East Lansing, Michigan – July 21, 2017 –
Ann Chrapkiewicz – Lansing-area yoga practitioner and native of Dearborn, Michigan – will represent the state of Michigan in this year’s USA Yoga National Championship. Ann took 3rd place in the MidWest SuperRegional Championships held in Chicago in May 2017, and 1st in the state of Michigan.
The national event will take place as part of the Meijer State Games of America on August 5 and 6, 2017, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Sixty sports are represented at the State Games – including bocce ball, archery, figure skating, swimming, and more. Those interested in attending the event may find detailed information here.
What happens at the championship?
Invited athletes each have a maximum of three minutes to demonstrate a routine of six postures. Each asana must be held in stillness for at least 5 seconds to attain maximum points. In addition to technical details of posture form, participants score points if they demonstrate a range of strength, flexibility, and balance in their routines.
Video examples of qualifying routines can be found here.
Four of the postures come from compulsory categories (forward bend, backward bend, stretch, and twist). Participants choose the two additional postures from a list of several dozen of varying difficulty. For complete rules and championship structure, click HERE.
Who Participates?
Athletes from around the country qualified at one of four Super Regional championships. Top scorers in each region were invited, as well as representatives from each state. Links to the list of invitees, scores, and qualifiers can be found here.
In the senior category (50+), 14 men and 15 women will participate in the national championships.
In the Adult Men’s category (18-49), 29 athletes are scheduled. And in the Adult Women’s category, 50 are scheduled.
There will also be 9 participants from the Youth Category (ages 11-17).
Click here for championship event information from USA Yoga and for links to event tickets.
Click here for the schedule and to see all of the states represented!
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Frequently Asked Questions:
What is USA Yoga?
USA Yoga is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and promoting Yoga Asana as a sport. Rajashree Choudhury founded the organization to inspire youth to cultivate a yoga practice. USA Yoga is not affiliated with any particular yoga school or tradition and seeks to include practitioners of all hatha yoga backgrounds.
Read more about its purposes and Rules structure here.
Are Asana championships competitive?
In yoga we learn that whatever we bring to a situation determines the nature of how we operate in that situation. Many people see asana championships as competitive, but this is a limited way of seeing them. B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the most well-known yogis in the past century, supported asana demonstrations and championships as a way to inspire others to take up a hatha yoga practice (read his letter of support here).
For more on Ann’s personal philosophy and the approach of many participants, read here.