The term Nordic Walking indicates a walking technique carried out with the aid of special walking sticks. It can be practiced for wellness, fitness or sport and can range from an easy walk to more therapeutic exercises for athletes.

Nordic walking originated in Finland: the cross country skiers in Finland have been using sticks in their summer training since the ‘30s. In the ‘80s the idea came about to turn this method of training into a sport for everyone which can be done anywhere and in any season. In 1996 Marko Kantaneva a Finnish student of the Finnish Sports Institute of Vierumäki was the first to prepare a thesis in which he included a section on Pole Walking. Later, through collaboration with Suomen Latu (The Central Association for Recreational Sports and Outdoor Activities) he was asked to assist a company that produces sticks to develop a specific tool for this task. With the name “sauvakävely” (walking with poles) the discipline was officially presented in 1997 to the Finnish people. In the same year the sport attracted international interest and was coined with a more commercial English “translation”: Nordic Walking. In 2000 the INWA (International Nordic Walking Association) was founded, the first official international organization which had the task of promoting and developing the sport around the world.

source: www.wikipedia.org/nordic-walking

Tags: beach games, nordic walking, sand games, ski