The Lure of Polo Through the Years
Dangerous, thrilling, addictive—however you choose to describe the modern game of polo, you can be sure that someone used those same words thousands of years ago for the same purpose. Polo, as it is played today, is merely a refinement of games played as early as the sixth century B.C. It has been said, in many languages and in many time periods, “He who plays polo once will sacrifice his money and body to play again.” Polo has survived for over two thousand years; its addiction must be as powerful as players claim.
The “sport of kings” is one of the oldest sports still in existence today. In fact, versions of the game were played so long ago that a definite origin of the game cannot be determined. Due to the expense of owning and training the best horses, it was primarily nobles who played the game. Because of this, polo was spread as nations conquered others, and it disappeared in areas as noble classes died. Thus, the game was often born and reborn in so many versions that the term polo (translated from several ancient and modern languages) grew to encompass a wide variety of games involving a stick, ball and players on horseback.
Many historians will trace polo’s roots back to Persia (modern day Iran), where the game developed from its most raw and dangerous form. The Persians, who were among the first to domesticate horses and use them in warfare, began playing games on horseback in order to refine their equestrian skills. The game of choice involved any number of players on horseback all attempting to hit a round object with mallets past the other team’s final players. Sometimes hundreds of players were on each team, and the object they were fighting over ranged from balls, to goats, to decapitated human heads. With so many players and no regulation, polo quickly became a sport in which collisions, ill-trained horses, and human error could easily cause injury and even death.
Despite the obvious dangers one encounters while playing polo, it was a popular activity for armies and nobles. For cavalry, polo provided a venue for displaying one’s athleticism, poise, quick thinking, and boldness. In fact, kings from many nations used polo as an easy way to determine appointments for political and army positions. Often, the best polo players were the only ones who could surpass their natural born social class.
The game of golf is one of the oldest of today’s modern sports. Its exact beginnings are not known; however, some historians trace golf back to the Stone Age while others claim it originated from the “idle antics of shepherd boys knocking small stones into holes in the ground with a crook while their flocks grazed nearby” (Peper 1). Researched back to the time of the Roman Empire, it is also believed the sports-oriented Romans played a forerunner of the game of golf called paganica. This sport involved the use of a bent stick and a ball stuffed with wool played in the open countryside.
The Elizabethan Era was a time marked in English history by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historians often refer to it as the golden age in English history. During the Elizabethan era there were many different sports that were played and watched and they formed much of Elizabethan entertainment, especially for the nobility. A few sports that were played were football, wrestling, and bear and bull baiting. Football, wrestling, and bear and bull baiting were all immensely popular sports during the Elizabethan times.
...tch football. Humans have had a natural interest, and fascination with violence and brutality, all throughout time. Modern censorship, has limited this somewhat morbid fascination, but many new movies, videogames, or television shows, supply the population with this desired entertainment. Scott’s film, Gladiator, reveals that human nature has changed very little, by recreating the bloody and violent Gladiator games, and the Roman Colloseum.
sport as the people's last resort for economic stability with a high price to pay; morals and
Early one winter, before the change of the year, the King was hosting a fifteen day diversion for the noblest of knights and their fair ladies. Thronging the castle from far-away lands, eminent knights were jousting during the day, and feasting at night, when an adventure unrivaled by any other took
The Statue of Liberty is an American icon because it symbolizes freedom, success, and the power of this nation. This image is what the U.S stands for to the outside world. Foreigners strive to move to America because of its wealth and acceptance towards all races and ethnicity. “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” recounts the story of how Carlos Garcia, Laura Garcia, and their four girls move from the Dominican Republic to the United States to escape a dictatorship, and establish a new life in flourishing New York City. Many unexpected culture shocks await them in their new country. Although the girls find it difficult to adapt at first, they soon begin to assimilate and Americanize. On the other hand, “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” by Elizabeth Wong illustrates the life of an Asian American having to embrace two entirely different cultural identities. Both the Garcia family and Elizabeth Wong's family have to deal with two opposing cultures without losing too much of their heritage. The book and the essay are similar in that characters in each story lose much of their original tradition. However, they are different in that the families move to the states for distinctive reasons, and the cultural preference of “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” is more evident than that of “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”.
While there are many various global issues that affect the International Human Resource Management to run efficiently, there are two key concepts that play a major role in understanding how to approach them with cohesive and a well coherent strategy; they are the International Human Recourse Management Strategy and Understanding the Cultural Environment. In the International Resource Management strategy, many companies will do their research in finding companies that offer the following:
1776 was a good year for a revolution. George Washington had taken command of the U.S. forces in 1775, with an army of old men and young boys that seemed to be bleak and unpromising. Facing harsh conditions and disease- ridden camps, winning a war against the all powerful British was an uphill battle. What Washington probably didn’t expect that the worst of his problems would come from his own army, a group of untrained, undisciplined men that would tamper with his great patience. Through it all he would stay one step ahead of the enemy.
The Electoral College is not actually a place; it is how we elect our President per the Constitution. The Founders created this system as a compromise between choosing a President by popular vote or a vote by Congress (“U. S. Electoral College, Official - What Is the Electoral College?). Although this system has been in place since the beginning of our country, there are both good and bad things about it. To understand whether this system should be kept or abolished, it is important to see how it works.
Puff up the lighter to the legalization of marijuana on a federal level, while we take a look at some major important reasons why pot needs to become legal. Marijuana is clearly unlike cigarettes and alcohol, which are extremely toxic and fatal to the human body and those that surround it. Marijuana is not a drug that has side effects that last as long as cigarettes or alcohol. Unlike alcohol and cigarettes one argument is that it’s probably the safest drug in the world unlike how the federal government controls it. We also have various arguments from the medical perspective and how they claim it can be beneficial to various individuals. Then there is another argument which brings up the fact that while marijuana remains to be illegal we will see an increase in criminal activity not just from the United States but the international borders as well.
One of the most controversial topics in the news today is the legalization of marijuana. Supporters believe that the drug is not harmful and can have numerous benefits. However, opponents argue that marijuana can lead to addiction and other more dangerous drugs. In the end, marijuana should be legal based on economic, medicinal, and philosophical factors.
Knowledge is something that can change day to day, which can be learned through both the natural and human sciences. Knowledge changes in the natural sciences when an experiment is conducted and more data has been gathered. Knowledge changes in human sciences when patterns are recognized in society and further tests have been conducted. Does our knowledge of things in the natural and human sciences change every day? I think that our knowledge grows everyday but does not necessarily change every day. The areas of knowledge that will be discussed in this essay are natural and human sciences. In History we can see that at one point something that was considered knowledge then transformed into different knowledge, especially in the natural sciences. However, in the past, due to lack of technology, it might have been more of a lack of knowledge that then turned into knowledge on the topic.
Football is said to have originated from the Han Dynasty in China, from around two or three B.C. Although there is no specific creator of Football, there is evidence that the Chinese ‘dribbled’ balls made of various different animal skins filled with light-weight materials. After dribbling the ball, they were to kick the ball into a small net. Along with being a leisure activity for the ancient Chinese, evidence has been found that they also used it for training their vast army, the only difference in the training was the height of the nets. The balls were to be kicked into a net that was thirty feet or higher off the ground in order to make the Chinese army ready to move and also to make them stronger in the legs. Since the Chinese played ‘Football’ there have been many advancements in the game around the world and the rules have also changed greatly.
The role of the knight, depicted by a horse shaped piece, in chess is the perfect example of the unexpected power of initiative. The game of chess is a battle of strategy, where we must always be thinking ahead of our adversary, anticipating their moves and moving our pieces in a preemptive manner. The knight is the only piece that moves in an L shape while other pieces can only move diagonally or horizontally. Therefore, when we plan the moves
Soccer has proven to be a notable sport throughout the years starting with its unique history. Soccer began all over the world tracing back thousands of years. The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Vikings, as well as other nationalities all played a form of the game soccer. In China and Rome, games that were similar to soccer were played around 200 B.C. (Helmer and Owens, 5). People believe that soccer started more than a thousand years ago when villagers killed attacking pirates by cutting off their heads and kicking them around (Helmer and Owens, 5). As time went on, people in Europe also played a game similar to soccer during Medieval Times. In fact, soccer was used to prepare warriors for battles in Ancient Greece and Rome (Dilov-Shultheis). In later history, the English called the game “Football” because soccer was played by kicking the ball with the foot (Helmer and Owens, 6). The name “soccer” came to be when the American’s Association Football was shortened to assoc., and later to soc. Eventually in 1895 it was called soccer (Helmer and Owens, 9). By the late 1700s and 1800s, soccer was played in many universities, but the rules were not ...