Specialized sports skills include several types of sports

Specialized sports skills are currently used in the two mainstream fields of domestic physical education and competitive training. They are generally classified into four categories, namely fighting and confrontation, confrontation across the net, competition on the same field, and performance.； There are also some sports training schools that separate outdoor exploration and puzzle competition into two separate categories, forming six categories of classification standards. The academic community has not yet reached a completely unified conclusion - after all, the essence of classification is a tool that serves teaching and training. The logic of classification in different dimensions is inherently different, so there is no need to insist on complete consistency.

Speaking of which, everyone is probably most familiar with sports on the same field. Basketball, football, rugby, and handball all belong to this category. The core feature is that the opposing sides directly confront each other on the same field without isolation. In addition to basic technical movements such as running, jumping, shooting, and ball control, special skills also include spatial judgment, tactical coordination, and on-the-spot decision-making. To put it harshly, it also requires a bit of "anti-creation" physical fitness. I taught public physical education classes in college for three years. Every year during the Freshman Cup basketball game, I received three or four leave requests for sprained ankles and finger pricks. Last week, I had dinner with the provincial team’s rehabilitation specialist. He also complained that the injury rate in the same event was the highest among all categories. Every year, athletes with sprained basketball and football games could walk half a circle around the training hall. There are many controversies about this type. For example, e-sports, which has entered Asia in recent years, many scholars believe that its core is real-time confrontation in the same space and should be classified into this category. However, traditional sports academic circles generally believe that it lacks the core attributes of physical activities, and no consensus has been reached yet.

Unlike "hand-to-hand" confrontations on the same field, confrontations over the net are often more friendly, including table tennis, badminton, tennis, volleyball, and sepak takraw. A net in the middle separates the two parties, and there will be no direct physical contact. Special skills focus more on placement control, rhythm changes, and pace adjustment, and are much more friendly to ordinary people. After my mother retired, she played at the badminton court in the community every day. After playing for three years, she was able to beat many young men in their twenties. The "special skill" she summarized was "specializing in the blind spots that the opponent can't reach." This type of classification is the least controversial. At most, it is some niche sports such as cricket. The rules are more complicated and the essence is still confrontation across the net. There is nothing to argue about.

If it is said that the most test of a person's psychological quality is combat, boxing, Sanda, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai all belong to this category. The core is one-on-one direct physical confrontation between the two sides. Special skills require not only practicing the techniques of exerting force and defense, but also practicing the reaction speed of offense and defense transitions, and even thinking about the opponent's psychology. I just went to a boxing gym near my home last month to experience two trial classes. The coach told me in the first class, "Don't think about hitting people when you come up. You must first learn to be beaten and not panic before you get started." When I actually go up to fight in actual combat, my brain doesn't have time to think about the movements. It all depends on muscle reaction. It is really a test of mentality. There are also minor controversies about this type. For example, armed fighting events such as fencing and sabering, some schools of thought think that they should be classified as fighting, while others think that the core of their skills is equipment control, which is too different from bare-handed fighting and should be classified separately. There is no conclusion yet.

For ordinary enthusiasts, the threshold for difficult and beautiful events is slightly higher, including gymnastics, diving, figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, flower swimming, and break dancing, which is now included in the Olympics. There is no direct competition in these events. The core is the completion and beauty of difficult movements, which are scored by the judges according to standards. Special skills require both precision in movement and expressiveness. To put it bluntly, it means "doing it difficult but still looking good." When I watched Yuzuru Hanyu compete in 4A at the Tokyo Olympics last year, even if I am not a figure skating enthusiast, I could feel how exaggerated the difficulty of that action was. Athletes in this type of event basically practice it since childhood. A single action needs to be repeated thousands of times to form muscle memory, and the error tolerance rate is extremely low.

As for the outdoor exploration category that many schools of thought advocate splitting separately, I personally quite agree with this category. Rock climbing, surfing, skiing, mountain biking, and outdoor orienteering all belong to this category. In addition to basic sports skills, you must also master the ability to judge the natural environment. For example, rock climbing requires the ability to read rock walls. Focus on surfing, you need to be able to judge the direction of the waves. I went to Huairou last fall to climb wild climbs. I could climb V3 in the gym, but when I got to the wilds and there was a sudden breeze, my hand slipped twice and I almost fell off. Only then did I understand that the core difference between this type of project and indoor sports is indeed very big, and it makes sense to classify it separately.

Another more controversial category is puzzle competitions, such as Go, chess, and e-sports. Supporters believe that such projects also require long-term special training, have standardized competition rules, and conform to the definition of sports. Opponents believe that the core of such projects is mental competition, does not have enough physical activity, and should not be included in the category of sports skills. The two sides have been arguing for five or six years with no results.

To be honest, we ordinary enthusiasts don’t need to worry about whether the classification is Category 4 or Category 6. The classification is originally used for coaches and physical education teachers to make teaching plans. If you love playing badminton, practice serving and smashing, and if you love rock climbing, practice core strength. If you can have fun and develop a good body, it will work better than any standard answer.