Reflective Biography

List of Contents

Introduction -One man, one story and a billion tougths01My Sports-History Overview2Participation in sports activities:3Germany’s Sports History and Values6The German Values:7Germanys Sports Infrastructure:7Macro-Level:8Meso-Level:8The Germans and Sports9Conclusion relate to myself11Interactional Model13Sources15

My Sports-History Overview

Participation in sports activities:

My journey began at the 6th of January, 1996 and parent’s supported my physical education from the beginning on. They noticed my drive to movements early. First they took me to Mother-Kid-Swim to get me used to water and we went to a Kids-Gymnastic course. There I learned the basic coordination and balance skills, furthermore I learned to integrate myself into a group, to differ between danger situations and to develop my own ideas for movements. As soon as I was able to walk more or less save, I started climbing every obstacle. Often I got lost because I climbed somewhere.I liked gymnastic and continued, my coach wanted to put me in a stream. My mom told me that I didn’t want to, because I just did it for fun. Personally I’m not sure if that is the truth. Based on her statement and my own knowledge about myself, I would have loved to develop my skills further. However, in 2001 I joined a swim course and passed all certifications, what made me a good swimmer. I remember that I really liked swimming and especially diving, what is still the case. In 2008 is broke up with the active swim training. It should be considered that the young I always wanted to join a football club what my mother did not want me to. I made the best out of it and played in every break in school and after school with my friends. Nowadays it is still one of my favourite sports. Motivated as I was, it actually did not matter how to play as long as a ball was involved, so Handball (2002-2006) became another part of my life. We trained two times a week plus a game at the weekends and tournaments from time to time. It was a nice experience and helped me to develop my technical, cognitive and social skills. Unfortunately the club got abolished in 2006. So I began playing Badminton in 2006 and continued it till 2010. Another sports I enjoyed pretty much. We trained two to three times a week and I became competitive in single and double play. My drive to push my own limits developed much in that time. When I turned thirteen in 2009 I also got into Breakdance. New friends and my drive to gymnastic movements lead me to stop playing Badminton in between 2009-2010. I remember how I started working on my handstand in the Badminton training. It was just not that interesting anymore.

Breakdance was a lifestyle, raised my self-confidence and I put much effort into it. I bought my self a dumbbell-set and started with physical exercise in my room in order to be able to do more difficult moves. Our coach was our role model and taught us not only breakdance. He was funny and gave us the right values. When he moved to another city in 2012 an area ended to me.

Two friends and I searched for something similar. We found Capoeira and another awesome coach, he was not the most reliable guy. Sometimes he just didn’t show up. Anyway, I loved him for what he gave us. The same coach introduced me into Parkour and Tricking. My whole life was about jumping, flipping and moving. Even he needed to move with the course to a small village not reachable for me as a fifteen years old.A friend and I started training Thai-Boxing in another Sports-Club. It was something else. I liked it and it pushed my self-confidence even more and taught me new values. We became interested in fitness training and practiced it additionally after the Boxing training. On one point we realised that the Fight-Club where we practised was a little strange. We decided to shift the focus to fitness training in a fitness club.Meanwhile I still practiced gymnastic moves and tried to visit my old Capoeira coaches training as much as possible. I became crazy about working out. It was the first time I wasn’t dependent on other people, and I could educate myself. One day I went to the gym’s fitness instructor to ask him a question about an exercise I looked up in the internet. His reaction was not supportive. I left the club I trained in for 1 ½ years. The sixteen years old I was confident and I already well developed a strong physic for my age. I was determined to push myself further. Calisthenics was the optimal option. It didn’t cost me anything, I could teach myself and soon I became the strength guy. I organised group workouts and taught others calisthenics and values of sports. It was an awesome time. We spent every free second in the workout park.

Half a year later I additionally joined another fitness club and pushed my strength in two ways. On one point I didn’t like the gym anymore. I just did not fit in the target group they aimed for. So a friend, I made while my time in the park, and I shift the workouts during the winter into his garage. That was the real raw workout. It was freezing cold, the opportunities were rare, but it was all we wanted and needed. After a while lucky me had the possibility to renovate an empty room my family owns. My friends and I collect our equipment and my first home gym (Pic. 2) was born. It was an exhausting, awesome time, and the community was always welcome. I pushed my knowledge and strength to another level. Then the house plus room was sold and I joined a new fitness club in which I worked out till the day I moved to Groningen.

Nowadays I call myself a hybrid-athlete. I feel most comfortable in weight lifting and bodyweight exercises. I focus my workouts on those exercises and it’s my absolute priority to become better in them. Check out my video to get an idea of my sports: https://www.facebook.com/100008747798138/videos/1584616831839895/

Pic. 2 My personal muscle templeMotivations and Inspirations

Beside my natural intrinsic drive for action, probably I am hyperactive, I identify three persons/happenings as my extrinsic motivation. They keep me moving nowadays. First, my gymnastic coach. She is an amazing women and teaches sports to young kids for decades. Now she is in her sixties and still able to perform better than most teenager! Furthermore, she did not lose her excitement about her job. To me that is impressive and inspirational.

Second, my capoeira coach. He was a high-level athlete and also participated in the “Parkour-World-Championships” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47H5XJLHpf0 ).I pretty much identified with his expertise and passion for movements. A car accident suddenly broke up his career. Now he is bond to the wheelchair and my heart is bleeding thinking about getting rid of your life essence in seconds. Chose as long as you are able to, it can end in a second. Years later I learned another lesson for live. My good friend, classmate and workout partner sadly passed away. He also became victim of a car accident. Just a few weeks before I introduced him in a new workout system. He proudly talked about his new personal record just the day he has gone for ever. He died too young and will never experience the joy of live again.

In the next part I will talk about Germany and how it influenced my life and mind-set, to the point I am today.

Me in Coffs Habour (Australia) – Serious as usual

Germany’s Sports History and Values

A key factor for my physical education and development is the Marco-Environment I grew up in. Culture and values are influenced by history. Questions which need to be asked are: Who and what influenced the history of my country? How does it affect the current situation in my country? And how can I relate it to my personal story?

In 1816 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn and Ernst Eiselen published the book “Die Deutsche Turnkunst”. The book is a description of gymnastics exercises and public gymnast place. They used the “Berliner Hasenheide” as an example for such areas. “Die Deutsche Turnkunst” became a bestseller and Jahn orated a lot of speeches about “deutschen Volkstum”. He was a big influence in the way Germans think about physical activity and he also shaped the nationalism. Jahn stressed values as tradition, moral and religiosity. His vision was to make the German man strong again. (htt)

The pictures on the right are original records taken by my great grandparents. It shows how much “Turnvater Jahn” influenced the German history of sports. Later on Hitler used patterns of Jahn’s work to creat a national activity program. Jahn and Hitler both had the idea of a great German man. If Jahn would have support Hitlers intentions cannot be answered. Nevertheless, I think that Jahns work helped to shape a German sports identity.

Picture 1 – “Turnerumzug 1931” Original Image of my great grandpa.

Picture 2 – “Körperliche Ertüchtigung 1931” - Orginal

The German Values:

(Kinder.de)

The Germans keep an eye on their values, especially in kid’s education. They want their children to become independent and reflected persons. Since Jahn connected physical education with attributes as discipline, loyalty, moral, knowledge and politeness, the Germans use sports as tool to teach kids those values. Furthermore, Kids who participate in sports are less likely to get into crime and drugs (“Social Issues in Sports”). Next to the physical education, coaches in Germany make sure that kids learn social competences within the sports. I can relate all these values to my own. The autonomy/independency is a big topic in my family. My parents taught my siblings and me that everyone can do and be whatever he/she wants. They gave us more an idea on how to live, than a pattern. Honesty, moral, fairness and tolerance are dominant in my mother’s life. She is an extrovert and impulsive, as I am from time to time. My father, on the other hand, always keeps an eye on a polite conversation, consideration, knowledge and wisdom. He is an introvert, as I am. They complement each other in this way and sharped the way my siblings and I think. Tradition in a religious sense is not a big topic in our family, but society it still is an issue. In Kindergarten and primary school we got taught bible stories. So that every German child should have an idea about religion. I personally have faith in the universe.

Next we will have a look on the opportunities given by the Macro- and Meso- Environment. How did the German History model the current infrastructure, and is it an answer to my personal development?

Germanys Sports Infrastructure:

The Infrastructure has tremendous influences on my sports history. It is gave me and everyone else who is living in Germany a frame for development.

Macro-Level:

The “Deutsche Olympia Sport Bund” (DOSB) is the leading Sports association. 91.000 Clubs with 27.000.000 Member count to the Network of the DOSB, which makes it a monopole. (Olympia Bund)

The DOSB is based on volunteer work. “More than 8.6 million volunteers and honorary workers are active in gymnastics and sports clubs. They provide over 450 million hours of exercise.” ( (dosb.de, kein Datum))

Germany’s political structure makes it difficult to talk about a national approach to organized sports participation. Related to the German value of autonomy, the Government does not intend to gain influence with money. Strong German “Länder” are responsible for fostering sports participation. As a result the local authorities are more important and the programs differ from “Land” to “Land”. The Government just spend a certain amount of money to promote sports. It got divided in between the clubs. Memberships determine how much money a club receive to support their approach for physical activity. (blosco-kics.de, kein Datum)

Meso-Level:

My home town Itzehoe inhabits 30.000 citizens, which makes it a medium-small city in Germany. The SCI – Sport Club Itzehoe is the dominant Sports Club in Itzehoe. Beside the SCI there is “the Eagels”, a semi-professional Basketball team with high ambitions, and a few other sports clubs, most likely fight clubs, some Fitness-Clubs and small soccer clubs.Since the SCI is the most relevant Club for Itzehoe and my Sports history, I will focus on the SCI.The membership numbers of the SCI are shrinking and as a result of the German system, the amount money the club receive from the government shrinks as well. Furthermore broad parts of the SCI are managed and executed by volunteers. As explained in the Marco-Level, it is the way of working in German Sports Associations. The hardware as it is, seems to be solid and average for a city of this size in Germany. Having a look on the orgware of the SCI it becomes clear why the membership numbers are dropping. Based on own experience I can say that the program is not bad, but it is old. The program follows old patterns and does not adjust to upcoming trend sports and new approaches. The leading organs work for decades in the club, and new approaches are rare. A change of thinking and courage would increase the numbers again. Another problem is the voluntary work. I worked as a volunteer for the SCI as well and I can tell that the expertise of coaches is not stabile. The low level of expertise influences the outcomes in terms of competitive sports. There are a few sports with some result, such as Triathlon. But to reach a professional level, it is mostly necessary to train in a bigger city, where professional coaches help you to develop a professional work ethic. It can be note, that the software – “the know-how” of the coaches is good enough to coach basics and to give an idea of physical activity. So that a solid base for physical education is given. I am happy I had these opportunities.

How the Germans related to sports and how it influenced my life follows in the next part!

The Germans and Sports

As shown in Figure 1. the Germans have wide interests in various sports. The absolute number one is Soccer. It connects people and it is fun, on the field as player and off the field, as Fan as well. In Germany every child is supposed to know how to kick a ball. On the picture you can see my great grandpa with a football (left) in 1918. He was my age, what makes it personal to me. Almost 100 years after this picture was taken I am writing about. What did he think? What was most important to him? And could he image how the world looks like 100 years later? Beside Soccer the interests differ depending on local infrastructure and natural environment. South-Germany’s natural conditions, with the Alps, are privileged for winter-sport. The North, on the other hand, offers access to the sea and therefore Water sports are more common in the north. German values of autonomy and knowledge also taking place in the way some things are mandatory in primary school. Kids get a basic swim education and we do the “Deutsche Sportsabzeichen” which includes the basic athletic exercises and even older people are likely to use it as fitness test. Moreover the kids need to do a “bike driver license”. The license gives a guideline for kids how to behave in traffic.

Figure 1. Most common sports in Germany (Olympia Bund)

As a result of that 10.000.000 kids participate in sports. But how does this develop with the ages? Figure 2 shows that the participation numbers are relatively constant among 50% in age between 19-79 years. Gender differences are not significant. Reason for the difference in age 80-87 is the fact that women are likely to get older than men. A boy born in 2012-2014 has an average lifespan of 78.1 years, women live 5 years longer in average. (bib-demografie, kein Da Unfortunately schools and associations have not found a solution to increase the numbers of participation in general. Nevertheless, I think that there is a change in progress. The Fitness-Industry extends more and more. They deliver the flexibility and individuality which need to be offered. People nowadays are stressed and have less time, at least they feel like. I think that the Fitness industry can and will influence the numbers of sports positive in future. Since it seems to be a 50:50 chance to stick with sports or not I am glad to count to the 50% who will stick to sports as long as possible. As mentioned in “Social Issues in Sports”, people who participate in sports on their regular basis in youth age, are less likely to dropout sports after the age of 25. For those who want to get into 25 it becomes more difficult to stay active. Big props to my parents on this point, and thanks to myself that I am hungry for more.

Since my late teenage my sports history shows a pretty informal way of organisation. Therefor I asked myself: How do Germans organise their sports?Figure 3 shows how individual many people like to do their sports. Most likely they do informal sports, alone or in groups. Reasons for that are the flexible training hours and individual programs. Nevertheless Sports Clubs still play a big role and they should keep their position in future. The biggest target groups for Sport Clubs are Kids, Families and seniors. Teenager often get lost, that is not only the fault of the club. It is just a shift in mind. It is also remarkable in my own Sports History. We can see a dropout from Clubs sports trough informal and individual sports. During the teenage interests change, we become less competitive and more individual. Not only in sports, but also in live. (“Social Issues in Sports”) The pictures on the left show my granddad and his friends during an informal group gymnastic session in 1934. It confirms that the German like to stay active in any kind since a long time. But what does it mean to me? Answers will follow! Figure 2 – Participation rates in sports (ec.europa.eu)

Sporting activity expressed as a percentage of all sporting activities broken down into types of organisation

Figure 3 – types of organisation(google.books, kein Datum)

But first, let us have a look on the interests in attending sports live events. Figure 4 shows how frequent the German adult attends sports events in average. A big part of the spectators who are attending live sports events more often are Soccer Fan’s. The DFB earned 2,45 Billion Euro in 2013/14 and the DFB is with 875 million euro one of the top tax payer in Germany (Bundesliga.de, kein Datum).Furthermore sports live events are often used as gift or groupaction with good friends. The average spectator numbers of a 1. Bundesliga game is 42.421 in total the whole Bundesliga could attract 12.980.815 spectators in 2015/16. (dfb.de, kein Datum) Live sports events have not been so attractive to me, so that I count to the big part of people who more likely to watch events on the or as report.

„I am an individualist made by my sports history. I am on control and in charge for my success.”

(europa.eu)

Conclusion relate to myself

Alright, we have an overview now. It is time to relate the gained knowledge to myself. Considering the infrastructure, social influences and my personality which gave my life a certain direction (summarised in Figure 5), it becomes clearer why I am, who I am today.As my parents kept an eye on my physical education, I developed a natural passion for an active lifestyle. Beside my parents whom obviously influenced my sports history, the changing hard- and software took part as well.

The German values of physical education, as being able: to ride a bicycle, to swim and to have a good relationship towards sports in general, providing a good start for children. Relate to other countries the German physical education is good and I would not complain about it. But to a result orientated person as I am, it was difficult to cope with the lack of expertise in most of the facilities. I see many missed chances to make me a top-athlete. A bigger city with more expertise would have given my sports history another direction. I was burning for Gymnastics, Badminton and Breakdance. The circumstances made it impossible to reach my full potential. As soon as I realised that with 16, I started to educate myself in sports-sciences. Nowadays I have no doubts I will reach my full potential in certain areas I chose myself. Overall an active and healthy lifestyle is the essence of my live. Nutrition, Rest, Education and Working out are my focus areas. Colds are my biggest enemy, as I workout on a high-level I became very sensitive for changes in my body. Overall, I need to say that I am very pleased with my circumstances. My family and sportsbackground makes me a young and optimistic guy. Reflection

The work-process

Overall, I am pleased with my work. As my expectations are high, it is currently impossible to deliver a product which would give me the feeling of having done something great. Nevertheless I am a step closer to this point. My time-management is good, but I need to take care not to get off the track. Well, how did I approach this assessment? 1. Building a frame. I studied the given information and construct a pattern. 2. Looking for Questions. I answered parts in key-points. And asked myself if it is clear. 3. Gathering information and asking/answering questions. I searched for relevant material and asked questions to make sure I am on the right path. 4. First text drafts. I wrote paragraphs and asked myself how to develop those.5. Infogramic and Design. I informed myself about designing and developed my own diagrams and layouts. 6. Evaluation and correction. I read the biography and tried to develop it content and design wise. 7. Reaping step 6 serval times.

Add.: I worked over a couple of week on various days, to keep my mind fresh. It also helped me to adjust thinks. Most difficult to me is the whole writing process. I have never been a gifted writer, presenting is my element. Nevertheless, I like writing and I am looking forward to more professional results in future.

What I learned and what I want to learn:

Content wise I learned a lot about myself, my country of origin and how I got influenced by various things. What I want to learn more about is the whole design and structure topic. How to develop a real professional product? Improved writing skills, better reference work, knowledge about designing and patience are necessary to reach my goals and I am curious about gaining knowledge about.

It is time to jump. I am sure the parachute will open, but till then I will enjoy the free fall.

Advantages and Dis-advantages of my Sports History related to my future as SHM:I think the biggest advantage of my history is the outcome: Myself . My attitude towards life is ambitious and full of hopes. The discipline and constancy I need to put in my sports helps me to develop myself, day by day. My knowledge about the human body and movements, treatments and diet is extended. It is made by studies, work, failure and experience. I realised that every state of mind or body is just a current state and we can change ourselves and our environment by becoming our best selves. Since I am an individualist, I am interested in working with people, helping them to reach their full potential. And since I do not believe in dis-advantages in people, it is difficult to think about those. In my opinion every story has strengths and weaknesses, but they actually do not matter because the story is not finished. As long you reflect on yourself and work on weaknesses, every dis-advantage is an opportunity. My point of view is just one of millions, so who judge what is right or wrong? The story of my life will be shaped by my decisions and attitude towards other people and it will be shaped by the people I surround myself with. I am my greatest advantage and my greatest disadvantage.

Interactional Model

Sources(kein Datum). Von https://www.preussenchronik.de/person_jsp/key=person_friedrich+ludwig_jahn.html http://www.sportunterricht.de/lksport/jahn.html abgerufenbib-demografie. (kein Datum). Von http://www.bib-demografie.de/SharedDocs/Glossareintraege/DE/L/lebenserwartung.html abgerufenblosco-kics.de. (kein Datum). Von http://www.bloso-kics.be/wetenschappelijkonderzoek/Documents/150730_Sport_Research_Infrastructure_Mulier.pdf abgerufenBundesliga.de. (kein Datum). Von http://www.bundesliga.de/de/liga/news/bundesliga-report-2015.jsp abgerufendfb.de. (kein Datum). Von http://www.dfb.de/bundesliga/statistik/zuschauerzahlen/ abgerufendosb.de. (kein Datum). Von http://www.dosb.de/en/organisation/wir-ueber-uns/dosb-profile abgerufenec.europa.eu. (kein Datum). Von http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/4031688/7203321/KS-04-15-823-EN-N.pdf/b911c74d-c336-421e-bdf7-cfcba4037f94 abgerufeneuropa.eu. (kein Datum). Von http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/4031688/7203321/KS-04-15-823-EN-N.pdf/b911c74d-c336-421e-bdf7-cfcba4037f94 abgerufengoogle.books. (kein Datum). Von books.google.de: https://books.google.de/books?id=79iOAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=sport+infrastructure+germany&source=bl&ots=Dkul_dmORS&sig=qh3kLF9L8GQA17FZ2iB--HhFv-s&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwju04qwhfHPAhXE6CwKHYFVDp0Q6AEIXzAI#v=onepage&q=sport%20infrastructure%20germany&f abgerufenKinder.de. (kein Datum). Von http://www.kinder.de/themen/kleinkind/erziehung/artikel/werteerziehung-in-der-heutigen-gesellschaft/die-kindliche-werteerziehung.html abgerufenOlympia Bund. (kein Datum). Von https://www.dosb.de/de/service/download-center/statistiken/ abgerufen

Childhood

Swiming

Gymnastics

Teenage

Breakdance

Pakour/Tricking

Adulthood

Bodybuilding

Handball

Badminton

Capoeira

Thai-Boxing

Calistenics

Calistenics

Hybrid-Athlete

Fitness

“In relation to his compulsion to move Jakob challenged us every day once more. Since he was able to crawl he gave every activity a try. He always had high expectations towards his performance and those of others. He participated in every possible sport-event in school and sports clubs with joy.” - My Mum

Mortalilty

Sustainabillty

LimitsEvanescenceFun

Motivations

Become the best version of my selfe

Goal

Autonomy

Knowledge

Wisdom

Discipline

Faith ToleranceTradition

HonestyMoral Politeness

ConsiderationFairnessLoyalty

Soccer

Cycling

Motorsports

Handball

Gymnastics

Wintersports

Tennis

Watersports

Boxing

Basketball

Chess

Macro-level:

Turnvater JahnSoccerManadory licencesValuesSports infrastructure

Mirco-Level

ParentsCoachesMy attitute

Meso-Level

-Medium-small City- one big Club , various small ones

-low competitive level

Competences:

- Licencensed Prsonal Coach- broad knowledge and skills in various sports - Diet expert

Interest/focus:

-strenght training-gymnastic training-Funcitional training-Bodybuilding-Health and Diet- Knowledge

Capicities:

Goal orientated

Motivated and straigh forwardI keep an eye on my priotaties

Participation rates of the population (%) by age

Women18-2930-3940-4950-5960-6970-7980-8762.254.251.455.557.75145.9Men18-2930-3940-4950-5960-6970-7980-8767.59999999999999454.252.756.551.45013Total18-2930-3940-4950-5960-6970-7980-8764.59999999999999454.251.955.554.75134.4

%Informal, aloneSports ClubsInformal, with othersCommercial organistaionsother organisationsCompaniesAdult education centres45.433.79999999999999720.314.114.17.65.3

Persons aged 25 to 64 attending live sports events (in the last 12 months) by frequency, 2011

Persons aged 25 to 26 attending live sports events (in the last 12 months) by frequency, 2011Never1-6 timesmore than 6 times 532918

3