Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness
Description
<p><b>The absorbing, definitive account of CrossFit's origins, its explosive grassroots growth, and its emergence as a global phenomenon.</b><br /> <br />One of the most illuminating books ever on a sports subculture, <i>Learning to Breathe Fire </i>combines vivid sports writing with a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be human. In the book, veteran journalist J.C. Herz explains the science of maximum effort, why the modern gym fails an obese society, and the psychic rewards of ending up on the floor feeling as though you're about to die. <br /> <br />The story traces CrossFit’s rise, from a single underground gym in Santa Cruz to its adoption as the workout of choice for elite special forces, firefighters and cops, to its popularity as the go-to fitness routine for regular Joes and Janes. Especially riveting is Herz’s description of The CrossFit Games, which begin as an informal throw-down on a California ranch and evolve into a televised global proving ground for the fittest men and women on Earth, as well as hundreds of thousands of lesser mortals. <br /> <br />In her portrayal of the sport's star athletes, its passionate coaches and its “chief armorer,” Rogue Fitness, Herz powerfully evokes the uniqueness of a fitness culture that cultivates primal fierceness in average people. And in the shared ordeal of an all-consuming workout, she unearths the ritual intensity that's been with us since humans invented sports, showing us how, on a deep level, we're all tribal hunters and first responders, waiting for the signal to go all-out. </p>
Story Behind The Book
Reports of strange lights in the skies and possible unidentified flyhing objects are rampant in modern times. But a large majority of these sightings can be explained as misidentifications, such as aircraft or weather balloons or satellites. But after a great deal of research, I was amazed to find a large number of published newspaper reports from the 1800s about the very same thing we are experiencing today, but those reports were more credible considering there were no aircraft in those days to confuse the viewer.
After serving as a guest on a History Channel program about the subject, my research became an obsession, and this book is a spin off of that research. Much of the research led me to uncover a great deal of information about Native American myth and legends as well, and I discovered the two may well be related.
This inspired me to develop a fun action novel that highlights both the documented sightings and explores the legends and lores of the First Americans.
Reviews
A respecetd Barnes and Noble book buyer called the novel a "perfect summer companion" and timely considering the release of Steven Spielberg's action blockbuster release of "Cowboys and Aliens" this July (2011). <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-West-Logan-Hawkes/product-reviews/1461089859">http://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-West-Logan-Hawkes/product-reviews/1461089859</a>
