- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
Actually, Mathman's post about the new book "Culture On Ice" got me thinking about skating and wondering what is with all this "phsycobabble" lately about figure skating? Why do people think they have to disect figure skating?
Do you think great skaters like Donald Jackson and Dick Button pondered whether people were thinking they were showing a feminine side when they donned their skates and took to the ice? I doubt it. They skated merely for the joy of skating - as do - most skaters.
Figure skating is for both men and women. As far back as 1585 both women and men ice skated. In fact, "In Macaulay’s History of England we read that Charles II’s son, the Duke of Monmouth, learned the art of skating from the Dutch ladies on the frozen canals during his tour there, and that in return he gave them instruction in English country dances."
Tracing figures dominated the sport until recently. This was a discipline that both men and women could do. Competitions were held to see who could do the best tracings.
"History of Figures…………… Figure skating gets its name from the Compulsory Figures (also known as School Figures), a series of patterns based on the figure eight or three-circle serpentine form. There are 42 figures classified by the International Skating Union. The skater traces the pattern on clean ice three times. Performed well, the tracings will be virtually identical. To make matters more difficult, the skater had to skate the Figure using a prescribed part of the blade (such as the forward inside edge of the left skate). In 1991, figures were eliminated from international competition after 100 years."
I am getting carried away here! My point is, read these books "with a grain of salt" and enjoy figure skating for what it is - a wonderful sport for all either by participating or just watching! Either way, you will experience the "joy of figure skating."
http://www.iceskate-magazine.com/1689.gif
Goethe at Frankfurt 1862. From ‘’The Poetry of Skating"
http://www.yarmouthiceclub.org/Source materials/FIGURES_files/image002.gif
Do you think great skaters like Donald Jackson and Dick Button pondered whether people were thinking they were showing a feminine side when they donned their skates and took to the ice? I doubt it. They skated merely for the joy of skating - as do - most skaters.
Figure skating is for both men and women. As far back as 1585 both women and men ice skated. In fact, "In Macaulay’s History of England we read that Charles II’s son, the Duke of Monmouth, learned the art of skating from the Dutch ladies on the frozen canals during his tour there, and that in return he gave them instruction in English country dances."
Tracing figures dominated the sport until recently. This was a discipline that both men and women could do. Competitions were held to see who could do the best tracings.
"History of Figures…………… Figure skating gets its name from the Compulsory Figures (also known as School Figures), a series of patterns based on the figure eight or three-circle serpentine form. There are 42 figures classified by the International Skating Union. The skater traces the pattern on clean ice three times. Performed well, the tracings will be virtually identical. To make matters more difficult, the skater had to skate the Figure using a prescribed part of the blade (such as the forward inside edge of the left skate). In 1991, figures were eliminated from international competition after 100 years."
I am getting carried away here! My point is, read these books "with a grain of salt" and enjoy figure skating for what it is - a wonderful sport for all either by participating or just watching! Either way, you will experience the "joy of figure skating."
http://www.iceskate-magazine.com/1689.gif
Goethe at Frankfurt 1862. From ‘’The Poetry of Skating"
http://www.yarmouthiceclub.org/Source materials/FIGURES_files/image002.gif