About Ice Skating

Ice skating is actually a process of moving on the ice with the help of ice skates. The ice skating can actually be done for many reasons which includes leisure, health benefits, travelling and many other sports. The game of ice skating occurs both on specially prepared outdoor and indoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen waters, such as rivers and lakes.

The wonderful sport of Ice Skating is one of the ancient games of the world. It is a nice game that is played on the ice with a pair of skates. It`s also known as Figure Skating in some parts of the world. Though nobody can claim to know the exact timing of the game, the archaeologists and the historians believe that the activity of playing this game was widespread in the ancient times. The fact is shown in archaeological evidence that the root of this game lays in the period of about 3000 B.C. It is thought so as the oldest pair of skates so far was found at the bottom of a lake in Switzerland. Apart from Switzerland, the skates were also found in the countries like Russia, Scandinavia, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany. The most ancient skates were made from the leg bones of big animals. There were holes bored at each end of the bone and the people at that time used the leather straps to tie the skates on.

The game of ice skating works perfectly because, the metal blade at the bottom of the skate shoe can actually glide with a very little friction over the surface of the ice, so its pretty easy to use the same. But leaning the blade slightly over and also digging one of its edges into ice gives skaters the ability to enhance the friction and also control its movements at will. In addition to that, by choosing to move along the curved path while of course leaning their bodies radically and flexing their knees, skaters, in order to control and increase momentum can use the gravity. Momentum can also be created by pushing the blade against the curved tracks which it actually cuts into the ice. Properly combining these two skills of pushing and leaning- a method called as "drawing"- results in what looks like graceful and effortless curvilinear flow across the ice.

History of Ice Skating

History of Ice Skating goes back to 3000 BC. It is a game played with pair of skates, on ice. While talking about the history of Ice Skating, it should be said that the game was widely played in the frozen canals and waterways of Scandinavia and the Netherlands, about 1000 years ago. The first material proof of the game of Ice Skating was found in a biography of Thomas Beckett written by his former clerk William Fitzstephen in about 1180 and the Dutch artist Johannes Brugman presented the Ice Skating in a work of art in the 15th century. The first work of art by a major artist to feature ice skating as a main theme was made in the picture of Saint Lidwina. The Dutch people at that time used the skates made of animal bones as their footwear and glided across the frozen lakes and rivers at the time of winter. They used to call these skates, as "Schenkel" in Dutch that means, "Leg bone". After that, the Dutch started using wooden platform skates with flat iron bottom runners around the 14th Century. They still used to attach the skates to their shoes with leather straps. They also used some poles while skating. Then around the years of 1500, the Dutch invented a narrow double-edged blade that was made of metal. With this invention, the skater became able to push and glide with his feet only.

In the ending part of the 16th century, a Scotsman invented a pair of all-iron skates in the year of 1592. In the early part of 17th century, the Dutch people used to travel on blades between villages. This was a very useful and popular means of transport to them. The Dutch were also taking this as a game during that time and they started founding some skating clubs. In the year of 1642, they founded the first skating club named as "The Skating Club of Edinburgh". Skates that are entirely made of iron were introduced in the 17th century. The English people were also using the skates in various means. The English books of around the 12th century refer that the English people did skate at that time. The English organised the world`s first Speed Skating Race in 1763 on the Fens in England. This was the time when the sport started to spread out in other countries. The sport was introduced in North America in the later part of the 18th century and by the end of the 18th century, European colonists introduced it into America and Canada

In the middle part of the 19th century, E. V. Bushnell of Philadelphia invented a lighter, sharper, all-steel blade in order to add more speed to the sport. After a few years, Jackson Haines, a famous American skater invented a new two plate all metal blade in the year of 1865. In the 1870`s, he added a new aspect in his skates, that is the first toe pick. With this addition, the toe pick jumps became possible for the skaters. The first ever tournament in Ice Skating organised by the Dutch was the very first World Championship in 1889. The inventions and evolutions of the skating blades continued and in the year of 1914, John E. Strauss, a blade maker from St. Paul, Minnesota, invented the first closed toe blade. This blade was made from only one piece of steel and made the skates lighter and stronger.

As Ice Skating can be enjoyed both as a recreational activity and also as a competitive sport, this is very much popular among the people of the world. In the cold countries where the winters are long and cold, people enjoy the recreational Ice Skating a lot. People in warmer countries enjoy this sport in the indoor rinks. There are a lot of outdoor and indoor Ice Skating rinks in different parts of the world. Amongst them, the largest outdoor Ice Rink is the `Fujikyu Highland Promenade Rink` in Japan. It was built in the year of 1967 and it possesses a huge ice area of 165,750 square feet (3.8 acres). The first artificial Ice Rink of the world was built at London, England by John Gamgee in 1876. It was named as the `Glaciarium` and was refrigerated mechanically. Understanding the basic techniques, proper equipment and clothing, and paying attention to safety issues are important aspects of Ice Skating.

The game of Ice Skating can be further categorized into Figure Skating and Speed Skating as a competitive sport. In the Figure Skating athletic and artistic skills of the skater are required very much and the Speed Skating means skating on oval ice tracks. As a sport, the Ice Skating was made popular by two great skaters like Jackson Haines of America in the decades of 60`s and 70`s of the 19th century and Norway`s Sonja Henie popularized the Figure Skating during the decades of 1920s and 1930s. The game of Ice Skating is really a great thing to watch. The skaters usually got very flexible body and when they skate, it seems like they are gliding over the rinks and maintaining their positions almost effortlessly. The Figure Skating can be associated to an art form very easily as it is performed both as individually and in pairs. Though the game of Ice Skating started as a mode of transport, it is a very much professional sport now and it is also played at the Winter Olympics. In the contemporary time, the popularity of Ice Skating is increasing in a great speed everyday.

Ice Skating Association of India

Ice skating association in India is a well-known organization that takes care of the ice skating game in India. This is a popular Olympic sport in the American and European nations, where it is regularly played and practised by the youngsters. It is a sport that is mainly played in the winter season and was also being managed and controlled in India by Winter Games Federation of India till the year 2001. But due to lot of limitation and reason it could not grow much. In order to boost the game of ice skating in India, Ice Skating Association of India was set up in March 2002 on the advice of Raja Randhir Singh, Secretary General of India Olympics Associations and Shri Suresh Kalmadi, President of India Olympic Association.

As the Ice Skating Association of India is always registered under the Registrar of Societies in year 2002, it is worked towards promoting the sport in the country. It has also roped in young and potential talents throughout the length and breath of the country and adopted themselves as ice skaters.

Aims of Objective of Ice Skating Association in India
* To encourage and promote physical fitness, character building and spirit of adventure both for men and women through Ice Skating sport.
* To promote, develop, regulate, organize and control Ice Skating sport in India.
* To hold various competitions for Men, Women, Boys and Girls (both Senior and Junior) as may be decided by the ISA.
* To organize and hold coaching and training and refresher courses, camps for participants, referees and coaches for promotion of the Ice Skating game.
* To arrange and sponsor participation of National and other teams in the International competitions.
* To arrange representation of the India in National and International bodies.
* To render, if any, when possible financial assistance to affiliated organizations for the promotion and training of the Ice Skating sport.
* Ice Skating Rinks in India are less in number. Some are outdoor ice rinks and some are indoor open ice rinks.

Currently the status of ice skating rinks is as follows:
Indoor Ice Rinks:
(a) Doon ice Skating Rinks 60m x 30m Olympic size. It has seating capacity of 3000 and situated at Maharana Pratap Sports Complex, Raipur in Dehradun.
(b) Small ice Rink at ESSEL World, Mumbai (Near Borivalli)
(c) The indoor ice skating rink is known as iSkate situated on 6th floor of Ambiance Mall, Gurgaon.

Outdoor Ice Rinks:
(a)Shimla Ice Skating Rink, at Circular Road Shimla in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.
(b)Ice Rink located at Gulmarg
(c) Ice Rink situated at Ladakh

Ice Skating Championships have been organized at all India level by Ice Skating Association of India as follows:-
* Indraprastha Ice Skating Championship - Jan 2002, Delhi
* All India Ice Skating Championship - May 2003, Delhi
* National Ice Skating Championship - December 2003, Delhi
* National Ice Skating Championship - July 2004, Delhi
* National Ice Skating Championship - July 2005, Delhi
* National Ice Skating Championship - June 2006, Kolkata
* National Ice Skating Championship - January 2008, Shimla
* National Ice Skating Championship - January 2009, Shimla
* National Ice Skating Championship - 3, 4, 5 January 2011, Shimla
* National Ice Skating Championship - 3, 4, 5 January 2012, Shimla