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Agreed, hence the comment about crappy form. I wouldn't think they would pass muster the first time in your gym. But it does seem there is at least a better starting point than a number of other sports.Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
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Why waste breath defending it, when there exists very simple ways to make the training constructive?
"Acid-trip with Kjetil Jansrud and the alpine-boys" (Exact translation)
"Acid-training for the legs. [Norwegian newspaper] joined Kjetil Jansrud and the alpine-boys on a 45-minute anaerobic workout in the gymnastic hall on Hasle. A bit monotone, but good for alpinists."
Do we really need to see more? These guys approach to training needs to be defended?
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A few months ago there was a piece on TV about Mikaela Shiffrin that showed some of her training. I can't remember the plates on the bar now, but they showed her squatting with what I thought was impressive weight, to well-below-parallel depth.
Member
My agreeing and support for the argument aside, the ability for the audience to be able to relate to the event has always taken some level of importance.
I’ll try not to simply echo Rip but give a reply.
In Ancient Greece, the war culture and old-world masculinity - the fierce warrior, boisterous, extroverted with supernatural physical prowess, were cherished and admired by children and adults. Going to war in Ancient Greece was as sacred as it was common and thus was wedged firmly into its revered ideology.
Fast forward today and there is a distinct rift between those old ideals and the people (audience). Warrior culture has faded, sofra sunae has shielded our emotions and we are strangers now to the “glory of war” and powerful men.. not everywhere, but a lot of places. Light has been shed on the atrocities of war to more and more. Many conflicts are so far removed from parts of society that the weapons used to wage them have become seriously misunderstood and feared. It’s obviously a natural choice to transition from war games to sporting events like soccer or handball (lol), but, as Rip said, what’s the point? There are already world championships for most of these anyway.
The olympics have always been, and always will be, a mirror of the ideologies and politics of the majority. The olympics reflect the humanistic approach that worlds apart are in fact not, that different cultures can co-exist and whatever else. It’s the only time much of the civilized world comes together for a competition. But who will watch if the ideologies and politics of the audience are not placated to now, just as they were 2500 years ago?
Member
Sounds like Rip's beef is with NBC, not with the Olympics themselves? Trust me, the rest of the world doesn't have to suffer through the pap NBC shovels out every couple of years.
TMPHBITEU
NBC causes the host city/country to waste billions of dollars?
Member
I agree with the article but i dont understand your apparent objection to the "score" within basketball, baseball, golf, soccer and hockey. How is defeating your opponents and scoring more than your opponent not an objectional quantitatively measured score?
Member
Re: tfranc and ancient Greece.
There’s a section in the Anabasis (if you’ve ever studied ancient Greek, it’s the first book you read), where Xenophon’s army has finally reached the sea, after a gruelling journey through a hostile Persian empire, dealing with guerilla-warfare all through Kurdistan, nearly freezing to death in the moutains.
In fact, they still had a vast hostile territory to travel through to get back to Greece, but once they hit the sea, they knew that nothing ahead could be as bad as what was behind. So what did they do?
They held atheletic games. There was no soft ground to wrestle on, so they wrestled on the rocks, “it’ll make people more unwilling to be thrown!” They raced horses down a steep incline, tumbling them into the ocean, and then back up the same hill, dragging the animals by the reins where it was too steep to ride. These men had fought hard, and they didn’t think that athletic games were about “playing.”
I don’t think that the ancient Greeks would be too impressed by our version of their Olympic games.
Member
I didn't study ancient Greek, but I can confirm (based on personal experience) that those mountains in Kurdistan get friggin' cold as hell. Not to mention that the terrain there (the area of now Syria, Turkey and Iraq) is special order made for guerrilla warfare. Lots of steep hill sides, draws, ridges and canyons. It reminded me (terrain wise) a lot of Korea; a geography that was and will be costly to take.
Member
Indeed not.
But as Mark Twain said, “Comparison is the death of joy.”
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