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Geocaching -- The New High--Tech Sport
There are about 150,000 of them spread throughout 213 countries and you need satellites to help you find them. What are they? They're geocaches and geocaching is a sport that is quickly gaining popularity. The geocaches come in all different sizes...
Mission Critical: Triathlon Training For Beginner Athletes
If you are new to the wonderful sport and are a triathlon
training beginner, welcome to a new and exciting chapter in your
life!
This competitive sport is a thrilling road race, bicycle tour,
and swim meet all in one.
Whatever your...
Pressure in Youth Sports
Pressure is part of all sports and its impact in youth sports is something we need to carefully evaluate. The spotlight is brightest in baseball; there is simply no place to hide. For the pitcher, batter, catcher and anybody the ball is hit to, all...
The NBA’s Best Courts
Fans will argue about which NBA team they feel is better. Some will argue about which players are better. Now here’s the real scoop on which NBA teams have the best courts that will get the fans pumped up to see the game.
If you’re a fan that...
Your tax dollars at work: Basic health tips from the US Government Nutrition Web Page
Here are some basic health tips from the US Government
Nutrition Web page. We've seen it all before but it is all good
basic health advice. 1.Start your day with breakfast. Breakfast
fills your "empty tank" to get you going after a long...
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Martial Arts in Each Season: Nature in Training
We of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, the people who inhabit the wild lands north of The Bridge, are at the crest of winter. Which isn't saying much, because no matter what time of year, up here, winter has a way of creeping gleefully nearby, like an antic, poised to drop in on even the most summery of days - like an August wedding (mine), and remind all who live here that we live, first and last, at nature's pleasure, and not she at ours.
I love nature and the outdoors. Here, you would be hard pressed not to, since nature is ever present and wild, and cannot be constrained. We live here among the big forests, the blue-black waters of Mother Superior.
At my Center, we are about to dive into our first kangeiko, which is intensive winter training. The windows will be open, and the cold will surely come. The indoor sanctity of the dojo will be broken by the outdoors, the rude ways of the howling, northern winds.
It occurs to me - we spend so much of our time trying to protect ourselves. When it is hot outside, we try to
cool down; when it is cold, we try to keep our warmth. In Japanese martial arts tradition, kangeiko and its summer counterpart, shochugeiko, are ways of marking one’s training, and giving over to nature. When the sun is raging, and summer's heat is on - train fully, sweat, give over to the experience and hold nothing back; in the depths of winter's cold, do not tighten and try to stave it off, but accept the cold, relax into it and break through to a new understanding.
But in this training, I believe, we find a mirror to life itself. Beautiful, chaotic, demanding - nature. Nature just is.
About The Author
Paul Smith is the Founder and Director of the Aikido Center of Marquette (www.aikido-marquette.com), located in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. He is an avid outdoorsman, and is also the webmaster of www.a1-outdoors.com, a website serving as a resource for outdoor sports gear and information.
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