{"id":57411,"date":"2009-12-01T12:52:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-01T17:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marksdailyapple.com\/?p=9408"},"modified":"2009-12-01T12:52:38","modified_gmt":"2009-12-01T17:52:38","slug":"grok-tag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/57411","title":{"rendered":"Grok Tag"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"grokThere was a time when you could go to any schoolyard and see kids being kids. Kids would run, leap, throw, and exert themselves with the pure joy of uncorrupted youth. They were suddenly realizing their bodies were incredible machines capable of precise, complex movements, and the games they played developed these capabilities. Dirt clod fights, epic dodgeball matches, and tetherball developed hand-eye coordination and agility; roughhousing that never graduated into enmity taught kids the value of a few bumps and bruises (as well as how to dish \u2018em out); games like tag, capture the flag, and monkey in the middle emphasized foot speed, lateral agility, and rapid changes of direction. The teacher on yard duty might hand out a citation or break up a little scuffle once in awhile, but recess was generally pretty relaxed. About the only thing your average schoolyard athlete worried about was explaining away the grass stains, or maybe the scuffed knees. Looking back, we really had it good: unstructured play<\/a>, impromptu workouts that didn\u2019t feel like work but got us into great shape and developed our social skills. We were little Groks<\/a>, cultivating our minds and bodies without actively planning a routine (or play date). It probably helped that we didn\u2019t have Nintendo DS Lites or smart phones (or overbearing parents) to distract us, but the fact remains that we just were. A bit like Grok, we didn\u2019t run and jump to get better at running and jumping; we ran and jumped because it was fun, because it simply felt like the right thing to do. Our athletic development was merely a bonus.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve totally lost that. Kids now spend recess checking their Facebook statuses, their weekly itineraries, and catching up on piles of homework. I actually have a close friend in school administration \u2013 principal of a public elementary school \u2013 who laments what she sees as the loss of recess. Well, recess is technically still around, but it\u2019s been neutered into some unrecognizable form. Dodgeball is widely banned (promotes competition and inequality), and the random roughhousing and general tomfoolery kids used to get into are completely cracked down on. Dirt fights and wrestling, I can understand, but dodgeball? I weep. I weep, but I\u2019m not even that surprised. Those red rubber balls sure do sting (the ego?), and we wouldn\u2019t want our precious kids made aware of any discrepancies in ability between their peers and themselves. Save that revelation for adulthood \u2013 that\u2019ll be healthy!<\/p>\n

But the latest schoolyard casualty is too much to handle. I won\u2019t stand for it. As of 2006, administrators in Cheyenne, Boston, and Spokane elementary schools have banned tag<\/a>. Tag. <\/em>It\u2019s perhaps the oldest game in the world, and it\u2019s being banned from schoolyards across the country \u2013 even here in my backyard<\/a>, Santa Monica. They cite \u201cconcussions, broken bones and numerous bumps and scrapes\u201d as potential causes for concern, as well as the \u201cself-esteem issue.\u201d I dunno about you, but I foresee far greater self-esteem issues for the kids who never learn the value of honest competition. Getting picked last is part of life. Losing is an essential skill. If they don\u2019t learn these lessons early on in a natural, organic manner, how are kids supposed to handle the rigors and responsibilities of adult life, where the consequences are graver and your parents can\u2019t come pick you up at lunch and get you ice cream?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m beginning to digress.<\/p>\n

My point is this: those childhood games teach us important lessons, and they facilitate our athletic development<\/strong>. As adults, we stand to gain a lot from going back to these games, even if we were lucky enough to grow up in an age where kids were allowed to be kids (strike \u201callowed,\u201d actually; kids simply were <\/em>kids). Games like dodgeball, monkey in the middle, and especially tag are excellent ways to get a great, fun workout (I would advise against dirt clod fights and roughhousing with random adults \u2013 these tend to morph into actual fights). Play<\/a>, after all, is one of the Primal Laws<\/a>, and what better way to show your children the value of a good game of tag than by playing it with them?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s remove the \u201cchildhood\u201d tag from tag, shall we?<\/p>\n

I focus on tag because it can be played anywhere without equipment. Dodgeball is great, but a good game requires a special ball, a court, and a certain amount of players. All you need for tag is a few participants and an open space.<\/strong> Tag\u2019s also perhaps the purest, oldest game. I\u2019m strictly guessing here, but I\u2019d imagine organisms \u2013 hominids, dogs, otters, baboons, and squirrels \u2013 have been chasing each other around for no particular reason for millions of years. Go to a zoo or a dog park or a playground (sometimes) and you\u2019ll see evidence of animals left to their own devices who default to chasing each other.<\/p>\n

Tag is completely free form. There are no boundaries and few rules.<\/strong> In football, there are clear goals. A guy\u2019s chasing you, but he knows exactly where you\u2019re headed: to the endzone. In tag, you can be completely unpredictable. You\u2019re darting this way and that way without a real spatial goal in sight \u2013 except to get the heck out of the other guy\u2019s clutches. You\u2019ll develop moves you never knew you had and agility you thought was long gone, all because you remove those conscious mental filters that slow things down and prevent pure instinctual reactions.<\/p>\n

Tag is sprinting<\/a> made effortless. Well, effort is still there, but you won\u2019t be aware of it in a good game of tag; you\u2019ll be too busy trying to stay \u201calive.\u201d If you can\u2019t seem to get out for a regular sprint session, you might try getting a gang together for tag. You\u2019ll end up running what amounts to dozens of sprints without even thinking about it.<\/p>\n

Tag promotes full-on effort. Even if you\u2019re a committed sprinter, it can be tough to really hit maximum effort each time, because at the end of the day you\u2019re alone on a track, or a stretch of grass. Unless you\u2019ve got a competitive training partner, you\u2019re in an official competition, or there\u2019s a mountain lion on your tail, you\u2019re missing that sense of urgency that compels the true sprint. When you get in the zone in a game of tag, you do everything you can to avoid being \u201cit.\u201d<\/strong> You dodge, roll, fake, and sprint as fast as humanly possible to avoid being tagged. If you really get into it, it\u2019ll be as if there\u2019s a lion on your heels or a world record to be broken \u2013 your body won\u2019t know the difference, and your performance will improve.<\/p>\n

There are dozens of varieties of tag<\/a>. Most will work for your purposes just fine. British bulldogs, for example, begins with two \u201cbulldogs\u201d standing in the middle of the play area. Everyone else lines up on one end and tries to rush past the bulldogs to the other side. Those who are caught become bulldogs. The last one standing is the victor. Then there\u2019s the always classic freeze tag, or even the modified tag variant hide and seek. Too many to name, but I think we can do better with our own variant.<\/p>\n

Grok Tag<\/h3>\n

I suppose the real \u201cGrok Tag\u201d would look something like basic schoolyard tag: one person trying to tag another person, who then becomes \u201cit.\u201d Just basics, no tricks or gimmicks. That\u2019s fine, but I\u2019m thinking we can distinguish ourselves and make it a real workout by throwing in a little twist.<\/p>\n