Pole sitting
Pole seats (also called "pile squatting") refers to the seats on the upper end of a stuck in the soil pile , or on a small platform for a longer period.
history
The post-sitting goes back to the so-called pillar saints , who led an ascetic life on pillars. The first and best-known Christian stake-sitter was Symeon Stylites the Elder from near Antioch in what is now Turkey, who spent 37 years on a pillar.
Pole seats on flagpoles
Sitting on flagpoles was a fad in the 1920s. It started when Alvin Kelly followed a friend's invitation and spent 13 hours and 13 minutes on a flagpole on the first try. After emulators had beaten his record by up to 21 days, Kelly brought it back in 1929 with 49 days. With the global economic crisis , sitting on flagpoles also disappeared from the public.
World Championship in Pole Sitting
The "World Championship in Pole Sitting" took place annually from 1997 to 2003 in Heide-Park in Soltau and arose from an advertising gag for the opening of the Dutch part of the park. In order to standardize the event and to ensure its recognition by Guinness, various rules have been drawn up that affect the shape of the stake, the equipment permitted and the course of the competition.
At this event in 2002 the current world record recognized by the Guinness Book of Records was set by the Pole Daniel Baraniuk from Gdansk , who spent 196 days on the stake.
regulate
Each participant receives an umbrella, a reading lamp, an ashtray and a telephone credit of 50 € as equipment for his pole . The participant sits on a 0.25 m² platform of a 2.5 m high pole, changes and other "installations" on the pole are prohibited. However, each participant may bring a pillow to rest their head on their thighs and a blanket for their legs. Entertainment media and the like are partially permitted.
Course of the competition
After each participant has taken their place on the stake, they may only rise from their place for ten-minute breaks, which are allowed every two hours. If the last participant has left his stake or has not appeared after a break, the competition is over. The world champion title was awarded to whoever spent the longest time on his stake, which was measured by a sensor in the seat.
Pole sitting in the movie
Pole sitting was also artistically processed in the film Sportsman of the Century . In this 2005 debut film by the director Mischa Alexander, the Frisian farmer's son Taeke Jongsma tries to spend 500 days on a pole.
Individual evidence
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Simeon Stylites the Elder
- ↑ FAZ: No more sitting: Pole spends 196 days on the pole
- ↑ World Pole-Sitting Record Set ( Memento from December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )