Sports Council Newsletter #11 [Writer's Fav]

NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

February 17, 2021

NJSC NLCS Jeju | Sports

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If you would like individual achievements to be mentioned, send details to jspark22@pupils.nlcsjeju.kr

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Sharon Yoon - New Writer for Our Newsletter Team Hello everyone, I’m Sharon, the new writer of the school sports council newsletter. To introduce you a little bit of myself, I’m a year seven student at NLCS who spent ¼ of my lifetime swimming and writing. I have experienced swimming at a professional level. I’ve been to a few

Editor-in-chief: Jason Jongsuh Park

competitions in the past few years, and as a swimmer, I was

Chair: Alex Yoonjae Chung

very depressed to know we won’t be attending KISAC

Nick Sunghyun Oh Link Teacher: Ms J Forster Sports Council Email: sportscouncil@pupils.nlcsjeju.kr What would you like us to write about? Tell us through: Instagram: @nlcsjeju_sc Facebook:

2020 because of the pandemic. Since I’ve now gotten the chance to enjoy both of my knacks as a council, I’m very excited to report and catch you up with the school sports news.

I see some of you are already great sport players, but I want to encourage more of you to be on the sports team.

You should feel what it’s like to win a match, or conversely

NLCS Jeju Sports Council

lose one. In my experience, I took a break from swimming

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for about a year. Once I started swimming again, it felt like this was what I was looking for. I think playing any sport supports us.

I hope my work my work in the Sports Council will be beneficial to you and our community. See you soon!

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NLCS JEJU SPORTS COUNCIL

February 17, 2021

All About Ssireum (씨름) - A Korean Traditional Sport Nick Oh

A Ssireum Match [Picture From Courage Sports]

Over the Seollal (Lunar New Year's Day) break, I got a chance to watch a Ssireum match that was being televised over the Korean national channel. As I watched the match, the dynamic, aggressive, and quick-natured movements of the athletes caught my eye. The match was a whole lot more exciting than what I had expected, which made me want to share the sport with our school's foreign families who may be unfamiliar with this particular national heritage.

Ssireum (written in Hangeul as 씨름), or Korean wrestling, is a traditional sport of Korea that is believed to have begun in the New Stone (Neolithic) Age as a way of self-defense. Since then, Ssireum has been present as part of the Korean culture through the Three Kingdoms Period, the unified Kingdom Period, and the Japanese colonial era.

In the modern form of Ssireum, contestants wear a cloth belt (Satba - Hangeul 샅바) that wraps around the waist and thigh. A Ssireum match begins with two contestants kneeling on a wide, circular sandpit and grabbing hold of each other's cloth belt. Then, the two contestants stand up and wrestle each other. A contestant is deemed victorious if they bring any part of the opponent's body above the knee to the ground.

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Ssireum enjoyed immense public popularity in Korea during the 1980s and in the early 1990s after becoming a professional sport. During these times, the sport was so popular that the tv ratings of professional Ssireum matches were similar to that of professional baseball (KBO). The champion professional Ssireum athlete that won titles among all weight categories are referred to as 'Cheonha Jangsa' (천하장사) and were recognized by the public [Kwon Myoung, 2005]. Famous cheonha jangsas include Kang Ho Dong and Lee Man Ki; these two champions are still widely recognized by Koreans for their legendary feat and appearance in various tv shows.

Diverting from professional Ssireum, the sport was enjoyed regularly by the public since its creation. Shreds of evidence that show the sport being enjoyed by the public can be found throughout history, and the earliest ones date back to the early Three Kingdoms Period. 'Ssireum'

by Joseon period painter Gim Hongdo is a notable painting that demonstrates public popularity at the time.

Gim Hongdo’s Ssireum [Picture From National Museum of Korea]

When Ssireum was at its peak during the 1980s, amateur matches in markets and villages were commonplace. As crowds gathered to watch these matches, street vendors would set up around the match site to sell various food and items, almost forming a festival [K.S Hwang, 2019].

Unfortunately, the popularity of Ssireum has declined since the 1990s, and it is much more challenging to come across a Ssireum match nowadays. Hopefully, more people get to enjoy the thrill of an exhilarating Ssireum match as the Korean Ssireum Association has contributed many efforts recently intending to regain public popularity.

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Would you like to see what an actual Ssireum match looks like? Visit https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4_fKC-KofZs Interview with Mr. Chris Harris Nick Oh

This week, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Chris Harris, who is the Assistant housemaster in Halla East. He shares with us his remarkable experiences he had as a triathlete. I hope you enjoy this interview I had with Mr. Chris Harris.

FYI: A triathlon is an endurance race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. The full "Ironman" Triathlon requires a 3.9 km swim, 180.2 km bike, and 42.2 km run.

(The full Ironman is absolutely the real deal).

How Mr. Harris got to start triathlon and his journey to Ironman Before Mr. Harris came to Korea, he had no distance running experience. However, he started running with his ambition to embrace challenges even though he did not like it initially.

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As he ran more and more, he began to find joy in running and eventually set himself the goal of participating in the 2008 Daegu Marathon. As a result of his consistent determination, he completed the Daegu Marathon.

After his marathon completion, he found himself more fond of distance running, so he went on to participate in many more half and full marathons around Korea.

Later on, one of Mr. Harris' friends, who was about to compete in a triathlon, invited Mr. Harris to watch him compete. When Mr. Harris arrived where the triathlon race was taking place, he was first motivated by how his friend endured through the course. He was then astounded to see a man at the race who went on another 10km run after completing the triathlon. Mr. Harris was blown away by what the man had done; he asked him why he went on another run after the triathlon. The man answered that he was preparing for an Ironman. This was it. Mr. Harris was dazed and so motivated by what the man and his friend had done, Mr. Harris himself could not wait to challenge him further.

Since the man at the race introduced the Ironman to Mr. Harris, he envisioned himself completing the Ironman. However, completing an Ironman was not going to be easy - not at all...

Mr. Harris firstly had to learn how to swim. He had never swum before and thus had to learn how to swim for the first time at the age of 30. Mr. Harris adds that it was a real struggle learning how to swim for the first time.

After rigorous training, he eventually participated and completed his first triathlon. The first triathlon he completed was an Olympic distance triathlon composed of a 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and a 10km run. He went on to complete more Olympic-length triathlons. Then, he made his progression by participating in a half Ironman.

Having completed the half Ironman, Mr. Harris had one challenge left. The Full Ironman.

To prepare himself for the Ironman, he trained nine times a week over a year - Countless hours of sweat, grit, and determination.

Eventually, the time came; the 10th of September 2017 in Guyre, South Korea. All his incredible efforts must have paid off because he was able to power through the course to finish the Full Ironman in an absolutely astonishing time of 11 hours, 16 minutes, and 59 seconds (Gun Time).

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He placed 79th out of 1447 other athletes. A truly remarkable result. Mr. Harris was also able to raise 3 million won for charity while competing in the Ironman.

What Mr. Harris loves most about triathlon 1.A direct and honest sense of progression What Mr. Harris loves most about triathlon is the ability to see your improvements. In a team sport, he claims, it is sometimes difficult to assess your progression properly. On the other hand, in timed races like triathlons, it is possible to directly see your improvement because your result is a sincere completion time. Mr. Harris says that he was addicted to the sense of progression.

2. The supportive triathlete community.

Mr. Harris says that the triathlete community is very supportive of each other and wants to see each other do their best in the races. "Triathletes are open and share their best tips with other

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competitors to help them. Triathlons are very much a competition against yourself.", Mr. Harris adds.

Mr Harris' Opinion on NLCS Sports Mr. Harris feels very optimistic about the wide range of sports offered at our school - especially the various sports students can choose for CCAs. Mr. Harris himself runs with the Tuesday Cross Country CCA group, and he claims that it is a joy to watch the students run and challenge themselves.

On an ending note, Mr. Harris wants to encourage more students to challenge themselves, as overcoming challenges is an essential aspect of our lives. Challenges themselves can actually be joyful.

"I want to encourage all students to do something competitive and challenge themselves a bit... It doesn't matter what level you are at. Don't be intimidated."

Thank you, Mr. Harris, for sharing your valuable experiences and for your encouraging words.

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