Boxing vs. MMA

August 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Since the days of gladiators, sports fans have always enjoyed watching two men battle each other in physical combat. While the fighting today is less brutal, and less bloody, than in the times of the Roman Empire, it is still just as fierce.

In modern times the two most popular fighting sports are boxing and mixed martial arts, or MMA. Both feature big name stars competing in highly publicized bouts on pay-per-view television and sports channels in http://www.direct.tv. However, they differ in many ways. So what fighting sport takes the crown?

Differences in Fighting Styles and Rules

The difference between boxing and MMA are the rules and the style of fighting. In boxing, fighters can only use their hands, while MMA fighters can hurt their opponents with kicks as well as holds around the neck or limbs. A boxing match features knockouts and scored decisions which MMA also has but with tap outs similar to wrestling, too.

All boxers fight in styles composed of complex combos and swift defensive stances that change with the situation. Fighters in MMA, meanwhile, have the luxury of integrating various fight styles including karate, wrestling, kung fu, and more.

Filed Under: Coaching, Sports Tagged With: , ,

Clothing That Works for Your Body

June 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Air Jordan 1, Blue & Black these are NOT nike ...

Image via Wikipedia

When you play hard, you need clothing that is going to work for you. That is what you can expect when you purchase clothes designed with special features for athletes. These clothing options have technology in them that allows the clothing to perform as hard as you do.
When buying clothing, you expect items that are comfortable and easy to move in. However, you may want to look for options that do far more than this for you. Consider athletic clothing technology as well as how it helps you perform.

  • One of the easiest ways to see how clothing works is to choose a product that wicks away the sweat from your body. This helps to regulate your temperature, to keep you cool and comfortable while you play hard.
  • Some clothing is lightweight and breathable to help keep your body temperature down. This type of clothing is important for outdoor activities and sports during the hot summer months.
  • Consider the full line of Nike athletic clothing. It offers something for every need, depending on the type of player you are. This clothing works to keep your body moving quickly, staying the right temperature, and performing at its best.

Varieties of manufacturers offer clothing that does these things or other things to help you on the field. Swimmers may wish to invest in clothing that will work to allow less friction against skin. Runners need clothing that helps maintain the right body temperature.

Regardless of how you play, your clothing can perform for you. Find the clothing that fits your sport and your body’s overall needs to enhance your performance.

Filed Under: Sports

What does Moneyball mean for baseball statheads?

June 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Does a movie starring Brad Pitt (as you) confirm your strategy?

Perhaps if your name if Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. Beane gained almost instant fame due to the Michael Lewis book Moneyball. Lewis first gained acclaim as the author of Liar’s Poker, which depicted his time as a bond salesman for a Wall Street investment bank in the 1980s. In Moneyball, Lewis looked at baseball as if it were a bond trade. Rather than rely on the traditional method of scouting players and rating them based on traditional skill, Beane used a Sabermetrics system to rate his players.

In traditional baseball scouting, a skill like speed is valued. Sabermetrics only values scoring runs. A fast player that does not get on base does not have the same value as a slow player with a high on-base percentage. Sabermetrics is similar to counting cards—it plays on percentages. Even though it might work in blackjack, baseball is not cards. Match-ups determine results as much as prior performances.

The odd thing about Moneyball is that it is a glorification of a system that shies away from glory. Sabermetrics was never meant to be sexy. It was meant to be correct and trump the old system of “seeing” talent or believing in baseball myths.

 

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 14: Oakland Athletics ... 

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Now that Sabermetrics has its own movie does it mean that no area of sports is immune to hyperbole? Perhaps, but somehow it seems correct. Statistics might be able to break down baseball better than most sports, but even the National Pastime cannot be entirely explained by statistics. Baseball is still an athletic competition full of drama and myth.

 

Filed Under: General, Strategy Tagged With: , ,

Injuries Extreme Sports Athletes Will Face

May 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Injuries are a part of being an athlete. Every athlete will experience an injury at some point in their athletic career. However, when the athlete is one that engages in extreme sports they can expect to face injuries more than other athletes due to the extreme nature of the sport.

 

Here’s a look at some of the most common injuries extreme sports athletes can expect to experience during their athletic career.

 

Basic Bumps and Bruises

 

Extreme sports involve a lot of bumping and moving around. Some extreme sports even involve the athlete trying extreme difficult jumps and moves. These motions can all result in a lot of bumps and bruises.

 

Lacerations

MATAMATA, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 16: In this h... 

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

 

 

Just as bumps and bruises are common, so are lacerations. Extreme sports athletes will scrape their body and fall which can results in cuts and bleeding.

 

Sprains and Strains of Muscles

 

Some body parts are just not meant to move in certain ways. Due to the extreme nature of these sports and the high probability that the athlete will fall on certain body parts, sprains and strains are common.

 

Broken Bones

 

Some very extreme moves require the extreme sports athlete to do some high jumps. The problem is that in order to learn the athlete might fall which will result in broken bones. While protective gear might help to prevent broken bones it is still a possible injury extreme athletes might face.

 

Injuries are all a part of being an athlete. Regardless of the you are a soccer player or a BMX rider you can expect to experience a large number of injuries throughout your athletic career.

Filed Under: Extreme Sports, General Tagged With: , ,

BUILDING THE PERFECT TEAM

March 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Team building in the athletic arena is likely the most important skill for a coach to master.  While the public is looking at star players and winning maneuvers, the prudent coach is constantly surveying his or her team, analyzing it as a whole.  The actual sport being played is probably secondary to the dynamics of the group.  Stories abound of players who fell into the trap of believing the headlines, letting the momentary glory go to their heads.  A team is exactly that: a team.  This means moving forward as one body, each part fully aware that it is in need of and in service to all other parts.  If there is a well-executed play, good defensive mechanics, even a spectacular winning goal, it is the team which is to be recognized.

START YOUNG

Children are generally born self-centered, needing little help forming a natural disposition toward self-preservation.  As self-confidence gains momentum during the early years, wise parents, teachers and community leaders recognize the need to cultivate the principles of group mechanics and what is commonly referred to as “the long view”.  Coaches who train youth sports teams are privileged to a window into the formative years of a person, influencing that boy’s or girl’s character and, therefore, their future.  The benefits of playing team sports from a young age do not really show up until after a person has left school and entered the working world.  It’s easy to spot the team players in the office, for example, versus the solo artists.  The sports field, whether at school or extra-curricular, is a wonderful place to develop the individual’s star power.  A solid coach then deliberately channels it into a team of excellence and integrity.

Filed Under: Sports, Team Sports Tagged With: , ,

THE THRILL OF EXTREMES

March 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

All sports have elements of danger associated with them.  If you still have your signed cast from that first badminton injury though, you’ll need to up your game just to keep reading.  Getting out of bed is risky in certain parts of the world, but there is a spirit of out-doing oneself in athletics, especially in the arena of extreme sports.

For average active people, it is enough to be in the great outdoors for a ball game; skiing if you’re near the slopes, surfing on the coast.  Everyone from tennis players to hoop shooters push themselves toward an up-to-date personal best.  Then there’s a  whole other group of people whose thrill-o-meter seems to have piqued, they have a need to press on to greater heights, depths and lengths.  These people live to break through their own tolerance levels.

WHAT’S THE APPEAL

Bungee and base jumps, spelunking and parkour, paragliding and freediving; folks are continually pushing the limits of the human physique and physical experience.  Perhaps you can identify the gene carrier early, say, in the schoolyard.  It’s no surprise that guy who was always turning back flips from the sliding board rather than sliding down properly should end up atop some bridge with elastics wrapped around his ankles.  Participants in risky sporting efforts usually cite the adrenalin rush, the conquest of fear and the sheer joy of adventure as being the fundamental reasons for their chosen activities.  So what about the danger element?  Manageable risk seems par for the course.  The general philosophy can be summed up into a few words: if you’re not pushing the envelope, you’re not really living.  Some people just seem to need a bigger bite of the peach.

Filed Under: Extreme Sports, Sports Tagged With: , ,

SOLO SWIM

March 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It’s a brisk, bright spring day, get the picture.  Now imagine yourself, on a boat rocking and pitching with the surge of the open sea, in a bikini.  You pull your dive mask over your eyes, take a deep gulp of air and drop over the side with little fanfare.  With the 24-inch long fins on your feet, you propel yourself straight down into the cool silent blue of the ocean.  You’re alone, seemingly, as you leave the familiar surface above you, traveling deeper, darker, colder.  The one trick you must remember here is to not breathe in.  This is the sport of the likes of Natalia Molchanova, Annelie Pompe, and Herbert Nitsch minus the bikini.  This is Freediving.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Single-breath diving probably began with primitive coastal communities searching for nourishment.  One fellow probably got a charge from diving further and longer than his cronies, and a sport was born.  Today, “competitive apnea” is the term used for freediving contests; however if you want to compete, you’re up against established records.  Molchanova’s fins took her to 225 meters in 2010, garnering her a world record.  Pompe dove to 126 meters using weights, to break the world record for the sport in 2010.  And Nitsch holds enough diving world records that he’s known affectionately as the deepest man alive.

But for those who enjoy the game over the glory, there’s no better time to get into the water and start playing.  Water resistance works all the body muscle groups, with repetitive sessions underwater you’ll be toned in short order.  Then get yourself to deep spot, take a good long sip of the wind, and see how far down you can get.

Filed Under: Sports, Water Sports Tagged With: , ,

Falling In Style

March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

People were not designed with a huge wingspan and feathers to catch the wind for lift, otherwise we’d have this flying thing down cold.  No, it has taken several hundred years to learn what has always been the knowledge of birds.  Parachuting gave a tremendously close flying experience.  Ascending to a jump height in a canvas or metal aircraft has a thrill of its own, but falling through the skies for the seconds before chute deployment is where the real charge comes from.  As men continued to leap from planes, a few of them had the idea to design a suit that would give them better maneuverability, an ever closer emulation of a bird gliding on the breeze.

NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

Extreme sports all have one thing in common, they’re high-risk engagements.  Wingsuit flying is no different.  A wingsuit is a webbed jumpsuit, having material sown into the negative space between the legs and between the arms and torso.  This extra fabric increases the area of a jumper as he or she plummets to earth.  An experienced jumper can learn to steer himself through the heavens, very much like a flying squirrel does as it leaps between trees.  In fact, another name for a wingsuit is the flying squirrel suit.  Such an invention of genius was born from the extreme demands a fellow named Patrick de Gayardon put on himself.  De Gayardon was an all-round extreme skydiver, making his name as a skysurfer first.  He is widely recognized as the father of the modern wingsuit, and it was during a test jump in 1998 that he lost is life.  De Gayardon’s innovations in wingsuit jumping, however, opened the doors for many followers who continue to risk life and limb for the experience of zipping over the terrain, pushing the defiance of gravity to near-death levels before deploying their chutes, gliding safely back to terra firma.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

SO YOU WANT IT ALL

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

You’ve watched all the X-Games shows.  You skated half pipes eyes-closed before your tenth birthday.  You reckon you’ve got the goods to take on the world of extreme sports, and maybe you do.  Sporting activities across the board require a balanced approach.  If you work harder on yourself than you do on your technique, you may become one of the greats, or at least continually top your personal bests.  Athletic training, to be of any merit, must combine a few disciplines.  Cross training is a must.  Total body workouts will ensure that you’re in the shape you want and need to be in for whatever activity you intend to dominate.  Too much emphasis on muscle bulk and not enough on flexibility, for example, could see you waving to your mommy through ambulance windows.  On the other hand, don’t neglect building some real strength into those muscles or you may not have the stamina to go above and beyond your previous limits.

COMMITMENT

What we’re talking about here is total commitment.  Extreme sports will require more from you than you may have believed you could possibly give.  This means you will have demand greatness of yourself.  Start reading up on balanced nutritional needs.  How much protein will you need for strength?  How and when do you pile on the carbohydrates?  Which supplements have the best efficacy and absorption rates, and when should you take them?  Neglect attitude conditioning at your own peril.  Choose this day to build up your positive programming warehouse.  We’re all victims of brainwashing, whether through music or advertising or television.  Consider carefully what you put into your memory, for it may serve or surprise you when you’re hanging from a sheer rock face by nothing but your pinky.  Keep an holistic approach to training yourself, stay committed to the goal, and relish the triumph of going further than you thought you could.

Filed Under: Extreme Sports, Sports Tagged With: , ,

Is Wii Fit a Sport?

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

282 words

IS Wii Fit A SPORT?

A curious trend among the not-so-uber health conscious has a buzz which sounds something like this: “I’ve resolved to get back into shape!  I do Wii Fit every morning now.”  Woah, woah, woah.  Is Wii Fit even a sport?

If you’ve only recently emerged from your cave, Wii is Nintendo’s popular interactive video game platform.  The technology behind the interactive game play is actually quite impressive and, as a matter of course, downright fun.  Where video games used to be the mainstay of pale-skinned teenage boys with soft drink addictions, Nintendo evidently found a market for, you guessed it, athletes…or at least dreamers.  Maybe they uncovered a certain subgroup of sporties pining for something to train toward during the winter.

SPORTS EVERYWHERE

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “sport” as “a source of diversion, recreation, sexual play, physical activity engaged in for pleasure.”  Well, that settles it.  Now we can probably think of a veritable plethora of sports, based on that definition.  Think of pie-eating, chain smoking, speed reading romance novels, power bathing with friends.  Suddenly everyone is sporty.  We have to hand it to the Nintendo folks though, they clearly did their research.

All jaded witticisms aside, exer-gaming (as it is apparently called) is probably here to stay.  Not counting the ability to see your neighbor’s property value on the web, this is technology put to good use.  Just browse online to understand how seriously some folks take their video game heart rate workout.  For those of us who may be unsure as to the appeal, consider it this way: “variety is the spice of life”.  The other side here then must be, “moderation in all things”.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,
«Older Posts