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c thursday nov 14 2002 17 economist sun stouffville tribune sports ancient sport oddly familiar sepak takraw combines skills of soccer volleyball by jerome watt staff writer what do you get when you mix soccer and volleyball sepak takraw a centuries- old sport popular in asia dave carnaffan a teacher at our lady of fatima catholic school in woodbridge wants to make the game a regular sport at york region schools sepak takraw uses the same type of court and net as badminton two teams of three members play against each other the same rules apply as for volleyball except use of hands is prohibited and a player can touch the ball three consecutive times the ball is moved across the court using soccer techniques mr carnaffan said you can use your head chest knee and foot just no arms or hands the ball is made of rattan or plastic a match consists of three sets and the winning team must score 21 points the origins of sepak takraw can be traced back to the 15th cen tury when it was called sepak raga in malaysia sepak is malay for kick and raga was the name for the rattan ball variations of the game were played throughout southeast asia including thailand where it was called takraw todays game was formalized in the 1940s the sport first came to canada in the 1970s when laotian refugees immigrated to canada after the civil war in their country last month mr carnaffan held a sixschool sepak takraw tourna ment at notre dame catholic high school in newmarket the third tourney for the sport among york region catholic schools players from our lady of staff photosteve somerville sepak takraw participant alyssa fenota of our lady of fatima catholic school in woodbridge uses her feet to get the ball over the net fatima won the girls tournament while notre dame won the boys tournament mr carnaffan hopes to add more teams next year he was drawn to the game 10 years ago after watching profes sionals perform fantastic acrobat ics while playing the sport better players do somersaults in the air to kick the ball across the net mr carnaffan said its difficult to find leagues in which to play i would love to play he said its difficult to find other adults im hoping this winter ill be able to find a mens league or an adult league it wasnt until mr carnaffan started teaching in woodbridge where soccer is popular that he taught the game to students in his gym class everyone knows the rules between volleyball and soccer he said as a result its easy to con centrate on the skills needed mr carnaffan offers sepak takraw classes in september and october as it is the only time of year he can get room to play the sport which competes with more traditional activities for gym space rick engel a player and coach on the canadian national team estimated 600 schools across the country participate in the sport were at the point where it needs more exposure were trying to get lots more youth involved in the sport he said canada ranks 13th in the world in the sport which is dominated by asian countries for more information visit wwwtakraw- canadacom adults have fun with yoga hybrid by jerome watt staff writer they acted like kids adults pre tending to be starfish or dolphins all accompanied by music each was lost in his or her own world its all part of fern westernoff s kripalu danskinetics class wednesdays at saint marys anglican church in richmond hill kripalu danskinetics originated at the kripalu yoga ashram in pennsylvania a centre where peo ple immersed themselves in the yoga lifestyle in the mid1970s ken scott a canadian dancer and dancercise instructor visited the centre and decided a combination of dancing and yoga was an effec tive way to integrate body mind and spirit shortly after danskinetics was developed danskinetics takes a person through the seven major chakras of yoga spinning currents of energy that reside in the body and flow from the base of the spine to the crown through yoga chakras that have been damaged can be healed the class begins with a release of the days tension in the first chakra ms westernoff plays heavy music because its grounding she explained and starts with the base of the spine the second chakra is represented by moody music that is sensual and sexual some of the dances are choreo graphed but individuals can make slight variations based on how the music makes them feel a big part of the class involves playing you dont have to have a yoga background ms westernoff said you just need to want to come out and play i try to have one dance or music that is silly we need to laugh at ourselves its freeing sec dance page 18 anne howland been there done that its not about sex for one hour the women stopped being mothers wives employers and caregivers instead their bodies moved to exotic music arms circling sinuously hips shimmying bellies undulating as i watched the 12 students in suzanne karimas oriental dance class women of varied ages and sizes i couldnt help but note the sensuality of their movements a sort of unrequited tension that sends a tingle down the spine known in north america as belly dancing the art form is less about seduction than about women getting in touch with themselves and their bodies the origins of oriental dance are obscure but most histories suggest it was used by groups or harems of muslim women to entertain themselves while the men were away basic movements centre on different body parts arms hands and fingers move in serpentine fashion around the body or are held over the head in a genie like pose hips are shimmied by imper ceptibly moving the upper thighs or are moved slowly sidetoside and thrust subtly forward in a lilting catlike walk ms karima encouraged her students to feel the music and let their bodies respond combining different moves with flowing turns and smooth sweeps with colourful veils the women draped the diaphanous material over their faces to create the mystique of the east then held the fabric in front of them to reveal their silhouettes shimmying behind the transparent covering once i was on the floor 1 had to remind myself this is not about sex this is not about sex this is not about sex nonetheless as i tried to relax and assume the proper posture i mentally filed away a few moves for private usa later see moves page 18 warehouse sale ry hundreds of pieces one room all half price thursday nov 14108 friday nov 15 lo 8 saturday nov 16105 60 bullock dr markham 9052941104 west between markham rd mccc ust north of hy 7