Swimming History Essays - Swimming, Aquatics, Freestyle Swimming

Swimming History Swimming was invented before recorded history. Humans discovered how to swim by accident. A person probably fell into the water and struggled to shore using a dog-paddle stroke. There was an Egyptian hieroglyph for swimming dating from 2500 BC. The ancient Greeks and Romans made swimming an important part of their military training programs. There have been known swimming contests that were organized in Japan as early as the 1st century BC. During the Middle Ages in Europe, swimming declined in popularity. People felt that the water was contaminated and a source of disease. Not everyone feared the water, however, Louis XI reportedly swam daily in the Seine. During the early 19th century, swimming enjoyed a revival, especially in England, Lord Byron swam the Dardanelles river, to prove that the mythological hero Leander could have done it. Organized competitive swimming began in England in the 1840s. In 1844 the British were surprised when two American Indians demonstrated the efficiency of a method of swimming similar to the modern crawl. The British still swam with the head above the water, a holdover from the days when people believed that the water was contaminated. An overhand stroke was introduced into England in 1873 by J. Arthur Trudgen, who had seen South American Indians using this method to swim really fast. When the flutter kick was introduced, the modern "Australian crawl" was born, and this stroke has since become the most common and most important swimming stroke. FITNESS COMPONENTS To swim well u need to know how to coordinate your arms and legs to get you through the water. At first you will probably need to have lessons. Also to swim u need agility and just gravity. Swimming also requires balance and quickness in some cases. Not much is needed to know if you want to swim. Swimming improves heart and lung efficiency, enhances muscle strength and endurance, improves flexibility, and reduces stress. It's easy on the joints, and uses more muscles than most other forms of exercise. Although swimming burns a great deal of calories, recreational swimmers tend to lose less weight than would be expected from other types of aerobic activity. Scientists say that cold water removes heat from the body, stimulating appetite to keep the body warm. Exposure to cold water may encourage the body to maintain fat stores for insulation. To lose weight by swimming, its necessary to cut down on the calories you eat, and to swim fast enough and long enough. Swimming can burn more than 660 calories an hour when performed correctly and causes less injuries to joints and muscles than aerobics or jogging. It takes only three hours a week of strenuous swimming to improve flexibility, increase strength and build cardiovascular endurance. Swimming provides a good aerobic workout if 25% of the total laps are performed at maximum intensity. However, only 5% of those who swim do so at an aerobic pace. Although few doubt the aerobic benefits of swimming, studies comparing swimming with jogging, results found that swimmers lost less body fat than joggers. Apparently swimming causes an adjustment in how energy is burned, resulting in the burning of more carbohydrates than body fat. One reason might be that swimmers retain more body fat to insulate and maintain body heat. However, swimming works both the upper and lower body which jogging does not. WHAT IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT TO MASTER IN YOUR SPORT? EXPLAIN HOW THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED. More than half of all Americans can't swim. Drownings claimed 5,200 American lives in 1990 and is the fourth leading cause of accidental deaths for children under 5. Many feel figures are actually higher, since deaths occurring after resuscitation or hospitalization usually aren't attributed to the original drowning. Many lives could be saved if people would just learn to swim. Correct swimming doesn't come naturally to the body and can't be learned overnight. Those swimmers who are exhausted after half a lap need more instruction. The most common swimming problem is incorrect breathing which causes individuals to expend more energy than necessary. Coordinating breathing with proper head rotation is the key to proficient swimming. Proper instruction is the only way you can learn this, it is the key component to swim well. WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR SPORT? The most unique thing about swimming is the actual racing in the water, you dive off blocks and swim as fast as u can in as many different styles and lengths. BIBLIOGRAPHY "Swimming." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. 1996 ed "Total immersion swimming" Arcticles by Terry Luaghlin

Definition and Examples of Taboo Language

Definition and Examples of Taboo Language The term taboo language refers to words and phrases that are generally considered inappropriate in certain contexts. Social anthropologist Edmund Leach identified three major categories of taboo words and phrases in English: 1. Dirty words that are concerned with sex and excretion, such as bugger, shit.2. Words that have to do with the Christian religion, such as Christ and Jesus.3. Words which are used in animal abuse (calling a person by the name of an animal), such as bitch, cow. (Brà ³na Murphy, Corpus and Sociolinguistics: Investigating Age and Gender in Female Talk, 2010) The use of taboo language is apparently as old as language itself.  You taught me language, Caliban says in the first act of Shakespeares The Tempest, and my profit ont /  Is, I know how to curse. Etymology The word taboo  was first introduced into European languages by Captain Cook in his description of his third voyage around the world, when he visited Polynesia. Here, he witnessed the ways in which  the word taboo  was used for certain avoidance customs ranging across widely different things...(The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion, 2011) Examples and Observations People constantly censor the language they use (we differentiate this from the institutionalized imposition of censorship)... In contemporary western society, taboo and euphemism are closely entwined with the concepts of politeness and face (basically, a persons self-image). Generally, social interaction is oriented toward behaviour that is courteous and respectful, or at least inoffensive. Participants have to consider whether what they are saying will maintain, enhance, or damage their own face, as well as to be considerate of, and care for, the face needs of others. (Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2006) Tips on Using Four-Letter Words in Writing [S]omeone in my position has had to devise some rough rules governing the use of [four-letter words]. My own set of rules I now put in writing for the first time. In what follows, they and them stand for what were once obscenities. (Kingsley Amis, The Kings English: A Guide to Modern Usage. HarperCollins, 1997) Use them sparingly and, as classicists used to say, for special effect only.Even in low farce, never use any of them in its original or basic meaning unless perhaps to indicate that a character is some kind of pompous buffoon or other undesirable. Even straightforward excretory ones are tricky.They may be used in dialogue, though remember rule 1. An attempt at humor will often justify their appearance...If in doubt, strike it out, taking it here as one of them. Linguists on Taboo Language in Cultural Contexts Discussion of verbal insults invariably raises the question of obscenity, profanity, cuss words, and other forms of taboo language. Taboo words are those that are to be avoided entirely, or at least avoided in mixed company or polite company. Typical examples involve common swear words such as Damn! or Shit! The latter is heard more and more in polite company, and both men and women use both words openly. Many, however, feel that the latter word is absolutely inappropriate in polite or formal contexts. In place of these words, certain euphemismsthat is polite substitutes for taboo wordscan be used... What counts as taboo language is something defined by culture, and not by anything inherent in the language. (Adrian Akmajian, Richard Demers, Ann Farmer, and Robert Harnish, Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT Press, 2001) Linguists have taken a neutral and descriptive stance on taboo words. The role of linguistic studies has been to document which words are avoided in what situations... Words themselves are not taboo, dirty, or profane. Many of the words currently considered inappropriate in public settings were the neutral, normal term for an object or action in earlier forms of English. The word shit was not always deemed inappropriate or impolite. In a similar way, many languages of the world still treat bodily functions in a less euphemistic manner. (Peter J. Silzer, Taboo.  Encyclopedia of Linguistics, ed. by  Philipp Strazny. Taylor Francis, 2005) ​The Lighter Side of Taboo Language Shifting Standards in South Park Ms. Choksondik: All right children,...Im supposed to clarify the schools position on the word shit.Stan: Wow! We can say shit in school now?Kyle: This is ridiculous. Just because they say it on TV, its all right?Ms. Choksondik: Yes, but only in the figurative noun form or the adjective form.Cartman: Huh?Ms. Choksondik: You can only use it in the nonliteral sense. For instance, Thats a shitty picture of me is now fine. However, the literal noun form of [writes on the board] This is a picture of shit is still naughty.Cartman: I dont get it.Stan: Me neither.Ms. Choksondik: The adjective form is now also acceptable. For example, The weather outside is shitty. However, the literal adjective is not appropriate. For example, My bad diarrhea made the inside of the toilet all shitty, and I had to clean it with a rag, which then also became shitty. Thats right out!Timmy: Sssh...shit!Ms. Choksondik: Very good, Timmy.Butters: Ms. Choksondik, can we say the expletive, like Oh shit! or Shit on a s hingle? Ms. Choksondik: Yes, thats now fine.Cartman: Wow! This is gonna be great! A whole new word! (It Hits the Fan. South Park, 2001 Taboo Language in Monty Pythons Flying Circus Voice Over: The BBC would like to apologize for the poor quality of the writing in that sketch. It is not BBC policy to get easy laughs with words like bum, knickers, botty or wee-wees. (Off-camera laughter) Sh!(Cut to a man standing by a screen with a clicker.) BBC Man: These are the words that are not to be used again on this program.(He clicks the clicker. The following slides appear on screen: B*MB*TTYP*XKN*CKERSW**-W**SEMPRINI (A woman comes into the shot.) Woman: Semprini? BBC Man: (pointing) Out! (Cut back to the chemists shop.) Chemist: Right, whos got a boil on his semprini, then? (A policeman appears and bundles him off.) (Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and John Cleese in The Chemist Sketch. Monty Pythons Flying Circus, Oct. 20, 1970)