Best Individual Sports

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. Above all, he recalls the foundational relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers. It’s an amazing tale.”— Bill Gates, one of his favorite books of 2016 “ Shoe Dog is a great American story about luck, grit, know how, and the magic alchemy of a handful of eccentric characters who came together to build Nike. That it happened at all is a miracle, because as I learned from this book, though we are a nation that extols free enterprise, we also excel at thwarting it. I’ve worn the gear, with pride, but I didn’t realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. " Shoe Dog is an extraordinary hero's journey, an epic tale of faith, unparalleled determination, excellence, failure, triumph, hard earned wisdom, and love. Phil Knight takes us back to the Big Bang of the swoosh, recalls how he first begged and borrowed from reluctant banks, how he assembled a crew of eccentric but brilliant misfits, how they all worked together to build something unique and paradigm changing. "A fresh historical prospective on one of the most profiled companies in the world...[ Shoe Dog ] builds characters of the people behind the brand, many of whom we've never heard of." As Knight collects the misfits and oddballs who become the core of his growing company, Shoe Dog is more like The Lord of the Rings than a typical mogul memoir." As a business biography, it ranks with such recent works as Neal Gabler’s Disney and Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs . But as a personal memoir Shoe Dog reaches a depth of emotional honesty that even the best biographies haven’t touched." “A fascinating warts and all account of the company’s early years, a rascally tale of scrappiness and survival, a great read .

“In pursuing the mental side of endurance, Jurek uncovers the most important secrets any runner can learn.”—Amby Burfoot, author of The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life For nearly two decades, Scott Jurek has been a dominant force—and darling—in the grueling and growing sport of ultrarunning. He runs--and wins--grueling races in excess of 100 miles in a wide array of usually inhospitable environments: Death Valley, the Sierra Nevada mountains, Mexico's Copper Canyon. The most inspiring proposal in this book--part memoir, part training guide, part vegan manifesto--is that running, like so many things in life, depends less on physical skill than on willpower. Or that he ran prodigious mileage to prepare for his many ultramarathon victories.

McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. Book Description Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder. With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. That’s the most important thing I picked up from my time in the Copper Canyons, the understanding that running can be fast and fun and spontaneous, and when it is, you feel like you can go forever. Q: You trained for your first ultramarathon—a race organized by the mysterious gringo expat Caballo Blanco between the Tarahumara and some of America’s top ultrarunners—while researching and writing this book. He studies rock climbing to find shoulder techniques for kayakers, and applies Nordic skiing’s smooth propulsion to mountain biking. What he’s looking for are basic engineering principles, because he’s convinced that the next big leap forward in fitness won’t come from strength or technology, but plain, simple durability. His starting point was uncertainty; he assumed that the Tarahumara step into the unknown every time they leave their caves, because they never know how fast they’ll have to sprint after a rabbit or how tricky the climbing will be if they’re caught in a storm. It’s really awful that so many doctors are reinforcing this learned helplessness, this idea that you have to be some kind of elite being to handle such a basic, universal movement. I couldn’t figure out why, until one runner explained that throughout history, the four basic ingredients for optimal health have been clean air, good food, fresh water and low stress. They’re out in the woods for hours at a time, breathing pine-scented breezes, eating small bursts of digestible food, downing water by the gallons, and feeling their stress melt away with the miles. Ann Trason and Krissy Moehl often beat every man in the field in some ultraraces, while Emily Baer recently finished in the Top 10 at the Hardrock 100 while stopping to breastfeed her baby at the water stations. We may not be fast, but we’re born with such remarkable natural endurance that humans are fully capable of outrunning horses, cheetahs and antelopes. I thought I’d have to go on some kind of prison-camp diet to get ready for an ultra, but the best advice I got came from coach Eric, who told me to just worry about the running and the eating would take care of itself. I instinctively began eating smaller, more digestible meals as my miles increased, but then I went behind his back and consulted with the great Dr. Ruth Heidrich, an Ironman triathlete who lives on a vegan diet. The first boom came during the Great Depression; the next was in the ‘70s, when we were struggling to recover from a recession, race riots, assassinations, a criminal President and an awful war. There are rogues aplenty here, such the deadly narco-traffickers who roam Copper Canyon, but there are many more who inspire, such as the Tarahumara runners, who show the rest of the world the false limitations we place on human endurance. McDougall has served as an Associated Press war correspondent, is a contributing editor to Men’s Health, and runs at his home in rural Pennsylvania, and he brings all of these experiences to bear in this slyly important, highly readable account.

The book sets forth theories about motor learning and control that provide lessons for learning any sport or physical activity. So many books have been written about the meditation side of Zen and the everyday, chop wood/carry water side of Zen. But few books have approached Zen the way that most Japanese actually do--through ritualized arts of discipline and beauty--and perhaps that is why Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the Art of Archery is still popular so long after it first publication in 1953.

One of the world’s most highly sought-after bowling instructors provides bowlers with comprehensive coverage on the essential equipment, techniques, lane play and spare-shooting strategies, and mental training necessary for success on the lanes. “In the second edition of Bowling Fundamentals , Michelle combines her vast knowledge of the game and almost three decades of experience as a world-class player and premier coach to help bowlers of all ages and levels advance their skills and techniques.”. Regardless of your skill level, this great book provides the technique instruction and motivational tips so you can learn and enjoy the game.”. She and Sill run an annual fundraising event, called “Bowl-4-Animal Rescue” (bowl4animalrescue.org), with 100% of the proceeds benefitting local animal charities. Mullen is from Chicago and lives in Livonia, Michigan, along with her 3 dogs and four cats, who insist that “rescued is her favorite breed”.

To possess the skills, techniques and attitude of the true practitioner of aikido, one must achieve a very high level of integration of the powers of mind and body, the harmonious combination of physical means and ethical motives. "It has been a most useful reference for me over the years, and I'd highly encourage any adult to make it a part of your personal Aikido library." If you're not a student of Aikido, this book can still be a useful way to familiarize yourself with the art on a theoretical level. It's also an interesting resource for anyone who wants to do some serious thinking about their martial art.

Plunging into a new way of eating that made processed foods off-limits and that prioritized plant nutrition, and vowing to train daily, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months —from out-of-shape midlifer to endurance machine . Finding Ultra recounts Rich’s remarkable journey to the starting line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans against each other in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. ''Rich Roll's Finding Ultra is a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle, break down walls, and redefine what's possible.''. --John Brenkus, creator and host of ESPN's Sport Science and New York Times bestselling author. ''You walk away from reading this book knowing you have the total power to transform your life on every level . '' Finding Ultra'' is about a journey we all take as human beings, when we decide to pursue the impossible and live a life of mission. --Sanjay Gupta, MD, Emmy Award-winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and New York Times bestselling author. -- Mel Stewart, fourteen-time national champion, former world record holder, and winner of two Olympic gold medals in swimming. ''Roll has accomplished amazing things, but it is his ability to draw inspiring and uniquely insightful lessons from his experiences that sets him apart from other extreme athletes. '' Finding Ultra is an inspired first-person account of fast living and even faster swimming, biking, and running that will leave you convinced of the power of your own will.''. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children and, when he isn't training or competing, manages the entertainment boutique Independent Law Group.

Using clear and concise explanations and highly detailed illustrations, this book takes you step by step through the body mechanics of the sword, from foundations to essential elements. The Practice Module provides advice on choosing training equipment as well as a comprehensive array of drills and exercises designed to put everything you learned in the previous module into practice. Finally, the Calibration module gives you all of the information you need to put your skills to the test by cutting targets with a sharp sword, from advice on choosing a sword to how to purchase, prepare and set up tatami and other targets. If I were to list everything I like about the book, my list would have more bullet points than the book has pages. "This book is a MUST HAVE for any Historical European Martial Arts enthusiast! "Edelson's book is singular in its attempts to inform and guide the practitioner through a synthesis of centuries-old knowledge and modern science, to foster realistic sword training, in a clear methodical manner. "Michael Edelson's decades of training in sword arts has given him not only the knowledge of how to use these weapons, but also the knowledge of how to pass on these skills to other people. This book is a valuable resource for the historical martial arts community and to anyone wanting to understand in clear terms the proper ways in which to use medieval swords." He is a world renowned practitioner and teacher of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) and is the founder and principal instructor of the New York Historical Fencing Association.

Gary's lessons and David's writing provide examples of the importance of the mental game." Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." In Mind Gym , noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack teaches athletes the lessons he's learned about how the mind influences athletic performance as much as physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--Mack shares the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle."

In Bloodlines, Emmy and National Magazine Award-winning journalist Melissa del Bosque follows Lawson and Perez's harrowing attempt to dismantle a cartel leader’s American racing dynasty built on extortion and blood money. ''Through suspense, excellent reporting and impeccable writing, Melissa del Bosque tells a fascinating tale of corruption, extortion, and the intricacies of money laundering by a drug cartel that transformed the face of organized crime in the Western Hemisphere.''. Until one day he was asked to check out a tip from a source: a horse was sold at an Oklahoma auction for a record-topping price, and the buyer was Miguel Treviño, one of the leaders of the Zetas, Mexico’s most brutal drug cartel. In Bloodlines, Emmy and National Magazine Award–winning journalist Melissa del Bosque follows Lawson and Perez’s harrowing attempt to dismantle a cartel leader’s American racing dynasty built on extortion and blood money. With extensive access to investigative evidence and in-depth interviews with key players, del Bosque turns more than three years of research and her decades of reporting on Mexico and the border into a gripping narrative about greed and corruption.

Learn exactly how working professionals eat fire in this tell-all book, written in an easy-to-follow "how-to" format. 172 pages - 208 illustrations - 24 effects - 8 spin flourishes - PLUS sections on material safety, torch construction, health risks, tips for the working professional, the history of fire eating, and more! See page 101. What can you do to save your life in the event of a fire eating mishap? The Professional's Guide to Fire Eating gets you detailed facts you need to know about fire eating, including one section NEVER BEFORE included in ANY fire eating manual to date. Johnson, Magician and Hypnotist. "This is The Bible of fire eating books."

Informative, entertaining, and executed with the same tough, sassy, DIY attitude — leavened with plenty of humor — that the sport is known for, Down and Derby is the first and last book on derby you’ll ever need. Praise for Down and Derby “As someone who has witnessed the many transitions of roller derby almost from the beginning, I can say that this chronicle isn’t just for fans of all the stages of the game, but for anyone who wants to enjoy an inspiring story about truly fascinating people.” —Jerry Seltzer, derby pioneer and owner of the original Roller Derby league. Veterans in the world of roller derby, Axles and Kasey are an inspiration to derby girls everywhere, myself included. “Part manifesto, part how-to-guide, Down and Derby demystifies the world of roller derby, showing readers it’s as inclusive as it is cool. “As the author of an old Roller Derby book, let me just say this to the new kid on the rink: up with Down and Derby .

“Skate, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll!”—Kat Von D, LA Ink Forward by Tony Hawk Skateboarder and Jackass star Brandon Novak comes clean about his crazy rise to fame, tailspin into addiction, and other death-defying stunts on the road to recovery... Discovered by skate legends Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk. Soon the up-and-coming star was living a down-and-out life in a garage, begging for change, and hustling to score his next fix. With the help of his celebrity buddy Bam Margera of Jackass fame, Brandon joined the cast of MTV’s Viva La Bam and made an honest reach for sobriety. Eventually repudiating the abject life of a junkie, he entered rehab and subsequently recovered with the help of fellow star skateboarder Bam Margera. This would be most powerful for an audience weaned on the X-Games; also a forthcoming film of the same name.—Lynne Maxwell. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Plunging into a new way of eating that made processed foods off-limits and that prioritized plant nutrition, and vowing to train daily, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months —from out-of-shape midlifer to endurance machine . Finding Ultra recounts Rich’s remarkable journey to the starting line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans against each other in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. ''Rich Roll's Finding Ultra is a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle, break down walls, and redefine what's possible.''. --John Brenkus, creator and host of ESPN's Sport Science and New York Times bestselling author. ''You walk away from reading this book knowing you have the total power to transform your life on every level . '' Finding Ultra'' is about a journey we all take as human beings, when we decide to pursue the impossible and live a life of mission. --Sanjay Gupta, MD, Emmy Award-winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and New York Times bestselling author. -- Mel Stewart, fourteen-time national champion, former world record holder, and winner of two Olympic gold medals in swimming. ''Roll has accomplished amazing things, but it is his ability to draw inspiring and uniquely insightful lessons from his experiences that sets him apart from other extreme athletes. '' Finding Ultra is an inspired first-person account of fast living and even faster swimming, biking, and running that will leave you convinced of the power of your own will.''. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four children and, when he isn't training or competing, manages the entertainment boutique Independent Law Group.

Gary's lessons and David's writing provide examples of the importance of the mental game." Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--you will learn the same techniques and exercises Mack uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." In Mind Gym , noted sports psychology consultant Gary Mack teaches athletes the lessons he's learned about how the mind influences athletic performance as much as physical skill does, if not more so. Through forty accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes from prominent athletes--many of whom he has worked with--Mack shares the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle."

The #1 New York Times –bestselling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany and now the inspiration for the PBS documentary “The Boys of ‘36” For readers of Unbroken , out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant. It encompasses the convergence of transcendent British boatmaker George Pocock; the quiet yet deadly effective UW men’s varsity coach, Al Ulbrickson; and an unlikely gaggle of young rowers who would shine as freshmen, then grow up together, a rough-and-tumble bunch, writes Brown, not very worldly, but earnest and used to hard work. In doing so, he offers a vivid picture of the socioeconomic landscape of 1930s America (brutal), the relentlessly demanding effort required of an Olympic-level rower, the exquisite brainpower and materials that go into making a first-rate boat, and the wiles of a coach who somehow found a way to, first, beat archrival University of California, then conquer a national field of qualifiers, and finally, defeat the best rowing teams in the world.

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. Above all, he recalls the foundational relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers. It’s an amazing tale.”— Bill Gates, one of his favorite books of 2016 “ Shoe Dog is a great American story about luck, grit, know how, and the magic alchemy of a handful of eccentric characters who came together to build Nike. That it happened at all is a miracle, because as I learned from this book, though we are a nation that extols free enterprise, we also excel at thwarting it. I’ve worn the gear, with pride, but I didn’t realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. " Shoe Dog is an extraordinary hero's journey, an epic tale of faith, unparalleled determination, excellence, failure, triumph, hard earned wisdom, and love. Phil Knight takes us back to the Big Bang of the swoosh, recalls how he first begged and borrowed from reluctant banks, how he assembled a crew of eccentric but brilliant misfits, how they all worked together to build something unique and paradigm changing. "A fresh historical prospective on one of the most profiled companies in the world...[ Shoe Dog ] builds characters of the people behind the brand, many of whom we've never heard of." As Knight collects the misfits and oddballs who become the core of his growing company, Shoe Dog is more like The Lord of the Rings than a typical mogul memoir." As a business biography, it ranks with such recent works as Neal Gabler’s Disney and Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs . But as a personal memoir Shoe Dog reaches a depth of emotional honesty that even the best biographies haven’t touched." “A fascinating warts and all account of the company’s early years, a rascally tale of scrappiness and survival, a great read .

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. Above all, he recalls the foundational relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers. “ Shoe Dog is a great American story about luck, grit, know-how, and the magic alchemy of a handful of eccentric characters who came together to build Nike. That it happened at all is a miracle, because as I learned from this book, though we are a nation that extols free enterprise, we also excel at thwarting it. I’ve worn the gear, with pride, but I didn’t realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. " Shoe Dog is an extraordinary hero's journey, an epic tale of faith, unparalleled determination, excellence, failure, triumph, hard-earned wisdom, and love. Phil Knight takes us back to the Big Bang of the swoosh, recalls how he first begged and borrowed from reluctant banks, how he assembled a crew of eccentric but brilliant misfits, how they all worked together to build something unique and paradigm-changing. "A fresh historical prospective on one of the most profiled companies in the world...[ Shoe Dog ] builds characters of the people behind the brand, many of whom we've never heard of." As Knight collects the misfits and oddballs who become the core of his growing company, Shoe Dog is more like The Lord of the Rings than a typical mogul memoir."

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. Above all, he recalls the foundational relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers. It’s an amazing tale.”— Bill Gates, one of his favorite books of 2016 “ Shoe Dog is a great American story about luck, grit, know how, and the magic alchemy of a handful of eccentric characters who came together to build Nike. That it happened at all is a miracle, because as I learned from this book, though we are a nation that extols free enterprise, we also excel at thwarting it. I’ve worn the gear, with pride, but I didn’t realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. " Shoe Dog is an extraordinary hero's journey, an epic tale of faith, unparalleled determination, excellence, failure, triumph, hard earned wisdom, and love. Phil Knight takes us back to the Big Bang of the swoosh, recalls how he first begged and borrowed from reluctant banks, how he assembled a crew of eccentric but brilliant misfits, how they all worked together to build something unique and paradigm changing. "A fresh historical prospective on one of the most profiled companies in the world...[ Shoe Dog ] builds characters of the people behind the brand, many of whom we've never heard of." As Knight collects the misfits and oddballs who become the core of his growing company, Shoe Dog is more like The Lord of the Rings than a typical mogul memoir." As a business biography, it ranks with such recent works as Neal Gabler’s Disney and Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs . But as a personal memoir Shoe Dog reaches a depth of emotional honesty that even the best biographies haven’t touched." “A fascinating warts and all account of the company’s early years, a rascally tale of scrappiness and survival, a great read .