Sports I love

I love to play and to watch all kinds of sports. My favorites are swimming, baseball, soccer, badminton, gymnastics, archery, judo, aikido, wrestling, boxing, karate, volleyball, basketball, tennis and so on.  Today, I would like to talk about swimming, akido, and my favorite baseball player because they all teach me things that are important to me.

I really love swimming. I began swimming at three years old. I can swim quickly and slowly. Swimming makes me feel great and is a pleasant way to exercise.  When I swim in the water and I feel like I could spend hours relaxing in the water.  Swimming has taught me a good way to both exercise and relax.

I love aikido, too. I began aikido when I entered college. Aikido is a really wonderful and interesting martial art.  Aikido is the unification of body and heart. I always try my best when I do aikido, and feel like I have learned a lot from it.  I like it because it gives me a peace of mind and a sense of power.

I often watch baseball games on TV. Hideki Matsui is one Japanese player who is trying his best in the U.S.A. He had a splendid 10－year record as a top baseball player in Japan. His nickname is Godzilla. Now, he has flown to the U.S.A to try a new and higher challenge. He is a member of the New York Yankees. Japan's premier slugger, Hideki Matsui has shown powerful skills to the fans of the home to baseball. He feels the dignity of its 100－year history when playing at Yankee Stadium and recognizes that the New York Yankees are a part of baseball history. He thinks he will be satisfied with his game when he has achieved the spirit of study, ambition and patience that goes into playing baseball.  I think he is both a great as a baseball player and as a man.  I believe that his way of thinking has taught me a new way of looking at things.  

From Hideki Matsui, akido, and swimming, I have learned how to relax, how to combine body and mind, and how to look at the world.  If you start to feel that you have already achieved your goals, then you’ll stop there and see no more improvement in yourself unless you learn to set new goals.   For myself, I never want to stop trying to improve myself by doing such things as swimming, aikido, and learning from the people I admire.