My Science School

            Karate is an unarmed martial art employing kicking, striking and blocking with arms and legs. He who knows the art of karate can defeat his enemy without using any weapon. A karate expert can defeat his opponent in only one attack. Judo is the art of self-defence while in karate; actual physical contact is strictly limited. To avoid injuries during combat, all punches, blows, strikes and kicks are controlled and pulled back before contact.

            Karate is a Japanese word which means ‘empty hand’. In karate bodily power is concentrated at the striking point and the instant of impact. Striking points include the hands, the ball of the foot, heel, forearm, knee and elbow. All these points are hardened by practicing blows against padded surfaces or wood. A karate expert can break several inches thick wooden boards or asbestos sheets by the strike of his bare hand or foot. Timing, tactics and spirit, however, are considered as important as physical toughness.

            In karate, blows and kicks are stopped within an inch of contact. Sporting matches commonly last only 3 minutes. As a sport it involves both mock fights and formal examinations for various grades of skill. If a competitor is not able to have a clean attack, judges give the decision on the basis of movements and defence techniques. Performances are rated by a panel of judges as in gymnastics.

            Karate evolved in Asia over a period of centuries, becoming systematized in Okinawa in the 17th century. It was introduced in Japan in the 1920s. Today, there are several schools of training in the world Championship title in karate was instituted in 1970.

            Originating in ancient China and popularized by the Japanese, karate has now attained worldwide popularity.

            Like the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games is the sports festival of the Asian countries held in every four years.

            The origin of Asian Games goes back to 1947 when the Asian Relations Conference held in New Delhi decided to organize an international games meet for Asian countries on the lines of Olympic Games – i.e. once in four years. Since then the games have grown to become Asiad - the biggest sports festival in Asia. The games have been held in the spirit of brotherhood among the Asian countries. In fact these have been something more than games because they include mutual understanding for exchange of techniques and ideas in sports, culture as well as to generate goodwill and affection among the Asian peoples. The Asian games include a number of sport events similar almost to Olympic Games; except some events which are not included in Olympic Games.

            The games include Athletics, Archery, Basketball, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Badminton, Bowling, Football, Fencing, Golf, Handball, Hockey, Judo, and Kabaddi and so on.

            The previous Asian Games have been held in the following venues. 1951 – New Delhi, 1954 – Manila, 1958 – Tokyo, 1962 – Jakarta, 1966 – Bangkok, 1970 – Bangkok, 1974 – Tehran, 1978 – Bangkok, 1982 – New Delhi, 1986 – Seoul, 1990 – Beijing, 1994 – Hiroshima. It is significant that like a proverbial phoenix, Japan arose from the ashes to tell the world the greatness of human perseverance. The Hiroshima city opened its heart for the 12th Asian Games held in 1994.

            The 13th Asian Games will be again held in Bangkok, Thailand in the year 1998.

 

            It is known that the attempt to animate or make lively pictures goes back to the concept of magic lantern. But it was not until the end of 19th century that cinema actually arrived. Cinema was born silent.

            In the era of silent movies, Chaplin Charles Spencer, popularly known as Charlie Chaplin made his world-wide reputation for his work in the arena of silent cinema. It is interesting to note that even when talking pictures arrived in 1930s, he continued to make silent films although he subsequently made some talking films at a later stage. Let us discuss about the life and times of this great showman in brief.

            Charlie was the best loved comedian of silent era and always considered a friend of weaker and poorer people throughout his eventful life. Born in 1889 in South London he first appeared on the stage at the age of 5 in his mother’s entertainment theatre in London. But when his mother became ill, Charlie was sent to an orphanage. He however continued his participation in stage acting.

            As a teenage actor he went to America in 1910. Four years later, he began to appear in films and soon became a favourite with cinema audiences for his characteristic appearance with his famous moustache, peculiar hat, baggy trousers, boots and the familiar cane-stick. Being a man of conviction, he later took over to writing and directing films. In 1919 and he established the United Artists Film Company and started to make films of his own choice and ideas. Among the films he made, “The Kid” 91920), “The Gold Rush” (1925) were considered as best of the lot. He mostly played the role of a sad little man with no fixed home or occupation who wanders from place to place only to be hurt, abused and confused by powerful people. Similarly in the film “Modern Times” (1936) he portrayed the role of an exploited industrial worker. He also made a very bold and outspoken talking film like ”Great Dictator” (1940) – where he made a fierce but amusing attack on German Dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers.

            Later, he was expelled from the USA because he was suspected of supporting Communists and a ban was imposed over all his films there. However, in 1972 he returned in triumph to be awarded a special OSCAR for the tremendous effect he has had in making motion pictures. Two years before he died he was given a further honour when the title “Sir” was conferred upon him.

            Sir Charles Chaplin died in the year of 1977 at the age of 88.

 

            Golf is a cross-country game played by striking a small ball with variously-shaped clubs from a series of teeing grounds into a like series of holes on a golf course. The player who holes his ball in the fewest strokes is the winner.

            The game originally developed in Scotland in the 15th century and then spread all over the world from there. It is the most popular outdoor sport in the U.S. The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh claims to have been established in 1735.

            In modern golf, a solid rubber ball is used. Its weight is 16.2 ounces. Balls used in USA have a diameter of 1.68 inches while that of Britain have a diameter of 1.62 inches. A club is used to hit the ball. There is a set of 14 different clubs for playing golf. Some of them are made of wood while others are made of iron or some other metal.

            The game consists of striking the ball from a teeing ground into a hole by successive strokes in accordance with rules. The round consists of 18 holes. Standard course measures 6500 to 7000 yds (5900 to 6400m). Individual holes are separated from 100 to 600 yds (90 to 550 m). Some courses have only 9 holes. A hole measures 4-1/4 inches in diameter and at least 4 inches in depth. Some of the terms associated with the games are Bogey, Tee, Whole links, Put, Stymic, and Caddle etc.

            The game is played in two ways. One is called match play and the other stroke play. In match play, one player and his opponent play at the same time while in stroke play one player has to play with all players of the opponent team. The winner in stroke play is the player who holes his ball in the fewest strokes whereas in match play the winner is the player who wins the most individual holes.

            Golf is played by both men and women. In the passage of time, particularly after 1960, a set of new rules have been introduced in the method of playing this game. Some of the most major world golf titles are: The Open (1860), The US Open (1895), The US Masters (1934), The World Cup (formerly Canada Cup) (1953) etc.

            In games, athletics comprises a wide range of events and demand a variety of skills. We know that some competitions are made up of a number of events mainly related to athletics.

            Decathlon is one such men’s competition lasting for two consecutive days in which contestants take part in 10 track and field events. It was first introduced as a three day event at Olympic Games of 1912.

            The Decathlon events are divided in two consecutive days – the first day events include 100 metre running, long jump, short put, high jump and 400 metre running. The second day events consist of 100 metre hurdles; discuss throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1500 metre run. Competitors are scored for their performance in each event according to a table prescribed by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). The table has been changed several times to keep pace with the improvements of world records. For instance, first change was effective from 1912 to 1936 while decathlon was still a three day event, the second one from 1936 to 1950 (with minor revision in 1952). The third change was from 1952 to 1964. In the latest change, the table was introduced in such a fashion that favoured an athlete who could score evenly in all 10 events. The events are held in the listed set order. A competitor is considered to have withdrawn from the competition of he fails to take part in any of the listed events.

            The order of competing is drawn before each event. The IAAF rules are generally applied for each event although exceptions are there like participants are allowed only three trails in each field event and that three false starts in a track event result in elimination without points from that particular event. Points are awarded for achieving set times, heights and distances. In case of a tie, the competitor with most points in the majority of events wins.

            If the tie still exists, the person with most points in any one event wins. Similarly the seven combined events for women’s are called Heptathlon.

          Throughout the human history, man has shown a penchant for displaying his physical strength and prowess. For many prehistoric tribes, the true test of manhood was to lift some special rock. Many such stones, with inscriptions of the athlete’s names that first lifted them, can still be found in Greece and Scottish castles. Stone-throwing competitions still survive in Germany and Switzerland, and rock lifting is still popular in the Basque region of Spain.

          The modern weightlifting began in the late 18th and 19th centuries, fostered by the feats of professional strongmen such as Eugene Sandow and Arthu Saxon of Germany, George Hackenschmidt of Russia, Louis Apollon of France and others who performed in circuses and music halls.

          The first open world championship was held at the Cafe Monico, Piccadilly, London in 1891 and won by the Englishman Lawrence Levy. Two weightlifting competitions were included in the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. The winner of the one hand lift competition was Launceston Elliot of Great Britain who lifted a 71 kg weight. And the winner of the two hand lift competition was Viggo Jensen of Denmark who lifted 111 kg weight.

          The one and two-hand events were held again in 1904 and then in 1920. However, later at the suggestion of the International Olympic Committee, the International Weightlifting Federation was formed to control the sport and to formulate its technical rules. Since then weightlifting has been included in the Olympic Games. The International Federation originally included 14 member countries, but in the mid 1970s this number rose to 100. France and Germany were the leaders in this sport up to 1930s. But then Egypt took over as the leader. After the World War II U.S.A. remained supreme in this sport until 1953. Since then erstwhile Soviet Union created most of the world records in this event.

          The modern weightlifting device consists of an iron bar to which weights, in the form of cast iron discs, of different sizes are attached. The weights are attached to each end of the bar on a revolving sleeve. The individual weights include discs of 25 kg, 15 kg, 10 kg, 5 kg, 2.5 kg, and 1.25 kg. The lifting exercises are performed on a wooden platform, 4 mts square. And if the lifter steps off this platform during the course of a lift, that lift is considered disqualified and not counted in the score.

 

Continue reading "When did the sport of Weightlifting begin? "

The roots of modern fencing can be traced to the historical traditions of swordsmanship. In the olden days, swordsmanship was considered to be a great martial art and provided a high social status to the warrior. But the modern fencing is a friendly competitive duel and not meant for fighting battles as was the case in old days.

It is now a sport involving the skilful use of swords for attack or defence according to the set rules and regulations. In France it is called Escrime and in Italy Schoma. It has a long and fascinating history, and its roots can be traced to the traditions of chivalry. The sport has been a permanent feature of every Olympic Games ever since their revival in Athens in 1896, and today it is increasingly practiced throughout the world.

Fencing is divided into three major branches depending upon the weapons employed. The three different types of weapons used are: foils, sabres and epees. The fencer scores point by touching the opponent’s target area with the sword point, and loses when touched the same way by the opponent.

Some of the main advantages of this sport are that it provides concentrated physical exercise in a short duration of time, independent of weather and without much expenditure. It develops a co-ordination of mind and body. It is a game of skill, speed and finesse in which brute strength doesn’t have much role to play. It is suitable for both men and women. It is a complex and difficult art to master.

The fencing equipment is relatively inexpensive. This requires a fencing jacket, a mask, a glove, a foil or any other such weapon with trousers or fencing breeches, white stockings and rubber sole gym shoes or flat sole fencing shoes.

The fencer’s weapon consists of a blade and mounting. The stronger half of the blade, which is nearer to the guard, is called the forte and the remainder, the foible. The mounting consists of a guard, the form of which varies according to the weapon and within which there is often a small cushion to protect the fingers. It has a handle or grip with which the weapon is held and manipulated. 

Continue reading "What is the sport of Fencing? "

            It is an indoor game played on a table with a lightweight ball. The table is divided into two equal courts by a low net fixed across its width at the middle. The ball is made of celluloid or a similar plastic. It is propelled back and forth across the net by small rackets (also called bats or paddles) held by the players. The objective is to win points by making shots which an opponent is unable to return.

            Over the years it has become a popular game all over the world, especially, in Europe and Asia. The International Table Tennis Federation was founded in 1926. The founder members were England, Sweden, Hungary, India, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Wales. By the 1970s, more than 90 national associations were members of the federation and there were six continental federations: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania. The first world championships were held in London in 1927 and from then until 1939 the game was dominated by players from the central Europe. Hungary and Czechoslovakia produced some of the greatest players of the game. However, by the mid 50s Asia began to gain supremacy. In 1954-56 the Asians became the champions. 

Continue reading " How is the game of Table Tennis played? "

            Hang gliding is a popular American sport today. A hang glider looks something like a huge kite. It is shaped like a triangle. At its widest point, a glider is about as wide as the length of a car. The flier wears a harness attached to a glider. He holds onto the glider and races down a hill into the wind or else jumps off a cliff. The wind lifts the glider into the air. The pilot uses a control bar to change the directions. A hang glider is made with Dacron sails and aluminium frames. Some other gliders are made from rigid materials such as wood and glass fiber.

            A hang glider usually travels as fast as a car on a busy street. A person learning to hang glide usually flies 3 to 6 metres above the earth. A trained pilot might go much higher. They sometimes carry equipments like maps, compasses, parachutes, radios etc. Pilots flying over mountainous areas often carry oxygen. The hang gliders never fly as high as airplanes.

            Though many people have contributed to the development of the glider, the pioneer was a German, Otto Lilienthal (1848-96). Along with his brother Gustav, he began experimenting in this direction in 1867 on the buoyancy and resistance of air. After a lot of experiments he succeeded in 1891 in making his first man-carrying craft, with which he could take off by running downhill into the wind. He made numerous flights between 1893 and 1896.

            This was the beginning after which many developments were made in the design of gliders by Octave Chanute — a French-born American Engineer, Orville and Wilbur Wright etc. In the 1950s Professor Francis Rogallo of the National Space Agency, USA, relying on his space capsule re-entry researches, developed a wing.

            In the case of most of the early gliders the flying speed was very low. The normal practice was to fly into a wind so that the actual acceleration required was not too much. These days the favoured launching techniques are the airplane tow and automobile tow. The tow rope is usually 60 metres long with a steel ring attached at each end, fitting the tow hooks with the towing vehicle and the glider.

            Many records of long distance gliding and of greatest altitude gliding have been set in the world. Heights of 10,000 ft have been attained by some hang gliding pilots flying in mountainous areas. Since 1935 hang gliding has earned a reputation as tools for aeronautical and meteorological research. 

                Since its inception cinema has always been a popular source of entertainment, particularly after the beginning of the era of talkies. Due to the wide acceptance and popularity of this medium, the world of cinema has always produced its own breed of celebrities and stars that are always remembered, cherished and indexed in the chronicle of the cinema world. Besides their talent, the glamourous screen image they produce creates a mass euphoria among the audience. Marilyn Monroe, the legendary actress of yesteryears of occidental cinema, was one such star whose name still stirs the popular memory. Her magnetic personality, both on and off the screen, made her a great newsmaker of those days.

               Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 1, 1926. Her original name was Norma Jean Baker. She had a very unhappy childhood, engulfed by miseries and hardships. She spent her childhood days in foster homes and orphanages. Later she became a model and subsequently got bit roles in motion pictures.

               To begin with her film career, she was first featured as a ‘dumb blonde’ and later as a symbol of glamour and passion, though with an appealing wholesomeness and vulnerability. In 1952 and 1953 she attained stardom when she played waiflike characters in films like ‘Don’t bother to knock’ etc. Her real achievement came in 1953 for her attractive role in a film titled ‘Gentlemen prefer blondes’. Thereafter a series of box office hits followed with the release of films like ‘How to marry a millionaire’, ‘The seven year itch’, ‘Bus stop’ and so on.

               Ambitious to be a serious actress, Marilyn studied at the Actor’s studio in New York City. In spite of her professional successes she was a very disturbed person due to her deep-seated anxieties and the three broken marriages. Her last leg of life was full of tension and mental agony. Ultimately she committed suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in Los Angeles on August 5, 1962. Thus the life and career of a great American film artist met an abrupt and tragic end. Her scarred and insecure life claimed as much attention as her glamourous acting career.

 

            The Beatles were the most successful of all the groups in the world of popular music. The group of four musicians comprising of John Lenon, Paul McCarthy, George Harrison and Ringo Starr became famous in the 1960s. Their early years were mostly spent in Liverpool and Hamburg. Among them, Ringo Starr (whose real name was Richard Starkey) joined the group at a later stage.

            In fact this group became most successful in 1962 with their song titled “Love Me Do” followed by another bigger hit “Please Please Me” in 1963. They never looked back for several years after that. The new wave of popular songs generated a hilarious effect among the young generation all over the world, particularly during 1963-65. Rock ‘n’ roll, a pop music with rhythmic body movements on the beat of drums, were greatly influenced by Beatles’ songs.

         

Continue reading "Who were the Beatles? "

          Hollywood is situated in the north-west of Los Angeles, California. It has been the centre of the American film industry. It has an ideal sunny climate and a varied terrain – most suited for film industry.

          Supposedly one of the richest and most glamourous places on earth, Hollywood’s greatest days were in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1908 one of its first feature films ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ was completed. It was shot in Chicago. By the end of 1911, more than 15 film producing companies had sprung upon the area. Some of the famous film personalities in Hollywood, before World War I, have been Charlie Chaplin, Samuel Goldwyn, Douglas Fairbanks and Cecil B. Mille. The 20th Century-Fox, Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Columbia, Warner Brothers etc. were among its greatest film producing companies.

          However with the advent of ‘talkies’, many famous stars of the silent era were virtually forced to retire. But the greatest threat to Hollywood came with the introduction of television in the late 1940s. Many film companies had to pull down their shutters. This brought a great change in Hollywood. By the early 60s, Hollywood had been supplying about 80% of the programmes to US Television network.

          Some of the other highlights of Hollywood are the Hollywood Bowl (a natural amphitheatre), the Pilgrimage Play Amphitheatre and Greek Theatre in Griffith Park, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the California Art Club.

          Hollywood has carved out its present place in the map of world cinema through all round cinematic activities. Its use of latest and advanced technology in film-making makes it the trade leader. 

          Music is an art that permeates every human society. We have all listened to the soothing music of a piano or the strumming of a guitar and experienced a sense of thrill. Music is mainly of two types: vocal and instrumental. Vocal music involves harmonious combination of words and depends upon the sweetness of the singer’s voice. Instrumental music is that part of music which is produced by musical instruments. In a larger context dance is also considered as a part of music.

          Musical instruments are classified as follows: (a) Woodwinds (b) Brass (c) Percussion (d) Strings (e) Keyboard and (f) Electrical and electronic types. These classes are useful in grouping instruments in a general way for the kind of sounds they produce, even though woodwind instruments are not necessarily made of wood, nor are brass instruments of metal. 

Woodwind instruments: The flute, clarinet, piccolo etc are examples of woodwind instruments. In these the vibrating length of the air column is shortened by opening lateral side holes in succession. Sound is generated by different means. In flute and piccolo, the player blows across a hole near one end in such a way as to cause periodic puffs of air to enter the tube. These puffs excite the air column longitudinally and sound is produced. Control of holes controls the tone of sound.

Brass instruments: The horn, cornet, saxhorn, euphonium etc fall in this category. A typical brass instrument consists of a cup shaped mouth piece, a slightly tapered mouth pipe, cylindrical tubing with valves and a bell. Puffs of air are introduced by the player, via vibrating lips stretched over the mouthpiece. Different tones are produced by tensioning the lips to incite different modes of vibration.

Percussion instruments: Instruments such as the timpani (kettle drums) and xylophone are called percussion instruments because the sound is produced by a blow or beating. Some percussion instruments such as drums, cymbals and triangles are useful for rhythmic effects.

Stringed instruments: Guitar, harp, violin, viola etc are all stringed instruments. For guitar and harp, strings are set into vibration by plucking. For violin and viola the vibration is usually initiated by bowing: 

Keyboard instruments: Instruments such as the celesta, pipe organ, accordion and piano are put in this category because the respective vibrating pipes, reeds and strings in these instruments are selected by use of keys in a keyboard.

Electrical and electronic instruments: Musical instruments described above become quasi-electrical instruments by the addition of a microphone, an amplifier and a loudspeaker. A vibration pick-up can be used to generate an electrical signal from the vibration of the string. This is the case with electric guitars and electric piano. Electronic circuits have been developed which produce musical sounds. During the last 30 years, tremendous progress has been made in developing electronic musical systems controlled by computers.

               Oscar awards are annual awards given by the United States Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for excellent and outstanding achievement in various branches of film-making. The major awards are for best leading and supporting actor and actress, best direction, best screen play and best firm. Another special Oscar award is given for the best life-time achievement. These awards are considered the most prestigious international awards in the field of world cinema.

               The award was instituted by the Academy on 16 May 1929 and named after Oscar Pierce of Texas who was a wheat and fruit grower. The Academy was founded by Louis B. Mayer in 1927 with an objective to prevent the creation of a union of actors and artisans. Another aim was to improve the image of film industry by issuing awards for merit and distinction. Originally the award was intended to be a modest one with citations within the Hollywood film industry. But the importance of the award kept on increasing as broad media coverage generated widespread popular interest. Oscar award winning movies assured box-office success as was noticed from the increasing revenue of winning movies. Labelling of an Oscar worked like a trademark for the commercial success of a film.

               The US Academy of Motion Pictures has an elected membership of some 3,000 film-workers who are considered to have reached the top in the industry or in their own field of specialization. Out of these members, specialists in 13 sections select the winning nominations, normally five in each category. A gold statuette known as Oscar is given to the winners in an annual ceremony in Los Angeles. The gold statuette is 13.5 inch long designed by. Cedric Gibbons. It is a gold-plated naked male figure that clutches a sword and stands on a reel of film with five holes – each representing a branch of the Academy.

 

Continue reading "What are Oscar Awards? "