Oldal 322 [322]
OCR
JOHANNA DOMOKOS endurance, when pushing ourselves to the limit, we can achieve harmony, unity of mind and body, peace. Every serious runner has gleaned an inkling of this natural miracle, the stride of a mystic.’ NEUROBIOLOGY AND CULTURAL TRADITIONS OF ENDURANCE RUNNING According to the endurance running hypothesis, long-distance running played a major role in human evolution, though many details of this process remain uncertain.” Yet there is no doubt that endurance running is a longstanding cross-cultural phenomenon, and one of its most ancient forms, that of persistence hunting, can be still found in many cultures across the globe: e.g. the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana, the indigenous Sami of Europe, the Aborigines of Australia, the Maasai of Kenya, or the Rardmuri / Tarahumara people in Mexico. Moreover, the oral traditions and older written texts of these cultures include poems and stories on the topic of the running hunt, in addition to religious traditions featuring rituals in which running allows an individual to attain unity with the transcendental.* As a sport, long-distance running or endurance running is a form of continuous running over distances of at least three kilometres. Throughout human history, people have engaged in it as a means of travel, for economic reasons, for various cultural, mental or religious reasons, and, most recently, for physical exercise. In ancient times, for example, foot messengers would run to deliver information to distant locations. Running has also long been a part of religious traditions or ceremonies, and it still serves this purpose today, among e.g. the Hopi and Raramuri / Tarahumara people and different Buddhist groups in Tibet and Japan.* A large body of research has demonstrated that the neurobiological effects of physical exercise are plentiful and implicate a wide range of interrelated neuropsychological changes. A daily 30-minute run can contribute to increased neuron growth and neurological activity, improved ability to cope with stress, and structural and functional improvements in brain structures Jari Ehrnrooth, Jari, Kaipaava askel / The Yearning Stride, in: Leevi Haapala, Kati T. Kivinen, Mika Taanila (ed.), Time Machines. A Museum of Contemporary Art Publication 140/2013, 77-88. Dennis Bramble — Daniel Lieberman, Endurance Running and the Evolution of Homo, Nature 432, 2004, 345-52. 3 Johan Turi, An Account of the Sami (orig. Muitalus Sdmiid birra, 1910), trans. by Thomas A. DuBois, Chicago, Nordic Studies Press, 2011. Alexandra David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet, London, Souvenir Press, 1965. Peter Nabokov, Indian Running: Native American History and Tradition, Santa Fe, Ancient City Press, 1987. Catherine Ludvik, In the Service of the Kaihogy6 Practitioners of Mt. Hiei: The Stopping-Obstacles Confraternity (Sokushö kö) of Kyoto, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 33/1, 2006, 115-142. Christopher McDougall, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, New York, Knop, 2009. + 320 ¢ Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 320 6 2020.06.15. 11:04:26
