Playing Soccer

by Jonathon Hardcastle


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Soccer is a game enjoyed the world over by both spectators and participants alike, as a faced paced, team sport which requires athleticism and skill in equal measure. If you're interested in participating in soccer, either in an organized or spontaneous manner, there are plenty of opportunities for getting involved.

Soccer as a sport relies much less on equipment than physical effort. The benefit of this is that you can get going with very little initial financial outlay. With little more than a ball, you can get going and have a great deal of fun with as little as three players.

All you require is a sufficient number of participants, objects to act as goalposts, and a ball before you're ready to get playing. It's even possible just to have a kick around with the ball, although the traditional format is a game of two teams comprising of 11 players. Of the 11 players, one will play as a goal keeper, standing between the goal posts. The goal keeper is an essential player as the last line of defense, and is the only players allowed to handle the ball within the rules of the game. The ten other players in each team play outfield, and strive to score goals by kicking the ball across the goal line.

There are a variety of different forms of soccer you can play with a couple of friends, even if you can make up the numbers for 11-a-side. As well as 5-a-sides and 7-a-sides, which are lightening fast paced smaller games, there are also other games which adopt various names, but maintain a similar structure.

One of the best games you can play involves an every man for themselves approach, and requires only one goal keeper. A round robin style competition can be played with any number, with certain players eliminated depending on their ultimate score at the end of each round. This can also be played with small teams, to provide a fast paced fun game which can be a real test of skill for any player.

Soccer is a great game you can play with any number of friends, and it can be really good exercise too. In addition to that, it can help build invaluable team-working skills and social skills, giving it a wider social significance. Why not try out some of the various soccer opportunities in your local area? Whatever options are open to you, you can at least get a small game going with a couple of friends for a great way to spend an afternoon.

About the Author

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Tennis, Golf, and Recreation

FIFA RANKING 12-2007

ASIAN COUNTRIES FIFA RANKING

Thai Land --------Ranking ------ 121 ------ Score ------ 261 ------

Singapore --------Ranking ------- 126 ------- Score ------ 224 ------

Indonesia ------- Ranking ------- 133 ------- Score ------- 189 -------

Viet Nam ------- Ranking ------- 142 ------- Score --------159 ------

Myanmar ------- Ranking ------- 157 ------- Score ------ 100 ------

Malaysia ---------Ranking ------- 159 ------ Score --------98 ------

Lao --------------Ranking ------- 176 ------ Score --------45 ------

Philippines -------Ranking ------- 179 -------Score ------- 40 -----

Cambodia --------Ranking ------- 183 ------- Score -------- 30 ---

Brunei -----------Ranking --------188 ------- Score ------- 24 ---

East Timor ------ Ranking ------- 201 ------ Score ------- 0

FIFA RANKING 12-2007

THE TOP FOOTBALL COUNTRIES 12-2007

1. Argentina ---- Score ---- 1523 ----

2. Brazil -------- Score ---- 1502 ----

3. Italy --------- Score ---- 1498 ----

4. Spain -------- Score ---- 1349 ----

5. Germany ---- Score ---- 1298 ----

6. Chzech Republic ---- Score ---- 1290 ----

7. France ------- Score ---- 1243 ------

8. Belgium ------ Score ---- 1241 -----

9. Nether Land ------ Score ---- 1170 ----

10. Croatia ------ Score ----- 1129 -----

Sea Games Football Matches

Group B

1/12---------15h30:----Viet Nam 3 - 1 Malaysia

15h30:----Lao 0 - 0 Singapore

Group A

2/12---------15h30:----Indonesia 3 - 1 Cambodia

18h30:----Thai Land 3 -2 Myanmar

Group B

3/12---------15h30:-------Malaysia 5 - 0 Lao

15h30:-------Viet Nam 2 - 3 Singapore

Group A

4/12---------15h30:--------Indonesia 0 - 0 Myanmar

18h30:--------Thai Land 8 - 0 Cambodia

Group A

7/12---------14h30:--------Myanmar 6 - 2 Cambodia

19h45:--------Thai Land 2 - 1 Indonesia

Group B

8/12---------15h30:--------Viet Nam 2 - 1 Lao

15g30:---------Singapore 1 -1Malaysia

Semi Final

11/12 -------14h30:---------Vietnam 0 - 0Myanmar( S1) Myanmar won by penalties 3-1

19h45:--------- Thai Land 3 - 0 Singapore( S2)

3rd Place

14/12-------15h30:---------Viet Nam0- 5 Singapore

Final

18h30------Thai Land 2 - 0 Myanmar

Sea Games Results

24th Sea Game Results

in Thai Land

1. Thai Land--- Gold Medals:174Silver Medals:118--- Brown Medals:103--- Total Medals:395

2.Malaysia--- Gold Medals:65--- Silver Medals:49--- Brown Medals:89--TotalMedals:203

3.Viet Nam--- Gold Medals:64--- Silver Medals:56-- Brown Medals:82---Total Medals:

202

4.Indonesia--- Gold Medals:54-- Silver Medals:62-- Brown Medals:82--- Total Medals:198

5.Singapore--- Gold Medals:43--- Silver Medals:42--- Brown Medals:41--- TotalMedals:126

6.Philippines--- Gold Medals:40--- Silver Medals:89--- Brown Medals:95-- Total Medals:224

7. Myanmar--- Gold Medals:14--- Silver Medals:26--- Brown Medals:45---Total Medal:85

8.Lao--------- Gold Medals:5-- Silver Medals:7---Brown Medals:31-- Total Medals:43

9. Cambodia--- Gold Medals:2--- Silver Medals:5--- Brown Medals: 10--Total Medals: 17

10. Brunei--- Gold Medals:1--- Silver Medals: 1--- Brown Medals:4-- Total Medals:6

11. East Timor-- Gold Medals:0-- Silver Medals:0-- Brown Medals:0-- Total Medals:0

Some Profiles of My Favorite FootBall Players

Wayne Rooney

DOB: October 24, 1985. Birthplace: Liverpool. Height: 5' 10''. Weight: 12.5. Age: 22.

He first time play in pre-season friendlies for Everton to the start of the 2002-2003 season.

Shot 8 goals in 8 games in the FA Youth Cup in 2001-2002 .

At the age of 17, he joins England team and he is the youngest player in the team.

In September, he became the youngest ever goalscorer when netting against Macedonia in
Euro 2004 qualifier.

But this youngest player also picked up 12 yellow cards in 2003-2004.

When he first plays for Manchester United he scored 11 goals.

In 2005, he received the first red card in United when play against Villarreal because he clapped the decision in the ref's face.

Brazil The Next 2014 FIFA World Cup Host

by Claudia Beckford

Brazil, the country that has won the FIFA World Cup a record of five different times has been selected by the FIFA executive committee to host the next World Cup in 2014. FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated last Monday that Brazil was a strong and a single candidate after Colombia pulled out of the running in April also that Brazil "supplies tens of thousands of football players to the world, the best football players."

It was also mentioned the fact that there was no further competition from additional South American nations, therefore, FIFA's decision to implement the rotation system that gave each continent a turn at hosting the World Cup laid on Brazil for this time.

The entire country is in extreme joy as it will be the first time for Brazil to host a World Cup since 1950; even the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva travelled to Switzerland to the FIFA headquarters for the announcement. Swiss foreign ministry officials said the delegation, which had flown in from Brazil overnight, arrived in Zurich on Tuesday morning.

Despite the fact, Blatter had recently questioned Brazil's infrastructure and proposal plans, FIFA stated last week a stadium-inspection trip in August showed the country was completely capable of giving "an exceptional" tournament, and in the mean time, improvements to the infrastructure could be made. Additionally, Brazil has 10 of the world's largest soccer stadiums.

The Brazilian soccer confederation has revealed that the construction work needed for the tournament will cost approximately US$1.1 billion. Brazilian soccer player, Pele, acknowledged that Brazil faces a tough challenge, but they are confident that all the work will be completed in time. "Of course there is a lot of controversy about the real situation in Brazil," he said. "Many people ask me if Brazil is prepared to host the World Cup. If you go to Brazil now and look at the stadium, no one is able to play in a World Cup."

"No doubt," Pele said. "In the seven years from now, Brazil will be prepared and in shape to have the World Cup."

On the other hand, Brazilian president Lula said "Soccer is not only a sport for us." "It's more than that: Soccer for us is a passion, a national passion." He promised Brazil "with great pride, he was to do its homework." And, he added, "if everything works out well, we will win once again a World Cup."

About the Author

Claudia Beckford provides outstanding and current content to sports enthusiast in the sports betting industry.

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

How many is golf has ?.

by mahasamut

How many is golf has ?.= For equipment filtration suit you . by vacate about take keep before for" iron group " give you experience many group iron . by begin at long iron , that be 3 irons see that you beat which group utterly on the face not the some or Top often most . get ball upland way most , which in this place tall mean tall with " BackSpin " which a ball upland way go up continually in order be like an airplane soars to go up , go to very tall while on the way from go to already and have no " SideSpin " be don't turn the end . A ball has fallen then don't run very not far distance extremely still Never mind and be not tall because " stalk " which a ball will tall from the beginning , a ball has fallen then spatter to is like have no " Break " and last points be not tall because whipping wrist or force open the shoulder which a ball will high from the beginning like ugliness , very short-term. When get the iron has that to pass the test the first step already as a result give test middle iron and short iron next that give the result in same condition with long iron . but for short iron and SW strictly little . that is to say for 9 irons see that you beat , insert , good ? have Top often ?. High and Short too ?. For , SW , that for a man should " Carry " get don't lower 90 a yard , beat 3-Quater Swing should get 50 just enough yard . If test then change be finished then want to grab not wrong. The part is if be wedge 60 degree . A man should " Carry " get between 60-70 a yard , beat 3-Quater Swing should get 30-40 a yard , for head wood entireness , Fairway Wood , and , Driver , test beat that ?. You beat to bump against the center or" Sweet Spot " its 20 most a ball , bump against many more 15 ball . ball tall end way with " Backspin " no " Sidespin " also . From that time important point give you see that . which wood you beat with the light most , easy most , must not beat , already a ball " Carry " most . drift in the air long ago most . If test then change be finished then want to grab , not wrong also. for the" Hybrid " that the weakness is or difficult its dot is the supervision " Backspin " and " Sidespin " because this a controls rather difficult . give you test to see that . A ball has fallen then run to like to is unexpected the life and zigzag more ?. If more not good . If fall then don't spatter is very good. read more http://golfkup.blogspot.com

About the Author
http://lasiknew.blogspot.com http://finance-forlife.blogspot.com

Benefits of Water Exercises

by James Kronefield

For a great workout that you can really benefit form, try water exercises. This is the new modern way to get in shape and stay that way. Anyone can perform these exercises regardless of their age or physical condition. Water exercises are excellent for people that suffer from back pain or any type of joint condition such as arthritis. They are safer to do because the water supports your weight and puts less of a strain on your body than regular exercises do. If you are pregnant and want to stay in shape, this is the best way to do so. Below are some great water exercises that are easy to perform.

Have you always wanted to have toned arms, here is your chance. Stand straight with your arms straight in front of you holding a ball. Next, while breathing rhythmically take and push the ball under the water making a figure eight. This will really give your arms a workout and help you whip them into shape in no time. You will be amazed at the difference it can make. Jumping jacks is an old favorite that are just as good for your body when done as a water exercise as it is when performed on dry land. This exercise can help to keep your whole body in shape.

Stretching exercises are great when performed in water. Remember when stretching you need to inhale when you are extending your arms and exhale when bringing them in. Make sure that you take time to perform stretch exercising before beginning your regular routine. This is important to avoid injuries even with water exercises. It is easy to do wall exercises in water. The water helps you to have the resistances you need to strengthen your muscles without straining them. These are just a few of the options you have when it comes to doing exercises in water but there are many more options available.

As with any type of exercise routine you need to speak with your doctor before you begin exercising in water. This is the best way to make sure that you are in good physical shape and your doctor can help give you some suggestions on how to get started safely. There have been studies conducted that prove combining water and exercises can be very beneficial. This type of exercise program is a lot more fun and exciting, which makes it easier to continue the routine on a regular basis. Find out what all the talk is about by trying water exercises for yourself, it may surprise you when you see the results you can accomplish.

About the Author
Do you love being in the water? Then you should try the easiest and funniest way to keep your shape - water exercises. Learn more at http://www.waterwellnessworkout.com

Best Fishing Time-When Should You Go Fishing To Catch The Most?

by Shawn Mitchell



So what is the best fishing time of the year to catch the most fish? Unfortunately, there is no generic answer to this question, as it will entirely depend on what kind of fish you want to go after. For instance, if you want to go after bass fish, you'll need to go out at a different time than if you are to go after catfish, or some other kind of fish.

I can't give you a generic time to go fishing, as this will always depend where you are going fishing with catfish you are targeting. However, here are some important tips to help you become an effective fisherman as quickly as possible.

First of all, here are some important salt water fishing trips, in case you want to go sell water fishing. The Internet is a great resource for finding these fishing tips, because it provides an abundance of information on any topic in the world today. Fishing tips are no exception; quite simply, you can learn a lot of great fishing information online, and probably much faster than you would ever do it off the Internet.

One of the great things about the Internet is that you can either subscribe to newsletters, read e books, it simply get tips about becoming a better fishermen very quickly from people who are already successful as fishermen. As I've often advocated, instead of trying to learn everything yourself, a much quicker way to become an effective fisherman is to simply model somebody who's already successful.

This way, you will not have to make all the same mistakes they made themselves when they were first starting out. You can learn the best fishing time to go out at, the best bait to use, locations to start with, rods to utilize, etc. If you don't do this, you'll have to go the hard way learning how to become a good fishermen. This will dramatically cut down on your learning curve.

Of course, no matter what kind of fishing you're planning a doing, always make sure you talk to the locals beforehand to get some great fishing tips on the area. It is one thing that all too many fishermen fail to do before hand.

This way, you can find out the best fishing time in that particular location, the best places to go, lures to use, etc. No matter how good a fisherman you are, fishing is different depending on where you go, and if you don't go to an area where there are a lot of fish, you will not catch any.
While this next one might also be an obvious fishing tip, is extremely important, and unfortunately one that holds a lot of fishermen back. When you are going to buy your fishing equipment, always by good quality; it does you no good to purchase secondhand and fishing equipment. Even though some of the equipment is cheaper than others, by only focusing on the cheapest equipment, you'll rob yourself finding good fishing equipment that will help you dramatically improve.

As with any sport, the best equipment you can get, the better you will do it. Fishing is certainly no exception. To find the best equipment, go on the Internet and read reviews about fishing equipment, and find out which one is the top fishermen use.

Once you know this, simply go out and purchase the same equipment for yourself. Hopefully these tips will be to become an effective fisherman as quickly as possible. While I certainly can't give you the best fishing time, as this will depend on what kind of fish want to go after, remember that the key to success in anything you plan to do is to simply find so many whose already successful at it, and model their success.

About the Author
To find repossessed boats for sale, visit onlinefishinginformation.com. Also get tips on a Bahamas fishing vacation and much more.

5 Soccer Fitness Training Tips

by M.C.

It’s known as ‘The Beautiful Game’, and is the most popular game around the world. Enjoyed everywhere from playing fields to streets to high schools, soccer is a game everyone can enjoy. However, as fun as it is, to play it properly you need to be fit as well as skillful, and this is where dedicated soccer training comes into effect.

Yet even this needs to be done properly, in order to get the maximum benefit from your soccer training. After all, it’s no good being the fittest player on the park if you have to come off with a pulled muscle because you didn’t warm up properly beforehand. Therefore, making sure you have a set routine for your soccer fitness training is crucial to get the best results every time.

- Warm up. Just like any exercise, you need to make sure your body is completely warmed up before you start your soccer fitness training. This not only loosens up your limbs for the training ahead, but will stop you from injuring yourself. Warm ups can include light jogging, stretching, gentle bouncing on the spot, and even a quick mini-game of kicking the ball back and forth.

- Speed training. Any good soccer coach will tell you that speed is just as important a quality as overall skill. If you can run at defenders and pass them at will to get a cross into your strikers, that’s an added weapon to your team’s arsenal. Set up two cones 50 yards apart, and practice your sprinting between them and back again. This is excellent for a cardio workout, as well as building your leg muscles.

- Stamina training. Another key to any good player is the level of stamina they possess, and this is where dedicated soccer fitness training can help. After all, a game of soccer lasts a minimum 90 minutes, not including extra time if required, so ensuring you can last the pace is crucial. Jogging around the soccer pitch itself a few times will help build up your stamina as well as your overall fitness.

- Aerobic and cardio training. Although the phrase aerobic may bring to mind girls in leotards exercising to music in a hall, you would be surprised at how this can be adapted for soccer fitness training. You obviously don’t need the leotards, but you can still use music to accompany a strong aerobic workout (it’s a proven fact that loud music stimulates endorphins, which in turn give you extra energy). Do quick and intense circuit training exercises for the best effect.

- Five-a-side soccer. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the best ways to benefit from soccer fitness training is to play the game itself, and this is even more so if you play indoor 5-a-side soccer. With a small play area and fast, intense games, this will give your whole body a superb workout, and increase your fitness and stamina levels immensely.

Whatever level of player you are, by taking your soccer fitness training seriously you’ll become not only a better player, but a healthier one as well.

About the Author

If you want more free information on soccer fitness training, please visit our website: www.camatoo.com/Soccer_Fitness/

Tips in Safety in Gymnastics

by Jimmy Cox

With the current interest in safety in the United States, the safe conduct of a sport like gymnastics is essential to its very existence. It is a basic assumption that gymnastics can be conducted safely. To make safety a reality students and teachers alike must be alert. Teachers must explain hazardous qualities of every stunt, and students must take their role as spotters (helpers) seriously.

Every participant can have fun, but no participant should ever fail to carry out his responsibilities as a spotter. Likewise, if a student does not fully understand his spotting assignment, or has not been taught the spot in question, he should inform his instructor promptly so that no unnecessary hazard need be overcome by his buddy.

If a student discovers a potentially hazardous situation relative to the condition of apparatus or other equipment, he should be encouraged to report the condition promptly. The class should recognize that some risk is inherent in any activity, but that needless risk is foolhardy. Needless risks should never be tolerated. The activity is by nature daring, and as such, even under ideal conditions, will test the mettle of any male.

Selection of Apparatus

The selection of apparatus and equipment for gymnastics activities is a very complex undertaking. It is perhaps sufficient to say that quality gymnastics apparatus must be considered a long-term investment. All effort and attention should be directed toward obtaining the best quality material and workmanship. There is no real need to seek a bargain in this area, because the equipment will still be in use 25, 35, even 50 years after the original purchase - if quality materials are selected initially, and effort made to maintain the apparatus.

Care and Repair of Apparatus

There are numerous reasons why equipment should be cared for and maintained in top condition. The foremost reason, of course, is that students would be needlessly injured if allowed to work on faulty equipment. This same consideration might become a financial one if needless injury occurred and a lawsuit developed.

The other chief consideration is that it is financially much more prudent to maintain any sort of equipment in top repair than it is to allow it to depreciate. For instructional purposes, equipment should always be in good repair. In general, it is an excellent policy for the instructor to examine all equipment at least once each week, and for maintenance or engineering personnel to examine the structural aspect of the equipment once each year. Any needed repairs should be made promptly.

Use of Mats for Protection

Mats are much less costly than doctor bills or the inconvenience of injury to students. Sufficient mats should be available to place under the apparatus being used and around the area if dismounts are likely. Wherever possible, the mats should be cut to fit the apparatus and protect the student from making contact with the apparatus itself, in the event of a miscalculation when dismounting.

The Use of Mats for Spotting

Ropes and web belting materials are frequently interlaced beneath mats which are held by six students to provide a pliable landing surface for the student who is attempting a difficult or dangerous stunt, such as the front somersault. Under these circumstances, the mat is usually held about waist high and allowed to descend to approximately six inches above the floor upon contact of the participant.

Protecting the Hands

It is recommended that beginners be introduced to the use of palm protectors early because often the condition of the hands limits the workout period. It seems that boys who work as beginners without protection find it difficult to utilize palm protectors when they become competitors. With particular reference to the horizontal bar, use fine memory cloth to keep the bar free of caked chalk. Always provide plenty of hand chalk, and insist that it be used to keep the hands dry. Take these few safety precautions and all your gymnasts will be much less likely to be injured.

About the Author

Discover The Secrets Most Gymnastics College Only Ever Teach Their Top 1% Of Students!
Click here for FREE online ebook!
http://www.gymnasticscollege.net/

Gripping the Ball in Football Explained

by Jimmy Cox

I shall discuss the art of gripping a football under three main headings: the overhand grip, the thumb grip and the palm grip. Grip and delivery are the mechanics of actually throwing the ball - of getting it up into the air.

The mechanics of throwing the ball must obviously become second nature to the passer if he is going to develop any skill in throwing the ball. No amount of instruction on my part can do that for him - only practice, practice, and yet more practice in throwing countless passes of all kinds will enable him to master the art, regardless of whatever natural ability he may have.

THE GRIP

To pass, you have to hold the ball, and it is no secret that the forward pass has to start with the passer's grip. Although there probably are many methods of gripping the ball, I will discuss only three of the more popular grips. They are the three types of grip that I have observed to be the most widely used in analyzing the different techniques employed by passers on all levels of play - high school, college, and professional. These three types are the overhand grip, the thumb grip, and the palm grip. Each has its particular features which may be preferable for one reason or another. If you can master the one that is most suitable for you, then you won't have to bother much about the others.

THE OVERHAND GRIP. The first grip to be considered, and the big favorite among passers, is the overhand grip .The hand should grip the ball in the following manner: The little finger is placed on the third horizontal lacing with the middle finger approximately an inch directly above the ring finger. The index finger takes a wider spread than the other fingers and at more of an angle so that it almost touches the point of the ball. The thumb almost makes a right angle to the index finger and rests on the underside of the ball. The hand needs to grasp the ball well at the top. It has been my experience that this grip offers the best control, accuracy, and distance. The index finger is the controlling factor and should be the last finger to "feel" leather as the ball is released.

Palming the ball tightly with all four fingers is not as necessary as some people may believe. Beginners use this method extensively and should be discouraged by their instructors because wrapping all fingers around the ball will add nothing to the development of a novice into a genuine passer.

THE THUMB GRIP. The second method of holding the ball to be considered is the thumb grip. Although not as popular as the overhand grip, it has been used successfully by many top-notch passers. This grip finds the thumb resting about an inch above the laces toward the top of the ball. The index is at a right angle to the thumb, and the other fingers are about an inch apart from each other.

THE PALM GRIP. The third method of holding the ball is known as the palm grip. The reason it is being given extensive consideration here is due to its antiquity and widespread use, particularly by high school passers, beginners, and young men with small hands who have to employ it because of a lack of finger-spread. Also, it is the easiest way and the laziest way.

Actually, it isn't even a grip, and almost any other method of throwing is recommended because the palm grip affords little, if any, control over the direction, arc, distance, or accuracy of the ball. Passers using the palm "hold" have been observed to release the ball in a more horizontal, or side-arm, movement to generate the centrifugal force necessary to create a spiral flight.

A final note of warning should still be given. The palm ball can also be knocked out easily from the hand and on a rainy or snowy day, it can be about as tough to handle as a greased eel.

Choose one of these grips and then practice until you have perfected it.

About the Author

Long Lost Manuscript Uncovers The Best Football Training Drills And Strategies Of All Time
Click here for FREE online ebook!
http://www.footballtrainingdrill.com/

Breaking Better In Pool

by Gerald Njuguna

When a break is executed well on the pool table, it gives the player a better advantage
over the other player. Also, when one is consistent in breaking well on the pool table, it results with the cue ball having a better striking position with the other balls. With this, the player gets a better choice of sending the other balls in the pockets with the next shot that he executes.

There are various ways which one can break in a billiard game. One needs to have good physics when striking the ball. Its believed that different pool tables might determine which break will turn out to be the best. Power and Speed are considered to be essential but don't forget that control is needed to handle the power that you put behind that shot.

With much practice, a player will be able to determine how to best make the shots. There are other tricks that one can use to improve their break on the billiard table and ultimately improve their overall game.

Power Break

Power is considered to be crucial and important just as having full contact with the first ball. Most pros in the billiard profession agree that a good break moves at about twenty miles per hour. If you can break faster than 20 mph then the better. In the billiard game the fastest break is considered to be at thirty miles per hour. Your break should be powerful enough but without losing control.

Tips on Achieving a Power Break

Their are various methods you can use to execute a power break. The important thing to note here is that you want a proper transfer of your body weight to help your shoulders and arm strength in wielding the break.

One good technique you can apply is by rocking your body back and forth which assists in transferring the weight from your front leg to the back leg. You might notice players lifting their front legs before they strike. This helps them to transfer their weight to their back leg and then stomp that front leg down on contact to do the reverse.

Breaking better on the 8/9 ball game

One technique you can use on the 8 ball game is to shoot the cue ball between the first ball and the thrid ball at a slight angle almost parallel to the triangle's adjacent side. This is executed from a distance far enough to give the pool player enough space to transfer most power.

On the diamond 9 ball rack, its common to hit the head 1 ball parallel to one of its adjacent side. As you practice more and more on your break, you will discover which stance and power suits you best in as yo play to drop in the wing ball.

The Break Cue

Some billiard players cannot play without the break cue. As you use the break cue, the tip of the cue will get altered and deformed and with time you will need to to replace the tip because it will affect your game. The weight of the cue also matters a lot.

Most professional players usually go for lighter break cues. This is because when the cue is lighter, its much easier for the billiard player to wield it with more power and speed.

About the Author

Visit http://www.pool-billiard-accessories.com to learn more about billiards and the pool. Also learn more about billiard gloves

Short History about Arsenal Football Club

Arsenal Football Club and also known as Gunners is the biggest football club in the North of London city.

Now Arsenal is playing at the English Premier League and it won a lot cup such as

13 times won in Premier League and First Division Cup

1930-1931, 1932-1933, 1933-1934, 1934-1935, 1937-1938, 1947-1948, 1952-1953, 1970-1971
1988-1989, 1990-1991, 1997-1998, 2001-2002, 2003-2004.

10 times won FA Cup are

1929-1930, 1935-1936, 1949-1950, 1970-1971, 1978-1979, 1992-1993, 1997-1998, 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004.

Arsenal is the first club in London that played at final match in UEFA Champions League in 2005-2006.

Charity Shields and Community Shield Cup

1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991( shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004.

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

1969-1970

European Cup Winners' Cup

1993-1994

UEFA Champions League

Runners up in 2005-2006

History

Arsenal was born 1886 that named Royal Arsenal in Woolwich but in 1891 it has new name called Woolwich Arsenal.

In 1893 the club played as professional in the Second League in Enland.

In 1904 the club played at the First League.

In 1932 Woolwich Arsenal change name to Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger (French) is manager of Arsenal, he stayed with club since 1996.

Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Superiority Method

by Malcolm Nossiter

Improve Your Soccer Betting is a series of articles that describe some well known and well used statistical techniques that will help the soccer punter make more informed bets. Each of the techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages and using them in isolation will improve your chances of winning. However, together they will prove invaluable in your battle with the bookies. In each article we will describe in detail how a particular method works giving you enough information for you to go ahead and create your own forecasts. We will also give you information as to where you can already find websites that use this technique in comprising their weekly soccer betting forecasts.

The statistical methods described in this set of articles will help you to arrive at a better decision about the match, or matches, that you are betting on.

In this article we will be describing the well known Superiority method. The Superiority method is based on goal difference (superiority) for both teams in a fixture over the past set number of games.

Here are the basic rules...

Get goal difference for each team. This could be either;

a) All home games only for the home team and all away games only for the away team over the last N games.

Or

b) All games for each team over the last N games.

Next we need to count each occurrence of a particular goal difference. We need to do this for both the home side and the away side. We create a table which holds the counts and in our case we have chosen to have thirteen rows in our table that represent the following goal differences:

INDEX GOAL DIFF 1..........>-5 2..........-5 3..........-4 4..........-3 5..........-2 6..........-1 7..........0 8..........1 9..........2 10........3 11........4 12........5 13........>5

So for our N matches we will add one to the content of each index whenever that goal difference is encountered. This may be a little confusing so let's look at an example.

Arsenal v West Ham

ARSENAL 2 -1 0 0 3 -2 1 1 1 5 1 0 0 -2 WEST HAM 0 0 -2 -3 -1 3 1 -1 -1 2 1 3 0 1

The above shows the goal differences for the last fourteen matches for Arsenal and West Ham, now let's add these to our goal difference table:

INDEX GOAL DIFF ARSENAL WEST HAM 1..........>-5.......0..........0 2..........-5.........0..........0

3..........-4.........0..........0 4..........-3.........0..........1 5..........-2.........2..........1 6..........-1.........1..........3

7..........0..........4..........3 8..........1..........4..........3 9..........2..........1..........1 10........3..........1..........2

11........4..........0..........0 12........5..........1..........0 13........>5........0..........0

Now each home team array count is added to the opposite array count for the away side. So, the home teams' array index 13 is added to the away teams' array index 1, the home teams array index 12 is added to the away teams array index 2, etc. In our example this gives us;

INDEX GOAL DIFF COMBINED 1..........>-5.........0 2..........-5...........0 3..........-4...........0 4..........-

3...........2 5..........-2...........3 6..........-1...........4 7..........0............7 8..........1............7 9..........2............2

10........3............2 11........4............0 12........5............1 13........>5..........0

The forecast can now be determined. If we assume that a draw is represented by array index 7 then array indexes 1 to 6 represent an away win, and array indexes 8 to 13 represent a home win. So, the home win counts are totalled and so are the away win counts. In our example this gives us;

AWAY WIN9 DRAW7 HOME WIN12

The total number of counts = 28 Therefore, Away win possibility = 32% Draw possibility = 25% Home win possibility = 43%.

Now it's your turn...

Of course you may choose to use different values to those shown above and by experimenting you may come up with better values to use.

If you have the necessary skills you could go away and build your own spreadsheet of data or even write a piece of software to take in results and fixtures and apply the Superiority method to your data. Or, if you're lazy like me, you could grab some free software that already does this for you. If this last option is for you then visit 1X2Monster where you can download a FREE copy of the Footyforecast 2.0 soccer betting software which utilises all of the statistical methods described in this series of articles. You will also be able to download FREE weekly database updates for your software, how cool is that?

Here is a list of all the articles in this series...

Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Rateform Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Footyforecast Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Win Draw Loss Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Simple Sequence Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Score Prediction Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Superiority Method

About the Author
Malcolm Nossiter is the owner of 1x2monster.com and footyforecast.com. He has been providing hundreds of 1X2 tips every week since 1999. Please visit 1x2monster.com for a fountain of information on soccer betting.

Short Biography of Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima is the full name of super Brazilian football player. He was born on September 22 1976 in Bento Riberio city Brazil. He was the best player of the Brazil National Football Team. Now he is playing at the biggest football club in Italy called AC Milan.

March 2004 Pele (fomer great Brazilian's history football player) gave another name for him that called The Phenomenon .

His Success:

In 1994 - 2002 he helps Brazil won FIFA World Cup.

In 1996, 1997, 2002 he won FIFA Player of the year.

His Life Time:

The first time he played football was on every small roads where he lived.

April 1999 he got marry with Milene Domingues.

In 2000 they have one child.

In 2002 he divorced with his wife.

His Football Time:

In 1993 when he was 14, he helped Brazil Youth Team won World Cup. He played for Cruzeiro Esporte Club and shot 12 goals in 14 matches and helped the club won Brazilian National Championship.

In 1994-1996 he moved to play for PSV Eindhoven which cost 6millions dolar and shot 51 goals in 53 matches.

In 1996-1997 he played for Barcelona and helped the club won a lot of cup like:

1. Copa Del Rey

2. European Cup

3. UEFA Cup

shot 39 goals in 44 matches.

In 1997-2002 he played for Inter Milian, shot 59 goals in 99 matches.

In 2002-2007 he played for Real Madrid, shot 98 goals in 166 matches.

January 8 2007 he playing for AC Milian, shot 7 goals in 12 matches.

Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Score Prediction Method

by Malcolm Nossiter

Improve Your Soccer Betting is a series of articles that describe some well known and well used statistical techniques that will help the soccer punter make more informed bets. Each of the techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages and using them in isolation will improve your chances of winning. However, together they will prove invaluable in your battle with the bookies. In each article we will describe in detail how a particular method works giving you enough information for you to go ahead and create your own forecasts. We will also give you information as to where you can already find websites that use this technique in comprising their weekly soccer betting forecasts.

The statistical methods described in this set of articles will help you to arrive at a better decision about the match, or matches, that you are betting on.

In this article we will be describing the well known Score Prediction method. The Score Prediction method uses a teams goal performances over a specified period of time in order to predict the score of the game concerned.

Here are the basic rules...

As an example of the Score Prediction method this is how Footyforecast and 1X2Monster handle this method. This is an example of a match and each teams respective goal count for the last five games:

home team 3-3 1-0 4-1 0-2 2-1 away team 0-1 2-2 0-3 6-0 1-3

We can work out some figures from this as follows:

home teams goals scored for = HGF = 3 + 1 + 4 + 0 + 2 = 10

away teams goals scored for = AGF = 1 + 2 + 3 + 0 + 3 = 9

home teams goals against = HGA = 3 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 7

away teams goals against = AGA = 0 + 2 + 0 + 6 + 1 = 9

Now we can work out points for each team based on the goals they have scored and the goals they have had scored against them as follows:

home goal points = HGP = HGF + AGA = 10 + 9 = 19

away goals points = AGP = HGA + AGF = 7 + 9 = 16

And now we can get a difference:

goal points difference = GPD = HGP - AGP = 19 - 16 = 3

Now we could classify this as follows:

GPD => +2 then home win, GPD =< -2 then away win GPD -2 then draw.

These parameters are obviously fairly arbitrary but experience should allow you to tune them more carefully. Now we must use the GPD and one of three tables. Here are the tables...

Home WIn Score Prediction HOME AWAY HGSP GOALS AGSP >0 >11 >17 >26
>49 6 0 1 2 3 >43 5 0 1 2 3 >37 4 0 1 2 3 >30 3 0 1 2 >23 2 0 1 >0 1 0

Away WIn Score Prediction AWAY HOME AGSP GOALS HGSP >23 >18 >13 >0
>34 5 3 2 1 0 >29 4 3 2 1 0 >24 3 2 1 0 >18 2 2 1 0 >0 1 2 1 0

Draw Score Prediction HOME + AWAY SCORE
>44 3-3 >34 2-2 >24 1-1 >0 0-0

Since our match has generated a home win prediction then we must use the HOME WIN SCORE PREDICTION table to obtain our score prediction. To do this we need to calculate another parameter, that of home goal score points as follows:

HGSP = HGP + all goals scored by home team of 3 or more in a match + all goals against the away side of 3 or more.

therefore HGSP = 19 + 7 + 6 = 32

Now do the same for the away team:

AGSP = AGP + all goals scored by away team of 3 or more in a match + all goals against the home side of 3 or more.

therefore AGSP = 16 + 6 + 3 = 25

So, in the home win score prediction table we go to HOME > 30 which gives us 3 goals for the home team and go to AWAY > 17 giving us two goals for the away team therefore the result is predicted as a 3-2 home win.

Now it's your turn...

Of course you may choose to use different values to those shown above and by experimenting you may come up with better values to use.

If you have the necessary skills you could go away and build your own spreadsheet of data or even write a piece of software to take in results and fixtures and apply the Score Prediction method to your data. Or, if you're lazy like me, you could grab some free software that already does this for you. 1X2Monster and Footyforecast have been providing this kind of facility since 1999. A total of seven different statistical methods are used to determine the outcome of each game played in each league, and a comprehensive record of how each method in each game performed is kept. Apart from how each tip performed within its respective league 1X2Monster also provides the league tables of how each league has performed in successfully predicting outcomes of games. The league tables of prediction performance are produced for home win predictions, draw predictions, away win predictions, and for overall predictions and are invaluable tools to the soccer punter when deciding where to target their European soccer betting predictions.

Here is a list of all the articles in this series...

How To Make A Profit From FREE 1X2 Soccer Picks Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Rateform Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Footyforecast Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Win Draw Loss Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Simple Sequence Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Score Prediction Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Superiority Method

About the Author

Malcolm Nossiter is the owner of 1x2monster.com and footyforecast.com. He has been providing hundreds of 1X2 tips every week since 1999. Please visit 1x2monster.com for a fountain of information on soccer betting.

Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Win Draw Loss Method

by Malcolm Nossiter

Improve Your Soccer Betting is a series of articles that describe some well known and well used statistical techniques that will help the soccer punter make more informed bets. Each of the techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages and using them in isolation will improve your chances of winning. However, together they will prove invaluable in your battle with the bookies. In each article we will describe in detail how a particular method works giving you enough information for you to go ahead and create your own forecasts. We will also give you information as to where you can already find websites that use this technique in comprising their weekly soccer betting forecasts.

The statistical methods described in this set of articles will help you to arrive at a better decision about the match, or matches, that you are betting on.

In this article we will be describing the well known Win Draw Loss method.

Here are the basic rules...

The Win, Draw, Loss method is very simple and takes into account the proportion of past wins, draws, and losses over a specified period of time. By calculating the number of wins, draws and losses for both the home and away sides and then combining them it is possible to produce a statistical probability of the possible outcome of the game.

Here is how a typical calculation is made...

1. For a specified period of time the number of wins, losses, and draws are counted for each side. This could be for a whole season or you may wish to have a rolling time period, say the last six months for example.

2. The percentage probabilities for home wins, draws, and away wins are then made. For example, the home win percentage is calculated as follows:

(( HW + AL) * 100) / total number of matches

Where,

HW = number of home wins by home team AL = number of away losses by away team Once you have a percentage probability for each outcome a decision can be made on the most likely outcome.

Let's look at a simple example of how you could apply this...

First of all you would collect the data for a specified period of time and for each of the three possible outcomes, i.e.

HW = number of home wins for home team HD = number of draws for home team HL = number of home losses for home team AW = number of away wins for away team AD = number of draws for away team AL = number of away losses for away team

TOTALGAMES = HW + HD + HL + AW + AD + AL

HOMEWIN = ((HW + AL)*100)/TOTALGAMES DRAW = ((HD+AD)*100)/TOTALGAMES

AWAYWIN = ((HL + AW)*100)/TOTALGAMES

This gives you a percentage probability for each of the three possible outcomes.

Now let's extend this to provide 1, X, 2, 1X, and X2 predictions...

To do this we can employ a simple voting system, here is how it works:

First we set three thresholds;

DRAWTHRESHOLD = 35% AWAYTHRESHOLD = 45% HOMETHRESHOLD = 55%

Then we initialise our voting counts for each method;

DRAWP = 0 HOMEP = 0 AWAYP = 0

Now we compare each of the calculated probabilities against our thresholds to arrive at a vote count for each outcome;

IF DRAW > DRAWTHRESHOLD THEN DRAWP = DRAWP + 3 ELSE HOMEP = HOMEP + 1

AWAYP = AWAYP + 1 END IF

IF AWAYWIN > AWAYTHRESHOLD THEN AWAYP = AWAYP + 3 ELSE HOMEP = HOMEP + 1 DRAWP = DRAWP + 1 END IF

IF HOMEWIN > HOMETHRESHOLD THEN HOMEP = HOMEP + 3 ELSE DRAWP = DRAWP + 1 AWAYP = AWAYP + 1 END IF

This means we now have a total vote count for each of the three possible outcomes. Next we can deduce our final 1, X, 2, 1X, and X2 predictions based on the voting as follows;

IF HOMEP > AWAYP AND HOMEP > DRAWP THEN PREDICTION = "1" ELSEIF AWAYP >
HOMEP AND AWAYP > DRAWP THEN PREDICTION = "2" ELSEIF DRAWP > HOMEP AND DRAWP > AWAYP THEN PREDICTION = "3" ELSEIF HOMEP = DRAWP AND HOMEP > AWAYP THEN PREDICTION = "1X" ELSEIF AWAYP = DRAWP AND AWAYP > HOMEP THEN PREDICTION = "X2" ELSEIF HOMEP = DRAWP AND HOMEP = AWAYP THEN PREDICTION = "X"

Now it's your turn...

Of course you may choose to use different values to those shown above and by experimenting you may come up with better values to use. So, you could create better threshold values and decide to collect data over any period of time you like. Experimenting with threshold values and durations will let you home in on the best settings for you.

If you have the necessary skills you could go away and build your own spreadsheet of data or even write a piece of software to take in results and fixtures and apply the Win Draw Loss method to your data. Or, if you're lazy like me, you could grab some free software that already does this for you. 1X2Monster and Footyforecast have been providing this kind of facility since 1999. A total of seven different statistical methods are used to determine the outcome of each game played in each league, and a comprehensive record of how each method in each game performed is kept. Apart from how each tip performed within its respective league 1X2Monster also provides the league tables of how each league has performed in successfully predicting outcomes of games. The league tables of prediction performance are produced for home win predictions, draw predictions, away win predictions, and for overall predictions and are invaluable tools to the soccer punter when deciding where to target their European soccer betting predictions.

Here is a list of all the articles in this series...

How To Make A Profit From FREE 1X2 Soccer Picks Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Rateform Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Footyforecast Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Win Draw Loss Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Simple Sequence Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Score Prediction Method Improve Your Soccer Betting Using The Superiority Method

About the Author

Malcolm Nossiter is the owner of 1x2monster.com and footyforecast.com. He has been providing hundreds of 1X2 tips every week since 1999. Please visit 1x2monster.com for a fountain of information on soccer betting.

Why is Football called Football?

by Gerry Hartigan

In most parts of the world Soccer is called Football except here in the US where it is called Soccer. Now, the reason it is called Football is because for about ninety five percent of the game players used their feet to kick the ball. The only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands are the goalkeepers. So, you see it makes sense that the game is called Football in most parts of the world.

Now, let's talk about American Football. In most games only one player kicks the ball with his foot, the rest of the players either throw the ball with their hands or they catch the ball with their hands. There is very little use of the Foot in American Football. My recommendation is this. Let's change the name of American Football to Throwball and then we can call Soccer Football in the USA like the rest of the world does. Does'nt that make sense to you too? I think the world would be a happier place if order was restored and American Football became Throwball and Soccer became Football in the USA.

People would be happier and live longer and peace would be restored to the Cosmos.

About the Author

Gerry holds a Masters Degree in Management, has traveled to seventy countries around the world and is a great seminar and conference speaker. Visit his web site at www.gerryhartigan.com or email him at info@gerryhartigan.com

3 Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills Individually

by Niv Orlian

If you're looking for ways to improve soccer skills individually, you've come to the right place. I know that soccer team practice sometimes just isn't enough if you want to become great. Just take a look at most of the great soccer players in activity. They always say that they spend a lot of hours off-pitch improving their soccer skills, which makes them so good in matches. But simply training after hours isn't enough, you need to train intelligently, after a rigorous program.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills - DVD Programs

There's a lot of these babies around the Internet these days, so if you're planning on buying a DVD program for individual soccer practice, make sure it's a serious author that created it and it's not some lame compilation of soccer highlights with subtitles saying "Do this and you'll be great".

A quality DVD program is a great way to improve soccer skills, because it allows a certain level of interactivity to your learning. It's not like learning from a TV show, because with DVD's you can go straight to the chapter that interests you, you can go back and review stuff over and over again until you get the picture.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills - Skill Focusing

If you notice that there's a certain area in your game that isn't on par with your other skills, focus on it to get it on level terms. Having an unbalanced skill set is extremely damaging to your game. For example, you could be very fast and strong, but if you don't have good ball control, you won't be able to use your physical skills for anything.

Same goes with players that are extremely technical but very weak on their feet, so improving your soccer skills in a balanced way is best. Also, you could focus on your best skill not your worst one. Are you a good long range shooter? Make that your trademark. Practice long shots over and over again and your teammates will soon know that they need to create space for your shots and you'll be able to score more often. You could also make a trademark of your heading, your passing, your set pieces and so forth.

Best Ways to Improve Soccer Skills - Variation

Never allow a particular exercise or drill become boring routine, or you risk entering a stalemate with your soccer skills. Whatever you're practicing, go for alternative techniques. For example, if you're practicing dribbling, don't just focus on a single type of dribble, effective as it may be. You will need to have a varied repertoire of dribbles if you want to stand up to your different adversaries.

In conclusion, you will probably want to combine these three methods, not just use them separately. Use a DVD program to cover the theoretical aspects of your practice and use the other two as practical methods of getting your skills up. You should be gaining an edge in no time!

About the Author

Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer.

Wants to Improve your Soccer Skills? For more info on how to play soccer like the pros click here.

How to Practice Self Defense

by Jimmy Cox

The word Ketsugo means combination. In essence it is a combination of the best and most effective self defense moves from the greatest methods of hand-to-hand combat ever devised.

Training and Condition

As Ketsugo is a physical art, training and condition are most essential. In considering your diet, it is wise to eat well, eat an abundance of high protein foods, stay away from an excess of sugar, starches and fats, drink plenty of liquids, avoid intemperate drinks and remember that your body needs the proper amount and types of vitamins. The proper diet is certainly the first step toward good conditioning.

In Ketsugo, it is not the muscular strength that is important, but the speed and accuracy with which a movement is performed that spells the difference between the success and failure of a defense. You can improve your speed and perfect your coordination with some simple techniques. Study these techniques and you will greatly increase your effectiveness in Ketsugo.

Suspend a rubber ball from the ceiling or door frame. This can be done by making a hole in the ball with a knife or ice pick, forcing a piece of string through it, and tying a knot at the end of the string so the ball will not slip off. Practice hitting the ball with light blows using both hands.

Then, practice hitting the ball while it is moving, remembering that accuracy and speed should be your only considerations - not power. In a similar manner, practice kicking the ball while it is moving, alternating your feet. Again, practice for speed and accuracy.

Jumping rope is, oddly enough, one of the best ways of improving your speed and coordination. Try this until you can jump without hitting the rope with your feet, continually trying to increase the speed of your jump and movement of the rope.

Glue a rubber sponge to the end of a stick. With your partner, practice blocking blows from the stick, having your partner increase his attack as your ability improves. Practice kicking and slashing, using force and speed as you progress. An integral part of conditioning for Ketsugo are the warming-up exercises that should be done before each practice.

For a trunk-twisting exercise, twist your body as far as you can in circular motions in both directions, without moving the feet.

To loosen your joints, relax your muscles while shaking your wrists and ankles. Another good exercise for warming-up is called rabbit-hopping. As the name implies you hop up and forward like a rabbit. Increase your distance every day until you can hop and jump for a distance of 100 feet.

Another important part of conditioning is proper breathing. If you are an average person, you are probably not breathing correctly right now. Most of us take breathing for granted. However, it is important to note that correct breathing is an aid to the more active muscular coordination necessary for lightning defense.

In order to obtain maximum physical and psychological strength at a critical moment when a gasp for breath could put you at a terrific disadvantage, practice the breathing exercise. Stand erect and inhale very slowly. Then hold your breath for as long as you can without straining or becoming uncomfortable. Finally, exhale in a rapid, forceful style through the mouth so that the air gushes out. Repeat this exercise every day, holding your breath a little longer each time.

So far we have dealt only with the physical training and conditioning of your body. Now let us deal briefly with your mental well being. Since Ketsugo involves a direct encounter between two or more human beings, the psychological factors brought into play are very important. It is important to remember to be as calm as the surface of still water when facing an attacker.

If you are upset, you may miss the one weakness that may exist in an adversary's movement. When you are attacked, never forget the finality of the enemy's move. Watch carefully for an opening and apply the proper techniques.

Remember these principles and you will be well on your way to defending yourself.

About the Author

Never Be Afraid Again - Learn How To Defend Yourself From Any Attack

Click here for FREE online ebook!
http://www.martialartsstyles.org/

Unlock the Secrets of the Art of Judo

by Jimmy Cox

With the rapid expansion of interest in judo throughout the world today, there has developed a need for more understanding of the art and science of this sport. The terms jujitsu and judo are common to our knowledge, but the difference in their meaning is not too clear.

Judo is a derivative of jujitsu and is the correct term used to refer to that art in today's language. The word judo specifically explains the truer meaning of the art as it is practiced today. The "ju" part of the word means "gentleness" or "giving way" and implies a flexibility of techniques, while the "do" part means "way" and signifies the application of the "ju" principle in the execution of the techniques, not only in the physical exertions of the judoist but also in his mental attitude. The older "jitsu", which was replaced by "do", meant "technique" or "art".

We can say that judo is an art because it is a method of arriving at self-realization and true self-expression. We can further say that judo is a science because it implies mastery of various laws of nature: gravity, friction, momentum, velocity, weight transmission, and unison of forces. In its most important phase, it constitutes a kind of higher logic developed through practice and the ascension of the true personality: a realization of the spiritual self in the philosophic rather than the religious sense of the word.

The study of judo without the realization of its secrets - that is, its metaphysical side - leaves one in partial mental emptiness. We must first realize that the study of true judo is symbolic of mental attitudes and behavior. The subconscious mind is where our behavior patterns are collected in a vast reservoir of our years of experience.

When we are able to tap these resources we can build our personalities anew, developing positive attitudes and, in the end, mastering the purely physical. It has been said, in regard to a judo expert's level of mental development, that "the arms are an extension of the mind".
Training in judo disciplines the mind through physical-symbolic exercises, bringing about a maturity of the skill of higher logic. It is the use of this skill that characterizes the mental reaction of the judoist to a given situation when it arises. This serenity of mind is developed in proper judo practice, but the true reservoir of mental composure is built through Zen meditation.

Zen is a relative form of yoga, without the difficult gymnastic feats. Through correct breathing and proper postural discipline, one creates a mental state of reserved energy. Throughout the meditation period, the Zen student concentrates on "nothingness" and accepts no opposing force of any kind. He seats himself in a kneeling-sitting position in a state of relaxation as nearly complete as possible.

There seems, however, to be no serious reason for the Western judoist to adopt this practice, since the Zen effect is embodied in the exercises of judo itself.

The beginning judoist should realize that it is better to learn the basic techniques and principles well than to oversaturate the mind with hundreds of subsidiary techniques that cannot possibly be mastered in one lifetime. In other words, it is better for the student of judo to perfect himself in the basic techniques and principles in order to set an impression on his subconscious mind. This is the result most to be desired.

Once these symbolic exercises have been impressed upon the mind, the new, positive, expert attitude to situations begins to develop. Two good judo maxims illustrate the purpose of such training: Seiryoku zenyo means "the maximum efficient use of physical and mental energy" and jita kyoei, "mutual welfare and benefit".

Self-defense in judo is only one basic aspect of this art. The nucleus must be mental control, in order that mastery of the self-defense techniques may be achieved. It is important for us to realize that even though Zen originated in a religious environment, it is a philosophy and can be applied to any of our personal beliefs.

Now you understand some of the philosophy of judo, it is time for you to begin the practice!

About the Author

Long Lost Manuscript Resurfaces With The Well Kept Secrets Of A Judo Teacher!

Click here for FREE online ebook!
http://www.judoteacher.net/

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Oct. 29, 2007 Edition

by The Soccer Source

Here we go, folks. The list you've all been waiting for. This past week saw a full slate of club action, both domestic and continental. There were several upsets, but mostly this was about the planet's top teams staking their claims. Meanwhile, some of the pretenders (you know who you are, Man. City) were exposed. In other words: things are starting to take shape. The cream is rising to the top:

1. (1) Arsenal. What kind of a Spurs fan am I to put the Arse first for the second week in a row?!? This makes them the first repeat #1 since I started the list. And the Gunners didn't even win this weekend! True, but neither did last week's #2, Inter. In fact the Milan side played Palermo to a scoreless tie. Last week's #3, Bayern Munich, did the same, at Dortmund. I couldn't reward that. Besides, Arsene Wenger's men were faced with a formidable task, playing at Anfield in a clash of the Premiership's last two unbeaten teams. A great game that probably could have gone either way, but no arguing Arsenal deserved the point. I can forgive them for not getting three. Their Champions League spanking of poor Slavia Prague bolsters their case, as margin-of-victory tends to do in these rankings.

2. (2) Inter Milan. Okay, so playing at Palermo may not have been as tough as playing at Anfield. Still, the scoreless draw is acceptable as the Sicilian side was fifth in Serie A going into the weekend. The Nerazzurri also did well pulling out a mid-week Champions League game at CSKA Moscow. Inter was down 1-0 at halftime, but goals by Hernan Crespo and Walter Samuel gave them three important points.

3. (4) Manchester United. Last week at this time I said I didn't see much of a chance of Man U slipping up. I was right. Impressive victories at Dynamo Kiev and home to Middlesbrough. But now things get very interesting. Travel to Emirates Stadium Saturday in the biggest game of the season thus far. Not just the Premiership season. Any league's.

4. (3) Bayern Munich. Their UEFA Cup victory at whatever the team that used to be called Red Star Belgrade is now known as was impressive. The scoreless draw at Borussia Dortmund in weekend Bundesliga action? Less so. It only cost them one spot by virtue of the fact that Dortmund is always a tough place to play--even when the team is crap, like they are (so far) this year.

5. (7) Real Madrid. Solid victories in both games this week. The first, to #15 Olympiakos in Champions League action at Bernabeu, was more impressive because Real had to battle back twice, before winning 4-2. Sunday's victory over Deportivo La Coruna also saw them come from behind. Face a tough week: at #22 Valencia Wednesday and at Sevilla Saturday.

6. (5) Barcelona. Beat Almeira to firmly establish second place in La Liga for themselves (Real is first, natch) but dropped one spot in this table due to the scoreless draw at #21 Rangers.

7. (10) Chelsea. I promised Blues fans their team would break into the top ten with two wins. I keep my promises. It's their first appearance at these heights, after beating Schalke in the UCL and--more impressively--Man Sh...City 6-0 in Premiership action. Suddenly look like contenders--for a number of trophies.

8. (8) FC Porto. Only played one game this week, a 1-1 Champions League draw at Marseille Wednesday. Face Leixoes (I've never heard of them either) today and Belenenses Sunday in Portuguese league action. Will probably need to win both to keep their spot in the top 10.

9. (19) Olympique Lyon. How do I justify this massive jump in the table? Easy. Lyon won both their games, both on the road (granted both at teams--VfB Stuttgart and Paris SG--that have seen better days) and each of the 10 teams ahead of them had at least one loss--some to truly inferior opponents.

10. (6) Juventus. As a team that does not have a chance to prove themselves against the continent's best this season, the "Old Lady" needs to do very well domestically. They weren't up to the task, losing to Napoli, 3-1. But can make up for it with home games against Empoli and then Inter this week.

11. (-) Roma. Why is a newcomer this high on the list? Two reasons: impressive victories at Sporting Lisbon (2-1) and at AC Milan (1-0). More importantly, this team plays an attacking, entertaining style. Unusual (I thought impossible. I was wrong) for an Italian side.

12. (-) Benfica Lisbon. Another newcomer? Believe it. Doing well in Champs League, beating Celtic last week and are second behind #8 Porto in the domestic league, where they won again Sunday. Thanks again to Fredy Adu, who again scored the winner, again minutes before time, this after not starting. Again. And you thought the Swiss press was tough on U.S. soccer players? But that's all right Fredy! Keep up the good work!

13. (14) PSV Eindhoven. Played Fenerbace to a scoreless draw at home in mid-week Champions League play and beat up on some crap Dutch team over the weekend. Moved up one spot not through the quality of these performances, but because they didn't lose like everybody else in this part of last week's table.

14. (20) Club America. The Mexico City side knocked Vasco da Gama out of the Copa Sudamericana at midweek, before beating Chivas in the 199th edition of "El Clasico" at Azteca last night. A game that convinced me they belong, even (especially?) at these heights.

15. (12) Olympiakos. I was all set to forgive their 4-2 loss to Real, but then they went and played a 3-3 tie at Ergotelis, who sit second-from-last in the Greek league. So they dropped a few spots.

16. (13) Liverpool. Tough loss at #19 Besiktas Istanbul in Champs League, but showed their class by leading #1 Arsenal for 70-some minutes at Anfield Sunday. Clearly a top team, but may not make it past the CL group stages. There's always UEFA, but may not make that either.

18. (11) Villareal. A week after beating mighty Barca, played one good game in the UEFA Cup (a 1-1 tie at Fiorentina) and one terrible one (a 4-1 loss at Zaragoza). Could fall further, with trip to Atletico Madrid this weekend.

19. (-) Besiktas Istanbul. Huge win against Reds got them on the list. Would have made a higher debut had they won their Turkish league match. Unfortunately, all they could muster was a scoreless draw against some other Istanbul club whose name I didn't recognize (not Galatasaray or Fenerbace).

20. (21) Dynamo Zagreb. Beat some Croatian team on the road and are still unbeaten (and only once tied) in that country's league. Haven't been tested yet but UEFA Cup coming up Nov. 8 (home to Switzerland's FC Basle, so maybe it won't be much of a test).

21. (15) Rangers. Nice game against Barca, but unfortunately let it go to their heads and lost to Dundee to fall behind Celtic in SPL. When's the next Old Firm derby?

22. (16) Valencia. Lost at Rosenborg in Champions League and then beat coach-less Sevilla. Host #5 Real Madrid Wednesday. We'll see what they're made of then.

23. (22) Celtic Glasgow. Champs League loss at Benfica hurt, but currently sit top of the SPL table thanks to impressive victory versus Motherwell Saturday. 24. (-) Santos Laguna. Nice win at Atlas (by 5-2 score), got them back to the top 25 after a two week absence. Sit tops of their Apertura group with only one loss in 14 games.

25. (-) Werder Bremen. Made it into the top 25 by virtue of a strong week. Beat Lazio (Champions League) and tied at Schalke. Pretty smooth sailing ahead: Home games against Duisburg in the DFB Pokal and Hansa Rostock in Bundesliga.

Dropping out: Manchester City (9), Chivas (17), Sao Paulo (18), Espanyol Barcelona (23), Portsmouth (24), Shakhtar Donetsk (25) Also receiving consideration: Hamburg SV, Atletico Madrid, River Plate, Blackburn, Fiorentina, Bordeaux, Rosenborg, Fenerbace.

Commentary Lots of movement this week. I wasn't aware of how many upsets there were until I did this list. Basically, every team in last week's middle tier lost at least one game. This was especially true of Spanish clubs, though Real and Barca proved the exception there. Still, the latter's scoreless draw at Ibrox, while not a loss, counted against them, especially with Gers losing in the Scottish league yesterday. This because losses to quality competition are not punished in the polls as severely as losses to crap teams. I'm not saying Gers are crap--and even if they are, they still didn't beat Barca--but losing to Dundee United doesn't exactly cast them in a good light. So how did Inter and Arsenal get away with keeping their rankings even though they also tied inferior opponents on the road? Especially in Gunners' case, with Liverpool losing to Besiktas earlier in the week? This because Liverpool's loss at Besiktas was to quality competition. Gers loss to Dundee was not. So Liverpool was not punished as severely either, which made Arsenal's tie with them more excusable. And Palermo have been in good form in Serie A, so the same applied with them and Inter. Yeah, yeah I know Dundee is now third in the SPL, but for all its charms the SPL is still not as good as Serie A. Finally, I am aware that Man City were ninth last week but are this week nowhere to be found. That's because they simply didn't look like a top 25 team at Stamford Bridge Saturday. I looked at City's schedule and found exactly one quality win--against Man United back on Aug. 19, when Sir Alex' troops weren't exactly in midseason form. Other than that they've beaten Derby, West Ham, Villa, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Birmingham. No offense, but D.C. United could probably beat most of those teams. Bottom line, City's top ten ranking last week was clearly inflated and it will probably take quite a bit for them to make a return trip.

Still with me? I didn't think so. I hope the ratings criteria, as it is--and it's still a work in progress--makes sense. If you're in the U.S. and/or familiar with college football's Byzantine rankings system, it might. Either that or you can at least identify with its nonsensical qualities. But hang in there. It gets pretty intuitive after awhile.

About the Author

A lifelong soccer fanatic who covers the New York Red Bulls for Cyber Soccer Associates. He has a day job reporting on a completely different industry. Email soccersource at gmail.com for more information.

How to Begin To Learn Football

by Jimmy Cox

More than any other sport, football seems most truly American. Some 350 years ago, the early settlers of our land had teams, goals, and a ball that they kicked around an open field.

True, the game they played can hardly be compared to the modern game we watch in our huge stadiums and on nationwide television, but then, what has remained the same throughout the last three and one-half centuries?

Football has grown right along with our nation and our way of life.

Running

In earlier days, football was just a game that the name suggests. The players moved the ball by kicking it with their feet. Gradually, as high schools and colleges took up the game during the 1800's, it became popular to pick up the ball and run with it. Later, throwing the ball through the air from one player to another won its place in the strategy of the game.

However, of these three basic forms of moving the ball - kicking, running, and passing - running with the ball must be regarded as the most important. Running plays are used most frequently and there are a greater variety of them.

Just a word about your equipment. Do not try any blocking or tackling without proper and complete uniforms, including well-padded helmets. The sandlot, or the corner playground, or your back yard, are all good spots to practice your football maneuvers and to have your neighborhood games, but always remember - no blocking and no tackling without full uniforms!

Packing the Pigskin

(NOTE: As most boys are right-handed, we will give our instructions for a right-hander. Now, of course, we have nothing against left-handers! There are great ones in all sports. If you are a natural southpaw, just switch the word "right" for "left" and "left" for "right" wherever these words appear in the instructions.)

THE PROPER CARRY of the ball is when the fingers are over the right point of the ball, while the opposite point is forced into the pocket formed by the elbow and body.

1. Carry the ball with the fingers of your right hand over one point (or end) of the ball. Your right arm should be bent so that you can tuck the other point of the ball into the pocket formed by your elbow. Force the ball securely into this pocket with a hard pressure from the fingers of your right hand. Snug the ball against your right ribs.

You have probably noticed on television that great college and professional players often carry the ball away from their bodies. When you start appearing on television, you can carry the ball that way, too! Until that time, "pack the pigskin" as described above.

2. Actually, in carrying the football, you should be equally good with either hand. If an opponent comes at you from your right side with the intention of tackling you, make a quick shift of the ball from your right side to your left side. This frees your right arm for a "straight-arm" on the would-be tackier. The shift of the ball is made as follows:

(a) Bring your left hand over on top of the ball and move your right hand, with the ball, over along the lower part of your stomach toward your left side.

(b) The left hand grasps the point of the ball which is in the pocket of the right elbow.

(c) Your arms appear to be folded in front of your stomach. Each hand grasps a point of the ball.

(d) The right hand guides the point of the ball it has been covering into the pocket formed by the left elbow. The right hand is pulled away to begin the straight-arm maneuver.

(e) The left hand brings the other point of the ball around, the fingers pressuring the ball firmly back into the pocket of the left elbow and snug against the left ribs.

These five actions must be combined into one quick, smooth, continuous movement in order for it to be successful.

Master this maneuver and you will have started to know the game of football.

About the Author

You Won't Find A Better Instruction Manual That Lays Out In Great Detail On How To Play

Football

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The Importance of Soccer Pre game Warm Up

by Niv Orlian

Soccer warm up exercises are the most frequent in pre match situations and training. there's no other type of exercise that a soccer player will spend more time with then with warm up. Professional teams usually spend around 30 minutes of their training sessions on a quality warm up, because this has three major effects on players, effects that we will discuss in the following paragraphs.

-Soccer Pre game Warm up - Avoiding Injuries
Our muscles and tendons can easily cause problems if they are used at their fullest without a proper series of soccer warm up drills. The muscles work on the same principle as an elastic string would. Pull it slowly and the elastic will be able to stretch without problems, but if you pull it in one quick motion, there's a risk it might snap. Ok, your muscles won't just "snap" if you use them intensely without the proper warm up, but there's a good chance you might strain them or develop other injuries.
That's why a good part of soccer warm up drills includes stretching exercises, which slowly get your muscles used to the effort.

-The Importance of Soccer Pre game Warm up - Higher Performance
It's not called warming up for nothing: when performing these exercises, you actually warm your muscles and entire body, allowing it to be ready for effort. By performing soccer pre game warm up exercises, you set your muscles, heart rate and breathing to the same levels you will be using in the match, so you can easily accommodate to the variables that the match brings.
Try this very simple exercise to test this theory: warm up for 30 minutes thoroughly, using a wide range of soccer warm up drills that work with your entire body, not just your legs. After you're done, do 5-10 sprints on the width of the soccer pitch and measure your heart rate and the general difficulty of each sprint.
Now, come back in another day, do a couple of stretching exercises so you don't develop any injuries and simply start sprinting (the same number of sprints as the day before), without getting a proper warm up beforehand. You will notice that you will have harder time breathing throughout and between the sprints, they will be harder to perform and at the end, your heart rate will be much higher than yesterday, meaning that your body had a harder time adjusting to the high level of effort.

-The Importance of Soccer Pre game Warm up - Concentration
This is strictly related to the other two benefits of a quality warm up. Knowing that you're fully prepared for the match/training session and that there's no risk of injury, you will be a lot more focused on the game and on doing your job right. Soccer warm up exercises will also get your body ready for the effort as I explained above and this has a positive effect on concentration. When you're not focusing on having to breathe right or stopping to catch your breath, you can, again, concentrate on your job.
These should be enough reasons to convince you of the importance of soccer warm up exercises. If you're a player that wants to give his or her best on the soccer pitch, your first concern will be giving your best in the soccer pre game warm up drills.

About the Author
Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer.
Wants to Improve your Soccer Conditioning? For the complete guide to soccer fitness click here.

Soccer Field Dimensions

by Niv Orlian

Back in the day when soccer was in its infancy, soccer field layout was rather irregular in its dimensions and this created several problems for the players. One player from, say, York would play on a field that was 60 yards long, while the guys in Liverpool would play on one that was 140 yards. Obviously, when either team played on the competitor's field, they were at a loss.

That is why, over time, soccer field dimensions were regulated, first by the Football Association, the first soccer organization in history, created by the English in the late 19th century, then by FIFA.

Today's dimensions of soccer fields still offer some room for variation, because not all pitches can be made on a same exact perimeter. So, the width of the field can range from 50 to 100 yards officially, but it's rarely the case with modern soccer fields that they hit these extremes. The length can range from 100 yards to 130, but you can't have a pitch that would be 100 yards wide and 100 yards long, obviously.

The field is split in half by a center line, which has a symmetrical distance towards each of the widths and there is a center circle at the middle of this line, which is always 10 yards in diameter. This circle ensures that opposing players are kept at a safe distance when the team in possession kicks off.

The goal must be 24 feet wide and 8 feet high and it must be placed exactly on the middle of the pitch's width. The goal is surrounded by two boxes. The first one, called the protection box or the goalkeeper box is 6 yards wide and long and in this area, the keeper is said to be protected: any contact with the goalkeeper in this area will produce a foul for the defending team.

The bigger box, also called the penalty box or penalty area is 18 yards wide and 44 long and in this area, every foul from the defending team will produce a penalty kick, which is taken from 12 yards from the goal, with just the attacker and the goalkeeper facing off. This is usually a sure goal, so you might not want to be so aggressive around the penalty box.

Let's take a look at some of the other soccer field dimensions that aren't usually that important, but can still regulate the game a bit further. The corner circle is set around the corner flag and is 1 yard in diameter. Basically, when a player takes a corner, he can place the ball anywhere inside this circle so he can more comfortably hit the ball and give it a swirl. Otherwise, it's very difficult to keep the ball inside the soccer field dimensions if you're striking the corner from right, but with your left leg, or vice versa.

The penalty box circle is one of the soccer field dimensions that are used mostly for orientation by the referee. It's situated around the penalty spot, 10 yards around it and it's sole purpose is to allow the referee to figure out the correct wall distance in case of a free kick that's near the box. For example, if the attacking team gets a free kick outside the edge of the penalty area, the referee will automatically know that the defending team's wall should be placed at the penalty spot, which is 10 yards away, the correct distance the wall should stay in.

These soccer field dimensions are standardized for all of the modern pitches, but the game will play differently on various sized fields. For example, on a very wide pitch, wing game play is bound to be more efficient, because your wingers will have a lot more room to maneuver in. Short fields benefit players with great speed and technique that can solve a one-on-one duel in close quarters.

Long fields benefit speedy players, that love to hit the ball forward and make a run for it and they're a nightmare for defenders that lack the speed to cope with them. Longer fields also require more coordination between lines, otherwise a team might allow the opponent far more spaces than they would like to.

About the Author
Niv Orlian is the author and the owner of a Soccer Fans website that provides information on various topics related to soccer.
Wants more info regarding the rules of soccer? For the complete guide to soccer rules click here.