Crooked Necks

Archive for September, 2009

University of Arizona basketball is a source of pride for hundreds of thousands of alumni that have come out of the Tucson, Arizona based school. With over 25,000 students attending the college commonly referred to as U of A or simply Arizona there is a tremendous following of the University of Arizona basketball schedule with the winter moods of many people being dependent upon how well the current Arizona basketball coach did the night before.

Arizona has been playing basketball since the early twentieth century with their initial win coming in the first game the program ever played. A 1904 contest that resulted in a victory over the Morenci YMCA team marked the first of what would become many wins in the storied tradition known today as Arizona Wildcat basketball. Long before joining the Pacific 10 Conference (Pac-10) in 1878 many of the games during their first decade of existence came against local YMCA competition, a practice that was surprisingly common in that era. In fact, the University of Kentucky which has the current record for most men’s basketball wins also began their tradition with a single win over a Lexington YMCA team in 1903.

There are many exercises out there that can help you jump higher, but are there ways to maintain this? There are indeed many ways that you can learn in order to maintain your jumping. No matter what kind of sport you play, being able to jump higher than your opponents is a tremendous advantage. By utilizing a few simple tips, you are sure to be performing at a much higher level than ever before and then you will also reap the benefits all your hard work has brought you.

The first step, and probably the most important, is to properly warm up before you perform any kind of physical activity whatsoever. Warming up can consist of just a few little effortless stretches or running in place. This greatly reduces any risk of injury you might have possibly obtained, which could damage your progress severely. There is plenty of evidence out there to support this. Not properly warming up can also affect your game. You may not run as fast or jump as high as you normally could. So please take the time to warm up. As mentioned already, stretching is another way you can jump higher. This is very similar to not warming up. Stretching your muscles properly causes them to contract and work better than a tight muscle. As always, you reduce your risk of sustaining an injury. A lot of people searching for ways to jump higher will probably notice how much their vertical jump has improved just by stretching and warming up.

When we swim there are forces that are out of our control that we must contend with in the hopes of swimming faster. It doesn’t matter if you are in the pool or the open water, we must deal with these forces. The drag that is created by the water on our bodies is one of the main obstacles we must deal with and finding a way to reduce this drag makes a difference in how fast we can swim. So, how do we reduce drag while swimming?

Being water is so much denser than air we also have to fight this resistance. When the water flows along our bodies it tries to cling to anything it can grab onto, this is drag and reducing the effect of this drag will help us slide through the water more easily. Not only is drag a problem but we also have to deal with the turbulence of the water. If swimming in a pool with others, the surface of the water gets choppy which itself can slow you down a little as you plow through the chop.

What is the art of T’ai Chi and how is it practiced? T’ai Chi is a Chinese system of boxing exercises and meditative movements that dates back to ancient times. Meaning “supreme ultimate fist,” Tai Chi Chuan originated as a form of martial art. But rather than relying on the swift aggressive kicks and power punches that are seen in various other forms, it incorporates slow, thoughtful, nuanced movements to confound attackers and opponents.

It is believed that a monk named Chang Seng Feng was the founder. According to legend, Master Chang once dreamed that a crane and a snake were ensnared in a fight. Regarding the dream as a divine sign, he launched a study of it and developed the 13 postures that comprise T’ai Chi. This early beginning of Tai Chi has developed into the art practiced today.

A few years after Master Chang presented his 13 movements, numerous other masters created their own unique forms. As a result, a variety of styles became popular, with three particular types favored: the Chen, Yang and Wu styles. Of these three, the Yang form became a favorite; meanwhile even more styles continued to emerge and had their own followers.

If you look at any race card you will see if a horse is wearing any type of headgear. The more common types of headgear worn by race horses are Blinkers, Visor and Cheek Pieces. Another addition to a horses headgear is a tongue strap.

Blinkers. These are fitted to a horse to aid its concentration during the race. The blinkers are in fact cowls fitted to a head cloth and they can be either full or half cup. The overall effect is to reduce a horses vision from 180 degrees down to a around 30 degrees.

Visors. These are similar to blinkers except that the cowl has a hole or slit in the side to allow the horse to see other horses at its side.

Some people question how genuine a horse is that needs blinkers but there is no doubt that in some cases they can bring about a much improved performance. It is not uncommon that the first time a horse races in blinkers it has the desired effect but in subsequent races they seem to have no effect.