This week to complement my sportsmanship article there was some wonderful discussion all around the web about the competitive fighting game scene and the recent drama there concerning Capcom's reality TV show. Today Penny Arcade posted an article offering some pushback to Ben Kuchera's article highlighting the sexual harassment culture purportedly associated with the genre. [...]
Sportsmanship in eSports
This week I wanted to talk about a topic that is close to my heart, sportsmanship in eSports. Everybody is familiar with EG Idra, the famous Starcraft 2 zerg player who pays respect to opponents who beat him, but sometimes not those that he feels he lost too. Recently in League of Legends there was [...]
Relaxation technique – progressive relaxation
The idea behind progessive relaxation (PR) exercises is to eventually be able to automatically release tension from the muscles. A relaxed body then leads to a relaxed mind. When doing PR it is helpful to have good breathing technique and to incorporate stretching or physical activity of some sort, such as walking or yoga. There [...]
The Power of Purpose
Surpassing our Limits What is purpose? That implacable determination to keep moving forward. The view that an obstacle does not stop us in our tracks, but provides us an opportunity to surpass our limits. Peoples' purpose comes from many sources. Our children, our dreams, selfish and altruistic desires, passionate mentors, the list goes on and [...]
Arousal in eSports
Today I want to discuss arousal in eSports, although it's probably a different kind of arousal than most people are expecting. No, I don't mean Sona or PMantheon's chest; nor do I mean Jim Raynor's rugged good looks or Kerrigan's naked-bug get-up. What I mean is the activation of the body and the mind, which [...]
Relaxation and performance in eSport
Two ends of the spectrum One of the biggest joys and frustrations in my life is that I coach a special needs team of competitive swimmers. One boy loves to compete; he gets really, super excited about it. In fact every time he dives in for a race he spins his arms like a windmill, and [...]
Definitive eSports
A brand new site just started in January 2012. We'll see how they fare in the future; they are currently hiring League of Legends writers so I'll be checking back to see what sort of content they put out. Interesting youtube videos... http://www.D-eSports.com/
eSports performance
The full title is eSports Performance : eSports training and pro gaming resources. An older, discontinued blog with several good articles and interviews from the time. It's nice to see what the activists were doing in 2005, and it's also fantastic to see how far we have come in just a few years. Check it out [...]
tl;dr
tl;dr is a gaming blog written by Diane and Jacob. It is primarily aimed at gamers, hobbyist or real researchers, and librarians! They seem ready and willing to tackle any topic from any angle, so there's a real variety of articles. Worth a visit. http://tl-dr.ca/
Relaxation Technique – proper breathing
Breathing correctly is nature's automatic relaxant. When a person takes a deep, diaphragmatic breath the muscles along the back involuntarily relax as part of the movement. Since the shoulder muscles are largely tied into the lumbar support muscles of the spine this effect cascades throughout the upper torso. Additionally, the amount of oxygen in the [...]