The most prestigious tournaments including the World Open are sponsored and sanctioned by the International Pool Tour. Rules vary widely from place to place (and between continents to such an extent that British-style eight-ball pool/blackball is properly regarded as a separate game in its own right).

Pool halls in North America are increasingly settling upon the World Pool-Billiard Association International Standardized Rules. But tavern eight-ball (also known as "bar pool"), typically played on smaller, coin-operated tables and in a "winner keeps the table" manner, can differ significantly even between two venues in the same city. The growth of local, regional and national amateur leagues may alleviate this confusion eventually.

For a listing of Championship Eight Ball Pool Players, Click Here.


Nine Ball:

Nine-ball uses only the 1 through 9 balls and cue ball. It is a rotation game: The player at the table must make legal contact with the lowest numbered ball on the table or a foul is called. The game is won by legally pocketing the nine ball.

Nine-ball is the predominant professional game, though as of 2006–2008 there have been some suggestions that this may change, in favor of ten-ball.

There are many local and regional tours and tournaments that are contested with nine-ball.

The World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and its American affiliate, the Billiard Congress of America (BCA), publish the World Standardized Rules. The European professional circuit has instituted rules changes to make it more difficult to achieve a legal break shot.

The largest nine-ball tournaments are the independent U.S. Open Nine-ball Championship and the WPA World Nine-ball Championship for men and women. Male professionals have a rather fragmented schedule of professional nine-ball tournaments.

The United States Professional Pool Players Association (UPA) has been the most dominant association of the 1990s and 2000s. A hotly contested event is the annual Mosconi Cup, which pits invitational European and U.S. teams against each other in one-on-one and scotch doubles nine-ball matches over a period of several days. The Mosconi Cup games are played under the more stringent European rules, as of 2007.

For a listing of Championship Nine Ball Pool Players, Click Here.







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Chess, The World Chess Champsionship and its Champions, including Glossary and Rules of ChessPictured: Chess Board: as L-R: Setup at the start of a game; and  Initial position, first row: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook; second row: pawns
​Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered gameboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Chess is played by millions of people worldwide, both amateurs and professionals.

Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each of the six piece types moves differently. The most powerful piece is the queen and the least powerful piece is the pawn. The objective is to 'checkmate' the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. To this end, a player's pieces are used to attack and capture the opponent's pieces, while supporting their own.

In addition to checkmate, the game can be won by voluntary resignation by the opponent, which typically occurs when too much material is lost, or if checkmate appears unavoidable.

A game may also result in a draw in several ways.

Chess is believed to have originated in India, some time before the 7th century, being derived from the Indian game of chaturanga. Chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of the Eastern strategy games xiangqi, janggi and shogi.

The pieces took on their current powers in Spain in the late 15th century; the rules were finally standardized in the 19th century. The first generally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886.

Since 1948, the World Championship has been controlled by FIDE, the game's international governing body; the current World Champion is the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen. FIDE also organizes the Women's World Championship, the World Junior Championship, the World Senior Championship, the Blitz and Rapid World Championships and the Chess Olympiad, a popular competition among teams from different nations.

There is also a Correspondence Chess World Championship and a World Computer Chess Championship. Online chess has opened amateur and professional competition to a wide and varied group of players. There are also many chess variants, with different rules, different pieces, and different boards.

FIDE awards titles to skilled players, the highest of which is grandmaster. Many national chess organizations also have a title system. However, these are not recognised by FIDE. The term "master" may refer to a formal title or may be used more loosely for any skilled player.

Chess is a recognized sport of the International Olympic Committee; some national sporting bodies such as the Spanish Consejo Superior de Deportes also recognize chess as a sport. Chess was included in the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games.

Since the second half of the 20th century, computers have been programmed to play chess with increasing success, to the point where the strongest home computers play chess at a higher level than the best human players. Since the 1990s, computer analysis has contributed significantly to chess theory, particularly in the endgame.

The computer IBM Deep Blue was the first machine to overcome a reigning World Chess Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov in 1997. (See YouTube Video above). The rise of strong computer programs (known as "engines") that can be run on hand-held devices has led to increasing concerns about cheating during tournaments.

For a List of World Chess Champions, Click Here.







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Rodeos
YouTube: INCREDIBLE! Rodeo Clown Backflips Bull!
Pictured: LEFT: Riding a Bull; RIGHT: Wrestling a calf

​Rodeo is a competitive sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later Central America, the United States, Canada, South America, Australia and New Zealand.

It is based on the skills required of cowboys, in what today is the western United States, western Canada, and northern Mexico.

Today it is a sporting event that involves horses and other livestock, designed to test the skill and speed of the cowboys and cowgirls. American style professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: 
​The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events. Depending on sanctioning organization and region, other events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, or pole bending may also be a part of some rodeos.

American rodeo, particularly popular today within the Canadian province of Alberta and throughout the western United States, is the official state sport of Wyoming, South Dakota, and Texas.

In the United States, professional rodeos are governed and sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), while other associations govern children's, high school, collegiate, and senior rodeos. Associations also exist for Native Americans and other minority groups.

The traditional season for competitive rodeo runs from spring through fall, while the modern professional rodeo circuit runs longer, and concludes with the PRCA National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas, Nevada, now held in December.

Rodeo has provoked opposition from animal rights and animal welfare advocates, who argue that various competitions constitute animal cruelty. The American rodeo industry has made progress in improving the welfare of rodeo animals, with specific requirements for veterinary care and other regulations that protect rodeo animals.

However, rodeo is opposed by a number of animal welfare organizations in the United States and Canada. Some local and state governments in North America have banned or restricted rodeos, certain rodeo events, or types of equipment. Internationally, rodeo is banned in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, with other European nations placing restrictions on certain practices.







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Hoverboards
YouTube Video of Man riding hoverboard on edge of Dubai Skyscraper

​A self-balancing scooter or self-balancing two-wheeled board, commonly referred to as a "hoverboard", is a type of portable, rechargeable battery-powered scooter. They typically consist of two wheels arranged side-by-side, with two small platforms between the wheels, on which the rider stands. The device is controlled by the rider's feet, standing on the built-in gyroscopic, sensored pads.

In 2014, several such devices appeared in China, and by 2015, they became widely popular in the United States, following numerous celebrity appearances with the device. There is no universally accepted name for the device, as its various product names are attributable to the companies which distribute them and not their manufacturers.

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​Muhammad Ali
YouTube Video: A Very Touching Tribute To Muhammad Ali by Billy Crystal
Pictured: Muhammad Ali and inspirational quote

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sporting figures of the 20th century.

From early in his career, Ali was known as an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the ring.

Clay was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training when he was 12 years old.

At 22, he won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in an upset in 1964.

Shortly after that, Clay converted to Islam, changed his "slave" name to Ali, and gave a message of racial pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

In 1966, two years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali further antagonized the white establishment by refusing to be conscripted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.

He was eventually arrested, found guilty of draft evasion charges and stripped of his boxing titles. He successfully appealed in the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971. By that time, he had not fought for nearly four years—losing a period of peak performance as an athlete.

Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation.

Ali remains the only three-time lineal world heavyweight champion; he won the title in 1964, 1974, and 1978. Between February 25, 1964, and September 19, 1964, Ali reigned as the heavyweight boxing champion.

Nicknamed "The Greatest", he was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these were the "Fight of the Century", "Super Fight II" and the "Thrilla in Manila" versus his rival Joe Frazier, the first Liston fight, and "The Rumble in the Jungle" versus George Foreman. Ali retired from boxing in 1981.

At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali, inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous George" Wagner, thrived in—and indeed craved—the spotlight, where he was often provocative and outlandish.

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​History of Sports
YouTube Video: Greatest Moments in Sports History: 100 Years of the Most Remarkable Players,Teams and Memories
Pictured: Clockwise from upper left: Ancient sumo-wrestling competition from the Japanese Heian or Kamakura period (between 794 and 1333); Cricket in England, Boxing before Gloves; and Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls Basketball Team

The history of sports extends as far back as the beginnings of military training, with competition used as a mean to determine whether individuals were fit and useful for service.

Team sports may have developed to train and to prove the capability to fight and work together as a team (army). The history of sport can teach us about social changes and about the nature of sport itself, as sport seems involved in the development of basic human skills. 

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the history of sports:









Skiing in all its forms including a List of Ski Areas and Resorts in the United States
YouTube Video: North America's Best Ski Resorts by WatchMojo
YouTube Video of Down-hill Skiing viewed from a Head-mounted Camera
YouTube Video: Most insane ski line EVER
Pictured below as different forms of skiing (clockwise from upper left): Alpine Skiing; Cross Country Skiing; Ski Jumping; Freestyle Skiing

Click here for a List of Ski Areas and Resorts in the United States.

Skiing can be a means of transport, a recreational activity or a competitive winter sport in which the participant uses skis to glide on snow. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Types of Skiing:

​Alpine
Main article: Alpine skiing

Also called "downhill skiing", Alpine skiing typically takes place on a piste at a ski resort. It is characterized by fixed-heel bindings that attach at both the toe and the heel of the skier's boot.

Because the Alpine equipment is somewhat difficult to walk in, ski lifts, including chairlifts, bring skiers up the slope. 

Backcountry skiing can be accessed by helicopter, snowcat, hiking and snowmobile.

Facilities at resorts can include night skiing, après-ski, and glade skiing under the supervision of the ski patrol and the ski school. Alpine skiing branched off from the older Nordic type of skiing around the 1920s when the advent of ski lifts meant that it was not necessary to walk any longer. Alpine equipment has specialized to the point where it can now only be used with the help of lifts.

Nordic:
Main article: Nordic skiing

The Nordic disciplines include cross-country skiing and ski jumping, which both use bindings that attach at the toes of the skier's boots but not at the heels. Cross-country skiing may be practiced on groomed trails or in undeveloped backcountry areas. Ski jumping is practiced in certain areas that are reserved exclusively for ski jumping.

Telemark:
Main article: Telemark skiing

​Telemark skiing is a ski turning technique and FIS-sanctioned discipline, which is named after the Telemark region of Norway. It uses equipment similar to Nordic skiing, where the ski bindings are attached only at the toes of the ski boots, allowing the skier's heel to be raised throughout the turn.

Competition:

​The following disciplines are sanctioned by the FIS. Many have their own world cups and are included in the Winter Olympic Games.
Equipment:
Equipment used in skiing includes:
Technique:
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Technique has evolved along with ski technology and ski geometry. Early techniques included the telemark turn, the stem, the stem Christie, snowplough, and parallel turn.
New parabolic designs like the Elan SCX have enabled the more modern carve turn.

On Other Surfaces:

Originally and primarily a winter sport, skiing can also be practiced indoors without snow, outdoors on grass, on dry ski slopes, with ski simulators, or with roller skis.

A treadmill-like surface can also be used, to enable skiing while staying in the same place. Sand skiing involves sliding on sand instead of snow, but the skier uses conventional skis, ski poles, bindings and boots.

See also:







Sisters Serena Williams and Venus Williams:  Professional Tennis Champions Pictured below: Serena Williams earns 23rd Grand Slam title with win over sister Venus
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. She reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time on July 8, 2002. On her sixth occasion, she held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graf. In total, she has been No. 1 for 319 weeks, which ranks third in the "Open Era" among female players behind Graf and Martina Navratilova.

Williams holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. Her 39 major titles puts her joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15) and the third player to achieve this twice, after Rod Laver and Graf.

Serena Williams is also the most recent player to have won a Grand Slam title on each surface (hard, clay and grass) in one calendar year. She is also, together with her sister Venus (see below), the most recent player to have held all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles simultaneously (2009–10).

Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Grand Slam wins in the Open Era, and is second on the all-time list behind Margaret Court (24). She has won an all-time record of 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hard court. Williams holds the Open Era record for most titles won at the Australian Open (7) and shares the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open with Chris Evert (6). She also holds the all-time record for the most women's singles matches won at majors with 331 matches.

Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, all with her sister Venus, and the pair are unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. As a team, she and Venus have the third most women's doubles Grand Slam titles, behind the 18 titles of Natasha Zvereva (14 with Gigi Fernández) and the record 20 titles won by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

Williams is also a five-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships in the singles division. She has also won four Olympic gold medals, one in women's singles and three in women's doubles—an all-time record shared with her sister, Venus. 

The arrival of the Williams sisters has been credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Earning almost $29 million in prize money and endorsements, Williams was the highest paid female athlete in 2016. She repeated this feat in 2017 when she was the only woman on Forbes' list of the 100 highest paid athletes with $27 million in prize money and endorsements. She has won the 'Laureus Sportswoman of the Year' award four times (2003, 2010, 2016, 2018), and in December 2015, she was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Click here for more about Serena Williams.
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Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 40 in the WTA singles rankings. She is generally regarded as one of the all-time greats of women's tennis and, along with younger sister Serena Williams (above), is credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour.

Williams has been ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks. She first reached the No. 1 ranking on February 25, 2002, the first African American woman to do so in the Open Era, and the second all time since Althea Gibson.

Williams' seven Grand Slam singles titles are tied for 12th on the all-time list, and 8th on the Open Era list, more than any other active female player except Serena. She has reached 16 Grand Slam finals, most recently at Wimbledon in 2017. She has also won 14 Grand Slam Women's doubles titles, all with Serena; the pair is unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals.

Williams also has two Mixed Doubles titles. Her five Wimbledon singles titles tie her with two other women for eighth place on the all-time list, but gives her sole possession of No. 4 on the Open Era List, trailing only the nine titles of Martina Navratilova and the seven of Serena and Steffi Graf.

From the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2001 US Open, Williams won four of the six Grand Slam singles tournaments in that span. At the 2018 US Open, Williams extended her record as the all-time leader, male or female, in Grand Slams played, with 80. With her run to the 2017 Wimbledon singles final, she broke the record for longest time between first and most recent grand slam singles finals appearances.

Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women's doubles, along with a silver medal in mixed doubles, pulling even with Kathleen McKane Godfree for the most Olympic medals won by a male or female tennis player. She is the only tennis player to have won a medal at four Olympic Games.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Williams became only the second player to win Olympic gold medals in both singles and doubles at the same Olympic Games, after Helen Wills Moody in 1924.

With 49 singles titles, Williams trails only Serena among active players on the WTA Tour. Her 35-match winning streak from the 2000 Wimbledon Championships to the 2000 Generali Ladies Linz tournament final is the longest since January 1, 2000. She is also one of only three active WTA players to have made the finals of all four Grand Slams, along with Serena and Maria Sharapova.

Click here for more about Venus Williams.








Mind SportsPictured below: Legal battle over status of ‘mind sport’
A mind sport is a game of skill where the competition is based on a particular type of the intellectual ability as opposed to physical exercise.

The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997. The phrase had been used prior to this event such as backgammon being described as a mind sport by Tony Buzan in 1996; Tony Buzan was also a co-founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad.

Bodies such as the memory council use the term retrospectively.

It is a term that became fixed from games trying to obtain equal status to sports. For example, from 2002 British Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn said: "...I believe we should have the same obligation to mental agility as we do to physical agility. Mind sports have to form UK national bodies and get together with the government to devise an acceptable amendment to the 1937 Act that clearly differentiates mind sports from parlour board games."

Many of the games official bodies which had come together for the Mind Sports Olympiad, formed larger organisations such as the Mind Sports Council and International Mind Sports Association (IMSA).

With IMSA organizing the World Mind Sports Games in Beijing 2008 for contract bridge, chess, go, draughts and xiangqi many other bodies have lobbied for inclusion such as the International Federation of Poker, which won provisional membership at the annual congress of SportAccord in Dubai in 2009.

The term also includes mental calculation or memory disciplines as presented in International competitions such as the Mental Calculation World Cup (held bi-annually since 2004) and the World Memory Championships (held annually since 1991)

Games Called Mind Sports:

As well as many board games, chess and card games, other disciplines that have been described as mind sports are: 
Other events that have been included where the physical element is comparable to the mental component such as when the official Mind Sports South Africa accepted speed-texting as a mind sport.

See Also:







Games, including an Outline of Forms of GamesPictured below: The New Way To Game: The Future of Cloud Gaming Begins With GeForce NOW
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool.

Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements. However, the distinction is not clear-cut, and many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).

Games are sometimes played purely for entertainment, sometimes for achievement or reward as well. They can be played alone, in teams, or online; by amateurs or by professionals. The players may have an audience of non-players, such as when people are entertained by watching a chess championship.

On the other hand, players in a game may constitute their own audience as they take their turn to play. Often, part of the entertainment for children playing a game is deciding who is part of their audience and who is a player.

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role.

Attested as early as 2600 BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet, and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Games:
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Outline of Games:

See also: Index of games topics

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Outline of Games:







Amateur Sports
​Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing and training.

In the majority of sports which feature professional players, the professionals will participate at a higher standard of play than amateur competitors, as they can train full-time without the stress of having another job. The majority of worldwide sporting participants are amateurs.

Sporting amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century with the continuing growth of pro sports and monetisation of amateur and collegiate sports, and is now strictly held as an ideal by fewer and fewer organisations governing sports, even as they maintain the word "amateur" in their titles.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Amateur Sports:






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Board Games ​Pictured: Examples of  Board Games include Monopoly & Playing Chess.
A board game is a tabletop game that involves counters or pieces moved or placed on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Some games are based on pure strategy, but many contain an element of chance; and some are purely chance, with no element of skill.

Games usually have a goal that a player aims to achieve. Early board games represented a battle between two armies, and most modern board games are still based on defeating opposing players in terms of counters, winning position, or accrual of points.

There are many varieties of board games. Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, like checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, like Cluedo.

Rules can range from the very simple, like Tic-tac-toe, to those describing a game universe in great detail, like Dungeons & Dragons – although most of the latter are role-playing games where the board is secondary to the game, serving to help visualize the game scenario.

The time required to learn to play or master a game varies greatly from game to game, but is not necessarily correlated with the number or complexity of rules; games like chess or go possess relatively simple rulesets, but have great strategic depth.

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Archery
YouTube Video of Awesome Bow Hunting Kill Shots
​Pictured: LEFT: Archery competition in Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1983; and RIGHT: Bowhunting Africa at Ozondjahe Hunting Safaris Namibia.
Archery is the sport, practice or skill of using a bow to propel arrows. 

Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who participates in archery is typically called an archer or a bowman, and a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite.

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Parkour (as a Participatory Sport) Pictured below: Parkour is Official in the UK – level 2
Parkour (French) is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners, called tracers or traceurs, aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible.

Parkour includes the following:
Parkour's development from military training gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art.

Parkour is an activity that can be practiced alone or with others and is usually carried out in urban spaces, though it can be done anywhere. Parkour involves seeing one's environment in a new way, and imagining the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features.

Parkour as a type of movement was established by David Belle in France in 1988, however the practice of similar movements in various communities around the world leads to discussion of the relevance of such an attribution. The discipline was popularzsed in the late 1990s and 2000s through films, documentaries, video games and advertisements.

The word parkour derives from parcours du combattant (obstacle course), the classic obstacle course method of military training proposed by Georges Hébert.

Raymond Belle used the term "les parcours" to encompass all of his training including climbing, jumping, running, balancing, and the other methods he undertook in his personal athletic advancement. His son, David, further developed his father's methods and achieved success as a stuntman, and one day on a film set showed his 'Speed Air Man' video to Hubert Koundé. Koundé suggested he change the "c" of "parcours" to a "k" because it was stronger and more dynamic, and to remove the silent "s" for the same reason, forming "parkour".

A practitioner of parkour is called a traceur, with the feminine form being traceuse. They are nouns derived from the French verb tracer, which normally means "to trace", as in "tracing a path", in reference to drawing. The verb tracer used familiarly means: "to hurry up". The term traceur was originally the name of a parkour group headed by David Belle which included Sébastien Foucan and Stéphane Vigroux.

A jam refers to a meeting of traceurs, involving training lasting anywhere from hours to several days, often with people from different cities. The first parkour jam was organised in July 2002 by Romain Drouet, with a dozen people including Sébastien Foucan and Stéphane Vigroux.

Organizations:

National parkour organizations include the World Freerunning and Parkour Federation, established in 2007, who have worked with MTV to produce Parkour related shows.
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) added parkour as one of their disciplines in 2017, receiving much opposition.

Program includes Speed-Run (Sprint) and Freestyle. They launched FIG Parkour World Cup in 2018, first event was held on 6–8 April 2018. The 1st Parkour World Championships was scheduled to take place at Hiroshima, Japan, on 3–5 April 2020, but has been postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parkour will also make its World Games debut at the 2022 World Games.

Philosophy:

According to Williams Belle, the philosophies and theories behind parkour are an integral aspect of the art, one that many non-practitioners have never been exposed to. Belle says he trains people because he wants it "to be alive" and "for people to use it". 

Châu Belle explains it is a "type of freedom" or "kind of expression"; that parkour is "only a state of mind" rather than a set of actions, and that it is about overcoming and adapting to mental and emotional obstacles as well as physical barriers. 

Traceur Dylan Baker says, "Parkour also influences one's thought processes by enhancing self-confidence and critical thinking skills that allow one to overcome everyday physical and mental obstacles". 

A study by Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence (Neuropsychiatry of Childhood and Adolescence) in France found traceurs seek more excitement and leadership situations than gymnasts do.

Academic research on parkour has tended to describe how parkour provides a novel way of interacting with the urban environment that challenges the use and meaning of urban space, metropolitan life, and embodiment.

A newer convention of parkour philosophy has been the idea of "human reclamation". Andy Tran of Urban Evolution clarifies it as "a means of reclaiming what it means to be a human being. It teaches us to move using the natural methods that we should have learned from infancy. It teaches us to touch the world and interact with it, instead of being sheltered by it." 

Another traceur writes, "It is as much as a part of truly learning the physical art as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour."

Competition:

A campaign was started on 1 May 2007 by the Parkour.NET portal to preserve parkour's philosophy against sports competition and rivalry. In the words of Erwan Le Corre:

"Competition pushes people to fight against others for the satisfaction of a crowd and/or the benefits of a few business people by changing its mindset. Parkour is unique and cannot be a competitive sport unless it ignores its altruistic core of self-development. If parkour becomes a sport, it will be hard to seriously teach and spread parkour as a non-competitive activity. And a new sport will be spread that may be called parkour, but that won't hold its philosophical essence anymore."

Red Bull's sponsored athlete for parkour, Ryan Doyle, has said, "Sometimes people ask, 'Who is the best at parkour?' and it is because they don't understand what Parkour is; 'Who is the best?' is what you would say to a sport, and parkour is not a sport, it is an art, it's a discipline. That's like saying, 'What's the best song in the world?'" This seems to be a highly consensual opinion of many professional traceurs who view parkour as a style of life more than a set of tricks, as has been popularized by YouTube and most media exposure.

There are competitions that use parkour as the main influence for formatting and judging criteria. Sport Parkour League's "North America Parkour Championships" hosts a series of local and regional qualifier events which culminate in a final event in Vancouver, B.C. Red Bull's Art of Motion event is the longest running and highest profile professional free-running competition.

David Belle:

In his 2009 book Parkour, David Belle stressed that the most important aspect of parkour is not the physical movements, but rather the practitioner's mentality and understanding of its principles. "When young trainees come to see me and give me videos telling me to check out what they are doing, I just take the tape and throw it away.

What I'm interested in is what the guy's got in his head, if he has self-confidence, if he masters the technique, if he has understood the principles of parkour. I just can't deal with guys who do Parkour because they saw videos on the Internet and thought it was kinda cool and want to do even better." 

Further, he states the importance of traceurs being aware of their abilities and limitations, and developing in their own way. "When a young person asks me: 'Can you show me how to do this?' I simply answer: "No, I am going to show you how I do it. Then, you'll have to learn with your own technique, your own way of moving, your style, your abilities and your limitations. You are going to learn to be yourself, not someone else."

The philosophy of parkour has been compared to that of martial arts. In an interview with The New Yorker, David Belle acknowledges the influence: "There's a quote by Bruce Lee that's my motto: 'There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. A man must constantly exceed his level.' If you're not better than you were the day before, then what are you doing—what's the point?" 

In an interview with the press, Belle explained that parkour is a training method for warriors. "So many people try to train easy 'Come do parkour! It's really cool!' But if tomorrow I made you do real training, you would end up crying. That's what you need to know: you are going to cry, you are going to bleed and you are going to sweat like never before."

In his book, Belle also quotes his father Raymond: "If two roads open up before you, always take the most difficult one. Because you know you can travel the easy one."

Belle is an influential proponent of discipline and control in parkour, saying, "Precision is all about being measured," and going on to describe parkour as an art that requires huge amounts of repetition and practice to master. "With parkour, I often say, 'Once is never'.

In other words, someone can manage a jump one time but it does not mean anything. It can be luck or chance. When you make a jump, you have to do it at least three times to be sure you can actually do it. It's an unavoidable rule. Do it the hard way and stop lying to yourself. When you come for training, you have to train. Even if it means doing the same jump fifty or a hundred times." To its founder, parkour is a method of self-refinement, used for learning to control and focus oneself.

Practice:

Movement:

While there is no official list of "moves" in parkour, the style in which practitioners move often sets them apart from others, and there are a number of movements considered fundamental. 

Some examples of common movements are:
  • Vaulting over obstacles.
  • "Precision" Jumping and landing accurately with the feet on small or narrow obstacles.
  • "Arm Jumps" Jumping and landing feet-first on a vertical surface, catching the horizontal top with the hands.
  • Using a rolling motion to help absorb impacts from larger drops.
  • Running towards a high wall and then jumping and pushing off the wall with a foot to reach the top of the wall.
  • Moving from a position hanging from a wall-top or ledge, to standing on the top or over to the other side.

Equipment:

Parkour is practiced without equipment of any kind, though items such as bars, walls, and boxes, are used. Practitioners normally train wearing light, non-restrictive casual clothing.

Traceurs who wear gloves are rare—bare hands are considered better for grip and tactile feedback. Light running shoes with good grip and flexibility are encouraged because they allow for more natural and fluid movements. Practitioners often use minimalist shoes, sometimes as a progression to bare feet, for better sensitivity and balance, while others prefer more cushioning for better absorption of impacts from large jumps. 

Barefoot training is done by some for movement competency without gear—David Belle noted that "bare feet are the best shoes." Various sneaker manufacturers have developed shoes specifically for parkour and freerunning. Many other companies around the world have started offering clothing targeted at parkour.

Risks:

Trespassing:
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Parkour is not widely practiced in dedicated public facilities. Although efforts are being made to create places for it, many traceurs do not like the idea, as it is contradictory to parkour's values of adaptation, creativity, and freedom. 

Traceurs practice parkour in both rural and urban areas such as gyms, parks, playgrounds, offices, and abandoned structures. Concerns have been raised regarding trespassing, damage of property, and use of inappropriate places such as cemeteries.

Many parkour organizations around the globe support the Leave No Trace initiative, an urban version of the outdoor conservation ethic created by the Seattle nonprofit Parkour Visions in 2008, promoting safety, respect for the spaces used and their other users, and sometimes includes picking up rubbish to leave areas in better condition than they were found.
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Injuries and deaths:

Concerns have been raised by law enforcement and fire and rescue teams of the risk in jumping off high buildings. They argue that practitioners are needlessly risking damage to both themselves and rooftops by practicing at height, with police forces calling for practitioners to stay off the rooftops. Some practitioners of parkour agree that such behavior should be discouraged.

Because parkour philosophy is about learning to control oneself in interaction with the environment, many parkour experts tend to view serious physical injury as a deviation from true parkour. Daniel Ilabaca, co-founder of the World Parkour and Freerunning Federation, said "Thinking you're going to fail at something gives you a higher risk of doing just that. Committing to something you're thinking or knowing you will land gives you a higher chance of landing or completing the task." 

On biomechanical grounds, studies found parkour landing techniques result in lower landing forces in comparison with traditional sport techniques. In a survey of parkour-related emergency department visits in the United States between 2009 and 2015, most injuries were reportedly caused by landing or from striking objects.

American traceur Mark Toorock said injuries are rare "because participants rely not on what they can't control—wheels or the icy surfaces of snowboarding and skiing—but their own hands and feet," but Lanier Johnson, executive director of the American Sports Medicine Institute, noted that many of the injuries are not reported.

Impact:

​Initially featured in films of French director/producer Luc Besson, parkour was first introduced to the British public by the BBC_One TV channel trailer Rush Hour in April 2002. It featured David Belle leaping across London's rooftops from his office to home, in an attempt to catch his favourite BBC program, and captured the imagination of many viewers, especially when they learned no special effects or wires were used. 

This advertisement, along with others for Coca-Cola, Nike, and Toyota, had a large-scale impact on public awareness of parkour.

The creation of parkour show-reels and documentaries has always been crucial to the spread of parkour, and is common in the parkour community. Jump London is a 2003 documentary explaining some of the background of parkour, culminating with Sébastien Foucan, Johann Vigroux, and Jérôme Ben Aoues demonstrating their parkour skills. Jump London changed the presence of parkour in the UK almost overnight and is widely credited for inspiring a new generation of traceurs. 

It was followed by Jump Britain in 2005. Both Jump films were shown in over 80 countries exposing the discipline and its philosophy to an unprecedented global audience and are cited by numerous practitioners as their motivation for taking up the discipline.

The Australian version of 60 Minutes broadcast a segment about parkour on 16 September 2007, featuring Foucan and Stephane Vigroux.

Parkour is not defined by a set of rules or guidelines, which has been particularly attractive to young people, allowing them to explore and engage in the activity on their own terms. It can be easily accepted by all cultures as a means of personal expression and recreation. 

For example, in 2010 The New York Times published a short video featuring three young men from the Gaza Strip who were active members of the parkour community. In 2014, the BBC covered youth parkour participation in Jammu and Kashmir. Zahid Shah founded the Kashmir Freerunning and Parkour Federation, finding hope in the non-violent discipline of parkour.

Entertainment:

Parkour has become a popular element in action sequences, with film directors hiring parkour practitioners as stunt performers. The first director to do so was Luc Besson, for the film Taxi 2 in 1998, followed by Yamakasi in 2001 featuring members of the original Yamakasi group, and its sequel Les fils du vent in 2004.

Also in 2004, Besson wrote District 13, another feature film involving advanced parkour chase sequences, starring David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli, followed by the sequel District 13: Ultimatum in 2009 and remade in English as Brick Mansions in 2014.

In 2006 the film Casino Royale featured Sébastien Foucan in a chase taking place early in the movie, sparking renewed media interest in parkour. Along with The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Casino Royale is credited with starting a new wave of Parkour-inspired stunts in Western film and television.

Parkour was prominent in Live Free or Die Hard (2007), again with stuntman/actor Cyril Raffaelli, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), choreographed by David Belle. Several films besides Yamakasi are about thieves who use parkour, such as Breaking and Entering (2006), Run (2013), and Tracers (2015). The 2011 film Freerunner is about eight freerunners racing through a city for survival.

The 2019 Netflix film 6 Underground featured several parkour scenes choreographed and performed by team Storror. Parkour also featured in Dhoom 3 (2013), Bang Bang! (2014) and Aadhi (2018).

Parkour is also featured on TV. MTV's show Ultimate Parkour Challenge premiered as a one-hour special in October 2009 starring the athletes of the World Freerunning & Parkour Federation.

This was followed in May 2010 with a six-episode series of the same name. The athletes were Daniel Ilabaca, Tim Shieff, Ryan Doyle, Michael Turner, Oleg Vorslav, Ben Jenkin, Daniel Arroyo, Pip Andersen and King David. The program format was a two-part weekly competition in different Southern California locations.

WWE wrestler John Hennigan is a long-time practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, withe WWE giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour".

Actor Stephen Amell learned parkour at Tempest Academy in preparation for his role as Oliver Queen in the television series Arrow, and co-star Caity Lotz is also a practitioner.

Modern video games frequently include aspects of parkour as major game-play elements. The Assassin's Creed series makes heavy use of parkour movement (called freerunning in the game). The Mirror's Edge games are heavily inspired by parkour, consisting entirely of efficiently moving around buildings, rooftops, and other obstacles. 

Brink introduced a parkour mechanic into a realistic first person shooter. Prince of Persia and Dying Light include a central parkour mechanic, while Crackdown and Crackdown 2 include an emphasis on gripping and vaulting from ledges and protruding objects. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland allows the character to use several freerunning techniques while not on the skateboard. Tron Evolution's basic movements and combat were based on parkour and capoeira.

Military training:

Although parkour itself grew out of military obstacle-course training, it has become a separate discipline. After the attention that parkour received following the 2006 film Casino Royale, military forces around the world began looking for ways to incorporate elements from parkour into military training.

A physical trainer with the Royal Marines trained with parkour practitioners with hopes of introducing some of their techniques to his own students. Colorado Parkour began a project to introduce elements from parkour into the U.S. military and one San Diego staff sergeant trained US Marines in parkour.

Scientific research and applications:

Studies found that in exercises such as the standing long jump, depth jump and vertical jump, parkour athletes outperform physical educators, gymnasts, and power athletes. Parkour training is especially linked with the development of eccentric load resistance and jumping ability.

Studies and experiments have integrated parkour kinaesthetics into robotics.

Derivative terminologies and disciplines:

In September 2003, Mike Christie's documentary Jump London, starring Sébastien Foucan, was released. In the documentary, the term "freerunning" was used as an attempt to translate "parkour", in order to make it more appealing to the English-speaking audience. Foucan decided to keep using the term "freerunning" to describe his discipline, to distinguish it from David Belle's methods.

The remaining seven Yamakasi members continued to use the term "l'art du déplacement", also not wanting to associate it too closely with parkour. Similar to Sébastien's freerunning, l'art du déplacement was less about the hard discipline from the original Yamakasi group, more a participatory approach focused on making the teaching more accessible.

David Belle kept the term "parkour", saying the group contributed to the development of it, but that his father was the source of his motivation, who had verbally communicated this method only to him.

Both parkour and freerunning encompass the ideas of overcoming obstacles and self-expression; in freerunning, the greater emphasis is on self-expression. Although the differences between the disciplines are often hard to discern, practitioners tend to aspire to parkour and describe themselves as traceurs rather than as freerunners.

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History See also:



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Stunt Work, including Stunt Performer, Stunt Coordinator, Stunt Double and Motorcycle Stunt Riding​Pictured below: Clock wise from upper left: Motorcycle stunt, Stunt man hanging from a sheer cliff, Tom Cruise climbing a building, and a stuntman walking a tight rope between two buildings:
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery special effects, these effects were limited to the use of models, false perspective and other in-camera effects, unless the creator could find someone willing to jump from car to car or hang from the edge of a skyscraper: the stunt performer or stunt double.

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A stunt performer or stunt actor, often referred to as a stuntman or stuntwoman, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed to a daredevil, who performs for a live audience. When they take the place of another actor, they are known as stunt doubles.

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A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for a film, television programme or a live audience.

Where the film requires a stunt, and involves the use of stunt performers, the stunt coordinator will arrange the casting and performance of the stunt, working closely with the director.

In many cases, the stunt coordinator budgets, designs and choreographs the stunt sequence to suit the script and the director's vision.

It is a stunt coordinator's responsibility to create an environment where open dialogue among cast & crew involved in stunts can occur (i.e., concerns and problems can be resolved without fear of retaliation, bullying or belittlement). They should ensure that adequate rehearsals and planning occur prior to filming on set, and also ensure that performer credentials are vetted.

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A stunt double is a cross between a body double and a stunt performer, specifically a skilled replacement used for dangerous film or video sequences, such as jumping out of a building or from vehicle to vehicle, and for other sophisticated stunts (especially fight scenes).

Stunt doubles may be used in cases where an actor's physical condition or age precludes much activity, or when an actor is contractually prohibited from taking certain risks. A dance double performs the dangerous or physically difficult dance parts of a character's role.

Stunt doubles should be distinguished from daredevils, who perform stunts for the sake of the stunt alone, often as a career. Sequences often do not place stunt doubles in the same mortal peril as the characters: for example, harnesses and wires can be digitally edited out of the final film.

Many stunt doubles have long production careers as part of a star actor's contractual "support crew", along with the star's cooks, trainers, dressers, and assistants. Often stunt doubles have to look like their respective actors, in order to maintain the illusion that it is the actor on-screen. Stunt doubles for Eddie Murphy, John Wayne, Harrison Ford, Steve Martin, Salman Khan and Michael Landon have been associated with their lead actors for decades.

Some actors are known to have performed their own stunts. Jackie Chan is well known for this, as are fellow martial arts star and movie partners Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung, and Tony Jaa. Indian actor Jayan performed extremely dangerous stunts and was killed while performing one involving a helicopter. Akshay Kumar does all of his own stunts, including some dangerous ones.

Some actors started out as stunt doubles. Dyri Kristjansson, the second actor of LazyTown's Sportacus, started out as original actor Magnús Scheving's stunt double. Voice actress Chantal Strand, best known for voicing Dragon Tales' Cassie, started off doing stunts on Look Who's Talking Now with her twin sister Michelle.

Stunt doubles are also used when the actor doesn't legally hold the required class of license.

For example: All of Andy Lau's motorcycle scenes on Full Throttle were done by the director as he doesn't hold a motorcycle license. This is proven when he performs with a motorcycle in concerts, where the engines were never on. 

Non-humans are also known to have stunt doubles. For example, Enzo was the stunt double for his aging sire Moose on the sitcom Frasier. Soccer, the Jack Russell terrier on Wishbone, reportedly hated swimming and therefore had stunt doubles.

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​Motorcycle stunt riding, often referred to as stunting, is a motorcycle sport characterized by stunts involving acrobatic maneuvering of the motorcycle and sometimes the rider. Common maneuvers in stunt riding include wheelies, stoppies, and burnouts. Sport bikes have become a common vehicle for stunts.

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Self Defense based on Training Programs in Martial Arts Pictured below: Fight Smart in Close-Quarters Combat Using Wing Chun Techniques
[Your Webhost: while this article is focused on self-defense in general, it also serves to cover training in martial arts, both for self-defense and as competitive sports, including in movies.]

Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many jurisdictions.

Physical:
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Physical self-defense is the use of physical force to counter an immediate threat of violence. Such force can be either armed or unarmed. In either case, the chances of success depend on various parameters, related to the severity of the threat on one hand, but also on the mental and physical preparedness of the defender.

Unarmed:

Many styles of martial arts are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other combat sports can be effectively applied for self-defense.

Some martial arts train how to escape from a knife or gun situation or how to break away from a punch, while others train how to attack. To provide more practical self-defense, many modern martial arts schools now use a combination of martial arts styles and techniques, and will often customize self-defense training to suit individual participants.

Armed:
Further information: Non-lethal weapon and Melee weapon

A wide variety of weapons can be deployed for use in a defensive capacity. The most suitable depends on the threat presented, the victim or victims, and the experience of the defender. Legal restrictions also vary greatly, and influence which self-defense options are available to choose from.

Some jurisdictions firearms may be carried openly or concealed expressly for this purpose, many jurisdictions have tight restrictions on who can own firearms, and what types they can own. Knives, especially those categorized as switchblades, may also be controlled, as may batons, pepper spray and personal stun guns and Tasers – although some may be legal to carry with a license or for certain professions.

Non-injurious water-based self-defense indelible dye-marker sprays, or ID-marker or DNA-marker sprays linking a suspect to a crime scene, would in most places be legal to own and carry.

Everyday objects, such as flashlights, baseball bats, newspapers, keyrings with keys, kitchen utensils and other tools, and hair spray aerosol cans in combination with a lighter, can also be used as improvised weapons for self-defense.

Verbal self-defense:

Verbal self-defense is defined as using words "to prevent, de-escalate, or end an attempted assault."

Women's self-defense:

According to Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics on Rainn, about "80 percent of juvenile victims were female and 90 percent of rape victims were adult women". 

In addition, women from ages 18 to 34 are highly at risk to experience sexual assault. According to historian Wendy Rouse in Her Own Hero: The Origins of Women's Self-Defense Movement, women's self-defense training emerged in the early twentieth century in the United States and the United Kingdom paralleling the women's rights and suffrage movement.

These early feminists sought to raise awareness about the sexual harassment and violence that women faced on the street, at work, and in the home. They challenged the notion that men were their "natural protectors" noting that men were often the perpetrators of violence against women.

Women discovered a sense of physical and personal empowerment through training in boxing and jiu-jitsu. Interest in women's self-defense paralleled subsequent waves of the women's rights movement especially with the rise of Second-wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s and Third-wave feminism in the 1990s. 

Today's Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) courses focus on teaching verbal and psychological as well as physical self-defense strategies. ESD courses explore the multiple sources of gender-based violence especially including its connections with sexism, racism, and classism.

Empowerment Self-Defense instructors focus on holding perpetrators responsible while empowering women with the idea that they have both the right and ability to protect themselves.

Self-defense education:

Self-defense techniques and recommended behavior under the threat of violence is systematically taught in self-defense classes. Commercial self-defense education is part of the martial arts industry in the wider sense, and many martial arts instructors also give self-defense classes.

While all martial arts training can be argued to have some self-defense applications, self-defense courses are marketed explicitly as being oriented towards effectiveness and optimized towards situations as they occur in the real world.

Many systems are taught commercially, many tailored to the needs of specific target audiences (e.g. defense against attempted rape for women, self-defense for children and teens). Notable systems taught commercially include:
Legal aspects:
Main articles: Right of self-defense and Self-defence in international law
See also: Self-defence in English law

Application of the law:

In any given case, it can be difficult to evaluate whether force was excessive. Allowances for great force may be hard to reconcile with human rights.

The Intermediate People's Court of Foshan, People's Republic of China in a 2009 case ruled the killing of a robber during his escape attempt to be justifiable self-defense because "the robbery was still in progress" at this time.

In the United States between 2008 and 2012, approximately 1 out of every 38 gun-related deaths (which includes murders, suicides, and accidental deaths) was a justifiable killing, according to the Violence Policy Center.

In Canada, self-defense, in the context of criminal law, is a statutory defence that provides a full defence to the commission of a criminal act. It operates as a justification, the successful application of which means that owing to the circumstances in which the act was produced, it is not morally blameworthy. There are three elements an accused must demonstrate to successfully raise self-defense:

First, the accused must demonstrate that she or he believed on reasonable grounds that force was going to be used against her or him or another person or that a threat of force is being made against her or him or another person. The reasonableness of the belief is assessed through both a subjective and objective lens.

Certain beliefs, including racist beliefs and beliefs induced by self-intoxication are prima facie unreasonable. Other beliefs related to the subjective experience of the accused may, however, be reasonable. These include any relevant military training (R v Khill), heightened awareness of patterns of cyclical violence in intimate relationships (R v Lavallée) and whether the accused has autism (R v Kagan).

Second, the act that constitutes the offence is committed for the purpose of defending or protecting themselves or the other person from that use or threat of force.

Third, the act that constitutes the offence must have been reasonable in the circumstances. There are a number of indicia which factor into whether the act was reasonable in the circumstances.

For one, was the violence or threat of violence imminent? Usually, if there is a significant time interval between the original unlawful assault and the accused's response, it undermines the contention that there were no other means available to respond to the potential use of force and one tends to suspect that the accused was motivated by revenge rather than self-defence.

However, R v Lavalleé accepted expert evidence demonstrating that people experiencing battered women's syndrome have special knowledge about the cyclical nature of violence in a way allows them to foresee when harm is coming.

Second, it's relevant whether there was a reasonable avenue of escape available to the accused. Under the old self-defence provision, there was a requirement for the accused to have believed on reasonable grounds that there was no alternative course of action open to him at the time, so that he reasonably thought that he was obliged to kill in order to preserve himself from death or grievous bodily harm.

Now, even though 34(2)(b) is only one consideration in a non-exhaustive list, the mandatory role it used to play in the common law suggests it carries considerable weight in determining the reasonableness of the act in the circumstances under 34(1)(c) As such, while there is no absolute duty to retreat, it is a prerequisite to the defence that there were no other legal means of responding available. In other words, there may be an obligation to do retreat where there is an option to do so (R v Cain).

However, there is an exception to the obligation to retreat which is there is no requirement to flee from your own home to escape an assault to raise self-defence (R v Forde). Moreover, evidence of the accused suffering from battered women's syndrome may evince that the accused reasonably perceived there to have been no means of escape (R v Lavalleé).

Third, the accused's role in the incident may play into the reasonableness of her or his act. Consideration of the accused's role is not limited to whether he did any provocative or unlawful acts at it was under the old self-defence provisions (R v Khill).

Fourth, the nature and proportionality of the accused's response will factor into whether it was reasonable. While a person is not expected to weigh to a nicety the measure of force used to respond to violence or a threat thereof, grossly disproportionate force will tend to be unreasonable (R v Kong).

​See also:

Armed self-defense:
Unarmed self-defense:
Legal and moral aspects:






​
Martial Arts, including a List of Martial Arts Pictured below: 3 of the Top 10 Martial Artists in the World: Who’s the Best?
Click Here for a List of martial arts by Country

Martial Arts:

Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage.

Etymology:

According to Paul Bowman, the term martial arts was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called "chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s.


According to John Clements, the term martial arts itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning "arts of Mars", the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s.

The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of East Asia (Asian martial arts) up until the 1970s, while the term Chinese boxing was also used to refer to Chinese martial arts up until then.

Some authors have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate terms on the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.

Variation and scope

​Martial arts may be categorized using a variety of criteria, including:
By technical focus:

Unarmed: Unarmed martial arts can be broadly grouped into those focusing on strikes, those focusing on grappling, and those that cover both fields, often described as hybrid martial arts.

Strikes Grappling
Armed: The traditional martial arts that cover armed combat often encompass a wide spectrum of melee weapons, including bladed weapons and polearms. Such traditions include eskrima, silat, kalaripayat, kobudo, and historical European martial arts, especially those of the German Renaissance. Many Chinese martial arts also feature weapons as part of their curriculum.

Sometimes, training with one specific weapon may be considered a style in its own right, especially in the case of Japanese martial arts, with disciplines such as kenjutsu and kendo (sword), bojutsu (staff), and kyūdō (archery). Similarly, modern martial arts and sports include modern fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat, modern competitive archery and practical shooting.

By application or intent:

Combat-oriented:
Main articles: Combat sport and Self-defense

Health-oriented:

Many martial arts, especially those from Asia, also teach side disciplines which pertain to medicinal practices. This is particularly prevalent in traditional Asian martial arts which may teach bone-setting, herbalism, and other aspects of traditional medicine.

Spirituality-oriented:

Martial arts can also be linked with religion and spirituality. Numerous systems are reputed to have been founded, disseminated, or practiced by monks or nuns.

Throughout the Asian arts, meditation may be incorporated as a part of training. In the arts influenced by a mix of Chan Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophy, the practice itself may be used as an aid to attaining mindfulness.

Japanese styles, when concerning non-physical qualities of the combat, are often strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Concepts like "empty mind" and "beginner's mind" are recurrent. Aikido practitioners for instance, can have a strong philosophical belief of the flow of energy and peace fostering, as idealised by the art's founder Morihei Ueshiba.

Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the practitioner's spiritual and philosophical development. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as Taekkyon, taekwondo, and Hapkido is the value of "inner peace" in a practitioner, which is stressed to be only achievable through individual meditation and training. The Koreans believe that the use of physical force is only justifiable for self defense.

Systema draws upon breathing and relaxation techniques, as well as elements of Russian Orthodox thought, to foster self-conscience and calmness, and to benefit the practitioner in different levels: the physical, the psychological and the spiritual.

Some martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settings for various reasons, such as for evoking ferocity in preparation for battle or showing off skill in a more stylized manner, with capoeira being the most prominent example. Many such martial arts incorporate music, especially strong percussive rhythms (see also war dance).

​Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the name of a Persian Martial arts inscribed by UNESCO for varzesh-e pahlavāni (Persian: آیین پهلوانی و زورخانه‌ای, "heroic sport") or varzesh-e bāstāni (ورزش باستانی; varzeš-e bāstānī, "ancient sport"), a traditional system of athletics originally used to train warriors in Iran (Persia), and first appearing under this name and form in the Safavid era, with similarities to systems in adjacent lands under other names.

​History:
Main article: History of martial arts
Further information: Martial arts timeline

Historical martial arts:
Main articles: History of Asian martial arts and Historical European martial arts
Further information: History of boxing and History of fencing

Human warfare dates back to the Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era. The oldest works of art depicting scenes of battle are cave paintings from eastern Spain (Spanish Levante) dated between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE that show organized groups fighting with bows and arrows. Similar evidence of warfare has been found in Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era mass burials, excavated in Germany and at Jebel Sahaba in Northern Sudan.

Wrestling is the oldest combat sport, with origins in hand-to-hand combat. Belt wrestling was depicted in works of art from Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt c. 3000 BC, and later in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. The earliest known depiction of boxing comes from a Sumerian relief in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) from the 3rd millennium BC.

​The foundation of modern East Asian martial arts and South Asian martial arts is likely facilitated by cultural exchanges of early Chinese and Indian martial arts. During the Warring States period of Chinese history (480–221 BC) extensive development in martial philosophy and strategy emerged, as described by Sun Tzu in The Art of War (c. 350 BC). 

Legendary accounts link the origin of Shaolinquan to the spread of Buddhism from ancient India during the early 5th century CE, with the figure of Bodhidharma, to China. Written evidence of martial arts in Southern India dates back to the Sangam literature of about the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century AD. 

​The combat techniques of the Sangam period were the earliest precursors to Kalaripayattu.

In Europe, the earliest sources of martial arts traditions date to Ancient Greece. Boxing (pygme, pyx), wrestling (pale) and pankration were represented in the Ancient Olympic Games. The Romans produced gladiatorial combat as a public spectacle.

A number of historical combat manuals have survived from the European Middle Ages. This includes such styles as sword and shield, two-handed swordfighting and other types of melee weapons besides unarmed combat. Amongst these are transcriptions of Johannes Liechtenauer's mnemonic poem on the longsword dating back to the late fourteenth century.

Likewise, Asian martial arts became well-documented during the medieval period, Japanese martial arts beginning with the establishment of the samurai nobility in the 12th century, Chinese martial arts with Ming era treatises such as Ji Xiao Xin Shu, Indian martial arts in medieval texts such as the Agni Purana and the Malla Purana, and Korean martial arts from the Joseon era and texts such as Muyejebo (1598).

European swordsmanship always had a sportive component, but the duel was always a possibility until World War I. Modern sport fencing began developing during the 19th century as the French and Italian military academies began codifying instruction. The Olympic games led to standard international rules, with the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime founded in 1913. Modern boxing originates with Jack Broughton's rules in the 18th century, and reaches its present form with the Marquess of Queensberry Rules of 1867.

Folk styles:
Main article: Folk wrestling

Certain traditional combat sports and fighting styles exist all over the world, rooted in local culture and folklore. The most common of these are styles of folk wrestling, some of which have been practiced since antiquity and are found in the most remote areas.

Other examples include forms of stick fighting and boxing. While these arts are based on historical traditions of folklore, they are not "historical" in the sense that they reconstruct or preserve a historical system from a specific era.

They are rather contemporary regional sports that coexist with the modern forms of martial arts sports as they have developed since the 19th century, often including cross-fertilization between sports and folk styles; thus, the traditional Thai art of muay boran developed into the modern national sport of muay Thai, which in turn came to be practiced worldwide and contributed significantly to modern hybrid styles like kickboxing and mixed martial arts. 

Singlestick, an English martial art can be seen often utilized in morris dancing. Many European dances share elements of martial arts with examples including Ukrainian Hopak, Polish Zbójnicki (use of ciupaga), the Czech dance odzemek, and the Norwegian Halling.

Modern history:
Further information: Modern history of East Asian martial arts

Late 19th to early 20th century:The mid to late 19th century marks the beginning of the history of martial arts as modern sports developed out of earlier traditional fighting systems.

In Europe, this concerns the developments of boxing, wrestling and fencing as sports.

In Japan, the same period marks the formation of the modern forms of judo, jujutsu, karate, and kendo (among others) based on revivals of old schools of Edo period martial arts which had been suppressed during the Meiji Restoration Modern muay Thai rules date to the 1920s.

In China, the modern history of martial arts begins in the Nanjing decade (1930s) following the foundation of the Central Guoshu Institute in 1928 under the Kuomintang government.

Western interest in Asian martial arts arises towards the end of the 19th century, due to the increase in trade between the United States with China and Japan. 

Relatively few Westerners actually practiced the arts, considering it to be mere performance. Edward William Barton-Wright, a railway engineer who had studied jujutsu while working in Japan between 1894 and 1897, was the first man known to have taught Asian martial arts in Europe. He also founded an eclectic style named Bartitsu which combined jujutsu, judo, wrestling, boxing, savate and stick fighting.

Fencing and Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the 1896 Summer Olympics. FILA Wrestling World Championships and Boxing at the Summer Olympics were introduced in 1904. The tradition of awarding championship belts in wrestling and boxing can be traced to the Lonsdale Belt, introduced in 1909.

20th century (1914 to 1989):

The International Boxing Association was established in 1920. World Fencing Championships have been held since 1921.

As Western influence grew in Asia a greater number of military personnel spent time in China, Japan and South Korea during World War II and the Korean War and were exposed to local fighting styles. Jujutsu, judo and karate first became popular among the mainstream from the 1950s–1960s.

Due in part to Asian and Hollywood martial arts movies, most modern American martial arts are either Asian-derived or Asian influenced. The term kickboxing (キックボクシング) was created by the Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi for a variant of muay Thai and karate that he created in the 1950s. 

American kickboxing was developed in the 1970s, as a combination of boxing and karate. Taekwondo was developed in the context of the Korean War in the 1950s.

The later 1960s and 1970s witnessed an increased media interest in Chinese martial arts, influenced by martial artist Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is credited as one of the first instructors to openly teach Chinese martial arts to Westerners. World Judo Championships have been held since 1956, Judo at the Summer Olympics was introduced in 1964. Karate World Championships were introduced in 1970.

The "kung fu wave" of Hong Kong action cinema in the 1970s, especially Bruce Lee films, popularized martial arts in global popular culture. A number of mainstream films produced during the 1980s also contributed significantly to the perception of martial arts in Western popular culture. These include The Karate Kid (1984) and Bloodsport (1988). This era produced some Hollywood action stars with martial arts background, such as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris.

Also during the 20th century, a number of martial arts were adapted for self-defense purposes for military hand-to-hand combat. World War II combatives, KAPAP (1930s) and Krav Maga (1950s) in Israel, Systema in Soviet-era Russia, and Sanshou in the People's Republic of China are examples of such systems.

The US military de-emphasized hand-to-hand combat training during the Cold War period, but revived it with the introduction of LINE in 1989.

1990 to present:

In 1993, the first Pancrase event was held in Japan. The K-1 rules of kickboxing were introduced, based on 1980s Seidokaikan karate.

During the 1990s, Brazilian jiu-jitsu became popular and proved to be effective in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions such as the UFC and PRIDE.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li are prominent martial artists who have become major movie figures. Their popularity and media presence has been at the forefront for promoting Chinese martial arts since the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

With the continual discovery of more medieval and Renaissance fighting manuals, the practice of Historical European Martial Arts and other Western Martial Arts have been growing in popularity across the United States and Europe.

On 29 November 2011, UNESCO inscribed Taekkyon onto its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List.

Revival:

Many styles of Indian martial arts were banned by the colonial authorities during the period of British rule in India, which led to a decline in their popularity. Some, such as Kalaripayattu, did not undergo such declines since they were mostly practiced in areas of the Indian subcontinent outside direct British control.

Other Indian martial art, such as Silambam, while not widely practiced in India, continue to be practiced in other countries in the Indian cultural sphere such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

Many other Indian martial arts such as Mardhani Khel and Paika Akhada survived by practitioners practicing the art in secret, or by telling the colonial authorities that it was a form of dance. While many regional Indian martial arts forms are fading into obscurity, martial arts such as Gatka and Kalaripayattu are experiencing a gradual resurgence.

Testing and competition:

Testing or evaluation is important to martial artists of many disciplines who wish to determine their progression or own level of skill in specific contexts. Students often undergo periodic testing and grading by their own teacher in order to advance to a higher level of recognized achievement, such as a different belt color or title. The type of testing used varies from system to system but may include forms or sparring.

Various forms and sparring are commonly used in martial art exhibitions and tournaments. Some competitions pit practitioners of different disciplines against each other using a common set of rules, these are referred to as mixed martial arts competitions. Rules for sparring vary between art and organization but can generally be divided into light-contact, medium-contact, and full-contact variants, reflecting the amount of force that should be used on an opponent.

Light- and medium-contact:

These types of sparring restrict the amount of force that may be used to hit an opponent, in the case of light sparring this is usually to 'touch' contact, e.g. a punch should be 'pulled' as soon as or before contact is made.

In medium-contact (sometimes referred to as semi-contact) the punch would not be 'pulled' but not hit with full force. As the amount of force used is restricted, the aim of these types of sparring is not to knock out an opponent; a point system is used in competitions.

A referee acts to monitor for fouls and to control the match, while judges mark down scores, as in boxing. Particular targets may be prohibited, certain techniques may be forbidden (such as headbutting or groin hits), and fighters may be required to wear protective equipment on their head, hands, chest, groin, shins or feet.

Some grappling arts, such as aikido, use a similar method of compliant training that is equivalent to light or medium contact.

In some styles (such as fencing and some styles of taekwondo sparring), competitors score points based on the landing of a single technique or strike as judged by the referee, whereupon the referee will briefly stop the match, award a point, then restart the match.

Alternatively, sparring may continue with the point noted by the judges. Some critics of point sparring feel that this method of training teaches habits that result in lower combat effectiveness. Lighter-contact sparring may be used exclusively, for children or in other situations when heavy contact would be inappropriate (such as beginners), medium-contact sparring is often used as training for full contact.

Full-contact:
Further information: Full-contact

Full-contact sparring or competition, where strikes or techniques are not pulled but used with full force as the name implies, has a number of tactical differences from light and medium-contact sparring. It is considered by some to be requisite in learning realistic unarmed combat.

In full-contact sparring, the aim of a competitive match is to knock out the opponent or to force the opponent to submit. Where scoring takes place it may be a subsidiary measure, only used if no clear winner has been established by other means; in some competitions, such as the UFC 1, there was no scoring, though most now use some form of judging as a backup. 

Due to these factors, full-contact matches tend to be more aggressive in character, but rule sets may still mandate the use of protective equipment, or limit the techniques allowed.

Nearly all mixed martial arts organizations such as UFC, Pancrase, Shooto use a form of full-contact rules as do professional boxing organizations and K-1. Kyokushin karate requires advanced practitioners to engage in bare-knuckled, full-contact sparring allowing kicks, knees and punching although punching to the head is disallowed while wearing only a karate gi and groin protector.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo matches do not allow striking, but are full-contact in the sense that full force is applied in the permitted grappling and submission techniques. Competitions held by World Taekwondo requires the use of Headgear and padded vest, but are full contact in the sense that full force is applied to strikes to the head and body, and win by knockout is possible.

Martial sport:
See also: Combat sport

​Martial arts have crossed over into sports when forms of sparring become competitive, becoming a sport in its own right that is dissociated from the original combative origin, such as with western fencing.

The Summer Olympic Games includes judo, taekwondo, western archery, boxing, javelin, wrestling and fencing as events, while Chinese wushu recently failed in its bid to be included, but is still actively performed in tournaments across the world.

Practitioners in some arts such as kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu often train for sport matches, whereas those in other arts such as aikido generally spurn such competitions.

Some schools believe that competition breeds better and more efficient practitioners, and gives a sense of good sportsmanship.

Others believe that the rules under which competition takes place have diminished the combat effectiveness of martial arts or encourage a kind of practice which focuses on winning trophies rather than a focus such as cultivating a particular moral character.

The question of "which is the best martial art" has led to inter style competitions fought with very few rules allowing a variety of fighting styles to enter with few limitations. This was the origin of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament (later renamed UFC 1: The Beginning) in the USA inspired by the Brazilian Vale tudo tradition and along with other minimal rule competitions, most notably those from Japan such as Shooto and Pancrase, have evolved into the combat sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

Some martial artists compete in non-sparring competitions such as breaking or choreographed routines of techniques such as poomse, kata and aka, or modern variations of the martial arts which include dance-influenced competitions such as tricking.

Martial traditions have been influenced by governments to become more sport-like for political purposes; the central impetus for the attempt by the People's Republic of China in transforming Chinese martial arts into the committee-regulated sport of wushu was suppressing what they saw as the potentially subversive aspects of martial training, especially under the traditional system of family lineages.

Health and fitness benefits:

Martial arts training aims to result in several benefits to trainees, such as their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Through systematic practice in the martial arts a person's physical fitness may be boosted (strength, stamina, speed, flexibility, movement coordination, etc.) as the whole body is exercised and the entire muscular system is activated. 

Beyond contributing to physical fitness, martial arts training also has benefits for mental health, contributing to self-esteem, self-control, emotional and spiritual well-being. For this reason, a number of martial arts schools have focused purely on therapeutic aspects, de-emphasizing the historical aspect of self-defense or combat completely.

According to Bruce Lee, martial arts also have the nature of an art, since there is emotional communication and complete emotional expression.

Self-defense, military and law enforcement applications:
Main articles: Hand-to-hand combat and Self-defense

Some traditional martial concepts have seen new use within modern military training. Perhaps the most recent example of this is point shooting which relies on muscle memory to more effectively utilize a firearm in a variety of awkward situations, much the way an iaidoka would master movements with their sword.

​During the World War II era William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes were recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to teach their martial art of Defendu (itself drawing on Western boxing and Jujutsu) and pistol shooting to UK, US, and Canadian special forces.

The book Kill or Get Killed, written by Colonel Rex Applegate, was based on the Defendu taught by Sykes and Fairbairn. Both Fairbairn's Get Tough and Appelgate's Kill or Get Killed became classic works on hand-to-hand combat.

Traditional hand-to-hand, knife, and spear techniques continue to see use in the composite systems developed for today's wars. Examples of this include:
Unarmed dagger defenses identical to those found in the manual of Fiore dei Liberi and the Codex Wallerstein were integrated into the U.S. Army's training manuals in 1942 and continue to influence today's systems along with other traditional systems such as eskrima and silat.

The rifle-mounted bayonet which has its origin in the spear, has seen use by the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, and the British Army as recently as the Iraq War.

Many martial arts are also seen and used in Law Enforcement hand-to-hand training. For example, the Tokyo Riot Police's use of aikido.

Martial arts industry:

Martial arts since the 1970s has become a significant industry, a subset of the wider sport industry (including cinema and sports television).

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide practice some form of martial art. Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims there are 50 million karate practitioners worldwide. 

The South Korean government in 2009 published an estimate that taekwondo is practiced by 70 million people in 190 countries.

The wholesale value of martial arts related sporting equipment shipped in the United States was estimated at US$314 million in 2007; participation in the same year was estimated at 6.9 million (ages 6 or older, 2% of US population). 

R. A. Court, CEO of Martial Arts Channel, stated the total revenue of the US martial arts industry at US$40 billion and the number of US practitioners at 30 million in 2003.

Equipment:

Martial arts equipment can include that which is used for conditioning, protection and weapons. Specialized conditioning equipment can include breaking boards, dummy partners such as the wooden dummy, and targets such as punching bags and the makiwara. 

Protective equipment for sparring and competition includes boxing gloves, headgear and mouthguards.

Martial arts fraud:

Asian martial arts experienced a surge of popularity in the West during the 1970s, and the rising demand resulted in numerous low quality or fraudulent schools. Fueled by fictional depictions in martial arts movies, this led to the ninja craze of the 1980s in the United States.

There were also numerous fraudulent ads for martial arts training programs, inserted into comic books circa the 1960s and 1970s, which were read primarily by adolescent boys.

In the seventies, lower ranks (kyu) began to be given colorful belts to show progress. This proved to be commercially viable and colored-belt systems were adopted in many martial arts degree mills (also known as McDojos and belt factories) as a means to generate additional cash.

This was covered in the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! episode "Martial Arts" (June 2010).

See also:







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