#Jusjojan - 4/1/19 - Enigmatic

Just Jot It January is hosted by Linda H Gill - here's the link to her site where you will find all the rules and the place to leave your link to your own post if you decide to join in plus links to all the other participants.

The background to the challenge can be found here. 

Your prompt for JusJoJan 2019, January 4th is brought to you by Virgobeauty! Click here to find her last post and say hi while you’re there! Virgobeauty’s word for our prompt today is “enigmatic.” Use it anywhere in your post or make it the theme of your post. Have fun!

I find blogging platforms enigmatic.  I'm going to shamelessly plug my guest post on the A-Z Challenge blog here.  (They picked 10 people from those who completed their survey after the last challenge finished to do a guest post.)

I was excited.  I've never done a guest post before.   But then I started thinking about the logistics of it.  How would I get my content on their blog.  Of course they gave helpful advice.  Something about a direct Tweet was mentioned.  Hmm.  I do have a Twitter account but it's rather dormant.  No problem.  There were alternatives.  E-mail an HTML version of the post.

Great I thought.  I know that Blogger lets you toggle between composing and HTML.  Prepare the post.  Tottle to the HTML version, copy it and e-mail to the A-Z team!  Easy.  Right?

Wrong!

For some reason, despite the preview having paragraphs, when it was posted the paragraphs disappeared.  Thank goodness I've included some photos which break the text up otherwise it would just be one long diatrible.  I know I tend to waffle but I do like to punctuate and present my posts.

Why did it happen?  No idea.  It's an enigma to me.

A - Z Challenge 2018 - Reflection Post

 

Well we're now into May, the challenge has expired and it's time to reflect.

What went well?  I completed it and posted every post on time.  I also managed to add my link to the daily list on 29 of the 30 days.  (I think!  I know I missed one deadline but I'm pretty sure it was just one.)

What went badly?  I wasn't as prepared as I'd hoped to be.  Posts for the second  half of the month were often rushed and I wasn't that happy with some of them.  Mainly because my theme didn't give me a lot of wriggle room on some letters.  I had to get creative but I didn't always have the time to do that.

What went really badly?  I was rubbish at visiting new blogs.  I did try and make sure I visited people who took the time to leave me comments and I think I was pretty successful at doing that.  Apologies if I did totally ignore anyone.  But I didn't work my way through the list of participants as I have done in previous years.  

What would I do differently?   I would try and be more prepared so that all my posts were pre-scheduled, giving me more time to visit other blogs, plus keep up with the regular posts and memes I usually follow.  I'd also think through my choice of theme to be sure it would work for all the letters or at least how I could get around any difficult ones.

Will I be back?  Definitely.

Z is for Zen bu Kan Kempo

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Unsurprisingly there are no Olympic sports starting with Z but once again martial arts have come to my rescue with Zen bu Kan Kempo which is a form of Karate.

I'm sure there are lots of interesting Z words just not relating to sport.  Although I did notice I'd overlooked Yak racing for yesterday's letter so maybe somewhere they race Zebras.  What do you think?

So that's the end of my A-Z journey through sports.  I hope you've found it interesting.  It's been tough getting all my posts out on time some days.  I wasn't as prepared as I'd hoped to be.  And I haven't been able to visit as many other participants as I'd like to but I'm thankful to all those who've dropped in on me and glad that I've completed the challenge.

I'll wear my survivor badge with pride!
 

Y is for Yukigasson

 

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Yachting came to mind when thinking of a sport for Y but it tends to be referred to as sailing. I had to delve deep to find alternatives but there were a few:

Yukigasson is the name for a snow balling game in Japan. Played with 7 a side the object is to hit your opponents with a snowball and eliminate them.  They wear protective gear and that's not surprising as the snowballs are made in advance so they must be like chunks of ice!

If you don't like the cold you could go to Manipur in India and try Yubi Lakpi, a football game with similarities to rugby but played with a coconut.

Or, if like me you're a bit of a couch potato, you could always whip out a YoYo for a bit of fun without too much effort required!

X is for Xing Yi Quan

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Well I expect some of you were thinking my theme would come unstuck here but with so many Chinese Martial Arts it's not surprising there is one starting with X - Xing Yi Quan is that one.

But I could also have had Xiangqi which is a Chinese board game. It's a strategy game also called Chinese Chess so it's definitely more my cup of tea.

I love board games and strategy games and logic puzzles. Hubby and I enjoy doing crosswords together and we're quite competitive with the pub quiz in the weekend newspaper.

These might not be very energetic passtimes but having seen the effects of Alzheimer's first hand I'm determined to keep my mind in good shape even if I can't say the same for my body!

W is Weightlifting

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Well there are actually several W sports in the Olympics including Weightlifting.  I'm not a fan.  Most of the time it looks as if the contestants are in absolute agony.  I appreciate that lots of sporting events stretch competitors to their limits but watching them lifting those weights I'm always worried that they will really hurt themselves if it goes wrong.  I'm also not a gym goer so the only weight I'm lifting at the moment is my grandson Nathan.  He's almost 10 kg now so lifting him up and down if my work out for the days I'm with him.

There are also two types of Wrestling in the Olympics, Freestyle and Greco-Roman.  With Freestyle pretty much anything goes within the rules but Greco-Roman is limited to using the upper body.  Who would have known?  My memories of wrestling are watching it on TV on a Saturday and it was so obviously fixed.  Something else I no longer watch.

My favourite W sport has to be walking.  But I quite like the sound of Wallyball (Volleyball played on a squash court) or you could try tossing a Waboba, a ball that bounces on water or, if you need a few logs for your open fire you could always try competitive Woodchopping!

Is walking your limit too or are you more energetic?

V is for Volleyball

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

After the madness of yesterday's Underwater Ice Hockey it was a relief to find an ordinary sport for the letter V - Volleyball which made its debut in the 1964 Olympics.

Apparently it was invented as a less strenuous version of Basketball.  I haven't actually played Basketball but I have tried my hand at Volleyball and it seemed pretty strenuous to me.  I also managed to nearly break a finger when mishitting the ball.  Needless to say it's something I haven't played a lot!

Of course there's also Beach Volleyball which I'm sure some people find more pleasing to watch although if you were playing on a British beach you would probably need a lot more clothing on, even in the height of summer.

As for other V sports well there are of course martial arts such as Vajra Mushti, which involves knuckle dusters, Vale Tudo which is weapon free and popular in Brazil and Vovinam which originated in Vietnam.

The V sport that might suit me best as it can be done from the comfort of my sofa has to be Video Gaming.  Shame it can be so time consuming!

U is for Unicycle

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Unsurprisingly there are no Olympic sports starting with U.  The first one I came to on the list* was Unicycle.  Well it's not one I'll be trying.  I struggle to balance on a bike with two wheels.  I never really had a bike growing up so I didn't do much cycling.  It was something I tried when I stayed with my cousins but I have a vivid memory of not making a corner, tipping over the handlebars and ending up in a rose bush.  Rather puts you off getting back on!

Like me you probably think of Unicycling as a performing art usually seen in a circus or street parades but, apparently,  you can combine it with Basketball, Handball or Hockey.  Or not.  Those sports are hard enough to play when (balanced?) on two feet let alone one wheel.

Now for the weird, daft and dangerous:  Underwater Ice Hockey. Yep, Ice Hockey played not only underwater but under ice with a floating puck and the players are upside down.  And if that isn't daft enough for you, they do NOT wear breathing apparatus.  Instead they have to surface as necessary to take in air.  I am not making this up although it does sound far fetched.  You can check it out below and they have even held World Championships!  I don't think it's a sport that will catch on very fast though and not particularly great for spectators when you have to watch via a monitor.

Fancy giving it a try?

 * List of sports - Wikipedia

 

T is for Table Tennis

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

There are several T Olympic sports but I've chosen Table Tennis because it's one I have played. That's not surprising when apparently Table Tennis has the most participants across the world, especially since its growth in popularity in China.

It has progressed a long way from its origins as an after dinner sport played using whatever equipment might be available, including champagne corks and a row of books used as a net. Rackets are now very high tech and players can smash the light, hollow ball at speeds of over 150 km per hour. You wouldn't want to get that in the face! It's definitely fast and furious.

There have been World Championships played since 1926 but it wasn't an Olympic sport unti 1988.

When I say I've played Table Tennis that's perhaps an exaggeration. I've tried to play table tennis. I'm not good at it but it's fun to play with friends and family. When we all get together for our summer break there is a table there and most of us will enjoy a game or two. Although chasing after the ball can become a bit tiring after a while.

But it's less tiring than chasing tennis balls. Tennis is one of the other T Olympic sports, along with Taekwondo, Trampoline and Triathlon. Martial arts are not my thing and although I have been on a trampoline in the past you definitely wouldn't get me on one now. Trying to do it with your legs crossed would be tricky. (Women of a certain age will understand the reference!)  We've already decided that anything ending with athlon isn't for me!

 

For stranger T sports there is Tent Pegging which has nothing to do with tents, is carried out on a horse, involves weapons and targets. I stopped at horse!

You could also give Tractor Pulling a try or if you want to get up close and personal Toe and Thumb wrestling are considered sports. I think I'll stick with Table Tennis what about you?

S is for Skeleton

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

The Olympic sport of Skeleton has got to be one of the scariest -

Skeleton racing involves plummeting head-first down a steep and treacherous ice track on a tiny sled. 
 
In fact the sled doesn't look much bigger than a tray. I watched an item on it during the Olympics and one of the presenters commented that it looked like it was being held together with duct tape and basically it was. The weights and other things inside the sled that can be adjusted need to be accessible so the top layer of the sled can be removed and then put back and held in place with new duct tape! I think the whole set up is a little more sophisticated.
Even so, hats off to anyone daft enough to try it. It is exciting though and I did enjoy watching Lizzie Yarnold retain her Olympic title at the recent games.

Having trained as a dancer, Synchronised Swimming has always appealed to me, except I don't like swimming underwater or out of my depth. I don't actually like swimming much at all but I do enjoy watching the graceful and co-ordinated movements of the synchronised swimmers but the nose clips are not particularly attractive.

I could get into a big debate about the virtues of having shooting competitions but gun laws are such an emotive issue and I can't get on my high horse about recreational shooting when I've actually tried Clay Pigeon shooting. It was something we did on a weekend away for my daughter's 30th birthday and it was actually fun though I did have a sore shoulder afterwards. 

For a weird sounding S sport I give you Sepak takraw, which is a type of kick volleyball but uses a rattan ball. And for a daft sport what about Stacking? As in cards, dice and plastic cups! (And I guess anything that can be stacked.) You could also try Skibobbing combining a bicycle frame with skis. I can just about manage to stay upright on a bike, add in slippery snow and I'd have no chance!
 
There are a number of difficult to pronounce martial arts beginning with S then you have simple names like Snooker which we've probably all heard of and became much more popular once colour TV was introduced. I tried to find a clip of commentator Ted Lowe's classic quote online but without .  His helpful comment was:

'And for those of you who are watching in black and white, the pink is next to the green.'  

Well that would have been as clear as mud which leads me on to the prize for the worst S sport - Swamp Football, yes football played in a swamp. I'm speechless.

R is for Rugby

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

I must admit that I'm not really a fan of Rugby.  Probably because I grew up in a family that was more interested in Football so although I might watch an International football game or loosely follow a team I've never watched a full length rugby match.  The biggest attraction with rugby was turning up at a clubhouse post match and hoping to get chatted up by a fit player.  (Rugby players tend to take a lot of beating during a game and some of them are not a pretty sight!)

As an Olympic sport it had been missing since 1924 but made a reappearance in the form of Rugby Union Sevens in 2016.  You see I don't even know the differences between Rugby Union and Rugby League apart from that they don't have the same number of players (although I couldn't tell you how many either have with any certainty).  It's always been easier to set up a game of football - after all you only need someting to mark where the goals are, a ball and you're off.

Rugby is not as simple but efforts have been made over the last few years to try and introduce it into schools, particularly by using the "Tag" version that is not as physical, to encourage youngsters to get involved.

When it comes to other R sports I thought I might have found one I could handle - remote control.  Until I investigated further.  These tend to be controls for model airplanes, robots or cars.  Or slot cars, which looked an awful lot like Scalextric if you ask me.   We had scalextric at home but I was usually only allowed to play when my brothers were feeling generous toward me which wasn't very often so I was never very good at it.  Now give me the remote control to the TV and I'm an expert.  Unlike my husband.  He gets very confused, especially if the kids have been using the Wii or Playstation and he has to switch back to the TV source.  

We've decided in our house that he has to predecease me as he couldn't cope on his own.  Of course he would cope but I'm not sure our kids will have enough patience to deal with his frequent questions.

But I'm back to my favourite sport of waffling!  I should get back to running.  Well I would if I hadn't injured my knee last year.  I have done a fair amount of running over the years.  We even took part in a relay race in Holland in our youth and hubby was quite a keen runner.  Our boys have followed his example and competed in half and full marathons.

Thankfully they are not taking part in the London Marathon which takes place this Sunday - we have just started a mini heatwave here.  I think the runners will find it very hard going.  Hopefully there will be no collapses as there were in the Commonwealth Games Marathon last week in Australia.  Well unless you count me collapsed in a chair watching it on the TV.  The atmosphere when watching it on the course is great but it's a lot of hanging about and can be crowded and with no one to cheer on this year, we'll be staying home.

Q is for Quidditch

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

OMG.  When preparing my list of sports corresponding to the letters of the alphabet Q was always going to be Quidditch.  I have read all the Harry Potter books and seen all the films.  I am not however a fanatic.  But, as a sport many people will have heard of, it seemed perfect for the letter Q.

I was going to start this post by apologising for using a fictional sport until I googled it and discovered that it's actually become a real one, played internationally and with a World Cup!  Who'd have thought that this would take off in this way - although it's actually played on the ground and although some of the players use broom sticks there is nothing magical about them.

Definitely a sport that combines the weird and wonderful. 

I could also have gone for Qianball which originates from China and combines elements of tennis and squash but no walls!  Surprisingly there were no martial arts beginning with Q although you can have a Quadrathlon that combines the elements of a Triathlon with Kayaking.

I've decided that anything ending in "athlon" is to be avoided at all costs.  I prefer to do my sports one at a time, or not at all!

Do you multiplay when it comes to sport?

P is for Paddling

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Well there are no Olympic sports starting with P.  So I'm going for Paddling.  There are lots of ways to paddle but at the moment I feel like one of those ducks that looks serene as it glides across the water but under the surface it's feet are going nineteen to the dozen.

Yes I'm slipping behind.  This post wasn't even scheduled for today.  It didn't exist before today.  None of my subsequent posts are ready - yet!

I so wanted to be organised and ahead of myself with the challenge this year to give me a real chance to visit other bloggers taking part.  Last year I scraped to the end by the skin of my teeth.  In my defence I was coping with the very premature birth of my first grandchild and his two anxious Mummies.  The month of April passed by in a bit of a blur.

A year on and Nathan had done really well, his Mummies are (a bit) calmer but he's still partly the reason why I'm now playing catch up.  I look after him 2 days a week now and although it is a joy it is also exhausting and my two favoured sports at present are walking (often miles in an effort to get him to sleep) and weightlifting - he's currently just under 10 kg/22 lbs so I definitely get a workout on Tuesday and Thursdays!  This only started recently so I'm hoping that I'll gradually get used to the early starts etc.

But it doesn't give me much time for Polo, Paddling or Parachuting.  God didn't give us wings for a reason, or webbed feet and even though Polo is played on ponies that's still a big animal charging around a field.  When asked recently how many players in a Polo team, one of our family members (who I will not name and shame)  suggested 15.  Can you imagine 30 horses charging around a field with all their riders swinging mallets around?  An invitation for carnage!

Of course you could combine Paddling with Polo and play Canoe Polo.  Or not.

Or why not try Pickleball - apparently a combination of Badminton, Table Tennis and Tennis and is played with, wait for it, a paddle!

Enough waffle for today.  I'm off to try and preschedule some more posts before full blown panic sets in. 

 

O is for Orienteering

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

There are no Olympic Sports that start with O so I'm going with Orienteering.  Now I used to think that this was a bit like doing a Treasure Hunt, with a map and a compass being prerequisites plus the set of clues.

Apparently it's a bit more sophisticated than that: Orienteering is a group of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points.

Hmm moving at speed? While working out which way up to have the map, finding North and then working out the clue?  Yes I'm one of those annoying people that turns the map around when necessary like when travelling south.  But I do have quite a good sense of direction and I'm pretty good at remembering landmarks.  Very useful when you visit somewhere like a Westfield Shopping Centre with umpteen car park entrances and you need to get back to your car!

You could even go Car Orienteering.  There are lots of different types of Orienteering and different types of event such as team events, relays, short courses, long courses, night courses etc.

There is an International Orienteering Federation and World Competitions are held.  Attempts have been made to have the sport included in the Olympics but so far these have been unsuccessful.   Can't imagine why.  After all, I think it would make for a great televised sport or maybe not, oops the camera positioned over there is a good indication the control point must be nearby!

Anyway I'm happy with my car and my Satnav to get me from A to B so no Orienteering for me.

There aren't many interesting O sports at all - a couple of unpronounceable Martial Arts (there seem to be endless varieties of Martial Arts with or without weird or just plain evil sounding weapons) Oztag which is just a variety of Tag Rugby played in Australia and then the daft sounding sport of Offshore Powerboat Racing.  Well it's hardly going to be Onshore is it?  The clue's in the word boat!

Sport can be overcomplicated at times!  I'm off to practise napping. 

N is for Nordic Combined

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Nordic Combined is the only Olympic Sport starting with N.  The events that are combined are Cross Country Skiing and Ski Jumping.  Two very different disciplines.  Cross Country must need a lot of endurance.  Getting across 10 km of snow is no easy task.  However, although you probably get warm once on the move, as I've discussed before I don't like being cold so I won't be giving that a try.  Moving on to the Ski Jump.  Well the view down from the take off point looks positively scary.  With two long wobbly strips of laminate to land on?  It's certainly not for the faint hearted (counts me out) and maybe you need to be just a bit mad to take part.  My weak ankles would probably disqualify me too if I needed any more reason to walk away.  I can't claim a fear of heights because that would be lying.  It's just the idea of sailing out into open air with no safety net doesn't really appeal.

Ski is actually a Norwegian word from the old Norse word Skid - a split length of wood.  (Probably why the Norwegians are so good at these events.)  These days fibreglass, aluminium alloy, steel or plastic form the laminate material.    The event has been included in the Olympics since 1924 when the first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix.  Up until very recently women were not allowed to compete and even in the most recent Olympics they only competed in a team event not individually. 

I can't honestly say that watching Nordic Combined is something I've done much of.  I've occasionaly seen the highlights of the Ski Jump when the Olympics were happening but it's definitely not an event that I'd be recording to watch later if I missed it.

So let's move on to an N sport I have experienced - Netball.  Going to an all girls seconday school not playing Netball would have been extremely unlikely.  I quite enjoyed it although I wouldn't say I was very good.  I was certainly not a good enough shot to be put in either of the shooting positions, not big enough to be the Goalkeeper so I usually played Centre or on the Wing.  Either way I did a lot of running around.   My other lasting memory of playing Netball was when a large group of us - mainly family and a few in-laws thrown in were playing, which meant it was mixed teams, with many of the men not fully understanding the rules, like no contact and staying in your designated areas.  It was a bit rough and I ended up losing my glasses at one point.  Fortunately they didn't break but my sister-in-law's brother took a lot of stick for hitting a woman with glasses!  But it was all good fun, just!

Other N sports that sound funny are:
Northern Praying Mantis - a Chinese Martial Art (it's all in the hand shape!)
Ninjutsu - a Japanese Martial Art and
Neppis - a competitive outdoor sport played in Finland, simulating race driving using toy cars.  Sound more like playing than sport to me.

But the one N sport that really made me shudder was Noodling - the catching of fish with bare hands, especially Catfish.  I'm not going to list all the dangers linked to this sport,  I know some readers may be squeamish and losing fingers might seem bad but compared to drowning it could be a bearable price.

Me, I'd like to keep all my fingers and be able to breathe, I wouldn't be touching this one with a barge pole!

M is for Modern Pentathlon

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

There are two M Olympic sports, Marathon Swimming and Modern Pentathlon. You all know how I love swimming and endurance sports so let's talk about the Pentathlon.

When it was part of the ancient games it consisted of running, jumping, spear throwing, discus and wrestling. Thankfully it's come a long way from then being part of the modern Olympics since 1912. It now consists of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running. It's also evolved from being held over 5 days to being a one day event which it makes it much more interesting for spectators. The final events of shooting and running are also combined. Another inovation is that the pistols are now lasers which not only makes it safer but has less environmental impact.

It still sounds like it must take a lot of dedication and strength to be able to do well at all those disciplines especially when the running is over cross country. Definitely not something for the faint hearted.

Counts me out then.

On to a more likely M sport for me - Motor Racing. I like to drive but I'm not a speed freak so I don't think I'd be winning any races but of course Motor Racing is a wide ranging term. Within it you have Midget Car Racing. Yep midget sized cars. I prefer mine full size with plenty of leg and head room.

Then there is Monstor Truck racing. They really are like monstors and the racing involves a lot of stunt style driving. I prefer to keep my cars free of dents.

Finally I give you Mud Racing. Yep driving cars through mud. Or just running through mud. Tough Mudder races have become very popular but it doesn't sound like fun at all to me and I certainly wouldn't want to be doing the clean up!




I'll just stick to using my car to get me from A - B and going shopping. Shopping can be classed as a sport right?

L is for Luge

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Luge is the only L Olympic Sport and although it's one the oldest winter sports it didn't make its Olympic debut until 1964. Luge is French for sledge and that's all it is - a sledge, with no brakes, that hurtles down a track at speeds of up to 140 km/hr (87mph) and no protection! (Apart from a crash helmet.) Maybe that's why I've never wanted to be a sportsperson. I've never understood the mentality of a person that would put themselves in that situation.

Understandably it's not a sport that GB excels in as athletes have to train abroad where tracks are situated. Artificially created tracks are refridgerated to keep the temperature constantly low and the run smooth.

It's another sport where progress has been made, not only in the way the sleds are designed and the weight allowances that can be factored in, but also that timings are calculated to thousandths of a second. I can't imagine how gutting it must be though to miss out on an Olympic medal by that tiny margin of time.

Another L sport that has been around for a long time is Lacrosse but judging by the amount of protective gear players wear it looks pretty risky to me. I have a history of accidents involving sports with balls and sticks so I would give Lacrosse a wide berth.


 
A more modern sport is Laser Tag - think electronic Paintball - less painful too and despite its name it uses infra red beams not lasers. The indoor versions which usually involve less running around and no roughhousing might suit me better but then it would help if I could actually hit a target I'm aiming for.

If you're looking for an obsure L sport then it has to be Letterboxing. A bit like geocaching but without the satellites! It combines elements of orienteering, art and puzzles. Originating on Dartmoor in the UK it has spread around the world. It involves finding "Letterboxes" which contain a log of previous finders and a stamp that you can use to keep your own log of boxes found. Clues to the Dartmoor boxes are made available twice a year. Definitely sounds more like my type of sport! More info can be found here.

K is for Kayaking

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.


There's no actual K sport in the Olympics but it does include Canoe events which are competed in using both Canoes and Kayaks!  Confused?  Join the club.

Kayak means "man-boat" in Eskimo and probably originated in Greenland.  These tend to be for one person and closed in so that water cannot get it.  I don't think I'd want icy water getting in on my legs either but, as you've probably gathered by now if you're a regular visitor here, cold combined with water doesn't combine with me!

Canoes come in various shapes and sizes and are usually open topped and used for different purposes.  (Originally transport, trading and warfare.) In Olympic canoeing the competitors kneel in the canoe and paddle.

Competitive canoeing began in the mid 19th Century and it has featured in the Olympics since 1936.  Events have changed over the years and the distances that are raced over have shortened.  This probably helps with two things - keeping the cost of creating the course down and making it more spectator friendly.

There are two types of events - Sprint and Slalom.  Sprint is just a race to the line by competitors but Slalom involves negotiating a white rapids course and passing through a series of gates.  It's a very physical sport and not one I'd ever want to attempt but it can be exciting to watch.

As for other K sports well there are a number of Kite sports.  Don't be fooled like me that it's just about flying a kite.  Oh no.  You can Kite Buggy (yep sit in a buggy, get propelled by a kite) Kite Landboard, Kite Ski, Kite Surf........getting the idea?
But then you can also Kite Fight (the aim is to cut the line of your opponent's Kite - mainly a thing in Asian countries and there are some interesting ways of toughening the lines so that they are able to cut, including coating them with crushed glass!)   

Enough with the Kites I hear you say (some of you are probably wanting to tell me about the birds.)

Now where were we?  Oh yes there are Kabaddi and Kho Kho which are forms of tag but my favourite sounding K sport has to be Kubb.  But I'm not sure I should be allowed to play - it involves throwing wooden sticks at blocks of wood.  Think bowling combined with horseshoes.

It also involves a King and some complicated sounding rules.  And you need a big lawn. And maybe some public liability insurance!  Would you be considered safe to play?

J is for Judo

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.

Judo is the only Olympic sport beginning with J.  Originating in Japan, it's a traditional wrestling sport that dates back to the 1880s.

In Japanese the word ju-do means “the way of suppleness” referring to the story of the tree branch ‘bending’ under the weight of the snow and not breaking. I think I would break. Bouts last five minutes are look physically demanding.


It didn't appear in the Olympics until 1964 but women didn't compete until 1992. Events are organised by weight bands with lower and upper limits. The aim is to throw your opponent to the floor and subdue them. It's definitely a physical sport.


It's not one that I take much interest in unless there is a British competitor and then I might watch to see how they do. One thing that does surprise me is the outfit they wear. I understand the need for a belt considering beginners to the sport have to work their way through levels which are denoted by the colour of the belt but the pyjama style clothing seems to have to be frequently readjusted and the belt retied. I would find that so annoying. Although it's a bit irrelevant when I'm pretty sure I'm never going to be wearing it!



As for a weird J sport then Jugger must be the one. Invented for a 1989 film (The Salute of the Jugger or The Blood of Heroes depending on where it was released) the sport then took on a life of its own. It's played with a Skull, a ball shaped to look like a dog's skull, and various weapons with players taking on a variety of roles.

And then for a historical sport we have Jousting. Involving riders on horses and spears it sounds quite barbaric. Fortunately it became replaced by other equestrian sports in the 17th Century although it can still be seen in theatrical re-enactments. Personally I think it's a good thing it's historical!

I'm not happy sitting on a horse at the best of times let alone being clad in heavy protective clothing and holding what's basically a spear!  How about you?

I is for Ice Dance

 

For my A-Z challenge this year I'm taking a look at sports. Olympic ones, ancient ones, weird ones and some just non sporting sports.  I'm not athletic or even particularly fit but there are some sports I enjoy watching and in composing my posts I've come across many that I'd never heard of.  Join me in a sporting journey from the comfort of your couch (or wherever else you're reading this) and thanks for stopping by.


I love watching Ice Dancing. Of course technically it's part of the Olympic sport of Figure Skating but I'm using it for I.  My blog, my rules lol!  Plus the only other Olympic sport for I was Ice Hockey and I've already covered Hockey.  That gave me enough problems on solid ground.  I'm useless at Ice Skating so no way would I be any good with a hockey stick on ice.  I'd be using the stick as a support to keep me upright.  But Ice Dancing works for me - for many years I danced competitively - Ballet, Tap and Modern.  I actually qualified at Teaching level in Tap but never kept it up once I left school and started work.  I find it amazing the way skaters can move around the ice so gracefully and in time with the music.  I was a great fan of Torvill & Dean and their Bolero routine at the Sarajevo games in 1984 was just so special.

I do enjoy watching Figure skating too but I think the emphasis in their routines leans too heavily on how many complicated jumps and combinations are executed during the routine and the finesse of interpreting the music gets a bit lost. Just my opinion. (Plus they sometimes choose some strange pieces of music!)

There aren't too many I sports. There's Ice Climbing but you know how I feel about the cold. (Although I have been skiing a few times. 3 counts as a few right?)

There's Iaido and Iaijutsu which are both Japanese Martial Arts involving swords. Definitely not for me.

Apparently Ice Yachting is also a thing as is Immersion Finswimming. Yes, swimming with fins, underwater. If God had wanted us to be fish he would have provided us with built in fins!

Finally I give you the Icosathlon (in my case it would definitely be finally as I think it would be the death of me) .

An Icosathlon is like a double decathlon except it's not 10 events done twice it's 20 events. Like a Decathlon it's run over 2 days. But, they do build in an hour's pause each day so I guess that helps. The events included are:

Discus, Hammer Throwing, Shot Putt and Javelin. Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump and Pole Vault.

100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m

110m Hurdles, 200m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles and 3000m Steeplechase.

The only event they don't seem to do is the Marathon. I'm sure if they split it over 3 days they could manage that too!

It's making me feel exhausted just thing about it. What about you?