Samsung Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Samsung Case Analysis Essay 1. HISTORY Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company. It is the chief subsidiary of the Samsung Group that was established in 1969, and its headquarters is located in Samsung Town, Seoul. Samsung Electronics is one of the largest electronics producers in Asia, and its product line includes semiconductors, televisions, telecommunication equipment, computers and many other kinds of home appliances. The Samsung Electronics unit was created to get into the prosperous television and consumer electronics industry. Its first product was a small simple black-and-white television which was sold in the early 1970s. The division developed a diverse line of consumer electronics, and while in its beginning products was only sold domestically; exporting goods began a few years later. It took the company savvy management and huge investments in research and development, but Samsung Electronics expanded their products to creating color televisions and a variety of other consumer electronics and appliances. The company manufactured, shipped and sold a broad range of these appliances and electronic products worldwide by the 1980s. The fast progress and success of Samsung Electronics was not a surprise to people who knew the founder of the Samsung Group, Byung Chull Lee, a highly praised Korean entrepreneur. He overcame several obstacles with the small trading company he founded in 1938. Starting with a $2,000 nest egg and 40 employees, he was one of the ten largest trading companies when the Korean War started. The conquest of Soeul by the North Korean army forced him to give up his operations in 1950. However, one year after losing almost all his inventories and relocating to Pusan, Lee started the company over again with the help of the savings of one of his managers. After only one year, the company had experienced unimaginable growth and its assets twenty folded.Lee, being an entrepreneur that was always looking for more opportunities, founded Cheil Sugar, a sugar refinery in 1953, which became a very profitable business that allowed him to expand into a wide variety of markets. These included insurance, broadcasting, securities and even department stores. Lee was heavily criticized for some of his actions, such as building the â€Å"first manufacturing facility in South Korea after the Korean War† but many of his companies prospered under his vision of making Samsung the leader in every industry he entered. Despite facing major setbacks and fighting political battles in the 1960s, Samsung generated revenues over US $100 million annually. Lee not only broke into â€Å"the mass communication industry by launching a radio and television station†, but also founded Samsung Electronics. Entering the manufacturing televisions and electronics components industry, one that was under the control of US and European companies, seemed to be a risky venture, but Lee succeeded with the help of the national government. The head of the state, Park Chung-Hee encouraged the growth of dominating domestic industries in contradiction to his predecessor, who ruled with favoritism and corruption in order to keep his power. Park protected major industries and the larger companies in South Korea from foreign competition and gave out financial assistance as a part of his economic growth plan. The Samsung Group was one of the main beneficiaries, profiting from the ban on several countries to import consumer electronics, thereby eliminating the big competitors in the home market. As the company was trying to establish itself in the television industry, it added consumer products and appliances to its product lines. In addition to the ban on imports from certain countries, the government also prohibited foreign companies to invest into Samsung, while Samsung was still allowed to invest in overseas businesses. As a consequence, Samsung Electronics rapidly controlled parts of the home market while it also started exported successfully. As Lee had already predicted in the first decade of its existence, Samsungs Electronics division was the main industry for the company’s future. To ensure that Samsung became a major player, he entered the semiconductor business in 1978. Government regulations again played in the entrepreneur’s favor, as foreign telecommunication equipment manufacturers were required to provide semiconductor technology in return for access to the Korean market. In 1983, after receiving proprietary technology from Micron (USA) and Sharp (Japan), Samsung became the first Korean manufacturer of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips. Producing relatively low-tech DRAM chips at a lower cost, Samsung Electronics became a large supplier to computer and electronics manufacturers throughout the entire world within the next couple years. Samsung Electronics increased its efforts on other electronics operations in the meantime as well. Assembly plants were built in Portugal (1982), New York (1984) and England (1987). Together these plants produced 1,700,000 televisions, 700,000 microwave ovens and 300,000 VCRs. Thus, Samsung Groups annual revenues rose to $24 billion in 1987 (from $1.3 billion ten years earlier), which equated about a fifth of South Koreas entire GDP. Most of that growth resulted of Samsungs Electronics success. Despite the death of its founder Byung-Chull Lee, sales for the Samsung Group almost triple folded between 1987 and 1992. His successor, his son Kun-Hee Lee, did not only recognize the importance of the electronics division but moved it to the core of the Group. He combined several divisions and removed some operations while introducing different ideas that were put in place to enhance product quality and employee motivation. Lee focused on pushing Samsung to become a technological leader in the semiconductor, electronics and communication industry and doubled research and development investments. He was also credited for intensifying partnering efforts with foreign businesses to make Samsung the pioneer in the semiconductor technology. During the 1990s, Samsung underwent a groundbreaking change. After Samsung begins to reinvent through design (1993), sets up its in-house design school (â€Å"The Innovative Design Lab of Samsung†) and hires design consultancy IDEO to help develop computer monitors (1994), its biggest change had yet to follow. With the appointment of Yun Jong Yong as the President and CEO, Samsung changed its strategy drastically. Despite making profits as an established low cost supplier of many components to larger and well-known companies as well as providing customers with lower-priced appliances that were more affordable than the more expensive products by brands such as Sony, Yun was worried about the company’s future. He could not envision the company continued success on a low cost strategy with products whose technology had been developed by others. Yun believed that it was not secure to expect to be continuously able to scout for low-cost production locations successfully while retaining high volumes of production. This concern mainly a rose out of the emergence of many low-cost producing countries such as China. The CEOs scare became reality as within the first year of his tenure serious financial trouble threatened the company’s survival. Huge debt and the economic crisis in Asian resulted in the loss of millions of dollars and Yun stated that â€Å"if we continued, we would have gone belly-up within three or four years.† (Dess, 2010, p. C123). A turn-around was the much needed consequence. After trying to continuously compete in a price-cutting environment and increasing volume throughout the economic recession, Samsung Electronics had to lay off more than one-third of its workforce, which accumulated to about 30,000 employees. To get rid of its large inventory, many factories were closed down for more than 60 days. The company also sold off $2 billion worth of business that it perceived to be with minimal significance for its future. Yun decided to move Samsung’s future away from a company based on a lower-cost strategy to one emphasizing product development that woul d ultimately impress their consumers with their attractive design and advanced technology. Developing Samsung into a premium brand was the vision of the leader, and he recruited new managers. Yun removed the seniority-based system and put a merit-based system for advancement in place. These efforts resulted in the construction of newly designed products such as the largest flat-panel televisions, cell phones with new features (Cameras, PDAs, etc.) and thinner notebooks and computers than ever before. Hiring Eric Kim, a marketing whiz, who changed the advertisement agencies from 55 to one to create the same brand image anywhere in the world, worked hard to place a more upscale image of Samsung products into consumers’ minds. To undermine this perception, Samsung pulled out its products of big discounters such as Wal-Mart or Kmart and placed these into more expensive retailers (e.g. Best Buy, Circuit City). Yun was aware of the fact that the company would only be able to maintain its higher profit margins if the firm was able to bring its products faster to the market than its competitors. To ensure a sustaining model of this competitive advantage, the CEO removed several layers of bureaucracy to win approval for new products, budgets and marketing plans. Second steps to maintain an advantage are the huge investments in key technologies. The company has invested more than any of its rivals in research and development (RD), as it almost puts 9% of its revenues aside just for RD. To decrease the time of innovative product development, the large number of designers and engineers that are working in 17 locations throughout the entire world are not only facing the pressure from their own management but also competes with outsiders. Samsung attributes these strategies to its success in the effort of decreasing the time from a â€Å"new product concept to rollout† (Dess, 2010, p. C124). from over a year to â€Å"as little as five months† (Dess, 2010, p. C124). The determined work of the firms top manager, designers and engineers in the firms VIP center is at the core of the products rapid innovation and production. The reduced complexity for project teams in the design cycle’s early stages allows the company to move its products quicker to manufacturing while reducing problems and costs. Jung, a senior manager of the center states, explains that: â€Å"Seventy to eighty percent of quality, cost and delivery time is determined in the initial stages of a product.† (Dess, 2010, p. C124). A senior VP of Best Buy, George Danko, affirmed that â€Å"they will get a product to market a lot fast than their counterparts.† (Dess, 2010,p. C125). Among Samsungs first-to-market products are the first voice activated phones, handsets with MP3 Players and digital cameras that send photos over global systems for mobile communications networks. In addition to that, the firm was first to market projection TVs using new chips from Texas Instruments that employ digital-light processing. (Dess, 2010, p. C125).Yun envisioned that the company’s digital technology advances can result in a po ssibility of dominating the â€Å"digital home†, a home where he envisions that all appliances (from computers to refrigerators) are linked to each other and are capable of adapting to the personal needs of every individual consumer. One of the first products that have been brought to the market includes NEXiO, a combination of a cell phone and a handheld computer, or the Zipel, a refrigerator that has a 15-inch touch screen in its door that allows consumers to browse the web. To emphasize the importance of design, Yun implemented quarterly design meetings with top executives and opened or expanded design centers in San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Shanghai. Additionally, the post of chief design officer was created who ensures that designers can get their ideas to top managers. (Dess, 2010, p. C125). Despite all the improvements that Samsung Electronics made since the mid-1990s, Lee Yoon Woo replaced Yun as the CEO in May 2008. After a tax evasion scandal that involved the parent firm Samsung Group, a major-shakeup along the top executives occurred that not only reassigned over half of its executives to new positions but also introduced many younger executives to various leadership teams. The purpose of the restructuring was to increase efforts and deal better with the prevailing bad economic conditions. Samsung went into the economic recession with a market value of over $100 billion, thus placing them in an elite market position shared only with three other Asian firms. Samsung moved past big players on the market such as Nokia, Sony and Motorola, thanks to their revolutionary products. The efforts to improve design by overhauling it design every two years has been paying off and Samsung won well over 200 awards from internationally prestigious design institutions since 2006. Even though Samsung prides itself of having lower cost structure compared to most of its rivals, the firm experienced its first quarterly losses in the last three months of 2008, when the company lost $14.4 million. This is Samsungs first net loss since it began reporting quarterly results in 2000. The overproduction of memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) worldwide was mentioned as the main reason resulting in a quarterly loss. Despite recording a quarterly loss, the company still made a yearly profit in 2008 and has increased its revenues steadily in the past decade. Samsung underwent two major restructures in the last three years, one in 2009 when the company began to slim down operations into two divisions from the five separate ones it had the year before. It also appointed Choi Gee Sung the new CEO shortly after the company made him the head of the newly formed digital media and communications unit. Chois appointment was a breakthrough for Samsung Electronic as it previously only picked top managers that had their backgrounds in engineering. In December 2010, Samsung underwent the second restructuring as it switched its management style from the single CEO system of the previous year to a two person management team. Choi Gee Sung remained the CEO of the company but was named Vice President and Lee Jae Yong is now the President and COO (Chief Operating Operator). The firm also added a digital imaging business division so that Samsung Electronic currently consists of eight divisions. (FundingUniverse, 1999) 2. VISION As Samsung stated in its new motto, the company’s vision for the decade is to Inspire the World, Create the Future. his new vision reflects Samsung commitment to inspiring its communities by supplying Samsungs three key strengths: â€Å"New Technology,† â€Å"Innovative Products,† and â€Å"Creative Solutions.† Samsung has also established three strategic approaches in its management: â€Å"Creativity,† â€Å"Partnership,† and â€Å"Talent.† As part of this vision, Samsung has mapped out a specific plan of reaching $400 billion in revenue and becoming one of the world’s top five brands by 2020. Samsung states that it looks forward to increase its diversity by exploring new territories, including health, medicine, and biotechnology. (Samsung, 2010) 3. BUSINESS DIVISIONS 1. Visual Display Business Samsung Electronics has achieved the world’s No. 1 market share in TVs for five years in a row since 2006. After establishing the new market for LED TVs in 2009, the firm has extended its competitive lead with sales of 45.11 million TVs. That included 39.26 million flat panel TVs in 2010, as the Full HD 3D LED TV became readily available. Samsung also leads in the next generation market with total sales of 3D TVs (2 million in 2010). Samsung Electronics announced a monthly record this past October 2011 as it sold more than 1 million units in the United States. A company official was stated: â€Å"Selling over 1 million units in the North American market in just one month is a first for the company, but it is also unprecedented in the industrys history.† According to the official, the company was experiencing increased demand in the â€Å"premium TVs , e.g. the 3D and especially smart TVs, which were just released in 2011 and featured Full HD picture quality and Smart Hub options. Samsung announced that the global share of its 3D TVs came to over fifty percent as of last months ending. Meanwhile plasma display panel (PDP) TVs also reached 40%. [pic] (Samsung,2010) 3.2. IT Solution Business After the implementing of Samsung’s global marketing strategy for mobile PCs, Samsung Electronics realized rapid growth and reached sales of 10 million units in 2010 worldwide. The firm launched a printer for consumers that supports mobile printing. Samsung Electronics provides business customers with a complete product line, including the first dual core CPU-equipped printer on the market, a multifunction printer and an A3 copier. The easy-to-use features and the products powerful performance secured second global market share in the A4 laser printer category in 2010. Samsung Electronics led the world market in the categories of mono laser multifunction printers and color laser multifunction printers for the second consecutive year. In the future, the firm expects to achieve strong growth by launching an ultra-light high-performance laptop for the premium market and by bolstering its business-to-business (B2B) product line. Samsung Electronics anticipates continuing growth in the printer business in the upcoming years. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) 3.3. Digital Appliance Business Samsung Electronics is strengthening its brand image by introducing premium home appliances that offer essential services for daily life. In 2010, innovative products such as the twin cooling side by-side refrigerator; the front loader washer with vibration-reduction technology, the energy-efficient air conditioner; and air purifiers with humidification that maintain clean air quality in rooms resulted in great response worldwide. Samsung brought innovate, smart appliances to the market that deliver gracious and convenient lifestyle options such as Samsung’s autobot vacuum cleaner that cleans rooms automatically. Other products include kitchen ranges and microwaves that offer cooking features suitable for anybody. Samsung Electronics will extend its market leadership by releasing additional premium appliances. These will be supported by strong marketing with the purpose of becoming the world’s most trusted digital appliance brand. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) 3.4. Mobile Communication Business In 2010, Samsung Electronics reinforced its market leadership by achieving sales of 280 million mobile phones worldwide. This number is up 23% compared to 2009. The flagship GALAXY S model posted sales of 10 million units, while the GALAXY Tab also led the Android tablet PC market, earning great customer reviews. The firms leadership in full touch and messaging mobile phones continued in both advanced and emerging markets. Samsung Electronics plans to aggressively challenge a vey competitively growing market. It launched the GALAXY S II, the company’s flagship smartphone, only one day after Apple announced the new iPhone 4S and the Samsung phone received great feedback. The firm plans to keep expanding and improving its unique mobile solutions as it strengthens its competitive lead in both services and content. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) 5. Telecommunication System Business Samsung Electronics develops forward-looking products for two major 4G platforms, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the Mobile WiMAX (WiBRO). In 2010, the firm established the first LTE commercial services network in the US and currently expands in North America, Asia and Europe. Mobile WiMAX—introduced by Samsung Electronics and adopted as a global standard in 2007—has been experiencing dramatic growth in major mobile communications markets, including the US, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Based on its established technology leadership, the firm is expecting to lead the worldwide mobile broadband market in the upcoming years. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) 6. Digital Imaging Business Samsung Electronics is working hard on its brand image and recognition to become a premium brand by introducing a rising number of premium digital cameras and digital camcorders. The product line of interchangeable lens digital cameras was extended in the last year and the newly released mirror less digital camera (NX11) secured the firms competitive lead over professional optical brands. Samsung plans to continue to debut world-first and world-best cameras such the ST700 Dual View camera (which offers excellent image quality plus fun and convenient self-portrait option), the EX1 (the world’s first ultra-wide F1.8 zoom lens), the SH100 (which features Wi-Fi (DLNA) functionality) and many others. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) 7. Semiconductor Business Samsung is the worlds second largest semiconductor manufacturer and is the industry sales and technology leader in the areas of DRAM, SRAM, NAND Flash and TFT-LCDs. A key partner and premier supplier to the global IT industry, Samsung Electronics offers the widest range of advanced semiconductor devices and solutions for PC, server and mobile applications. The firm intends to play a major role in the growth of the green IT industry as they implement their Green Memory strategy, which emphasizes high-performance memory products with lower power consumption. Samsung Electronics differentiated product competitiveness has awarded the company the No.1 position in the worldwide memory market for 18 years in a row. The company consistently leads the industry, and began the world’s first mass production of 30nm-class 2Gb DDR3 DRAM, 30nm-class 4Gb LPDDR2 DRAM, 20nm-class NAND flash memory, 512GB SSD and more. In the storage systems division, the firm introduced high-capacity hard disk drives (HDDs) to the market, including a 2.5 inch 334GB HDD and a 3.5 inch 667GB HDD. [pic](Samsung, 2010) 8. LCD Business Being the industry leader, Samsung Electronics has achieved the No. 1 market share for LCD panels for nine consecutive years. The industry-first active 3D technology supports True 240Hz for 3D TV, which has reinforced Samsung’s leadership.Samsung released trendsetting displays as such as an LCD panel for the tablet PC (which offers vivid colors at a wide viewing angle), a low-power IT panel built with advanced LED backlight technology and more innovations were key to the firms leadership. In 2011, Samsung has been improving its product leadership as they developed differentiated offerings, including ultra-large panel technology, a full range of LED LCD panels, high-value IT products and DID panels. For the future, Samsung stays committed to research and development to produce tomorrows best products. That includes focusing on an oxide semiconductor panel, plastic LCD, transparent LCD and developing high efficiency solar modules. The firm’s goal is to develop the industr y’s most efficient and highest quality products. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) 4. FINANCIAL INFORMATION Samsung Electronics has been increasing its sales from 2008 till 2010 by more than 10% annually. These are extraordinary numbers, given the economic circumstances in todays (western) world. Despite big investments in research and development, the firm managed to almost double its net income from 2008 to 2009 and almost triple it from 2008 to 2010. [pic] (Samsung, 2010) Samsung Electronics experienced an increase in revenue in the first 6 month of the fiscal year of 2011 compared to the first two quarters in the previous year. However, this increase in revenue did not result in an increased operational profit in that period. As shown in appendix 1, the main reason for the decline in operational profits are two factors: increased cost of sales and increased research and development expenses. Stock Information Samsung Electronics stock trades on the stock markets in Seoul, London, and Luxemburg. Samsung Electronics stock is listed on the Korean Stock Exchange as 005930. As the chart below indicates, Samsung Electronics stock price has been considerably grown in the last two decades. However, it experienced many setbacks, the latest ones in the latter of half of 2008 and beginning of 2009 as well as during the third quarter of 2011’s fiscal year. The worldwide economic recession and first quarter losses in last decades in the fourth quarter of the year 2008 were responsible for the declining demand of stocks, while this year’s first half decline is probably most attributed to the slowing world economy. However, the stock price rose to the level of the years beginning in the late summer this year. 1 KRW (South Korean Won) = 0.00089 US Dollar (as of 11/9/11) [pic] (Market Watch, 2011) Financial RatiosRatio data as of 06/30/2011 [pic] (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2011) In the following, I will discuss three major financial ratios. 1. Return on Assets: Return on Assets is an indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. The ratio gives an understanding of how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earning. Samsung Electronics Return on Assets is 6.87%, a number that is a little below industry average and shows that the company can definitely improve its efficiency. 2. Cash Ratio: The cash ratio is the most conservative ratio for measuring liquidity and is often used during periods of economic turmoil because cash is the most important asset many companies possess in difficult times. If a company has a ready supply of cash, it can survive sudden drops in sales that might put another less liquid company out of business. Samsung Electronics Cash Ratio (1.6x) is generally speaking a decent number and as indicated above an above average number compared to the industry. 3. Total Debt/Equity The total debt/equity ratio is calculated by dividing the firm’s total liabilities by stockholders equity and indicated what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. High debt/equity ratios generally mean therefore that a company has been aggressive in financing its growth with debt, which can result in unstable earnings as a result of the additional interest expenses. Samsung Electronics 11.6x Total debt/equity ratio is a high number that gives some room for concern, as high interest rates could have a negative impact on the companies financials. 5. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis will examine the internal and external factors influencing Samsung Electronics. It will identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the company. Samsung electronics has many strengths that can be pointed out. First, they are a very innovative company. As part of their new strategy they have begun developing its own products rather than copying those of other firms. In fact, they invest 9% of their revenues into research and development. This has helped them to gain a competitive edge. Also they switched to a merit-based system for advancement rather than a seniority based system. We believe this is effective because it will motivate employees to work harder knowing that if they perform, they can advance with the company. Interior competition is also healthy to a certain extent. Samsung encourages its two divisions to compete with each other to boost sales and innovation. Also Samsung is very efficient and effective in their product development process as well as getting the product to market. They lead the industry in this and can get a new product developed and released in as little as five months. Another key strength is their brand name. Samsung is recognizable all over the world as a top quality company. Next it is important to exploit Samsung’s weaknesses as a company in order to identify their key issues. The first is interior competition. Note that this was also listed in strengths, but if pushed to far can be a detriment to the company. Too much competition between divisions could cause a loss of focus on the company’s overall vision and more focus on beating each other. This could also cause the divisions to think more short-term rather than focus on sustainability. Also, the company is reluctant to branch out into music, movies and the game industry. Branching out could increase their revenues tremendously and sky rocket the company’s business. Their former low cost structure should be pointed out as well because they focused less on quality and more on cost, which essentially kept them from becoming a premium brand that appeals to a more luxury consumer demand. Overall Samsung has many opportunities to take advantage of. The first is their innovation; with this they hope to expand into creating the full â€Å"digital home† experience. This means that they wish to change the way our homes our designed and essentially used with the use of their technology. This could be a huge cash cow for the company and could create a constant stream of revenues. In addition, they could begin to aggressively pursue and acquire other technology companies in markets that they are not currently in. They have already started this with the failed attempt to acquire SanDisk, a company that makes storage cards and other such products. Furthermore, they should continue to build new factories around the area in low cost areas. Keeping production costs low is a key factor in increasing and maintaining the highest possible profit margin. Due to the innovation and research of Samsung they could penetrate many new markets as well as expand market share. Samsung Electronics also faces many external threats. The current economic state of key areas such as the United States has caused a large decline in demand. This means that they have a large amount of inventory sitting in warehouses. This could put a damper on a company’s financial situation due to holding costs and a decrease in revenues. Also if there is an overcapacity in global production this could drive down prices. When prices are driven down; profit margin decreases and your company could feel the financial impact. Lastly, there is a large amount of competition in the industry. It is important to stay innovative and one step ahead of your competitors to m aintain market share. 6. Porter’s Five Forces The threat of new entrants is relatively low in this industry. The majority of the companies in this industry are established and operating at a very high output. It is hard to enter the market due to the extremely high amounts of costs put forward to research and development, as well as bringing your product to the consumer. Next, there are very many substitutes to the products that Samsung offers. There are many companies competing in the electronics field and they are constantly looking to gain market share. Also companies in the technology industry are constantly copying each other’s innovations in hopes of improving them. The bargaining power of the buyers is high in this industry. The consumer has a large array of options and substitute products. This enables them to have a large impact on the price of the product. This is why it is important to keep your prices competitive. The bargaining power of suppliers for Samsung Electronics is low. This is due to the large market share that the company has. The company develops and manufactures their products in house, which enables them to have more control over their complete supply chain. Ultimately this helps them to be more efficient and keep costs down. Within the electronic industry, there is a very large threat of competition. They face strict competitors such as Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Philips, and Sharp to name a couple. This is why it is important to stay innovative and keep emphasis on quality, as well as satisfying your consumers’ needs. 7. Problems There are many problems that Samsung faces as a company. We do not believe they are being aggressive enough in entering new markets. The cost of losing opportunity while it is there could be detrimental to the company. Also, because the technology business is always rapidly changing, they could lose sight on the overall long-term growth of the company. Samsung also has very high operating costs because of the constant amount of research and development they use. The company should actively seek ways to become more efficient to keep costs low. High costs and lack of demand have caused their profit margins to decrease. A lack of an internal distribution system could also drive costs up. A problem in the general environment that diminished Samsung’s return is the global economic slowing growth (or in parts also recessions) that Samsung has to keep considering carefully in its product investments and overall company strategy. Our own research conducted in the local Best Buy store also pointed out that even though Samsung’s smart phone series Galaxy is growing in market share, it consistently has lacks and downtimes, which frustrates many of the customers. 8. Solutions/Suggestions There are many possible solutions to some of the internal and external issues that Samsung is experiencing. First, we believe that Samsung should branch out into music, movies and the game industry. This could help the company to expand in a positive manor and could open up many new markets to them as well. Next it is important to keep planning for long-term sustainable growth. Samsung should continuously invest in new technology to keep its market share. Also, they should take full advantage of opportunities to acquire other business entities in new markets. They should take a proactive approach to expansion to help them gain and maintain a competitive edge. The company should also keep looking for new ways to keep their operating and manufacturing costs low. They could even look into bringing their distributors in house by buying them out, or even implement their own distribution division. This could be very effective in keeping distribution costs low. Samsung also has to solve the ongoing problems with its leading smart phone on the market, the Galaxy. Bibliography Dess, G., Lumpkin, G, Eisner, A. Strategic Management Text and Cases.(2010). New York, New York, McGraw-Hill Irwin FundingUniverse. (1999). FundingUniverse. Retrieved 11 10, 2011, from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Samsung-Electronics-Co-Ltd-company-History.html Samsung. (2010). Samsung. Retrieved 11 10, 2011, from Samsung Electronics: http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/ir/financialinformation/annualreport/downloads/2010/SECAR2010_Eng_Final.pdf Market Watch. (2011, 11 9). MarketWatch. Retrieved 11 10, 2011, from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. GDR Pfd. 144A: http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/ssngy Bloomberg Businessweek. (2011, 11 10). Businessweek. Retrieved 11 10, 2011, from SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD : http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/ratios.asp?ticker=005930:KS

There Are Four Main Sources Of Irish Law

There Are Four Main Sources Of Irish Law There are four main sources of Irish Law. Pick one of these sources and examine it in detail as it affects the Early Childhood Care and Education area. Law does not come from one source and can change with time. Previously Brehan Law was Irelands native law, up until it was replaced by Common Law when Ireland was taken over by Great Britain. Now post British rule Irish law is taken from The Irish Constitution, 1937, Legislation passed by our government (primary and secondary), Case law and European Union law, these are the main sources but some other sources are Public International law, Cannon law, custom, media and Scholarly writing. In order to examine Case Law in Ireland it is important first to explore the definitions of law, it s place in Irish society. It is necessary to be aware of the process of law making in Ireland, who it affects and how it is practiced and it is enforced. The name given to the science of law is Jurisprudence. The laws of nature have always existed but Legal laws are put there by humans. Moral and ethics can drive humans to regulate behaviour, e.g. to use manners and to wait in turn, to respect each others land and not to steal. Rules of moral value are sometimes governed by the good conscience and fear of other peoples opinions, in Irish societal history this is evident in the times of Roman Catholic influence and is greatly linked to religious beliefs, but most moral laws are also tied in and related with legal rules especially if they are seen to cause a harm to society. E.g. murder, rape, pollution. The collection of people forming the Irish society has a set of rules in which they must abide by. Laws are set for the common good of the society and by the society to ensure that a certain standard of behaviour is maintained by that society. Legal law in Ireland does not just cover harm to the society; it also regulates private human acts such as suicide, abortion and animal cruelty. These legal rules are enforced on society through the court system. If there were to be no law system in Ireland it would be faced with anarchy. Law can be defined as The written and unwritten body of rules, derived from custom, formal enactment or judicial decision, which are recognised as binding on persons who constitute a community or state, so that they will be imposed upon and enforced among those persons by appropriate sanctions. (Cited by Murdoch.) H, 1998) The Irish Constitution, 1937 as the main source of law in Ireland is a written document containing the rules that are applied to the state. It contains the fundamental rights of the Irish people and also the regulations for its Government, the regulations for administration of justice. It also holds regulations on the division between the judicial branches of the state and the executive legislative branches of the state. The constitution has enumerated rights to equality, to personal liberty, to life of the unborn and equally to the mother, to freedom of speech, freedom to associate, freedom of assembly, family rights and protection, Inviolability of the dwelling, the right to education(with parental primacy, freedom to private property, to religious freedom and to directive principles through social policy. Some rights that are also implied by the Constitution are the rights of the child, the right to know the identity of ones birth mother, the right to earn a living, the right to strike, the right to dissociate, the right to travel, the right to protect ones health, the right to bodily integrity, the right to marry and form a family, the right to communicate, the right to silence, the right to privacy, the right to life of the individual, the right to legal representation, the rights to fair procedures in decision making, the right to access to legal advice and the rights to fair procedure in decision making. The Constitution lays out all the important rights that the society needs in order to live positively and in harmony and it is up to the state to protect the rights of society by enacting legislation. Any legislation that does not protect the rights according to the constitution is not legally binding. Outside of European Law, the Oireactas is the name of the only place in Ireland that can make laws for the state. It consists of the President and Dail Eireann and Seanad Eireann (the two houses of Oireactas.) A new law starts as a bill which is a proposition for a new legislation which is usually initiated by the government who will have already consulted it with other bodies that it may affect. In some cases the government will set up a green paper containing its ideas and ask for views and feedback on those ideas from individuals and groups of people. This bill must pass through both the houses of Oireactas though it usually starts off in the Dail Eireann. The Dail will then examine and debate its contents and suggest changes or additions to the bill. The members will then vote on whether to pass the bill or not to pass it. The bill will then be travelled to the Seanad Eireann and they will go through the same process again. They can then decide to pass the bill without any changes needed, the can decide not to pass it at all or they may decide to send it back to the Dail Eireann with more changes to be discussed. If the Seanad dont agree with the bill or asks for the Dail to make more changes it will lapse 180 days later, but the Dail can still pass the bill within the deadline once it has passed through the both houses the Seanad only has the power of suggestion and of slowing the process down. The Taoiseach then passes the bill to the President of Ireland to be signed. The President has the ultimate power then to pass the bill, if the president thinks that the bill may be unconstitutional he/she is entitled to further consultation with the council of state. It is sent to the Supreme Court to be discussed further. If the president does sign the bill it becomes an Act which means it is a Legal/statute law. This law must stay consistent to the constitution or else it is not valid. Legislation can also be delegated to and implemented through use of statutory instruments; this is known as secondary legislation or subordinate legislation. This means some power is passed down to an executive authority to administer and implement the requirements that are needed to fulfil a primary legislation given by the legislature. The Childcare Act that was passed in 1991 is an example of a Primary Legislation. Examples of secondary legislation can be seen within The Childcare Act. In one part The 1991 Childcare Act stated that; The Health Service Executive has a duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. (Cited in Citizens Advice, 2008) This lead to The Childcare (Placement of Children in Foster Care) Regulations, 1995. The Childcare (Placement of Children in Residential Care) regulations, 1995, and The Childcare (Placement of Children with Relatives) regulations, 1995. Also under The Childcare Act; the HSE is given the responsibility of ensuring the health, safety and welfare of children attending pre-schools (Cited in Citizens Advice, 2010) from this the Pre-school Service Regulations 2006 and Garda clearance for employees in childcare were created. When a law is seen to be broken or infringed in Ireland it must be taken to court. The courts will look at the behaviour in question and the definition of the law in question and see if the facts add up to an offence. There are two different classifications of law in Irish society. They can be described as Private Law / Public Law or Civil/Criminal Law. Private law deals with the relationships of individual people within Ireland, whereas Public Law deals with the relationships between Ireland as a state and the individual. The purpose of private law/ or civil law is to protect the interests of the individual persons in Ireland and give them rights to defend their interests with. If an individual person is rightfully wronged by another they can defend their interests civilly and orderly, and resolve the dispute in court. Some examples of private law cases are ones that deal with Landlord and tenant issues, Custody issues, personal injury and breach of contract issues. In usual circumstances there is a money pay out, compensation or an injunction Public Law/ or criminal law is concerned with the relationships of the individual and Ireland as a state and is of collective interest to the Irish society. It deals with actions by a person that are forbidden by the Irish as a state and these actions are punishable through imprisonment, community service or fines. Acts such as murder, sale of drugs and sexual assaults are dealt with before the public courts. This is done in a public court scene in most cases as it is a crime against the public, whereas it may endanger or distress the victim exceptions are made and their identities are kept hidden. Procedural/or substantive law is the set of legal rules that are exercised by the court. This outlines the procedure by which the law is to be enforced through the courts and the rules of evidence and forms the courts structure. Some examples of the substantial law used in a civil court would be Property law, Contract law or Tort law. Constitutional law, Administrative law, criminal Law and Public International Law are seen in Public law cases. In interpreting the legislations in the court, the court must be certain of the intentions of the legislature at the time that it was passed. The court has three rules to put into place if they are unsure of the legislation, if it is unclear to them or if it is appearing to show more than one meaning. The literal rule which means that the judge keeps to the ordinary meanings of the words according to the legislation, The golden rule which means that if by following the literal rule this leads to an absurd result then the literal rule must be changed and finally the mischief rule which means that the judge may investigate as to why the legislation was proposed to be certain of what particular mischief it was set up to fix or prevent or what or who it was meant to protect. In the unlikely case the Dail reports may be necessary to interpret the unclear legislation. Ireland like, England, America, Australia and New Zealand is part of a common law jurisdiction. This means in common with the other countries the Irish state uses previous court decisions to help them to make decisions in other cases. The previous cases are kept within law reports. Law that is more so shaped from judicial decision and precedents rather than statute is known as Case law and they govern the impact that court decisions will have on future cases. It comes more from jurisprudence than it is does legislation, though it serves to determine the legality of existing laws and can check or put more of a balance to the law that is put in place by the legislators. Case law is the overall decisions that are reported by courts which are known as the courts of first impression. They make new interpretations of the law. They can be then be cited as precedents. The process in action is known as stare decisis. New Interpretations are then distinguished from statutory law. When the Irish Parliament passes a legislation, although a great deal of research goes into the anticipation of how well it will work, nobody knows if it works until it is tested in court. When it is applied or interpreted in a particular way, especially when a new direction or diffentiation appears, the case will often be reported so that other courts will follow this new interpretation in the interests of keeping consistency. The higher the court, the more significant this will be. If a case is appealed and reaches the High Court or the Supreme Court, then the lower courts will have to apply the law in the same way as in that upper court unless the case before them has some significant difference. That is why case law is important. It acts as a guide for judges, magistrates and lawyers. One simple example of case law in action might be when actors in the television series Law and Order cite court decisions to the prosecutor to convince her that they have a case against a certain person. Something like States vs. Jackson supports the idea that the defendant was guilty of felony murder. Case Law is an area which was previously contained within the confines of ones own country has assumed international proportions and that therefore one is not concerned simply with domestic case law. References;

A Character Analysis of James Joyces The Dubliners Essay -- Literary

In the collection of short stories in â€Å"Dubliners,† James Joyce introduces a mosaic of the day-to-day lives of working class Irishmen and their personal struggles with the pre-independent societal and personal restrictions of Victorian England. The characters of Little Chandler, Eveline, Maria, and Farrington symbolize the specific components of the kaleidoscopic Irish population and their universal tendency to stay contained within the limits of the current time period and within the limitations of their society. Despite life presenting them with opportunities to improve or change their living conditions, these people are not ready to move on and are suffocated by their ambiguity, their belief system, and their stereotypes. Joyce’s characters illustrate multiple stereotypes and also a variety of beliefs that Irish people followed, which influenced their behavior and their choices. Some literary critics recognize the reason for the paralysis of Dubliners as being the society as a whole with its pervasive moral conditions (Bloom 90-91). One of the most significant stereotypes, described by Phillip F. Herring, was the misleading belief among the Irish population that the improvement of their lives comes â€Å"only through death or emigration† (Bloom 91). This false conviction is presented in at least two Joyce’s characters; Eveline and Tom Chandler. Eveline is a nineteen year old girl from the book of the same name. Although still very young, she is taking care of her abusive father and two siblings in return for having a roof over her head. She is employed in â€Å"stores† under the supervision of Miss Hill, who, similarly to her father, does not show any fondness f or and kindness to Eveline. However, there might be a light at th... ...guage 51.1 (2009): 1-16. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. de Voogd, Peter. â€Å"Imaging Eveline, Visualised Focalisations In James Joyce’s Dubliners.† European Journal of English Studies 4.1 (2000): 39-48. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2012 Goldberg, S.L. â€Å"Virtues and Limitations In James Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’: A Critical Handbook.† Eds. James R. Baker and Thomas F. Staley. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. (1969): 29–35. Print. Herring, Philip F. â€Å"‘Dubliners’: The Trials Of Adolescence In James Joyce: A Collection of Critical Essays.† Ed. Mary T. Reynold. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1993): 67-80. Print. Kelly, Joseph. â€Å"Our Joyce: From Outcast To Icon†. University of Texas Press, 1998. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Joyce, James. â€Å"Dubliners†. Ed. Margot Norris.1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. Print A Character Analysis of James Joyce's The Dubliners Essay -- Literary In the collection of short stories in â€Å"Dubliners,† James Joyce introduces a mosaic of the day-to-day lives of working class Irishmen and their personal struggles with the pre-independent societal and personal restrictions of Victorian England. The characters of Little Chandler, Eveline, Maria, and Farrington symbolize the specific components of the kaleidoscopic Irish population and their universal tendency to stay contained within the limits of the current time period and within the limitations of their society. Despite life presenting them with opportunities to improve or change their living conditions, these people are not ready to move on and are suffocated by their ambiguity, their belief system, and their stereotypes. Joyce’s characters illustrate multiple stereotypes and also a variety of beliefs that Irish people followed, which influenced their behavior and their choices. Some literary critics recognize the reason for the paralysis of Dubliners as being the society as a whole with its pervasive moral conditions (Bloom 90-91). One of the most significant stereotypes, described by Phillip F. Herring, was the misleading belief among the Irish population that the improvement of their lives comes â€Å"only through death or emigration† (Bloom 91). This false conviction is presented in at least two Joyce’s characters; Eveline and Tom Chandler. Eveline is a nineteen year old girl from the book of the same name. Although still very young, she is taking care of her abusive father and two siblings in return for having a roof over her head. She is employed in â€Å"stores† under the supervision of Miss Hill, who, similarly to her father, does not show any fondness f or and kindness to Eveline. However, there might be a light at th... ...guage 51.1 (2009): 1-16. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. de Voogd, Peter. â€Å"Imaging Eveline, Visualised Focalisations In James Joyce’s Dubliners.† European Journal of English Studies 4.1 (2000): 39-48. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Apr. 2012 Goldberg, S.L. â€Å"Virtues and Limitations In James Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’: A Critical Handbook.† Eds. James R. Baker and Thomas F. Staley. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc. (1969): 29–35. Print. Herring, Philip F. â€Å"‘Dubliners’: The Trials Of Adolescence In James Joyce: A Collection of Critical Essays.† Ed. Mary T. Reynold. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. (1993): 67-80. Print. Kelly, Joseph. â€Å"Our Joyce: From Outcast To Icon†. University of Texas Press, 1998. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 10 Apr. 2012. Joyce, James. â€Å"Dubliners†. Ed. Margot Norris.1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006. Print

Physical Fitness

Physical education (often abbreviated Phys. Ed. or P. E. ) or gymnastics(gym or gym class) is a course taken during primary and secondary educationthat encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting. Physical education trends have developed recently to incorporate a greater variety of activities. Introducing students to activities like bowling, walking/hiking, or Frisbee at an early age can help students develop good activity habits that will carry over into adulthood. Some teachers have even begun to incorporate stress-reduction techniques such as yoga and deep-breathing.Teaching non-traditional sports to students may also provide the necessary motivation for students to increase their activity, and can help students learn about different cultures. For example, while teaching a unit about lacrosse (in, say, Arizona, USA), students can also learn a little bit about the Native American cultures of the Northeast and Eastern Canada, where lacrosse originated. Teaching non-traditional (or non-native) sports provides a great opportunity to integrate academic concepts from other subjects as well (social studies from the example above), which may now be required of many P.E. teachers. The four aspects of P. E. are physical, mental, social, and emotional. Another trend is the incorporation of Health and Nutrition to the physical education curriculum. The Child Nutrition and WIC Re-authorization Act of 2004 required that all school districts with a federally funded school meal program develop wellness policies that address nutrition and physical activity. While teaching students sports and movement skills, P. E. teachers are now incorporating short health and nutrition lessons into the curriculum.This is more prevalent at the elementary school level, where students do not have a specific Health class. Recently most elementary schools have specific health classes for students as well as physical education class. With the recent outbreaks of dis eases such as swine flu, school districts are making it mandatory for students to learn about practicing good hygiene along with other health topics. Today many states require Physical Education teachers to be certified to teach Health courses. Many colleges and Universities offer both Physical Education and Health as one certification.This push towards health education is beginning in the intermediate level, including lessons on bullying, self-esteem and stress and anger management. In the USA, the physical education curriculum is designed to allow school pupils a full range of modern opportunities, dozens of sports and hundreds of carefully reviewed drills and exercises, including exposure to the education with the use of pedometer, GPS, and heart rate monitors, as well as state-of-the-art exercise machines in the upper grades.Some martial arts classes, like wrestling in the United States, and Pencak Silat in France, Indonesia and Malaysia, are taught to teach children self-defens e and to feel good about themselves. The physical education curriculum is designed to allow students to experience at least a minimum exposure to the following categories of activities: aquatics, conditioning activities, gymnastics, individual/dual sports, team sports, rhythms, and dance. Students are encouraged to continue to explore those activities in which they have a primary interest by effectively managing their community resources.In these areas, a planned sequence of learning experiences is designed to support a progression of student development. This allows kids through 6th grade to be introduced to sports, fitness, and teamwork in order to be better prepared for the middle and high school age. In 1975, the United States House of Representatives voted to require school physical education classes include both genders. Some high school and some middle school PE classes are single-sex.Requiring individuals to participate in physical education activities, such as dodge ball, f lag football, and other competitive sports remains a controversial subject because of the social impact these have on young children. It is, however, important to note that many school budgets have seen cutbacks and in some cases physical education programs have been cut. Technology use in physical education New technology in Physical education is playing a big role in classes. One of the most affordable and effective would be a simple tape recorder.With the use of a tape recorder students can see the mistakes they're making in things such as a throwing motion or swinging form[4]. Studies show that students do find this more effective than having someone just telling them what they are doing wrong and trying to correct it. Educators also found the use of other technologies such as pedometers and heart rate monitors very successful, using them to make step and heart rate goals for students. Other technologies that can be used in a Physical Education setting would include projectors, GPS and even gaming systems such as Kinect for XBOX360, Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution.Projectors can be used to show students things such as proper form or how to play certain games. GPS systems can be used to get students active in an outdoor setting and active exergames can be used by teachers to show students a good way to stay fit in and out of the classroom setting[7] Another type of technology that is commonly used in Physical Education is the use of pedometers. Pedemeters do not necessarily track how far a person is going, but it lets them know the number of steps they are making. It will let them know how many steps on average they are making and want to strive to get more the next class. 1] There are many lessons that you can use for many grade levels when you are teaching students to use a pedometer it is important to make it a game, especially for younger students. [2] [edit]Worldwide In South Korea, it is mandatory for pupils to take 3 hours of PE through primary an d secondary schools. In Portugal, pupils from primary school could optionally join PE as an extra-curricular activity. From middle school to secondary school pupils must participate in PE classes 2 hours per week. In Singapore, pupils from primary school through junior colleges are required to have 2 hours of PE every week, except during examination seasons.Pupils are able to play games like football, badminton, captain's ball, and basketball during most sessions. Unorthodox sports such as touchball, fencing, and skateboarding are occasionally played. In more prestigious secondary schools and in junior colleges, sports such as golf, tennis, shooting, and squash are played. A compulsory fitness exam, NAPFA, is conducted in every school once every year to assess the physical fitness of the pupils. Pupils are given a series of fitness tests (Pull-ups/Inclined pull-ups for girls, standing broad jump, sit-ups, sit-and-reach and 1. km for primary [10-12 year-olds]/2. 4 km for secondary an d junior college levels [13-18 year-olds]). Students are graded by gold, silver, bronze or fail. NAPFA for pre-enlistees serves as an indicator for an additional 2 months in the country's compulsory national service if they attain bronze or fail. In Malaysia, pupils from primary schools to secondary schools are expected to do 2 periods or 1 hour of PE throughout the year except a week before examination. In most secondary schools, games like badminton, sepak takraw, football, basketball and tennis are available.Pupils are allowed to bring their own sports equipment to the school with the authorization of the teacher. In most secondary schools, physical exams are rarely done, schools record pupils' heights, weights and how many push-ups they can do. In Scotland, pupils are expected to do at least two periods of PE in first, second, third and fourth year. In fifth and sixth year, PE is voluntary. [citation needed] Indonesian high school students are playing traditional game â€Å"Ben teng† In Indonesia, students ranging from Kindergarten to High School have PE integrated with their curriculum.Kindergarten until Grade 3 of Elementary students have gymnastics, starting from Grade 4 of Elementary School, students will be introduced into traditional martial arts Pencak Silat and some team games such as badminton, tennis, soccer, futsal, rounders, basketball, etc. Starting from Junior High School, Both gender are separated during PE class. PE find its place in extracurricular forms, where students can specialize themself in one kind of sports they choose. Sport Festival can be held during vacuum period, usually after examination.At this time students can compete each other by bringing own class' flag. Some universities such as ITB include PE in curriculum for freshmen Some countries include Martial Artstraining in school as part of Physical Education class. These Filipino children are doing karate. In the Philippines, some schools have integrated martial arts t raining into their Physical Education curriculum. [8][9][10][11][12] In England, pupils are expected to do two hours of PE a week in Year 7, 8 and 9 and at least 1 in year 10 and 11. [13] In Wales, pupils are expected to do only one hour of PE per fortnight. 14] In Poland, pupils are expected to do at least three hours of PE a week during primary and secondary education. [15] Universities must also organise at least 60 hours of physical education classes at undergraduate courses. [16] In India, Physical Education is an important subject in schools. Many students chose Physical Education as a subject against Language Subject Like English, French, some time official language Hindi and some time local languages like Punjabi, because it is very scoring subject and very interesting. Assignments on Physical education increase the interest in Sports.Educational Bodies in India like Central Board of Secondary Education and Punjab School Education Board are in those which conduct examination on Physical Education in affiliated schools and collages. [edit]Adapted physical education Main article: Adapted Physical Education Adapted Physical Education or APE, is a sub-discipline and self-control of physical education, focusing on inclusion and students with special needs. Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness (a state of health and well-being), and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects ofsports or occupations).Physical fitness is generally achieved through correct nutrition, exercise, and enough rest. Contents [hide] 1 Definitions 2 Fitness 3 Training 4 Menopause and Physical Fitness 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links [edit]Definitions Physical fitness has been defined as a set of attributes or characteristics that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity. The above definition from Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Su rgeon General is the most common currently used definition of physical fitness.It was originally used by Caspersen and has been used extensively. An alternative definition by Howley and Frank that provides additional descriptive information is: Physical fitness is a state of well-being with low risk of premature health problems and energy to participate in a variety of physical activities. While either is a good definition, most experts agree that physical fitness is both multidimensional and hierarchical. In previous years[when? ], fitness was commonly defined as the capacity to carry out the day’s activities without undue fatigue.However, as automation increased leisure time, changes in lifestyles following the industrial revolution rendered this definition insufficient. In current contexts, physical fitness is considered a measure of the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work and leisure activities, to be healthy, to resist hypokinetic diseas es, and to meet emergency situations. [1] [edit]Fitness A US marine performing fitness exercises. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports — a study group sponsored by thegovernment of the United States—declines to offer a simple definition of physical fitness.Instead, it developed the following chart: Health relatedSkill relatedSports Metabolic Morphological Bone integrity OtherBody composition Cardiovascular fitness Flexibility Muscular endurance Muscle strength Agility Balance Coordination Power Speed Reaction time OtherTeam sport Individual sport Lifetime Other A comprehensive fitness program tailored to an individual will probably focus on one or more specific skills,[2] and on age-[3] or health-related needs such as bone health. [4] Many sources[citation needed]also cite mental, social and emotional health as an important part of overall fitness.This is often presented in textbooks as a triangle made up of three points, which represent physical, emo tional, and mental fitness. Physical fitness can also prevent or treat many chronic health conditions brought on by unhealthy lifestyle or aging. [5] Working out can also help people sleep better. To stay healthy it is important to engage in physical activity. [6] [edit]Training Specific or task-oriented fitness is a person's ability to perform in a specific activity with a reasonable efficiency: for example, sports ormilitary service. Specific training prepares athletes to perform well in their sports.Examples are: 100 m sprint: in a sprint the athlete must be trained to work anaerobically throughout the race. Marathon: in this case the athlete must be trained to work aerobically and their endurance must be built-up to a maximum. Many fire fighters and police officers undergo regular fitness testing to determine if they are capable of the physically demanding tasks required of the job. [7] Soldiers of the United States Army must be able to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) . [8] Hill sprints, this training requires a level of fitness to begin with, the exercise is particularly good for the leg muscles.The army often trains doing mountain climbing and races. [edit]Menopause and Physical Fitness The menopausal period in women is frequently associated with many subjective complaints including vasomotor symptoms, sleep disturbance, alteration in mood, lowered libido, and musculoskeletal pain. All of these symptoms could lead to a lower quality of life. Physical Fitness has the ability to alleviate or even eliminate the effect of most of these. Women experiencing their menopausal period should engage in regular exercise in order to achieve better physical fitness. [9]Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). Each country has its own national governin g body affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic sports. It typically involves the women's events of uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise, and vault. Men's events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar.Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks, that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills. Other gymnastic disciplines include: trampolining, tumbling, rhythmic gymnastics,aerobic gymnastics and acrobatic gymnastics. Participants can include children as young as four years old doing kindergym and children's gymnastics, recreational gymnasts of ages 5 and up, competitive gymnasts at varying levels of skill, and world class athletes. Contents [hide] 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Forms 4 Artistic gymnastics 4. 1 Events for women . 2 Events for men 4. 3 Rhythmic gymnastics 4. 4 Trampolining and tumbling 4. 5 Acrobatic gymnastics 4. 6 Aerob ic gymnastics 4. 7 TeamGym 4. 8 Display gymnastics 5 Former apparatus and events 5. 1 Rope (rhythmic gymnastics) 5. 2 Rope climb 5. 3 Flying rings 6 Popular culture 6. 1 Film 7 See also 8 References 9 External links [edit]Etymology The word gymnastics derives from the common Greek adjective (gymnos) meaning â€Å"naked†,[1] by way of the related verb (gymnazo), whose meaning is â€Å"to train naked†, â€Å"train in gymnastic exercise†, generally â€Å"to train, to exercise†. 2] The verb had this meaning, because athletes exercised and competed without clothing [edit]History 1908 Summer Olympics in London: Display of the British women's gymnastics team Exercises of the ancient Greeks began with athletic feats performed by each individual according to his own notion. The youth were encouraged to combine amusement with exercise. In time, this kind of exercise was incorporated into a system that figured prominently in the state regulations for education. In fact, the period for exercise or gymnastics was equal to the time spent on art and music combined. 3] All Greek cities had a gymnasium, a courtyard for jumping, running, and wrestling. The term included stretching exercises and warm-up preparations for athletes (from the Greek athlete athlos, which means â€Å"struggle†, â€Å"fight†). These tests were based on military exercises. As the Roman Empire ascended, the Greek gymnastics gave way to gymnastics whose purpose was military training. The Romans, for example, introduced the wooden horse. In AD 393 the Emperor Theodosius abolished the Olympic Games, which by then had become corrupt, and gymnastics, along with other sports, declined. For centuries, gymnastics was all but forgotten. 4] In the year 1569, Girolamo Mercuriale from Forli (Italy) wrote Le Arte Gymnastica, that brought together his study of the attitudes of the ancients toward diet, exercise and hygiene, and the use of natural methods for the cure of dis ease. De Arte Gymnastica also explained the principles of physical therapy and is considered the first book on sports medicine. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Germany, three pioneer physical educators – Johann Friedrich GutsMuths (1759–1839) and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852) – created exercises for boys and young men on apparatus they had esigned that ultimately led to what is considered modern gymnastics. Don Francisco Amoros y Ondeano, marquis de Sotelo, was born on February 19, 1770 in Valence and died on August 8, 1848 in Paris. He was a Spanish colonel, and the first person to introduce educative gymnastic in France. In particular, Jahn crafted early models of the horizontal bar, the parallel bars (from a horizontal ladder with the rungs removed), and the vaulting horse. [4] The Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG) was founded in Liege in 1881. 5] By the end of the nineteenth century, men's gymnastics competition was popular enough to be included in the first â€Å"modern† Olympic Games in 1896. From then on until the early 1950s, both national and international competitions involved a changing variety of exercises gathered under the rubric, gymnastics, that would seem strange to today's audiences and that included for example, synchronized team floor calisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping, running, and horizontal ladder. During the 1920s, women organized and participated in gymnastics events.The first women's Olympic competition was primitive, for it involved only synchronized calisthenics, was held at the 1928 Games, in Amsterdam. By 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and uniform grading structures (including a point system from 1 to 15) had been agreed upon. At this time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world with highly disciplined and difficult performances, setting a precedent that continues. The new medium of tel evision helped publicize and initiate a modern age of gymnastics.Both men's and women's gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, and excellent gymnasts can be found on every continent. Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score, at the 1976 Summer Olympics held inMontreal, Canada. She was coached in Romania by the Romanian coach, (Hungarian ethnicity), Bela Karolyi. Comaneci scored four of her perfect tens on the uneven bars, two on the balance beam and one in the floor exercise. [6] Even with Nadia's perfect scores, the Romanians lost the gold medal to the Soviet Union.Nevertheless, Comaneci became an Olympic icon. In 2006, a new points system for Artistic gymnastics was put into play. With an A Score (or D score) being the difficulty score, which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high scoring elements in a routine (excluding Vault). The B Score (or E Score), is the score for execution, and is given for how well the skills are performed. [7] [edit]Forms Aerob ic exercise (also known as cardio) is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. 1] Aerobic literally means â€Å"living in air†,[2] and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism. [3] Generally, light-to-moderate intensity activities that are sufficiently supported by aerobicmetabolism can be performed for extended periods of time. [1] Contents [hide] 1 Aerobic versus anaerobic exercise 2 Aerobic capacity 3 Criticisms 4 Commercial success 5 Varieties of aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise 5. 1 Indoor 5. 2 Outdoor . 3 Indoor or outdoor 6 See also 7 Footnotes 8 References 9 External links [edit]Aerobic versus anaerobic exercise This section needs additional citations for verification. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (October 2011) Fox and Haskell formula showing the split between aerobic (light orange) and anaerobic (dark orange) exercise and heart rate.Aerobic exercise and fitness can be contrasted with anaerobic exercise, of which strength training and short-distance running are the most salient examples. The two types of exercise differ by the duration and intensity of muscular contractions involved, as well as by how energy is generated within the muscle. In most conditions, anaerobic exercise occurs simultaneously with aerobic exercises because the less efficient anaerobic metabolism must supplement the aerobic system due to energy demands that exceed the aerobic system's capacity.What is generally called aerobic exercise might be better termed â€Å"solely aerobic†, because it is designed to be low-intensity enough not to generate lactate via pyruvate fermentation, so that all carbohydrate is aerobically turned into energy. Initially during increased exertion, muscle glycogen is broken down to produce glucose, which undergoes glycolysis producing pyruvate which then reacts with oxygen (Krebs cycle) to produce carbon dioxide and water and releasing energy.If there is a shortage of oxygen (anaerobic exercise, explosive movements), carbohydrate is consumed more rapidly because the pyruvate ferments into lactate. If the intensity of the exercise exceeds the rate with which the cardiovascular system can supply muscles with oxygen, it results in buildup of lactate and quickly makes it impossible to continue the exercise. Unpleasant effects of lactate buildup initially include the burning sensation in the muscles, and may eventually include nausea and even vomiting if the exercise is continued without allowing lactate to clear from the bloodstream.As glycogen levels in the muscle begin to fall, glucose is released into the bloodstream by the liver, and fat metabolism is increased so that it can fuel the aerobic pathways. Aerobic exercise may be fueled by glycogen reserves, fat reserves, or a combination of both, depending on the intensity. Prolonged moderate-level aerobic exercise at 65% VO2 max (the heart rate of 150 bpm for a 30-year-old human) results in the maximum absolute contribution of fat to the total energy expenditure. At this level, fat may contribute 40% to 60% of total, depending on the duration of the exercise.Vigorous exercise above 75% VO2max (160 bpm) primarily burns glycogen. [4][5] Major muscles in a rested, untrained human typically contain enough energy for about 2 hours of vigorous exercise. Exhaustion of glycogen is a major cause of what marathon runners call â€Å"hitting the wall†. Training, lower intensity levels, and carbohydrate loading may allow to postpone the onset exhaustion beyond 4 hours. [5] Aerobic exercise comprises innumerable forms. In general, it is performed at a moderate level of intensity over a relatively long period of time. For example, running a long distance at a oderate pace is an aero bic exercise, but sprinting is not. Playing singles tennis, with near-continuous motion, is generally considered aerobic activity, while golf or two person team tennis, with brief bursts of activity punctuated by more frequent breaks, may not be predominantly aerobic. Some sports are thus inherently â€Å"aerobic†, while other aerobic exercises, such as fartlek training or aerobic dance classes, are designed specifically to improve aerobic capacity and fitness. It is most common for aerobic exercises to involve the leg muscles, primarily or exclusively. There are some exceptions.For example,rowing to distances of 2,000 m or more is an aerobic sport that exercises several major muscle groups, including those of the legs, abdominals, chest, and arms. Common kettlebell exercises combine aerobic and anaerobic aspects. Among the recognized benefits of doing regular aerobic exercise are: Strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, to facilitate the flow of air in and out of the lungs Strengthening and enlarging the heart muscle, to improve its pumping efficiency and reduce the resting heart rate, known as aerobic conditioning Strengthening muscles throughout the bodyImproving circulation efficiency and reducing blood pressure Increasing the total number of red blood cells in the body, facilitating transport of oxygen Improved mental health, including reducing stress and lowering the incidence of depression Reducing the risk for diabetes. Burns body fat, while building leaner muscle. As a result, aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of death due to cardiovascular problems. In addition, high-impact aerobic activities (such as jogging or using a skipping rope) can stimulate bone growth, as well as reduce the risk of osteoporosis for both men and women.In addition to the health benefits of aerobic exercise, there are numerous performance benefits: Increased storage of energy molecules such as fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, allowing for increase d endurance Neovascularization of the muscle sarcomeres to increase blood flow through the muscles Increasing speed at which aerobic metabolism is activated within muscles, allowing a greater portion of energy for intense exercise to be generated aerobically Improving the ability of muscles to use fats during xercise, preserving intramuscular glycogen Enhancing the speed at which muscles recover from high intensity exercise Both the health benefits and the performance benefits, or â€Å"training effect†, require a minimum duration and frequency of exercise. Most authorities suggest at least twenty minutes performed at least three times per week. [6] [edit]Aerobic capacity Main article: VO2 max Aerobic capacity describes the functional capacity of the cardiorespiratory system, (the heart, lungs and blood vessels).Aerobic capacity is defined as the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during a specified period, usually during intense exercise. [7] It is a function both of cardiorespiratory performance and the maximum ability to remove and utilize oxygen from circulating blood. To measure maximal aerobic capacity, an exercise physiologist or physician will perform a VO2 max test, in which a subject will undergo progressively more strenuous exercise on a treadmill, from an easy walk through to exhaustion.The individual is typically connected to a respirometer to measure oxygen consumption, and the speed is increased incrementally over a fixed duration of time. The higher the measured cardiorespiratory endurance level, the more oxygen has been transported to and used by exercising muscles, and the higher the level of intensity at which the individual can exercise. More simply stated, the higher the aerobic capacity, the higher the level of aerobic fitness. The Cooper and multi-stage fitness tests can also be used to assess functional aerobic capacity for particular jobs or activities.The degree to which aerobic capacity can be improved by exercise varie s very widely in the human population: while the average response to training is an approximately 17% increase in VO2max, in any population there are â€Å"high responders† who may as much as double their capacity, and â€Å"low responders† who will see little or no benefit from training. [8] Studies indicate that approximately 10% of otherwise healthy individuals cannot improve their aerobic capacity with exercise at all. [9] The degree of an individual's responsiveness is highly heritable, suggesting that this trait is genetically determined. 8] An aerobics class. This article is about the type of exercise. For the exercise physiology topic, see Aerobic exercise. Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretchingand strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (flexibility,muscular strength, and cardio-vascular fitness). It is usually performed to music and may be practiced in a group setti ng led by an instructor (fitness professional), although it can be done solo and without musical accompaniment.With the goal of preventing illness and promotingphysical fitness, practitioners perform various routines comprising a number of different dance-like exercises. Formal aerobics classes are divided into different levels of intensity and complexity. Aerobics classes may allow participants to select their level of participation according to their fitness level. Many gyms offer a variety of aerobic classes. Each class is designed for a certain level of experience and taught by a certified instructor with a specialty area related to their particular class. Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Aerobic gymnastics 3 See also 4 References edit]History Both the term and the specific exercise method were developed by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, M. D. , an exercise physiologist, and Col. Pauline Potts, a physical therapist, both of the United States Air Force. Dr. Cooper, an avowed exercise enthusiast, was personally and professionally puzzled about why some people with excellent muscular strength were still prone to poor performance at tasks such as long-distance running, swimming, and bicycling. He began measuring systematic human performance using a bicycle ergometer, and began measuring sustained performance in terms of a person's ability to use oxygen.His groundbreaking book, Aerobics, was published in 1968, and included scientific exercise programs using running, walking, swimming and bicycling. The book came at a fortuitous historical moment, when increasing weakness and inactivity in the general population was causing a perceived need for increased exercise. [edit]Aerobic gymnastics Aerobic gymnastics, also known as sport aerobics and competitive aerobics, is a type of competitive aerobics involving complicatedchoreography, rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastics with elements of aerobics. 1] Performance is divided into categories by age, sex and groups (individual, mixed pairs and trios) and are judged on the following elements: dynamic and static strength, jumps and leaps, kicks, balance and flexibility. Ten exercises are mandatory: four consecutive high leg kicks, patterns. A maximum of ten elements from following families are allowed: push-ups, supports and balances, kicks and splits, jumps and leaps. Elements of tumbling such ashandsprings, handstands, back flips, and aerial somersaults are prohibited. Scoring is by judging of artistic quality, creativity, execution, and difficulty of routines.Sport aerobics has state, national, and international competitions, but is not an Olympic sport. [edit]Artistic gymnastics Main article: Artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is usually divided into Men's and Women's Gymnastics. Typically men compete on six events: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and High Bar, while women compete on four: Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise. In some countries, women at one tim e competed on the rings, high bar, and parallel bars (for example, in the 1950s in the USSR).Though routines performed on each event may be short, they are physically exhausting and push the gymnast's strength, flexibility, endurance and awareness to the limit. In 2006, FIG introduced a new points system for Artistic gymnastics in which scores are no longer limited to 10 points. The system is used in the US for elite level competition. [7] Unlike the old code of points, there are two separate scores. An execution score and a difficulty score. In the previous system, the â€Å"execution score† was the only score. It was and still is out of 10. 00.During the gymnast's performance, the judges deduct from this score only. A fall, on or off the event, is a 1. 00 deduction, in elite level gymnastics. The introduction of the difficulty score is a significant change. The gymnast's difficulty score is based on what elements they perform and is subject to change if they do not perform or complete all the skills, or they do not connect a skill meant to be connected to another. Connection bonuses are the most common deduction from a difficulty score, as it can be difficult to connect multiple flight elements.It is very hard to connect skills if the first skill is not performed correctly. The new code of points allows the gymnasts to gain higher scores based on the difficulty of the skills they perform as well as their execution. [edit]Events for women Piked Tsukahara vault. Vault In the vaulting events gymnasts sprint down a 25 metres (82 ft) runway, jump onto or perform a roundoff entry onto a springboard (run/ take-off segment), land momentarily, inverted on the hands on the vaulting horse or vaulting table (pre flight segment), then spring off of this platform to a two footed landing (post flight segment).Every gymnast starts at a different point on the vault runway depending on their height and strength. The post flight segment may include one or more multiple saltos or somersaults, and/or twisting movements. Round-off entry vaults are the most common vaults in elite level gymnastics. In vaults with roundoff entries, gymnasts â€Å"round-off† so hands are on the runway while the feet land on the springboard (beatboard). From the roundoff position the gymnast travels backwards as in a backhandspring so that the hands land on the vaulting platform (horse).She then blocks off the vaulting platform into various twisting and/or somersaulting combinations. The post flight segment brings the gymnast to her feet. In 2001, the traditional vaulting horse was replaced with a new apparatus, sometimes known as a tongue or table. The new apparatus is more stable, wider, and longer than the older vaulting horse—approximately 1m in length and 1m in width—giving gymnasts a larger blocking surface, and is therefore considered safer than the old vaulting horse. With the addition of this new, safer vaulting table, gymnasts are attempting more difficult and dangerous vaults. 8] Gymnast on uneven bars. Uneven Bars On the uneven bars (also known as asymmetric bars, UK), the gymnast performs a routine on two horizontal bars set at different heights. These bars are made of fiberglass covered in wood laminate, to prevent them from breaking. In the past, bars were made of wood, but the bars were prone to breaking, providing an incentive to switch to newer technologies. The width of the bars may be adjusted. Gymnasts perform swinging, circling, transitional, and release moves, that may pass over, under, and between the two bars.Movements may pass through the handstand. Gymnasts often mount the Uneven Bars using a springboard. Balance Beam The gymnast performs a choreographed routine up to 90 seconds in length consisting of leaps, acrobatic skills, somersaults, turns and dance elements on a padded beam. The beam is 125 centimetres (4 ft 1 in) from the ground, 500 centimetres (16 ft 5 in) long, and 10 centimetres (3. 9 in) w ide. [9] The event requires, in particular, balance, flexibility, poise and strength. Gymnast doing a stag leap on floor exercise. FloorIn the past, the Floor Exercise event was executed on the bare floor or mats such as wrestling mats. Today, the floor event occurs on a carpeted 12m ? 12m square, usually consisting of hard foam over a layer of plywood, which is supported by springs or foam blocks generally called a â€Å"spring† floor. This provides a firm surface that provides extra bounce or spring when compressed, allowing gymnasts to achieve extra height and a softer landing than would be possible on a standard floor. Gymnasts perform a choreographed routine up to 90 seconds in the Floor Exercise event.They must choose an accompanying music piece. In some gymnastic associations such as United States Association of Gymnastic Clubs (USAIGC), gymnasts are allowed to have vocals in their music[10] but USA Gymnastics competitions a large deduction is taken from the score for having vocals in the music. ,[11] The routine should consist of tumbling lines, series of jumps, dance elements, acrobatic skills, and turns, or piviots, on one foot. A gymnast can perform up to four tumbling lines that usually includes at least one flight element without hand support.Each level of gymnastics requires the athlete to perform a different number of tumbling passes. In level 7 in the United states, a gymnast is required to do 2–3, and in levels 8–10, at least 3–4 tumbling passes are required. [12] Scoring: A gymnast's score comes from deductions taken from their start value. The start value of a routine is calculated based on the difficulty of the elements the gymnast attempts and whether or not the gymnast meets composition requirements. The composition requirements are different for each apparatus.This score is called the D score. [13] Deductions in execution and artistry are taken from 10. 0. This score is called the E score. [14] The final score is calculated by taking deductions from the E score, and adding the result to the D score. [15] And since 2007, the scoring system has changed by adding bonus plus the execution and then adding those two together to get the final score. [edit]Events for men Floor Male gymnasts also perform on a 12m. by 12m. spring floor. A series of tumbling passes are performed to demonstrate flexibility, strength, and balance.The gymnast must also show strength skills, including circles, scales, and press handstands. Men's floor routines usually have four passes that will total between 60–70 seconds and are performed without music, unlike the women's event. Rules require that male gymnasts touch each corner of the floor at least once during their routine. A boy on the pommel horse Pommel Horse A typical pommel horse exercise involves both single leg and double leg work. Single leg skills are generally found in the form of scissors, an element often done on the pommels. Double leg work howe ver, is the main staple of this event.The gymnast swings both legs in a circular motion (clockwise or counterclockwise depending on preference) and performs such skills on all parts of the apparatus. To make the exercise more challenging, gymnasts will often include variations on a typical circling skill by turning (moores and spindles) or by straddling their legs (Flares). Routines end when the gymnast performs a dismount, either by swinging his body over the horse, or landing after a handstand. Still Rings The rings are suspended on wire cable from a point 5. 75 meters from the floor, and adjusted in height so the gymnast has room to hang freely and swing.He must perform a routine demonstrating balance, strength, power, and dynamic motion while preventing the rings themselves from swinging. At least one static strength move is required, but some gymnasts may include two or three. A routine should have a dismount equal in difficulty to the difficulty of the routine as a whole. Vaul t Gymnasts sprint down a runway, which is a maximum of 25 meters in length, before hurdling onto a spring board. The body position is maintained while â€Å"punching† (blocking using only a shoulder movement) the vaulting platform. The gymnast then rotates to a standing position.In advanced gymnastics, multiple twists and somersaults may be added before landing. Successful vaults depend on the speed of the run, the length of the hurdle, the power the gymnast generates from the legs and shoulder girdle, the kinesthetic awareness in the air, and the speed of rotation in the case of more difficult and complex vaults. Parallel Bars Men perform on two bars slightly further than a shoulder's width apart and usually 1. 75m high while executing a series of swings, balances, and releases that require great strength and coordination. High Bar A 2. 8 cm thick steel or fiberglass bar raised 2. m above the landing area is all the gymnast has to hold onto as he performs giants(revolutions around the bar), release skills, twists, and changes of direction. By using all of the momentum from giants and then releasing at the proper point, enough height can be achieved for spectacular dismounts, such as a triple-back salto. Leather gripsare usually used to help maintain a grip on the bar. As with the women, male gymnasts are also judged on all of their events, for their execution, degree of difficulty, and overall presentation skills. [edit]Rhythmic gymnastics Irina Tchachina, Russian rhythmic gymnastMain article: Rhythmic gymnastics Only women compete in rhythmic gymnastics although there is a new version of this discipline for men being pioneered in Japan (see Men's rhythmic gymnastics). This is a sport that combines elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance, and apparatus manipulation. The sport involves the performance of five separate routines with the use of five apparatus—ball, ribbon, hoop, clubs, rope—on a floor area, with a much greater emphasis on the aesthetic rather than the acrobatic. There are also group routines consisting of 5 gymnasts and 5 apparatuses of their choice.Rhythmic routines are scored out of a possible 30 points; the score for artistry (choreography and music) is averaged with the score for difficulty of the moves and then added to the score for execution. [16] International competitions are split between Juniors, under sixteen by their year of birth; and Seniors, for women sixteen and over again by their year of birth. Gymnasts in Russia and Europe typically start training at a very young age and those at their peak are typically in their late teens (15–19) or early twenties. The largest events in the sport are the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup and Grand-Prix Tournaments. edit]Trampolining and tumbling Double mini-trampoline competitor Main articles: Trampolining and Tumbling (gymnastics) Trampolining and tumbling consists of four events, individual and synchronized trampoline, double mi ni trampoline, and tumbling (also known as power tumbling or rod floor[citation needed]). Since 2000, individual trampoline has been included in the Olympic Games. Individual routines in trampolining involve a build-up phase during which the gymnast jumps repeatedly to achieve height, followed by a sequence of ten leaps without pauses during which the gymnast performs a sequence of aerial skills.Routines are marked out of a maximum score of 10 points. Additional points (with no maximum at the highest levels of competition) can be earned depending on the difficulty of the moves and the length of time taken to complete the ten skills which is an indication of the average height of the jumps. In high level competitions, there are two preliminary routines, one which has only two moves scored for difficulty and one where the athlete is free to perform any routine. This is followed by a final routine which is optional. Some competitions restart the score from zero for the finals, other ad d the final score to the preliminary results.Synchronized trampoline is similar except that both competitors must perform the routine together and marks are awarded for synchronization as well as the form and difficulty of the moves. Double mini trampoline involves a smaller trampoline with a run-up, two moves are performed per routine. Moves cannot be repeated in the same place on the double-mini during a competition. Skills can be repeated if a skill is thrown as a mounter in one routine and a dismount in another. The scores are marked in a similar manner to individual trampoline.In tumbling, athletes perform an explosive series of flips and twists down a sprung tumbling track. Scoring is similar to trampolining. [edit]Acrobatic gymnastics Acrobatic Women's Pair performing a skill. Main article: Acrobatic gymnastics Acrobatic gymnastics (formerly Sport Acrobatics), often referred to as â€Å"Acro† if involved with the sport, acrobatic sports or simply sports acro, is a grou p gymnastic discipline for both men and women. Acrobats in groups of two, three and four perform routines with the heads, hands and feet of their partners. They may, subject to regulations (e. g. no lyrics), pick their own music.Throughout the world, there at three FIG levels: Age group (Age 11-16), Junior(12-19) and Senior (15+), which are used in the World Championships and many other events around the world, including European Championships and World Games. All levels require a balance and dynamic routine, Junior and Seniors are also required to perform a final (combined) routine. Currently acrobatic gymnastics is marked out of 30. 00 (can be higher at Senior FIG level based on difficulty): 10. 00 for routine difficulty, (valued from the tables of difficulties) 10. 00 For technical performance, (how well the skills are executed) 10. 0 For Artistry, (the overall performance of the routine, namely choreography) [edit]Aerobic gymnastics Main article: Aerobic gymnastics Aerobic gymna stics (formally Sport Aerobics) involves the performance of routines by individuals, pairs, trios or groups up to 6 people, emphasizing strength, flexibility, and aerobic fitness rather than acrobatic or balance skills. Routines are performed for all individuals on a 7x7m floor and also for 12–14 and 15–17 trios and mixed pairs. From 2009, all senior trios and mixed pairs were required to be on the larger floor (10x10m), all groups also perform on this floor.Routines generally last 60–90 seconds depending on age of participant and routine category. [edit]TeamGym TeamGym (also known as â€Å"Gymnastics for All†) has it origins in earliest times. These days, although teams can compete the sport itself was developed to enhance fitness and health in the participants and is accessible to anyone of any age. In 1984 Gymnastics for All was officially recognized first as a Sport Program by the FIG (International Gymnastic Federation), and subsequently by national gymnastic federations world wide with participants that now number 30 million. [17] Floor ProgrammeAll members of the Team take part in the floor program, composed of a mixture of dance, flexibility and skill. The routine has to be skillfully choreographed and the judges look out for changes in shape. There needs to be at least two spins, two balances and two section elements. These section elememts are bodywaves for women's teams, power elements for men's teams and lifts for mixed teams. Floor routines are performed to music. Trampette Here a trampette is used. There are two components of this; Vault and the Trampette on its own. There has to be three runs in total. At least one of these runs has to be a vault run.Another run has to include all the gymnasts doing the same move. This is generally the first run. This is also performed to music. Tumbling Again, here there are three runs (rounds) involved. One of which has to include all six gymnasts doing a forwards series. Another ru n also has to include the gymnasts completing the same move. Each series must have at least three different acrobatic elements. [18] [edit]Display gymnastics General gymnastics enables people of all ages and abilities to participate in performance groups of 6 to more than 150 athletes. They perform synchronized, choreographed routines. Troupes may be all one gender or mixed.There are no age divisions in general gymnastics. The largest general gymnastics exhibition is the quadrennial World Gymnaestrada which was first held in 1939. [edit]Former apparatus and events [edit]Rope (rhythmic gymnastics) Starting in 2011, the rhythmic apparatus rope will be removed from all FIG events and clubs will be returned to the competition. FIG has a policy of only using four of the five pieces of apparatus and changes them for different Olympic cycles. This will affect World Cups, World Championships, and Olympics. [edit]Rope climb Main article: Rope climbing Generally, competitors climbed either a 6m (6. m = 20 ft in USA) or an 8m (7. 6m = 25 ft in USA), 38mm (1. 5†³) diameter natural fiber rope for speed, starting from a seated position on the floor and using only the hands and arms. Kicking the legs in a kind of â€Å"stride† was normally permitted. Many gymnasts can do this in the straddle or pike position, which eliminates the help generated from the legs. [edit]Flying rings Main article: Flying rings Flying rings was an event similar to still rings, but with the performer executing a series of stunts while swinging. It was a gymnastic event sanctioned by both the NCAA and the AAU until the early 1960s.