nPostednon February 19, 2014
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nFirst,nand very important, if you ever play tug of war, do not loop the ropenaround your hands or fingers!! You may think it will give you anbetter grip, but you could literally lose a finger or two! Also, ifnthe rope breaks, the broken ends can sever fingers—so makensure that it is a special tug of war rope. The ordinary nylon ropesnsold in hardware stores are not safe to use!
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nOnnthat cheery note (sigh), welcome to International Tug of War Day!
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Antug of war consists of two teams pitted against each other, eachntrying to pull the center line of the rope to their side’s marker—ornperhaps trying to pull the other team into a pool of water or a pit of mud!—in a competition of “my team’s stronger than your team.”
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Antug of war consists of two teams pitted against each other, eachntrying to pull the center line of the rope to their side’s marker—ornperhaps trying to pull the other team into a pool of water or a pit of mud!—in a competition of “my team’s stronger than your team.”n
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nIfnyou can believe it, there are 53 nations that have formal nationalnorganizations for playing Tug of War. There are tug of war clubs andnboth indoor and outdoor competitions. There are even WorldnChampionships—and from 1900 to 1920, tug-of-war was an OlympicnSport!
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Wherendid this game of tugs start? Nobody knows, but the game is so ancientnand widespread, it seems likely that it was invented several separate times. We know that the sport was played in Ancient Egypt,nGreece, and China, in India at least as far back as the 1100s, and by at least some Native American tribes.nThe sport was used to train warriors, to entertain kings, and even tonsettle disputes. According to ancient Chinese legend, the Sun andnMoon played tug of war over light and darkness.
Wherendid this game of tugs start? Nobody knows, but the game is so ancientnand widespread, it seems likely that it was invented several separate times. We know that the sport was played in Ancient Egypt,nGreece, and China, in India at least as far back as the 1100s, and by at least some Native American tribes.nThe sport was used to train warriors, to entertain kings, and even tonsettle disputes. According to ancient Chinese legend, the Sun andnMoon played tug of war over light and darkness.n
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nModernntuggers may play with just five to twelve people on each side, butnthere are some really large games, too. For example, a 1997 tug ofnwar in Taiwan included 1,600 participants.
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n(Folks, this is just toonmany people! I don’t care what rope you use, huge mobs hauling onnopposite ends of a rope is a recipe for disaster. In the Taiwanncase, two men lost their arms when the rope broke, but after hours ofnsurgery, both arms were successfully reattached.)
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n(Folks, this is just toonmany people! I don’t care what rope you use, huge mobs hauling onnopposite ends of a rope is a recipe for disaster. In the Taiwanncase, two men lost their arms when the rope broke, but after hours ofnsurgery, both arms were successfully reattached.)
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nAlsonon this date:
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SingleTasking Day
SingleTasking Day
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NationalnDemocracy Day in Nepal
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NationalnDemocracy Day in Nepaln
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ScientistnNicolaus Copernicus’s birthday
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ScientistnNicolaus Copernicus’s birthdayn
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nBotanistnCarolus Clusius’s birthday
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nBotanistnCarolus Clusius’s birthday
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nPlannahead:
nPlannahead:
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nCheckn out my Pinterest boards for:
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nAndn here are my Pinterest boards for:
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- Historicaln anniversaries in March
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