New Sports for Fun and Fitness

Sports are one aspect in our culture that has always been cutting edge. Let’s look at some of the new and interesting sports that have made a mark in this global culture.
Although many may not consider them a sport, cyber games do indeed qualify. And, recent years have seen a tremendous growth of gaming consoles, game design, and the video game industry in general. This evolved into a global gaming culture that is now recognized as a new extreme sport in more than 70 countries. Competitive Video Gaming has become one of the most sought after new recreational sports in the last five years. Not only that, but the best players from around the world meet in the annual World Cyber Games. This event was launched by International Cyber Marketing, a Korean company backed by Samsung and Microsoft, with the goal to market video games as competitive sports. Like athletes and fans that recognize sports talent, many know that Korea has some of the elite players in the world, since they were one of the first countries that developed the gaming and the new sports technology that makes World Cyber Games possible. The World Cyber Games bring the best players from different countries to battle it out just like the Olympics.
This new recreational sport draws more than one million visitors every year, which is an impressive number for a young sporting event. Ironically, some players believe in exercise and physical fitness to compete in this sport. Only a select number of games are considered competitive games. These games include Warcraft III, Starcraft, Counterstrike, FIFA, and Need for Speed. Recently Guitar Hero was added to the list of events.
Getting out into the fresh air where danger lurks, base jumping can really get your pulse going. Many extreme sports involve jumping from high altitude and at high speeds. One of the more radical extreme sports related to skydiving is Base Jumping. BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth. This jump employs a parachute or wingsuit to jump from altitudes less than 2000 feet with the parachute unopened. To become a BASE jumper, you must jump from fixed objects. The first jump made in Yosemite National Park demonstrated how Base Jumping is different from other recreational sports. During the eighties, all base jumps were made using standard parachutes, but new sports technology has developed specialized equipment specifically for this kind of low altitude jumping.
Many consider base jumping an “ultra-extreme” sport because it is significantly more dangerous than similar sports. Unlike skydiving, low altitude jumping only spans six seconds at the most. Thus, jumpers have less than three seconds to position themselves and open their parachutes. In addition, these jumps are usually made from man-made structures where there are many people on the ground. Try it if it sounds right for you.
Finally, there’s body boarding. This is a form of human wave riding kind of like surfing. This new extreme sport uses a smaller, rectangular board made of hydrodynamic foam. Body Boarding is the fastest growing extreme sports in the world since this sport is easier to learn than similar activities like wakeboarding or surfing. A body-board is a short board made of foam core and protected by a plastic bottom. The boards are designed to absorb much of the surface pressure of the water, so body-boards will have an easier time catching the waves. Professional body-boarding involves launching and landing tricks in the height of the wave from the simple spinning and reverse trick done near the wave pipe, to the more extreme jumping and aerial tricks that use the stronger waves as jump-off points. Have fun.









For some of us, going to the gym is like a fashion show. We must look our best and no item can be too costly if it gives the right look. For others, old sweats or clothes from gym class many years ago will do. Perhaps of paramount importance is whether or not our clothes are getting in the way of a healthy work-out. Are we able to get the most from the exercises we do? Sometimes careful selection is required and no brightly colored spandex will suffice.


