The Best Running Shoes for Flat Feet

* Flat Foot: What is it 

The arch of the foot is formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones and strengthened by ligaments and tendons. It allows the foot to support the weight of the body in the erect posture with the least weight. 

The height of the arch determines pronation and foot type.The arch height of the foot can easily be checked using the wet feet test. 

People with a Low arch do not have a distinct curve along the inside of the foot. The imprint taken in a wet test may show nearly the entire foot. People with low arches are more likely to overpronate which can result in injuries. Insufficiently expressed arches are called low or fallen arches. The term flat feet applies to the arch which is sitting on the ground completely. 

* Runners with flat feet need to put extra care in choosing the best running shoe 

Your foot arch is your natural shock absorption system. Nature designed it so that when you put your body weight over your feet the shock is absorbed by this mechanism in order to alleviate the impact (and subsequent injuries) that would otherwise hit your feet, ankles, knees and hips. A flat foot is the most visible sign of overpronation, meaning that your arch collapses during the impact on the ground. As a consequence, your ankle twists inward and your knees overcompensates. 

Flat feet are a particular concern for runners, as during the running gait the arch is supposed to support on average 3 times their body weight. 

* Shoes Technologies Aimed at Runners with Flat Feet 

Over the last 20 years or so, all the major running footwear producers developed specific technologies aimed at helping runners with flat feet run in comfort and safety. 

The key words you have to remember are: stability, support and motion control. 

- Support is what a flat foot runner needs. When looking at shoes reviews or technical specifications, any indication of "added support" means you are headed in the right direction. 

- Stability is an industry standard term that categorizes running shoes aimed at helping overpronation: every brand has their own collection of Stability Running Shoes. 

- Motion Control are Stability Shoes for the most severe overpronators: they include the solutions of stability shoes and focus in enhancing them. 

The main technology found in Stability shoes is a medial post of dual density foam. Footwear producers inject a harder compound of foam right below the medial side of the arch and sometimes extended all the way to the heel. It is easily recognizable as a darker (almost always gray) piece of foam on the inside of the midsole. 

You can read our recommendations about the best running shoes for flat feet in summer 2009, along with all our other running shoes reviews. http://www.runningshoesguru.com/2009/04/the-best-running-shoes-for-flat-feet-summer-2009/ 

Running Shoes Guru ( http://www.runningshoesguru.com ) is the best place to find running shoes reviews directly from industry insiders.

Origins of the Balisong Knife (Butterfly Knife)

The balisong knife other wise known as the Batangas knife, fan knives click clack, and most known it the U.S. as a butterfly knife. Is a knife that would be considered a pocket knife it has two handles that are both on a hinge and the knife itself folds in to the handle and in the hands of someone that knows how to use it and be flipped open every quickly with just one hand. For the most part these knives are pocket knives size but are also make in sword size and can be over three feet when fully opened. These bigger blades are not surprisingly called baliswords. 

All those now on is really sure where the name balisong comes form that are a few thoughts as to what it is referring to. In the Tagalog language balisong or Baling sungay means broken horn, and because the first knives where made of animal horns many think that is where the name comes from. Others think that they are called balisong for the reason the they are thought to first be invented in a town called balisong. These pocket knives origins are from the Philippines and though discouraged now for hundreds of years where once used to fight in duels. 

These pocket knives where not known to western civilizations until the Spanish came and governed the Philippines and then made these knives popular. Though evidence suggests that Balisong knives have been apart of the Filipino fighting arts since 800AD. Balisongs where brought back to the states after WWII when troops that where fighting in the pacific came home and brought these handy pocket knives back with them. 

A balisong is mainly made up of ten parts. The edge, swedge, choil, kicker, pivot pins, tang, tang pin, bite handle, safe handle, and latch. The edge is the sharp blade of the knife. The swedge is the back side of the blade that is made to look sharp but is not. The choil is a curve above the kicker to help you to sharpen the blade. The kicker is what stops the blade for hitting the inside of the knife when closing to help keep the blade sharp. The pivot pins are the pins that the knife pivots on to open and close. The tang is where the blade come in to the handle. The bite handle is the part that closes on the sharp side of the blade. The safe handle is the part that closes on the back side of the blade, the part that is not sharp. The latch, this is what keeps the knife closed. 

There are now a number of knives makers in the U.S that make balisongs or butterfly knives. One of them is Benchmade. Another well known knife make is Emerson. Emersons very first knives where balisongs that he made while studding Filipino martial arts in California. Because of the nature of these pocket knives many countries have them outlawed. But are very sought after by collectors.

A History of Leather Football Helmets

Football helmets were widely disputed upon their introduction. Many simply viewed them as a nuisance, they made their heads sweat, they shifted from side to side, and they didn’t help much. It wasn’t until the later 1930’s that people began to get serious; games between 1890-1950 are usually shown with some people wearing helmets and some not. It was personal preference. But in 1939 college leagues voted to make helmets mandatory and in 1943 the NFL joined them. Wikipedia shows that the “last player to play in a game without a helmet was probably Dick Plasman of the Chicago Bears.” There is a picture of him in 1940 after a Washington Redskins victory without a helmet on. 

College halfback, George Barclay designed a leather helmet or “head harness” with three heavy leather straps. Created by a harness maker, his helmet was made to prevent the deformation of the ear or “cauliflower ear” which he believed came from the roughhousing of playing bareheaded. Helmets gained padding and shape from the 1920’s through the 1940’s, especially when Vern McMillan introduced the facemask. Fastened in the 1930s, it was a simple rubber-covered wire mask attached to the front of the leather helmet in an effort to prevent broken noses and teeth. 

Teams played for years in unadorned helmets as they struggled for the right fit, but as school spirit raged and rivalries grew, colleges and high schools began to hand paint their helmets to show team spirit. Initially, only colors were used, their headgear painted as a marker for quarterbacks when searching to find their receiver. In 1948 Fred Gehrke shook things up when he introduced the first logo, painting a proud design of the Rams on the side of his team’s helmets. 

Robert Zuppke, an innovative Illinois coach, reinvented the leather helmet in 1917, transferring the simplicity of pads to the art of suspension. He used straps of fabric to form a pattern inside the helmet, cradling the skull, while absorbing and distributing the impact instead of simply offering an extra layer of protection. It was a breakthrough in football, providing ventilation and introducing Rawlings and Spalding to the love of the game.

Why You Should Get Team Chemistry In Soccer

If you look at teams that are the best in your state, you will find that they all have one thing in common, and that is team chemistry. Coaches know that it is something that cannot be taught in practice, but is something that happens over a period of time by playing them together. How do you go about winning a state soccer title? There are different opinions on how you go about doing this. One of them, if it is possible, is to start them playing together while they are still in kindergarden, and also have them play different sports together as they grow, including soccer. This is done so that not only will they learn different skills, but also each others reactions to different situations. 

You should hope that some of their dads coached their teams, and played them at the same level, without moving them up to a more competetitive leel. 

This is done to build their confidence, because it doesn't matter what place they finish in, because all they will remember is that they had fun playing. 

As they grow to be teenagers there will be one house where they will congregate most at, because that house will have plenty of soda and pizza on friday nights. 

They will grow up attending each others birthday parties, confirmations, barmitzvahs and also all other holiday celebrations. They will learn what makes each other tick. They will also celebrate when a fellow player is recognized for hi or her achievements in sports or academics. 

Another way to develop comraderie among older players is to socialize as a team together. For example; attend major league baseball games, have friday night pizza partiesor go to a soccer game played by older players in order to learn new techniques or they can spend a day at the zoo. This way the players get to know each other better in non playing situations. This will relate to better communication and trust on the field. 

The more that they socialize together, you will see better efficient practices which in turn will lead to more wins. The more wins that you get, the more you will see their confidence develop on the field. You will start to see the difference in their talk,their walk and most important their attitude. 

This will get you what you set out to accomplish, team chemistry. These same players will respect the coaches and their staff, because of the time and effort they know that they put into teaching them to be winners. The players know that without them they wouldn't be number one.