Fitness Through the Ages

Gentlemanly strength

Dost thou even hoist? 

Through the millennia that man has existed on Earth, fitness has always been an important aspect of life.  It is how well you can survive, and we all want to survive right?  Let us marvel, through the time machine that is history, and see the advancements in fitness, or rather, the decline in fitness that we see from the first men and women to the gradually more sedentary lifestyles that we have grown into today.

Group Fitness of Olde

From the first signs of survival of Primitive Man, to the agricultural revolution, early Indian and Chinese society, to the pantheon of fitness that was the Greeks, we'll see the evolution of fitness of human kind.  The importance of fitness of warring nations like Rome, we'll see the systematic implementation and standardization of fitness for men and women.  We'll see that even with the apparent death of civilized society during the Dark Ages that fitness reigned as essential and that it brought forth a continued evolution of itself through the heights of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  

We'll see the impact on fitness that industrialization had, as societies began to decline in the standard of fitness necessary for survival, slowly but surely. Throughout the American Civil War, the World Wars, all the way to the 21st Century, we'll see the change in fitness, and grasp an understanding on how far we have come as the human race in the level of fitness required for survival.  

Join me on this journey as we embark on a quest of discovery of health and fitness throughout the history of the human race.  

Genghis Khan Misunderstood Part II

Another aspect of Genghis Khan that shows more than what it is, is his stance on religion.  He was heralded by the West with the benevolent title of, "Scourge of God" for his apparent threat of extermination of Christianity with his empire's growth.  However there is again more to this than meets the eye.  

Allegiance to Genghis was all that mattered to the great Mongol leader

Genghis Khan had Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and many other religious groups representative under his banner.  All were welcome to practise their conviction without refute so long as they pledged faithfully, allegiance to the Great Khan.  Genghis when a step further by exempting religious leaders from many civic duties such as paying taxes in order to focus on their roles as religious leaders within the empire.  

He placed no likeness on one religion nor did he show contempt to any religious doctrine.  He preached openness as it would expand his empire, bringing people who were persecuted in far off lands towards his own,  strengthening his own numbers.  Such a policy was a complete success as it spread unity within his empire.  It was with this openness to religion that Genghis was granted the title of "Protector of Religions" by his peoples.  

In the next segment, we'll take a more holistic look at Genghis Khan's infamous womanising reputation.  Is it true that 1 in 10 people today are related to him?  Till next time!

References

Weatherford, J. McIver. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.  
New York: Crown, 2004.  Print.  

Genghis Khan Misunderstood Part I

When we envision individuals like Genghis Khan we see villains and for the most part, our history depicts them as such.  If you think about this man, first thoughts of, conqueror, pillager, ransacker, rampant womaniser, and an enemy of religion come to mind.  However there is so much more to him than meets the eye.  Most of these points are biased as they were written by those he conquered and is a testament to the level of success he had as an expander of his empire.   

A major point of contention of Genghis Khan's pillager attitude is the notion that he hated education.  For instance, there is a common belief that Khan razed libraries and that he would have nothing to do with books and the like.  This can possibly be interpreted as a hatred for learning and education but you have to realize that there was a method to the seeming madness.  Genghis Khan was illiterate, what would he do with books?  What would he do with books on subjects of benefit (warfare, economics, law), when he had the forerunners of those subjects under his control.  After conquering lands, he would institute the best skilled workers and serviceman into his fold of governance with rapprochement.  

He only asked for allegiance to him.  In this way, he promoted learning, albeit in a more practical and applied sense.  It is for this policy on free-learning that he had people from surrounding nations flock to his empire, for a chance to practise, without restriction, their craft.  You had experts come in from as far as England.  In fact, this policy of openness was so engrained in the Mongol art of empire-building that generations after Genghis, Marco Polo would go on from Italy to become a governor of one of the Mongol provinces.  That's something isn't it?  Stay tuned as I bring to light another misconception of Genghis Khan:  his position on religion.  

References:

Weatherford, J. McIver. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Crown, 2004. Print.