Liberal Arts Blog — Kicking the Ball around (Soccer, Kickball, Cuju)
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is the Joy of Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic — Kicking the ball around (soccer, kickball, cuju)
Ever kicked a can down the road? How about a rock? Any other object you are willing to share? Somehow there appears to be a natural human urge to kick. Just about anything. Just about anytime. And as with most other activities, it’s even more fun with company. Pick a target. See who can hit it. How far can you kick it? How high? Today a few notes on soccer, kickball, and cuju. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
SOCCER — parent-child bonding in the back yard or playground
1. In alleyways, parks, streets, parking lots, wherever.
2. Use a wall if you can’t find a buddy.
3. Volley ball, soccer ball, any ball.
NB: What are your fondest related memories?
KICKBALL — who knew?
1, Invented in Cincinnati in 1917 by (you won’t believe this) a guy named Seuss. Not Dr. Seuss. Nicolas C. Seuss.
2. Originally called, “kick baseball” or “kick cabbage.”
3. In the 1920s, used by physical education teachers in public schools to teach the basics of baseball. Personally, I have memories of playing kickball in physical education class in a parochial (Catholic) school in the late 1950s.
NB: Also played in South Korea (balyagu), Japan, England (“football-rounders”), and Canada (with names varying from “soccer baseball” to “chinese baseball” to “California kickball” depending on the region.
KICKING WITH A PURPOSE — focusing on technique
1. Why not get better with every kick?
2. Focus on the mechanics.
3. Three basic soccer kicks: normal passing, chipping, shooting.
NB: focus on the angle of attack, balance, follow-through, on where on the shoe and the ball the contact should be, on where your non-shooting foot should be, on the path of the foot as you kick, on what foot you land on after you shoot. Final word: the oldest recorded form of football dates back to about 100–200 BC in Han dynasty China. Called “cuju” (“kick ball”). Used in military training. Became very popular with imperial courtiers. The painting above is by Su Hanchen and dates from about 1130–1160. This was during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
How to kick a soccer ball: 3 Ways To Kick The Ball
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to sports, dance, fitness. Or the coolest thing you learned about Sports, Dance, of Fitness in your life — whether on the field, on the dance floor or in the gym, whether from a coach, a parent, a friend, or just your own experimentation.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. Or even change their life. It’s perhaps a chance to put into words something you have never articulated before. And to cement in your own memory something cool you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
