WHEELCHAIR
SPORTS  IS A
GROWING PASSION
. . . with something for every
athlete on wheels
A spirited international wheelchair basketball community provides lots of support
for hundreds of men and women mobilized for action.
Hang-gliding is catching on as wheelers get out of the
chair and into the air . . .
'Brutally
competitive' hardly seems adequate to describe wheelchair hockey. As in quad rugby, the repair shops see
lots of action after the game.
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Tennis
is expanding its reach,
and new three-wheeled chairs
are the rage.
Off road mountain chairs
are a downhill success
with hardy types.
Watersports are growing in popularity among
wheelchair users
who can ski just fine sitting down.
Even the martial arts have opened to
wheelers, through an adaptive
version of the HapKiDo style of TaeKwonDo developed by paraplegic
Jurgen Schmidt.
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Wheelchair racing has become a major sport, and every marathon
finds wheelers among the ranks, pushing the limits of their
skills
Weight training and gym workouts are important among wheelchair
users, to tone the upper body . . . and stay trim. The
standing/sitting exercise frame below was designed by
paraplegic William Gruar of Auckland, NZ.
WEB
RESOURCES:
To explore the range and depth of
wheelchair sports, check out the list of contact
addresses and internet links from Sports 'n Spokes magazine.
There are many other weblinks on specific disabled sports
and recreation topics, accessible through ProFusion, SavvySearch and individual search engines.
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