Olympic-style weightlifting is a sport with two events in it: the Snatch and the Clean-and-Jerk. The snatch is when the athlete lifts a barbell from the ground directly into a stabilized position over his/her head in one movement. The clean-and-jerk is when the athlete raises or cleans the bar from the ground to the collar bone level. (S)he then jerks the bar from there into the air and again stabilizes the bar over his/her head.
These two events might seem ... well, ... they might seem to be any number of things. 'Painful' and 'brainless' are two words that you might be thinking. For the record, it's a very precise sport, with a lot of fine-tuned motion. Usually that involves capitalizing on gravity, inertia, and natural movement. In other words, Newton does most of the work, so competing isn't that painful (training is a different story).As far as the word 'brainless' is concerned, the sport actually requires a tremendous amount of concentration and mental discipline. This is one of the reasons this sport is so compelling to me -- it makes the athlete control his/her thoughts. I'm beginning to see that there is great purpose in athletics.
I just returned from competing in the Virginia Weightlifting Cardinal Open. Somehow, I managed to win first place in the Senior Men's division. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, since I've only been training regularly for a few months. I think it has something to do with the fact that all the guys that were lifting more weight than me happened to be in either younger or older age divisions.
3 comments:
Allow me to be the first to leave a comment on your blog....
I look forward following your life in the Happy Valley of the East.
Also, that guy in the sunglasses standing next to you on the beach is incredibly good looking.... :)
Thanks for the explanation for those of us who don't know so much about the sport. Oh, and by the way, CONGRATULATIONS! First place is first place, man. Live it up. I'm sure you deserved it. You'll have to make sure to keep us posted on future victories.
Lots 'o' Love,
Angie
I'll never call it "body-building" again! I think your sport sounds awesome. I sure agree with you that sports in which individuals compete, like weight lifting, skiing, swimmming and track and field, are incredibly compelling. I'm not good at any of these, but I've tried my hand at a few and came to appreciate the level of mental discipline it takes to excel. The truly great athletes, like Tiger Woods in golf or Lance Armstrong in cycling, are great not just because of their skills or physical prowess. A huge element of their dominance arises from their mental sharpness and composure. They can push themselves to be their absolute best day in and day out without getting discouraged, sidetracked or overwhelmed by tough situations like so many of the rest of us do. Those are admirable qualities that reach way beyond the golf course or the cycling track. I agree with you that there really is something to this thing called sport. The Greeks were on to something.
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