Danny Mariscal Mrs. Schuck Comp I 24 October 2013 Marching Band Is a Sport A sport can be a very hard and physically daunting task. When you combine a tremendous amount of mental concentration along with the physical work the sport becomes even harder. Marching band is the resulting sport when you combine a tremendous amount mental concentration with a great amount of physical work. When a marcher comes off the field trying to slow his breathing with sweat covering his body after his performance while thinking of how awesome that performance was is one of the most rewarding experiences a teenager can have in his high school career. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a sport as: a content or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other (Webster-Dictionary). Marching band should be considered a sport because it requires a tremendous amount of fitness and endurance due to the amount of physical exertion, the amount of competition between bands, and the amount of mental and physical multi-tasking that is required in order for the band to look and sound perfect. Marching band requires a tremendous amount of physical assertion. Performers are constantly moving, and often running, at velocities that reach 180 steps or more per minute while playing instruments that weigh up to 40 pounds (American College of Sports Medicine). 180 Beats per minute is quite fast, especially to be marching while keeping mouthpiece contact in order to be able to play the instrument. 180 Beats per minute is the tempo of The Beatles song Oh! Darling. Any physical exertion makes the heartbeat rate increase as well as the amount of oxygen taken in to increase. A marcher’s heart rate is constantly over 200 BPM while oxygen consumption is what it would be for a well trained runner about halfway through a marathon. This heart rate mirrors somebody who is running a 400-800 meter dash (800 meters is about half a mile) (Testing a Tenor Player’s Physical Reaction to Marching). A standard heart beat for a person at rest is about 80 BPM. While marching it is constantly over 200 BPM, which means that a tremendous amount of oxygen is being taken in and needs to be circulated through the entire body. Playing a musical wind instrument requires all of the air inside a person’s lungs to be pushed into the instrument. While sprinters normally take a breath whenever they can a marcher can only take a breath when they are out of breath from pushing air into the horn. This number varies between fifteen and twenty seconds. The even higher level is Drum Corps. The amount of work inside Drum Corps is even more than in high schools as Drum Corps rehearse twelve hours a day over summer while touring around the United States. They rehearse every day to prepare for the DCI Championships in August. Marching requires a great deal of both mental concentration and physical exertion. Whether standing at attention or marching around at 180 BPM there is always a mental checklist that is going through the person’s head. This checklist consists of things like keeping the feet together, making the marcher as tall and large as he can, thinking of pulling the back of his ears lower towards his shoulders, keeping the horn either up or at attention while not being lazy with the horn being up or at attention (Young, Jeff). This checklist goes hand in hand with the other mental checklist that focuses on the marching aspect. This checklist includes remembering how many counts are in each set (while marching), what set comes up next, what set you are in for the “drill” (the formation that is made on the field by everybody being the required spot) the music that goes along with this set, the dynamics of the music (because being loud all the time is boring), where you turn round, getting your toe high as high as you can while rolling through your step to assure that your upper body is kept still while marching, keeping your core muscles and butt muscles engaged to ensure your sound isn’t compromised, and staying as high as you can on your toes in order to march backwards while staying that high (because it is marching band, not walking). A typical marching show is ten minutes long. Many bands have a conditioning period before and during the year where the band gets together does physical workouts such as running and pushups. This period allows the members to help get into better shape to be able to control their breathing better. “Conditioning begins one week after school lets out in June and includes half-mile runs, which later turn into two-mile runs, according to Jay Webb, director of bands. Band camp also includes push-ups and 10- to 12-hour rehearsal days.” (Greenwald-Gonella, Haley) Running two miles straight is hard work, as well as having a twelve hour rehearsal after. Being in good shape requires a lot of cardiovascular exercise. The members of the most successful marching bands are in shape due to the amount of physical work they do. Many people say that marching band takes nowhere near the mount of physical exertion as a “real sport” such as football or soccer. These people may be correct in some aspects but the aspects they are correct on does not matter. Some football teams either do not do a lot of physical work or they do not do the physical work for long. Most football players cringe when they hear the band has twelve hour rehearsals. All die when they hear of the “Weeks of Hell” known as band camp. Band camp varies band to band but most are at least two weeks of ten to twelve hours each weekday. A sport isn’t a sport in comparison to another sport. Many sports are different from one another. Some sports are easier than others and some harder. A sport is a sport no matter how hard. Most people who say marching band is not a sport has never been in marching band. They have never experienced twelve hour rehearsals for two weeks, the countless hours spent doing the same drill moves for hours upon hours, and the amount of air required to play an instrument while marching. The world of marching bands has a set of rules that are used to adjudicate bands in competitions. The Florida Bandmasters Association created a set of rules and regulations for all Florida bands that must be followed (Florida Bandmaster’s Association). These rules are to be followed by all Florida bands, but are very similar to other states (Colorado Bandmasters Association). There is also a lot of competition in the marching band world. High school bands compete with each other at their own level according to band size. The “major league” for marching band is called Drum Corps International (DCI). DCI has a great amount of competition (even more than high school); DCI fans have a favorite Corp just as the average person would have a favorite or soccer team. The DCI World Championships used to be able to be viewed on ESPN (did not pass for the 2008 season due to budget cuts). The competition between Corps is high as there is less than a .3 difference between the #1 and #2 Corps for the 2013 season (Drum Corps International). Marching band meets every criterion to be considered a sport. Marching band is one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences that a teenager can be a part of. It creates a second family and allows the family to become closer. It also gets every member in shape with the exercise done. Although there is an amazing amount of work (physical and mental) put into being in a marching band, not many school districts allow being in marching band for four years to be considered the required P.E credit. The schools classify marching band as an art while having band members fill out the same release forms as all of the other “sports”. Many more people would consider marching band a sport of the schools would classify marching band as a sport. Works Cited American College of Sports Medicine. Marching Band And Sports On Level Playing Field. Medical News Today. MediLexicon Intl. 28 May. 2009. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. “Colorado Bandmasters Association Constitution.” Colorado Bandmasters Association 2010. Web. 27 Oct. 2013 “Drum Corps International Contest Rules and Interpretations.” Drum Corps International 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2013 Edwards, Jeff. “Testing a Tenor Player’s Physical Reaction to Marching.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube 31 Jan. 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 “Florida Bandmasters Association 2010-2011 HANDBOOK.” Florida Bandmaster’s Association 2010.Web. 27 Oct. 2013 Greenwald-Gonella, Haley. “Musicians as Athletes.” Halftime Magazine Sep 2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 Young, Jeff. “The new ‘checklist’ for marching posture.” Marching 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2013 “Sport - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary.” Webster- Dictionary Web. 29 Oct. 2013
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:01:43 +0000
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