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Trampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that users bounce on (commonly known as the "bounce mat" or "trampoline bed") is not elastic itself; the elasticity is provided by the springs that connect it to the frame, which store potential energy. History Early trampoline-like devices A game similar to trampolining was developed by the Inuit, who would toss blanket dancers into the air on a walrus skin one at a time (see Nalukataq) during a spring celebration of whale harvest. There is also some evidence of people in Europe having been tossed into the air by a number of people holding a blanket. Mak in the Wakefield Mystery Play '' The Second Shepherds' Play'', and Sancho Panza in '' Don Quixote'', are both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blanket Toss
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that users bounce on (commonly known as the "bounce mat" or "trampoline bed") is not elastic itself; the elasticity is provided by the springs that connect it to the frame, which store potential energy. History Early trampoline-like devices A game similar to trampolining was developed by the Inuit, who would toss blanket dancers into the air on a walrus skin one at a time (see Nalukataq) during a spring celebration of whale harvest. There is also some evidence of people in Europe having been tossed into the air by a number of people holding a blanket. Mak in the Wakefield Mystery Play '' The Second Shepherds' Play'', and Sancho Panza in ''Don Quixote'', are both su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springfree Trampoline
Springfree Trampoline is a company that manufactures recreational trampoline products and accessories. The design was created by Dr. Keith Vivian Alexander, an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. History After analysing trampoline data in 1992, Dr Keith Vivian Alexander of Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand, noted three major impact zones on the trampoline designed by George Nissen in the 1930s; these impact zones needed to be re-engineered to increase trampoline safety: #The Springs – on the jumping surface. #The Steel Frame – on the jumping surface/ jumpers may fall and injure themselves. #The Ground or obstructions on the ground – jumpers would hit as a result of falling off. In 1999, he released his first prototype utilizing glass-reinforced plastic rods and the first commercial versions began selling in late 2004. In 2009, Springfree Trampoline won an Australian Desi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Nissen
George Peter Nissen (1914 – 2010) was an American gymnast and inventor who developed the modern trampoline and made trampolining a worldwide sport and recreation. Background Born on February 3, 1914, in Blairstown, Iowa, Nissen became a keen gymnast in high school and won three NCAA gymnastics championships while a student at the University of Iowa. Nissen went to high school at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Nissen was also an initiated member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity while he was in school. He had seen circus trapeze artists use their safety nets as an elastic bed to rebound and perform additional tricks. He thought that this would be useful training tool for his tumbling. In 1934, Nissen and his coach, Larry Griswold, built the prototype trampoline from angle iron with a canvas bed and rubber springs. Nissen used it to help with his training and to entertain children at a summer camp. After he had graduated in Business Studies in 1937, Nissen an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest, and abdominal muscle groups. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills. The most common form of competitive gymnastics is artistic gymnastics (AG), which consists of, for women (WAG), the events floor, vault, uneven bars, and beam; and for men (MAG), the events floor, vault, rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. The governing body for gymnastics throughout the world is the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). Eight sports are governed by the FIG, which include gymnastics for all, men's and women's artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining (including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Griswold
Laurens "Larry" V. Griswold (September 17, 1905August 24, 1996), known as ''"The Diving Fool"'', was an American gymnast and entertainer who was involved in the early development of the trampoline. Griswold was a college level gymnast and tumbler while studying physical education at the University of Iowa. While coaching at an acrobatic school in New York, he enjoyed performing in vaudeville shows. However, he decided to return to Iowa to become a teacher and in 1931, he became a gymnastics coach at the University of Iowa where he met George Nissen who was also a skilled gymnast & tumbler. In 1933, Griswold organized many of the skilled athletes at the university into a circus team, putting on shows. He also developed an act in the swimming pool which involved Griswold clowning and performing tricks on the diving board. This would later be developed into an entertaining routine which he performed professionally for years. In one of his most famous routines he would pretend to be a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nalukataq Blanket Toss Barrow
Nalukataq (, ''naluk-'' 'to throw it underhand; to toss it up' + ''kataq'') is the spring whaling festival of the Iñupiat of Northern Alaska, especially the North Slope Borough. It is characterized by its namesake, the dramatic Eskimo blanket toss. "Marking the end of the spring whaling season," Nalukataq creates "a sense of being for the entire community and for all who want a little muktuk or to take part in the blanket toss....At no time, however, does Nalukataq relinquish its original purpose, which is to recognize the annual success and prowess of each ''umialik'', or whaling crew captain....Nalukataq raditionshave always reflected the process of survival inherent in sharing...crucial to...the Arctic." After the spring whale hunting season, successful crews celebrate with a Nalukataq festival. Associated with the summer solstice, these take place in June and are scheduled to avoid conflicts between villages in order to allow friends and relatives from distant communities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tumbling (gymnastics)
Tumbling, sometimes referred to as power tumbling, is a gymnastics discipline in which participants perform a series of acrobatic skills down a long sprung track. Each series, known as a pass, comprises eight elements in which the athlete jumps, twists and flips placing only their hands and feet on the track. Tumblers are judged on the difficulty and form of their routine. There are both individual and team competitions in the sport. ''Tumbling'' can also refer more generally to similar acrobatic skills performed on their own or in other gymnastics events, such as in floor exercises or on the balance beam. Tumbling is governed by the FIG, the International Federation of Gymnastics, and is included as an event within trampoline gymnastics. Although tumbling is not currently an Olympic event, elite tumblers competing at the international level can compete in various events organised by the FIG, continental confederations as well as at the European Games and World Games. Histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nalukataq
Nalukataq (, ''naluk-'' 'to throw it underhand; to toss it up' + ''kataq'') is the spring whaling festival of the Iñupiat of Northern Alaska, especially the North Slope Borough. It is characterized by its namesake, the dramatic Eskimo blanket toss. "Marking the end of the spring whaling season," Nalukataq creates "a sense of being for the entire community and for all who want a little muktuk or to take part in the blanket toss....At no time, however, does Nalukataq relinquish its original purpose, which is to recognize the annual success and prowess of each ''umialik'', or whaling crew captain....Nalukataq raditionshave always reflected the process of survival inherent in sharing...crucial to...the Arctic." After the spring whale hunting season, successful crews celebrate with a Nalukataq festival. Associated with the summer solstice, these take place in June and are scheduled to avoid conflicts between villages in order to allow friends and relatives from distant communities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus (performing Art)
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term ''circus'' also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'Penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances developed significantly over the next fifty years, with large-scale theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Life Net
A life net, also known as a Browder Life Safety Net or jumping sheet, is a type of rescue equipment formerly used by firefighters. When used in the proper conditions, it allowed people on upper floors of burning buildings an opportunity to jump to safety, usually to ground level. Invented in 1887, the device was used with varying degrees of success during several notable fires in the 20th century. Due to advances in firefighting technology, it became obsolete by the 1980s. Owing to their former prevalence, life nets often feature in popular culture as a running gag, especially in cartoons where they often appear in use during scenes where a fire is taking place. Inventor The device was invented by Thomas F. Browder, born in Greene County, Ohio, in 1847. During the American Civil War, Browder enlisted in the Company C, 60th Ohio Infantry of the Union Army at the age of 17, and was wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 9, 1864. He was shot through the hip, sen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque (born William Darby; 30 March 1810 – 4 May 1871) was a British equestrian performer and circus proprietor, becoming the first recorded Black circus owner in Britain. His circus was popular in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus. Since the 1960's, Pablo Fanque has been best known for being mentioned in The Beatles song " Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" on their album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967). Early life Little is known about Pablo Fanque's early life. Church records suggest that he was born in Norwich in 1810 and was one of at least five children, born to John and Mary Darby ( Stamp). They were believed to have resided in Ber Street. When Fanque married in 1848, he said his late father's occupation was "butler" on his marriage certificate. Dr. John M. Turner speculates in his 2003 biography of Fanque that "his father was African born and had been brought to the port of Norwich an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diving (sport)
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime. Competitors possess many of the same characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness. Some professional divers were originally gymnasts or dancers as both the sports have similar characteristics to diving. Dmitri Sautin holds the record for most Olympic diving medals won, by winning eight medals in total between 1992 and 2008. History Plunging Although diving has been a popular pastime across the world since ancient times, the first modern diving competitions were held in England in the 1880s. The exact origins of the sport are unclear, though it likely derives from the act of diving at the start of swimming races.Wilson, WilliamT ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
