The Paralympic Games were founded by Sir Ludwig Guttmann, A Jewish Neurosurgeon who fled Nazi Germany in 1939 – Sir Ludwig challenged people’s perception of what disability actually is as you focus on the abilities of the athletes competing.
The first woman to win Olympic gold in the 100m, was wrongly thought to be dead dead in a plane crash. After the undertaker declared her alive, she spent a few days in and out of consciousness and was told she would never compete or walk unaided again. She went on to win another gold […]
It has been 32 years since a left-handed catcher played in a Major League Baseball game. His name was Benny Distefano and he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989.
Cincinnati Reds player Adam Dunn once hit a home run from Ohio to Kentucky. The ball left the stadium and bounced off of the street onto a piece of driftwood in the Ohio River, stopping in Kentucky.
The first sports bra was made in 1977 by sewing two jock straps together. Its literal test run was performed by of its two inventors: one jogging forwards wearing the Macgyvered prototype while her friend ran ahead, jogging backwards so she could assess her friend’s “bounciness”.
Soccer was a popular and successful sport in the US up until the 1930s. However a series of disputes between rival leagues and FIFA (called the Soccer Wars) , and the onset of the Great Depression led to a massive decline in the popularity of the sport.
It can be difficult to find hobbies as an adult. In between work and taking care of our families and trying to exercise, who has time for one more thing?
That’s why so many people turn exercise into a hobby.
Whether it’s playing a pickup game with your friends, golfing on the weekends, or coaching your kid’s soccer team, it’s important to enjoy the things that keep us fit.
One potential exercise that’s often overlooked by adults is martial arts, a term that can encompass a wide variety of activities. But these classes are not just for kids with bullies. Adults can gain a great many benefits from practicing martial arts as well, which many people realize once they enroll their children.
With that in mind, here are the top 5 reasons adults should consider taking up martial arts too.
If the past year showed us anything, it was how important having a community can be.
Whether you needed to rely on your herd to help take care of your kids while you were working, to get you groceries when you were sick or in quarantine, or just to chat and boost you up when you were feeling down and disconnected, I bet you realized who was important in your life.
Taking martial arts classes can offer you a supportive community outside of work and home, new friends, facing challenges together, and encouraging each other in solidarity.
Just as it feels good to make progress towards a goal, martial arts can make you feel more confident.
Whether it’s because you feel safer in your environment or because you’re more in touch with your body and its place within the world, there is something to be gained for everyone.
As Life Hacker points out:
Moreover, you’ll learn how to cultivate a sense of resilience when placed under pressure.
Training can be grueling (if you take it seriously), and you might find yourself under more physical strain than you ever have been before, but you’ll also find that you have the fortitude to keep going in the face of that exertion, and that you can stay calm amid the intensity of a sparring round.
And not only that, but the work out can help you get in great shape, too, which can also boost self esteem.
In 1911, inmates on death row played baseball for their lives. If they won, execution was delayed. If they lost, their execution went ahead as scheduled.