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Part 1
The History of Skating 滑冰运动历史

These days, you simply go to the skating center, put wheels on your feet and you're ready for fun, food, music, games and skating. Two centuries ago, it wasn't quite so easy. A Belgian inventor named Joseph Merlin introduced the first recorded roller skate in 1760. And, what an introduction he made! He wore his new skates to a party in London, where he crashed into an expensive mirror. He wasn't very interested in skating after this experience.

However, other inventors produced some roller skate models, most with in-line wheels to imitate an ice skating blade.The first patent ever taken out on a roller skate was for an in-line skate in 1819. The patent went to Monsieur Petitbled, who claimed that people using his skates could do the same tricks as ice skaters. However, skating turns and curves with Petitbled's skate proved to be a major difficulty, if not impossible. In 1863, James Plimpton, a businessman from Massachusetts, invented a roller skate that could turn. It was called a "rocking" skate -- the first one that really let people skate curves and turn. Plimpton opened a skating club in New York where gentlemen enjoyed showing off for the ladies by doing fancy figures, steps and turns.Within 20 years, roller skating had become a popular pastime for men and women. Wealthy men in Newport, R.I., played "roller polo," a hockey game. Others held contests in dance and figure skating.

Outdoors, men and women were racing in speed contests. The more the public saw of skating, the more they wanted to try it themselves. The roller skating industry started to prosper. Just before World War II, a group of skating rink owners formed an association to promote roller skating and establish good business practices for skating rinks. The Roller Skating Association (RSA) International, which was originally named the Roller Skating Rink Operators Association (RSROA), has played an active leadership role in the roller skating industry since 1937.

Under the guidance of the association, roller skating enjoyed steady growth through the 1940s, 50s and 60s. It became known as a family activity that provides fitness, socialization and fun -- an image that prevails today.In the 1970s, there was a big improvement in roller skating. Skating floors became easier to care for. Plastic wheels that provided smoother, easier skating became the standard. The music and lighting at skating centers was also modernized. When skaters discovered how easy it was to skate with the new wheels, another big skating boom exploded.

By 1977, people everywhere were skating to music.After the boom during the disco era, roller skating industry growth slowed down through the 80s. In 1986, manufacturers began offering in-line skates to fitness enthusiasts. When manufacturers began marketing in-line skates to the public in the 90s, people became excited about roller skating again. By the mid-90s, in-line skating and in-line hockey had become two of the most popular sports in America.Skating center owners began to utilize the new market by renting in-line skates and promoting the safety benefits of skating indoors. During this decade of change, many skating centers began to expand into entire family entertainment centers by offering a wider variety of entertainment choices.

Though many skating centers now offer video and redemption games, laser tag and soft play, operators insist that roller skating will always remain the anchor of their business.

在人类的上古时代，北欧的游牧民族就已经利用动物骨胳从事滑冰活动；后来经芬兰游牧民族传入瑞典、丹麦、荷兰等地，滑冰运动才与人类发生关系，大约在13世纪左右的英国滑冰运动就已经非常盛行。

由于讲球技术与变化，滑冰技巧从快速滑冰的直线技术进入曲线、直线的组合，以及有规则的团体性运动。1830年英国成立滑冰俱乐部，开始有系统的研究花式滑冰，随着欧洲移民，滑冰运动也传到美洲，1850年美国费城首先研制出带钢刀的滑冰鞋。

随着滑冰运动的普及，对技术的讲求更趋细致，纽约一名滑冰好手海因斯在欧洲的一场表演中，融合俄国芭蕾舞演出花式滑冰，震惊了全欧，双人花式则是由加拿大的美亚兄弟首创，1864年的维也纳俱乐部首先订定"规定花式"，从此解决了花式滑冰的评分困扰。

在器材方面，前面提过钢制冰刀的发明，更令人注目的就是在1902年巴尔森与哈根二人共同研究成功一种划时代的冰刀鞋，就是使用于速度滑冰的钢管冰刀，使滑冰运动进入新纪元。

由于世界各国推展滑冰运动，终于在1892年创立了国际滑冰组织，并且在滑冰的三种专门技术性运动：花式滑冰、速度滑冰、冰上曲棍球分别在1908年、1924年、1920年正式成为冬季奥运会的竞赛项目。

Skating for Fun and Fitness for a Lifetime

Why should we all skate no matter what our age? Because you get a lot for a little: It's a bargain! One of the greatest active sports that everyone of all ages can participate is skating.

If you can walk, you have enough balance to try skating. Today people of all ages, beginning at two to three years, up to their nineties can skate for fun and fitness. The fun is clearly seen, but the benefits of skating can be somewhat obscure. Walking uses similar muscles as skating and both have their benefits. However, gliding across the rink on blades has unusual freedom with ever increasing rewards. Skating burns calories at an increased rate, aids vascular cleaning and improves balance. It is well known that walking has benefits for all ages; but there are many more benefits from skating.

Nobody wants to store extra energy as fat so we have to burn a significant portion of what we eat. Some nutrients go to replacing wear and tissue; some goes to fat that we must burn or it is stored. One defense for this accumulation is to burn the energy during exercise by increasing the work done by the arms and legs. Both the arms and legs are able to consume calories in proportion to their muscle volume. This ratio could be estimated by comparing the volume of these body parts. For example: the thigh muscle is roughly ten times the volume of the arm muscle. Thus skating is a much more efficient use of time burning calories.

At first, we might consider running for exercise. However, we must consider how we apply the force to our joints and bones. Skating applies a lower force over a longer stroke and can efficiently burn more fat energy calories per stroke than a larger force for a shorter stroke.

The deciding choice is always a lower force applied over a longer stroke because it is more effective and lower in body strain.

Most of us are short on time to spend at any sport, so we need to consider the greatest calorie energy output for the shortest time spent. The skating calorie energy applied is two to three times the rate of walking type energy consumption. You can expect the same benefit of calorie type consumption as walking in approximately one third of the time as walking.

Another benefit to skating is the air that one breathes. In the rink, the air may be thirty to forty degrees and thus more dense than the room type air that you breathe. Dense air can burn more calories at an ever increasing rate as the air temperature is lowered. This accounts for the euphoric feeling after a pleasant one half to three quarters of an hour of skating.

A third skating benefit is the vascular action of gentle flushing and widening of the arteries in the legs and the tiny vessels in the toes. The heartbeat energy wave moves down to your toes and a portion of the energy wave returns. What is left to come back can add to your next heartbeat. This can save your next heartbeat work in proportion to the size of the return wave energy. It is clear that the greater the energy, the less work your heart has to do in a twenty-four hour day. Believe me, it can give you back some youth that you once had!

One of the nicest advantages to skating is an improvement of balance. Your brain can process balance clues quite well, but if the output muscles are weak, the response energy is quite late.

Skating develops the calf, thigh, ankle and foot muscles that control balance. The more you skate, the better your balance becomes because these muscles become strengthened.

But what about the fun? Increasing your stability, fitness and confidence are all good things, but the greatest thing about skating is the fun. Skating in the rink feels like floating and provides a real sense of freedom and relaxation that takes you away from the demands and stress of daily life. Give it a try and you'll see...c;mon out and skate!