title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The 1992 Winter Games were the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games. They were hosted in the French Savoie region, with 18 events held in the city of Albertville and the remaining events spread out over the Savoie. Political changes of the time were reflected in the composition of the Olympic teams competing in France: this was the first Games to be held after the fall of Communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Germany competed as a single nation for the first time since the 1964 Games.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Former Yugoslavian republics Croatia and Slovenia made their debuts as independent nations; most of the former Soviet republics still competed as a single team known as the Unified Team, but the Baltic States made independent appearances for the first time since before World War II. At 16 years old, Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen made history by becoming the youngest male Winter Olympic champion. New Zealand skier Annelise Coberger became the first Winter Olympic medallist from the southern hemisphere when she won a silver medal in the women's slalom.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The 1994 Winter Olympics, held in Lillehammer, Norway, were the first Winter Games to be held in a different year from the Summer Games. This change resulted from the decision reached in the 91st IOC Session (1986) to separate the Summer and Winter Games and place them in alternating even-numbered years. Lillehammer is the northernmost city to ever host the Winter Games. It was the second time the Games were held in Norway, after the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, and the first time the Olympic Truce was observed. As a result, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia made their Olympic debuts.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The women's figure skating competition drew media attention when American skater Nancy Kerrigan was injured on 6 January 1994, in an assault planned by the ex-husband of opponent Tonya Harding. Both skaters competed in the Games, but the gold medal was controversially won by Oksana Baiul who became Ukraine's first Olympic champion, while Kerrigan won the silver medal. Johann Olav Koss of Norway won three gold medals, coming first in all of the distance speed skating events.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: 13-year-old Kim Yoon-Mi became the youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist when South Korea won the women's 3,000-metre speed skating relay. Bjørn Dæhli of Norway won a medal in four out of five cross-country events, becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian until then. Russia won the most events, with eleven gold medals, while Norway achieved 26 podium finishes, collecting the most medals overall on home ground. Juan Antonio Samaranch described Lillehammer as "the best Olympic Winter Games ever" in his closing ceremony speech.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The 1998 Winter Olympics were held in the Japanese city of Nagano and were the first Games to host more than 2,000 athletes. The National Hockey League allowed its players to participate in the men's ice hockey tournament for the first time, and the Czech Republic won the tournament. Women's ice hockey made its debut, and the United States won the gold medal. Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway won three gold medals in Nordic skiing, becoming the most decorated Winter Olympic athlete, with eight gold medals and twelve medals overall. Austrian Hermann Maier survived a crash during the downhill competition and returned to win gold in the super-G and the giant slalom. Tara Lipinski of the United States, aged just 15, became the youngest ever female gold medallist in an individual event when she won the Ladies' Singles, a record that had stood since Sonja Henie of Norway won the same event, also aged 15, in St. Moritz in 1928. New world records were set in speed skating largely due to the introduction of the clap skate.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: After a tumultuous host city process, the 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, United States. 2,399 athletes from 77 National Olympic Committees participated at 78 events in 7 sports. These Games were the first to take place since the September 11 attacks of 2001, which meant a higher degree of security to avoid a terrorist attack. The opening ceremony saw signs of the aftermath of the events of that day, including the flag that flew at Ground Zero, and honour guards of NYPD and FDNY members.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: German Georg Hackl won a silver in the singles luge, becoming the first athlete in Olympic history to win medals in the same individual event in five consecutive Olympics. Canada achieved an unprecedented double by winning both the men's and women's ice hockey gold medals. Canada became embroiled with Russia in a controversy that involved the judging of the pairs figure skating competition. The Russian pair of Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze competed against the Canadian pair of Jamie Salé and David Pelletier for the gold medal.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Canadians appeared to have skated well enough to win the competition, yet the Russians were awarded the gold. The French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, awarded the gold to the Russians. An investigation revealed that she had been pressured to give the gold to the Russian pair regardless of how they skated; in return, the Russian judge would look favourably on the French entrants in the ice dancing competition.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The IOC decided to award both pairs the gold medal in a second medal ceremony held later in the Games. Australian Steven Bradbury became the first gold medallist from the southern hemisphere when he won the 1,000 metre short-track speed skating event.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Italian city of Turin hosted the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Olympic Games. South Korean athletes won 10 medals, including 6 gold in the short-track speed skating events. Sun-Yu Jin won three gold medals while her teammate Hyun-Soo Ahn won three gold medals and a bronze. In the women's Cross-Country team pursuit Canadian Sara Renner broke one of her poles and, when he saw her dilemma, Norwegian coach Bjørnar Håkensmoen decided to lend her a pole. In so doing she was able to help her team win a silver medal in the event at the expense of the Norwegian team, who finished fourth.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: On winning the Super-G, Kjetil-Andre Aamodt of Norway became the most decorated ski racer of all time with 4 gold and 8 overall medals. He is also the only ski racer to have won the same event at three Olympics, winning the Super-G in 1992, 2002 and 2006. Claudia Pechstein of Germany became the first speed skater to earn nine career medals.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: In February 2009, Pechstein tested positive for "blood manipulation" and received a two-year suspension, which she appealed. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld her suspension but a Swiss court ruled that she could compete for a spot on the 2010 German Olympic team. This ruling was brought to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which overturned the lower court's ruling and precluded her from competing in Vancouver.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: In 2003 the IOC awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver, thus allowing Canada to host its second Winter Olympics. With a population of more than 2.5 million people Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to ever host a Winter Olympic Games. Over 2,500 athletes from 82 countries participated in 86 events. The death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training run on the day of the opening ceremonies resulted in the Whistler Sliding Centre changing the track layout on safety grounds.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen won five medals in the six cross-country events on the women's programme. She finished the Olympics with three golds, a silver and a bronze. For the first time, Canada won a gold medal at an Olympic Games it hosted, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. In contrast to the lack of gold medals at these previous Olympics, the Canadian team finished first overall in gold medal wins, and became the first host nation—since Norway in 1952—to lead the gold medal count, with 14 medals. In doing so, it also broke the record for the most gold medals won by a NOC at a single Winter Olympics (the previous was 13, set by the Soviet Union in 1976 and matched by Norway in 2002).


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Vancouver Games were notable for the poor performance of the Russian athletes. From their first Winter Olympics in 1956 to the 2006 Games, a Soviet or Russian delegation had never been outside the top five medal-winning nations, but in 2010 they finished sixth in total medals and eleventh in gold medals. President Dmitry Medvedev called for the resignation of top sports officials immediately after the Games. Russia's disappointing performance at Vancouver is cited as the reason behind the enhancement of an already existing doping scheme alleged to have been in operation at major events such as the 2014 Games at Sochi.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The success of Asian countries stood in stark contrast to the under-performing Russian team, with Vancouver marking a high point for medals won by Asian countries. At the Albertville Games in 1992 the Asian countries had won fifteen medals, three of which were gold. In Vancouver, the total number of medals won by athletes from Asia had increased to thirty-one, with eleven of them being gold. The rise of Asian nations in Winter Olympics sports is due in part to the growth of winter sports programmes and the interest in winter sports in nations such as Kazakhstan, South Korea, Japan and China. These results increased the chances of an Asian city hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics that would be held the following year.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Sochi, Russia, was selected as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics over Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. This was the first time that Russia had hosted a Winter Olympics. The Games took place from 7 to 23 February 2014. A record 2,800 athletes from 88 countries competed in 98 events. The Olympic Village and Olympic Stadium were located on the Black Sea coast. All of the mountain venues were away in the alpine region known as Krasnaya Polyana. The Games were the most expensive until the date, with a cost of £30 billion (US$51 billion).


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: On the snow, Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen took two golds to bring his total tally of Olympic medals to 13, overtaking his compatriot Bjørn Dæhlie to become the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time. Another Norwegian, cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen took three golds; her total of ten Olympic medals tied her as the female Winter Olympian with most medals, alongside Raisa Smetanina and Stefania Belmondo. Snowboarder Ayumu Hirano became the youngest medallist on snow at the Winter Games when he took a silver in the halfpipe competition at the age of fifteen.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: On the ice, the Netherlands team dominated the speed skating events, taking 23 medals, four clean sweeps of the podium places and at least one medal in each of the twelve medal events. Ireen Wüst was their most successful competitor, taking two golds and three silvers. In figure skating, Yuzuru Hanyu became the first skater to break the 100-point barrier in the short programme on the way to winning the gold medal. Among the sledding disciplines, luger Armin Zöggeler took a bronze, becoming the first Winter Olympian to secure a medal in six consecutive Games.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Following their disappointing performance at the 2010 Games, and an investment of £600 million in elite sport, Russia initially topped the medal table, taking 33 medals including thirteen golds. However Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian national anti-doping laboratory, subsequently claimed that he had been involved in doping dozens of Russian competitors for the Games, and that he had been assisted by the Russian Federal Security Service in opening and re-sealing bottles containing urine samples so that samples with banned substances could be replaced with "clean" urine.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: A subsequent investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency led by Richard McLaren concluded that a state-sponsored doping programme had operated in Russia from "at least late 2011 to 2015" across the "vast majority" of Summer and Winter Olympic sports. On 5 December 2017, the IOC announced that Russia would compete as the Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics and by the end of 2017 the IOC Disciplinary Commission had disqualified 43 Russian athletes, stripping thirteen medals and knocking Russia from the top of the medal table, thus putting Norway in the lead. However, nine medals were later returned, meaning that Russia reclaimed first place in the overall medal table, and joint first place with Norway in terms of gold medals.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: On 6 July 2011, Pyeongchang, South Korea, was selected to host the 2018 Winter Olympics over Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France. This was the first time that South Korea had been selected to host a Winter Olympics and it was the second time the Olympics were held in the country overall, after the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The Games took place from 9 to 25 February 2018. More than 2,900 athletes from 92 countries participated in 102 events. The main venue cluster was the Alpensia Resort in Daegwallyeong-myeon, while the ice events are held at Gangneung Olympic Park in Pyeongchang's neighbouring sea-city of Gangneung.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The lead-up to the 2018 Winter Olympics was affected by the tensions between North and South Korea and the ongoing Russian doping scandal. Despite tense relations, North Korea agreed to participate in the Games, enter with South Korea during the opening ceremony as a unified Korea, and field a unified team in women's ice hockey. Russian athletes, who complied with the IOC's doping regulations, were given the option to compete in Pyeongchang as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR).


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Games saw the addition of big air snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed doubles curling, and mixed team alpine skiing to the programme. Like four years early, the Netherlands again dominated speed skating, winning gold medals in seven of the ten individual events. Dutch speed skater Sven Kramer won gold in the men's 5000m event, becoming the only male speed skater to win the same Olympic event three times. On the snow, Norway led the medal tally in cross-country skiing, with Marit Bjørgen winning bronze in the women's team sprint and gold in the 30-kilometre classical event, bringing her total Olympic medal haul to fifteen, the most won by any athlete (male or female) in Winter Olympics history.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway became the youngest ever male to win an Olympic gold in cross-country skiing when he won the men's sprint at age 21. Noriaki Kasai of Japan became the first athlete in history to participate in eight Winter Olympics when he took part in the ski jumping qualification the day before the opening of the Games. Ester Ledecká of the Czech Republic won gold in the skiing super-G event and another gold in the snowboarding parallel giant slalom, making her the first female athlete to win Olympic gold medals in two sports at a single Winter Games.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Norway led the total medal standings with 39, the highest number of medals by a nation in any Winter Olympics, followed by Germany's 31 and Canada's 29. Host nation South Korea won seventeen medals, five of them gold, its highest medal haul at a Winter Olympics.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, was elected as the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics on 31 July 2015 at the 128th IOC Session. Beijing became the first city ever to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Like the Summer Olympics held six months earlier in Tokyo, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of strict health and safety protocols, including restrictions on public attendance at the Games. The Games included a record 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports with seven new medal events, including mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross. The Games were held between 4 February and 20 February 2022 at venues in Beijing and Zhangjiakou which for the first time were run entirely on renewable energy. Several of the events were impacted by temperatures as low as minus 20 Celsius and strong wind.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The first gold medal of the Games was won by Therese Johaug of Norway in the women's skiathlon. Johaug had been excluded from the 2018 Winter Olympics in a controversial decision after having used a banned cream for sunburned lips. She went on to also win the women's 10 km and 30 km cross-country distances. In the women's snowboard cross, Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States won the gold, having lost the gold 16 years earlier at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino due to a brutal fall. On the ice, the Netherlands dominated with a total of six gold medals and Irene Schouten winning the women's mass start, 3,000m and 5,000m distances. Nils van der Poel of Sweden won the men's 5,000m and 10,000m distances, setting new Olympic records in both distances. Kamila Valieva of Russia was allowed to compete in the women's figure skating in spite of a failed doping test in December 2021. She failed, however, to win an individual medal after falling in her final routine. Russia's team gold medal remains in limbo to this day, pending investigation into Valieva's positive drug test. Finland claimed its first ice hockey gold ever, having beaten the Russian Olympic Committee in the men's final on the last day of the Games.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Norway was first in the overall medal standings, claiming 37 medals in total and 16 gold medals, the highest number of gold medals of any country in a single Winter Olympics. This was the ninth time Norway claimed the highest number of gold medals in the Winter Games.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The 2026 Winter Olympics will be in Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and take place between 6 and 22 February 2026. The 2030 Winter Olympics will be in either Salt Lake City, United States or Sapporo, Japan and take place between 8 and 24 February 2030.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The process for awarding host city honours came under intense scrutiny after Salt Lake City had been awarded the right to host the 2002 Games. Soon after the host city had been announced it was discovered that the organisers had engaged in an elaborate bribery scheme to curry favour with IOC officials. Gifts and other financial considerations were given to those who would evaluate and vote on Salt Lake City's bid. These gifts included medical treatment for relatives, a college scholarship for one member's son and a land deal in Utah. Even IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch received two rifles valued at $2,000. Samaranch defended the gift as inconsequential since, as president, he was a non-voting member.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The subsequent investigation uncovered inconsistencies in the bids for every Olympics (both Summer and Winter) since 1988. For example, the gifts received by IOC members from the Japanese Organising Committee for Nagano's bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics were described by the investigation committee as "astronomical". Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, the IOC feared that corporate sponsors would lose faith in the integrity of the process and that the Olympic brand would be tarnished to such an extent that advertisers would begin to pull their support.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The investigation resulted in the expulsion of 10 IOC members and the sanctioning of another 10. New terms and age limits were established for IOC membership, and 15 former Olympic athletes were added to the committee. Stricter rules for future bids were imposed, with ceilings imposed on the value of gifts IOC members could accept from bid cities.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: According to the IOC, the host city for the Winter Olympics is responsible for "...establishing functions and services for all aspects of the Games, such as sports planning, venues, finance, technology, accommodation, catering, media services, etc., as well as operations during the Games." Due to the cost of hosting the Games, most host cities never realise a profit on their investment. For example, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, cost $3.6 billion to host. By comparison, the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, cost $12.5 billion. The organisers of the Nagano Games claimed that the cost of extending the bullet train service from Tokyo to Nagano was responsible for the large price tag.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The organising committee had hoped that the exposure gained from hosting the Winter Olympics, and the improved access to Nagano from Tokyo, would benefit the local economy for years afterwards. In fact, Nagano's economy did experience a post-Olympic boom for a year or two, but the long-term effects have not materialised as anticipated. The likelihood of heavy debt is a deterrent to prospective host cities, as well as the prospect of unused sports venues and infrastructure saddling the local community with upkeep costs into the future with no appreciable post-Olympic value.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Winter Olympics has the added problem of the alpine events requiring a mountain location; the men's downhill needs an 800-meter altitude difference along a suitable course. As this is a focal event that is central to the Games, the IOC has previously not agreed to it taking place a great distance from the main host city, in contrast to the Summer Games, where sailing and horse sports have taken place more than away. The requirement for a mountain location also means that venues such as hockey arenas often have to be built in sparsely populated areas with little future need for a large arena and for the hotels and infrastructure needed for all Olympic visitors. Due to cost issues, fewer and fewer cities are willing to host. Both the Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010 Games, which were hosted in countries where large cities are located close to suitable mountain regions, had lower costs since more venues, hotels and transport infrastructure already existed. In contrast, the Sochi 2014 games had large costs as most installations had to be built.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The IOC has enacted several initiatives to mitigate these concerns. Firstly, the commission has agreed to fund part of the host city's budget for staging the Games. Secondly, the qualifying host countries are limited to those that have the resources and infrastructure to successfully host an Olympic Games without negatively impacting the region or nation; this consequently rules out a large portion of the developing world. Finally, any prospective host city planning to bid for the Games is required to add a "legacy plan" to their proposal, with a view to the long-term economic and environmental impact that hosting the Olympics will have on the region.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: For the 2022 Winter Games, IOC allowed a longer distance between the alpine events and other events. The Oslo bid had to the Kvitfjell downhill arena, while eventual host Beijing had venues 220 km away from the city as well. For the 2026 Winter Games, IOC allowed Stockholm to have the alpine event in Åre, away by road.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: In 1967 the IOC began enacting drug testing protocols. They started by randomly testing athletes at the 1968 Winter Olympics. The first Winter Games athlete to test positive for a banned substance was Alois Schloder, a West German hockey player, but his team was still allowed to compete. During the 1970s testing outside of competition was escalated because it was found to deter athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs. The problem with testing during this time was a lack of standardisation of the test procedures, which undermined the credibility of the tests. It was not until the late 1980s that international sporting federations began to coordinate efforts to standardise the drug-testing protocols. The IOC took the lead in the fight against steroids when it established the independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November 1999.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin became notable for a scandal involving the emerging trend of blood doping, the use of blood transfusions or synthetic hormones such as Erythropoietin (EPO) to improve oxygen flow and thus reduce fatigue. The Italian police conducted a raid on the Austrian cross-country ski team's residence during the Games where they seized blood-doping specimens and equipment. This event followed the pre-Olympics suspension of 12 cross-country skiers who tested positive for unusually high levels of haemoglobin, which is evidence of blood doping.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi's Russian Doping Scandal has resulted in the International Olympic Committee to begin disciplinary proceedings against 28 (later increased to 46) Russian athletes who competed at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, acting on evidence that their urine samples were tampered with.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Winter Olympics have been an ideological front in the Cold War since the Soviet Union first participated at the 1956 Winter Games. It did not take long for the Cold War combatants to discover what a powerful propaganda tool the Olympic Games could be. The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. Nevertheless, the IOC held to the traditional rules regarding amateurism until the '90s.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Cold War created tensions amongst countries allied to the two superpowers. The strained relationship between East and West Germany created a difficult political situation for the IOC. Because of its role in World War II, Germany was not allowed to compete at the 1948 Winter Olympics. In 1950 the IOC recognised the West German Olympic Committee, and invited East and West Germany to compete as a unified team at the 1952 Winter Games. East Germany declined the invitation and instead sought international legitimacy separate from West Germany.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: In 1955 the Soviet Union recognised East Germany as a sovereign state, thereby giving more credibility to East Germany's campaign to become an independent participant at the Olympics. The IOC agreed to provisionally accept the East German National Olympic Committee with the condition that East and West Germans compete on one team. The situation became tenuous when the Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany in 1962 and Western European nations began refusing visas to East German athletes. The uneasy compromise of a unified team held until the 1968 Grenoble Games when the IOC officially split the teams and threatened to reject the host-city bids of any country that refused entry visas to East German athletes.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Winter Games have had only one national team boycott when Taiwan decided not to participate in the 1980 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid. Prior to the Games, the IOC agreed to allow China to compete in the Olympics for the first time since 1952. China was given permission to compete as the "People's Republic of China" (PRC) and to use the PRC flag and anthem. Until 1980 the island of Taiwan had been competing under the name "Republic of China" (ROC) and had been using the ROC flag and anthem. The IOC attempted to have the countries compete together but when this proved to be unacceptable the IOC demanded that Taiwan cease to call itself the "Republic of China".


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The IOC renamed the island "Chinese Taipei" and demanded that it adopt a different flag and national anthem, stipulations to which Taiwan would not agree. Despite numerous appeals and court hearings, the IOC's decision stood. When the Taiwanese athletes arrived at the Olympic village with their Republic of China identification cards they were not admitted. They subsequently left the Olympics in protest, just before the opening ceremonies. Taiwan returned to Olympic competition at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo as Chinese Taipei. The country agreed to compete under a flag bearing the emblem of their National Olympic Committee and to play the anthem of their National Olympic Committee should one of their athletes win a gold medal. The agreement remains in place to this day.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: The Olympic Charter limits winter sports to "those sports which are practised on snow or ice." Since 1992 a number of new sports have been added to the Olympic programme; which include short track speed skating, snowboarding, freestyle and moguls skiing. The addition of these events has broadened the appeal of the Winter Olympics beyond Europe and North America. While European powers such as Norway and Germany still dominate the traditional Winter Olympic sports, countries such as South Korea, Australia and Canada are finding success in the new sports. The results are: more parity in the national medal tables; more interest in the Winter Olympics; and higher global television ratings.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Demonstration sports have historically provided a venue for host countries to attract publicity to locally popular sports by having a competition without granting medals. Demonstration sports were discontinued after 1992. Military patrol, a precursor to the biathlon, was a medal sport in 1924 and was demonstrated in 1928, 1936 and 1948, becoming an official sport in 1960. The special figures figure skating event was only contested at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Bandy (Russian hockey) is a sport popular in the Nordic countries and Russia. In the latter it's considered a national sport. It was demonstrated at the Oslo Games.


title: Winter Olympic Games

text: Ice stock sport, a German variant of curling, was demonstrated in 1936 in Germany and 1964 in Austria. The ski ballet event, later known as ski-acro, was demonstrated in 1988 and 1992. Skijöring, skiing behind dogs, was a demonstration sport in St. Moritz in 1928. A sled-dog race was held at Lake Placid in 1932. Speed skiing was demonstrated in Albertville at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Winter pentathlon, a variant of the modern pentathlon, was included as a demonstration event at the 1948 Games in Switzerland. It included cross-country skiing, shooting, downhill skiing, fencing, and horse riding.


title: Reiki

text: Reiki is a pseudoscience, and is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles. It is based on "qi" ("chi"), which practitioners say is a universal life force, although there is no empirical evidence that such a life force exists.


title: Reiki

text: Clinical research does not show reiki to be effective as a treatment for any medical condition, including cancer, diabetic neuropathy, anxiety or depression; therefore it should not replace conventional medical treatment. There is no proof of the effectiveness of reiki therapy compared to placebo. Studies reporting positive effects have had methodological flaws.


title: Reiki

text: According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", the English alternative medicine word "reiki" comes from Japanese (霊気) "mysterious atmosphere, miraculous sign", combining "soul, spirit" and "vital energy"—the Sino-Japanese reading of Chinese (靈氣) "numinous atmosphere".


title: Reiki

text: According to the inscription on his memorial stone, Mikao Usui taught his system of reiki to more than 2,000 people during his lifetime. While teaching reiki in Fukuyama, Usui suffered a stroke and died on 9 March 1926. The first reiki clinic in the United States was started by Chujiro Hayashi's student Hawayo Takata in 1970.


title: Reiki

text: Reiki's teachings and adherents claim that "qi" is physiological and can be manipulated to treat a disease or condition. The existence of qi has not been established by medical research. Therefore, reiki is a pseudoscientific theory based on metaphysical concepts.


title: Reiki

text: The existence of the proposed mechanism for reiki—"qi" or "life force" energy—has not been scientifically established. Most research on reiki is poorly designed and prone to bias. There is no reliable empirical evidence that reiki is helpful for treating any medical condition, although some physicians have said it might help promote general well-being. In 2011, William T. Jarvis of The National Council Against Health Fraud stated that there "is no evidence that clinical reiki's effects are due to anything other than suggestion" or the placebo effect.


title: Reiki

text: The April 22, 2014, "Skeptoid" podcast episode titled "Your Body's Alleged Energy Fields" relates a reiki practitioner's report of what was happening as she passed her hands over a subject's body:


title: Reiki

text: Reiki is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles.


title: Reiki

text: In criticizing the State University of New York for offering a continuing education course on reiki, one source stated, "reiki postulates the existence of a universal energy unknown to science and thus far undetectable surrounding the human body, which practitioners can learn to manipulate using their hands," and others said, "In spite of its [reiki] diffusion, the baseline mechanism of action has not been demonstrated ..." and, "Neither the forces involved nor the alleged therapeutic benefits have been demonstrated by scientific testing."


title: Reiki

text: Several authors have pointed to the vitalistic energy which reiki is claimed to treat, with one saying, "Ironically, the only thing that distinguishes reiki from therapeutic touch is that it [reiki] involves actual touch," and others stating that the International Center for Reiki Training "mimic[s] the institutional aspects of science" seeking legitimacy but holds no more promise than an alchemy society.


title: Reiki

text: A guideline published by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation states, "Reiki therapy should probably not be considered for the treatment of PDN [painful diabetic neuropathy]." Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer has listed reiki as among the pseudoscientific healing methods used by cults in France to attract members.


title: Reiki

text: A 2008 systematic review of nine randomized clinical trials found several shortcomings in the literature on reiki. Depending on the tools used to measure depression and anxiety, the results varied and were not reliable or valid. Furthermore, the scientific community has been unable to replicate the findings of studies that support reiki. The review also found issues in reporting methodology in some of the literature, in that often there were parts omitted completely or not clearly described. Frequently in these studies, sample sizes were not calculated and adequate allocation and double-blind procedures were not followed. The review also reported that such studies exaggerated the effectiveness of treatment and there was no control for differences in experience of reiki practitioners or even the same practitioner at times produced different outcomes. None of the studies in the review provided a rationale for the treatment duration and no study reported adverse effects.


title: Reiki

text: Safety concerns for reiki sessions are very low and are akin to those of many complementary and alternative medicine practices. Some physicians and health care providers, however, believe that patients may unadvisedly substitute proven treatments for life-threatening conditions with unproven alternative modalities including reiki, thus endangering their health.


title: Reiki

text: In March 2009, the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the document "Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy", in which they declared that the practice of reiki was based on superstition, being neither truly faith healing nor science-based medicine. They stated that reiki was incompatible with Christian spirituality since it involved belief in a human power over healing rather than prayer to God, and that, viewed as a natural means of healing, it lacked scientific credibility. The 2009 guideline concluded that "since reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the Church, such as Catholic chaplains, to promote or to provide support for reiki therapy." Since this announcement, some Catholic lay people have continued to practice reiki, but it has been removed from many Catholic hospitals and other institutions.


title: Reiki

text: In a December 2014 article from the USCCB's Committee on Divine Worship on exorcism and its use in the Church, reiki is listed as a practice "that may have [negatively] impacted the current state of the afflicted person".


title: Reiki

text: There is no central authority controlling use of the words "reiki" or "reiki master". Certificates can be purchased online for under $100. It is "not uncommon" for a course to offer attainment of reiki master in two weekends. There is no regulation of practitioners or reiki master in the United States.


title: Reiki

text: The "Washington Post" reported in 2014 that in response to customer demand at least 60 hospitals in the United States offered reiki, at a cost of between $40 and $300 per session. Cancer Research UK reported in 2019 that some cancer centers and hospices in the UK offer free or low-cost reiki for people with cancer. The cost per session for treatment vary widely, but a CNBC report found a practitioner charging $229 per session of 60–90 minutes.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Brave is a 2012 American computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman (in the former's feature directorial debut), co-directed by Steve Purcell, and produced by Katherine Sarafian, with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter serving as executive producers. The story was written by Chapman, who also wrote the film's screenplay with Andrews, Purcell, and Irene Mecchi. The film stars the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson. Set in the Scottish Highlands, the film tells the story of Princess Merida of DunBroch (Macdonald) who defies an age-old custom, causing chaos in the kingdom by expressing the desire not to be betrothed. When Queen Elinor (Thompson), her mother, falls victim to a beastly curse and turns into a bear, Merida must look within herself and find the key to saving the kingdom. Merida is the first Disney Princess created by Pixar. The film is also dedicated to Pixar chairman and Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, who died before the film's release.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: "Brave" is Pixar's first film with a female protagonist, and the first one animated with a new proprietary animation system, called Presto. Originally titled "The Bear and the Bow", the film was first announced in April 2008 alongside "Up" and "Cars 2". Chapman drew inspiration for the film's story from her relationship with her own daughter. Co-directing with Andrews and Purcell, Chapman became Pixar's first female director of a feature-length film. To create the most complex visuals possible, Pixar completely rewrote their animation system for the first time in 25 years. "Brave" is the first film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. The filmmakers created three original tartan patterns for three of the four clans in the film. Patrick Doyle composed the film's musical score.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: "Brave" premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 10, 2012, and was theatrically released in North America on June 22. Receiving generally positive reviews, it was a box office success, grossing $540.4 million against a $185 million budget. The film won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, and the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Preceding the feature theatrically was a short film entitled "La Luna", directed by Enrico Casarosa.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: In Medieval Scotland, Princess Merida of the clan Dunbroch is given a bow and arrow by her father, King Fergus for her sixth birthday to the dismay of her mother, Queen Elinor. While venturing into the woods to fetch an arrow, Merida encounters a will-o'-the-wisp. Soon afterward, Mor'du, a huge demon bear, attacks the family. Merida flees on horseback with Elinor, while Fergus and his men fend off Mor'du, though the fight costs him one of his legs.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Ten years later, Merida discovers that she is to be betrothed to the son of one of her father's allies. Elinor explains that failure to consent to the betrothal could harm Dunbroch, reminding Merida of a legend of a prince whose pride and refusal to follow his father's wishes destroyed his kingdom.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: The allied clan chieftains and their first-born sons arrive to compete in the Highland games for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida twists the rules, announcing that as her own clan's firstborn she is eligible to compete for her own hand. She easily bests her suitors in an archery contest, shaming the other clans, and after a heated disagreement with Elinor, runs away into the forest. Wisps appear, leading her to the hut of an elderly witch. Merida bargains for a spell to change Elinor, and the witch gives her an enchanted cake.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: When Merida gives Elinor the cake, it transforms her into a bear, unable to speak but still retaining most of her human consciousness. Merida returns to the witch's cottage with Elinor, only to find it deserted, and discovers a message from the witch: unless Merida is able to "mend the bond, torn by pride" before the second sunrise, the spell will become permanent. Merida and Elinor are led by the wisps to ancient ruins, where they encounter Mor'du. Realizing that Mor'du was the prince in the legend, Merida vows that she will not let the same thing happen to her mother, and concludes she needs to repair the family tapestry she deliberately damaged during their argument.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: They return to the castle to find the clans on the verge of war. Merida intends to relent and declare herself ready to choose a suitor as tradition demands, but Elinor prompts her instead to insist that the firstborns should be allowed to marry in their own time to whomever they choose. The clans agree, breaking tradition but renewing and strengthening their alliance.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Merida sneaks into the tapestry room with Elinor, while Fergus, looking for his wife, finds out she's gone. Elinor, who is losing her humanity, attacks Fergus, but suddenly regains her composure and flees the castle. Mistaking the Queen for Mor'du, and thinking it has eaten his wife, Fergus pursues the bear with the other clans, locking Merida in the castle. Merida escapes with the assistance of her identical triplet brothers, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish, who have also eaten the enchanted cake and are now bear cubs. Merida repairs the tapestry and rides out after her father. Fergus and the clans capture Elinor, but Merida thwarts them before the real Mor'du arrives. Mor'du battles with the clan warriors and targets Merida, but Elinor intercedes, holding off Mor'du and causing him to be crushed by a falling menhir (standing stone). This releases the spirit of the prince, who silently thanks Merida for freeing him and transforms into a wisp. Merida covers her mother in the repaired tapestry, but she remains a bear. As the sun rises for the second time, Merida realizes the mistakes she has made and reconciles with Elinor, unknowingly fulfilling the true meaning of the witch's message and reversing the spell's effects on her mother and brothers.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: With Mor'du gone, Merida and Elinor work together on a new tapestry when they are called to the docks to bid farewell to the other clans, and ride their horses together.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Announced in April 2008 as "The Bear and the Bow", "Brave" is Pixar's first fairy tale. Writer and director Brenda Chapman considers it a fairy tale in the tradition of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. She also drew inspiration from her relationship with her daughter. Chapman conceived the project and was announced as the film's director, making her Pixar's first female director, but in October 2010, she was replaced by Mark Andrews after creative disagreements between her and John Lasseter. Chapman found the news of her replacement "devastating," but later stated that her "vision came through in the film" and that she remained "very proud of the movie, and that I ultimately stood up for myself." Chapman then stated in an interview in 2018 that while she was still bittersweet about being taken off the film and believed that there was no reason to do so creatively, she felt that it "opened more doors for me to have that happen". "Brave" is also the first Pixar film with a female protagonist and Pixar's first film to have two credited directors.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Following his hiring as director, Mark Andrews did a major overhaul of the story to give more focus on Merida and her troubled relationship with her mother. Among others, he cleared away many magic elements, which he found affected the environment. However, he wanted to stay truthful to Chapman's story. He said: ""The bones of the film were totally fine. That was not the issue. What was hanging off the bones, there were problems. There were things that were not working. The focuses and balances that were out of whack.""


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: "Brave" is the first Pixar film starring a female protagonist. In that respect, "Brave" was followed by "Inside Out", "Finding Dory", "Incredibles 2", and "Turning Red", all of whom featured female protagonists. In 2010, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, and Julie Walters joined the cast, with Witherspoon set to voice Merida. According to Andrews, Witherspoon was on the project for "quite some time. She was getting her Scottish accent down, she was working very hard and it was sounding great but as we were continuing with the movie she had other movies lining up, so unfortunately we were unable to continue with her and had to get a replacement." Instead, in 2011 it was revealed that Merida was to be voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald. In 2017, during a press junket for Illumination's "Sing", Witherspoon mentioned that she had to leave the film due to failure to master a Scottish accent.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: The score for "Brave" was composed by Patrick Doyle and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra was conducted by James Shearman. To bring some of Scotland's native flavor to the music, Doyle used traditional Celtic instruments such as bagpipes, a solo fiddle, Celtic harps, flutes and the bodhrán (a tunable, handheld frame drum), with an electronically treated dulcimer and cimbalom to give it a more contemporary feel. "I employed many classic Scottish dance rhythms such as reels, jigs, and strathspeys, which not only serve the action but keep it authentic," said Doyle. As part of his research, he spent time in the Hebrides studying "unaccompanied Gaelic psalm singing."


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Doyle also composed several songs for the film. The lullaby duet between characters Princess Merida and Queen Elinor entitled "A Mhaighdean Uasal Bhan (Noble Maiden Fair)" appears on three occasions in different variations within the fabric of the score, and uniquely includes Gaelic vocals by Emma Thompson and Peigi Barker, the first Disney film with music featuring the language. The drinking song "Song of Mor'du" (lyrics by Doyle and Steve Purcell) sung by Billy Connolly, Scott Davies, Patrick Doyle, Gordon Neville, Alex Norton and Carey Wilson, features a rich variety of words, sung authentically in Scots, which is distinct from Scottish Gaelic. (Scots being a Germanic language, while Scottish Gaelic is Celtic.)


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: In addition to Doyle's music, the film features three other original songs; "Learn Me Right" written by Mumford & Sons and performed with Birdy, "Touch the Sky" (music by Alex Mandel, lyrics by Mark Andrews & Mandel) and "Into the Open Air" (music and lyrics by Alex Mandel). Both "Touch the Sky" and "Into the Open Air" were performed by Julie Fowlis, as Merida's off-screen musical thoughts. These two tracks were produced by composer and arranger Jim Sutherland, who is also featured as a performer.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Along with introducing Doyle to a number of specialist Celtic musicians who feature in the score, Sutherland was responsible for discovering the young Gaelic singer Peigi Barker; the voice of Young Merida.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Pixar created three original tartan patterns for the film for three of the four clans – DunBroch, Dingwall, and MacGuffin. (Clan Macintosh wears a red tartan similar to the nonfictional Clan Mackintosh.)


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: The Walt Disney Company registered the Clan DunBroch tartan with the official Scottish Register of Tartans upon release of the film. The tartan consists of ocean blue for the North Sea, subdued scarlet for bloodshed during the clan wars, deep green for the Scottish Highlands, navy blue for the eventual unity of the four clans, and gray for the Scottish people. In selecting the color scheme, Pixar took historical considerations, stating that "[t]here was a concerted effort to use hues that were indicative of the less saturated dyeing techniques [used] during the ancient period in which the fantasy film is set."


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: The registration was celebrated at the film's British premiere in Edinburgh, where Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond presented a certificate to director Mark Andrews. However, Member of the Scottish Parliament Alex Johnstone criticized the registration (as well as other fiction-based entries such as one for Peter Rabbit) as "shallow and irreverent." Mr. Johnstone contended that the 2008 legislation that created The Scottish Register of Tartans was intended to prevent such entries and protect Scotland's heritage.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: The registration was not the first for Disney; the company also registered a tartan pattern for the Clan McDuck in 1942.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: The film was initially set for release on June 15, 2012, but the date was later changed to June 22, 2012. On April 3, 2012, Pixar screened the film's first 30 minutes, which received a positive reaction. The film premiered on the last day of the Seattle International Film Festival on June 10, 2012. It had its Australian premiere on June 11, 2012, at the Sydney Film Festival, its domestic premiere on June 18, 2012, at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival, its European premiere at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily on June 23, 2012, and its British premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 30, 2012, with Kelly Macdonald, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson, Brian Cox, Kevin McKidd, Ewen Bremner, Kate Dickie, Julie Fowlis, Patrick Doyle, Daniela Nardini and Alex Salmond in attendance.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Brave" is the first feature-length film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. Almost half of the 14 theaters set up to show the film in Atmos are in California (Burbank, Century City, Fremont, Hollywood, San Francisco, and Sherman Oaks), with the others located in seven other states (Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Paramus, New Jersey; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago; West Plano, Texas; Vancouver, Washington) and Toronto, Ontario. It was released in other theaters with Dolby Surround 7.1. In total, it was released in 4,164 theaters, a record-high for Pixar. The previous record was held by "Cars 2" (4,115 theaters). 2,790 of the theaters included 3D shows.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: "Brave" was released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and digital download on November 13, 2012. It includes "La Luna" and a new short film, "The Legend of Mor'du", which explores the history of Mor'du, from The Witch's perspective. The DVD contains audio commentary by director Mark Andrews, co-director/screenwriter Steve Purcell, story supervisor Brian Larsen, and editor Nick Smith. In 2019, "Brave" was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: "Brave" earned $237.3 million in North America, and $303.2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $540.4 million. It was the 13th highest-grossing film of 2012, the eighth highest-grossing Pixar film, and the third highest-grossing animated film that year behind "" ($875.3 million) and "" ($746.9 million).


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: In North America, pre-release tracking suggested the film would open between $55 million to $65 million in North America, which is slightly below average for a Pixar film, as trackers initially suggested that as a "princess story", the film might not appeal as much to male audiences.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: It opened on June 22, 2012, with $24.6 million and finished its opening weekend with $66.3 million (the same amount as "Cars 2", Pixar's previous film), at the upper end of the numbers analysts predicted. This was the seventh largest opening weekend in June, and the sixth largest for a Pixar film. Despite pre-release tracking indications, the audience was estimated to be 43% male and 57% female. In North America, it is the ninth highest-grossing Pixar film, the highest-grossing 2012 animated film, and the eighth highest-grossing film of 2012.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Outside North America, the film earned $14 million from 10 markets on its opening weekend, finishing in third place behind "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" and "Snow White and the Huntsman". Overall, its largest openings occurred in France and the Maghreb region ($6.5 million), Mexico ($5.53 million), and Russia and the CIS ($5.37 million). In total earnings, its highest-grossing countries were the U.K., Ireland and Malta ($34.9 million), France and the Maghreb region ($26.8 million), and Mexico ($21.6 million).


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, "Brave" has an approval rating of based on reviews from critics, and an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads: ""Brave" offers young audiences and fairy tale fans a rousing, funny fantasy adventure with a distaff twist and surprising depth." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore during the film's opening weekend gave it an average grade of "A" on a scale from A+ to F.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times", in his final review on an animated film before his death, gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He wrote, "The good news is that the kids will probably love it, and the bad news is that parents will be disappointed if they're hoping for another Pixar groundbreaker. Unlike such brightly original films as "Toy Story", "Finding Nemo", "WALL-E", and "Up", this one finds Pixar poaching on traditional territory of Disney." He said that the film did have an uplifting message about improving communication between mothers and daughters, "although transforming your mother into a bear is a rather extreme first step". Peter Debruge of "Variety" gave a positive review of the film, writing that the film "offers a tougher, more self-reliant heroine for an era in which princes aren't so charming, set in a sumptuously detailed Scottish environment, where her spirit blazes bright as her fiery red hair". Debruge said that "adding a female director, Brenda Chapman, to its creative boys' club, the studio Pixar has fashioned a resonant tribute to mother-daughter relationships that packs a level of poignancy on par with such beloved male-bonding classics as "Finding Nemo"".


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Conversely, Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" gave it a negative review, stating that the film "diminishes into a rather wee thing as it chugs along, with climactic drama that is both too conveniently wrapped up and hinges on magical elements that are somewhat confusing to boot". Leonard Maltin on "IndieWire" said, "I'll give it points for originality, but that story twist is so bizarre that it knocked me for a loop. The movie tries to make up for this detour with a heart-tugging, emotional finale, but the buildup to that moment has been undermined, so it doesn't have the impact it should."


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: Some reviewers saw the Merida character as a novel break from the traditional line of Disney princesses. There were some dissonance and criticism among viewers and organized feminists when her character was scheduled to be "crowned" a Disney princess, only for artists to render her thinner, with less frizzy hair, and rounder eyes, more like the other princesses from previous Disney movies. This inspired girl-empowerment website A Mighty Girl to file a petition that Disney not alter their character. One of the 262,196 signatories was Brenda Chapman, the director of the film, who felt that Disney had "betrayed the essence of what we were trying to do with Merida — give young girls and women a better, stronger role model", and that the makeover was "a blatantly sexist marketing move based on money". The online petition was considered a success, as shortly after it appeared Disney removed the redesigned image from their official website, in favor of Merida's original film appearance. Disney later clarified the situation, assuring that Merida would remain in her original form.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: A video game based on the film was published by Disney Interactive Studios on June 19, 2012, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and Nintendo DS. A mobile video game, "" (a "Brave" variation of "Temple Run"), was released on June 14, 2012, for iOS and Android, and on June 7, 2013, for Windows Phone.


title: Brave (2012 film)

text: In 2013, Scottish publication "The Scotsman" asked director Mark Andrews about the possibility of a sequel. Andrews said:


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress, who works in Hindi films. A member of the Kapoor family, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor made her acting debut with the film "Prem Qaidi" in 1991 and subsequently played the leading lady in a number of box office hits, including "Jigar" (1992), "Anari" (1993), "Raja Babu" (1994), "Coolie No. 1" (1995), "Saajan Chale Sasural" (1996), and "Jeet" (1996). Starring roles in the top-grossing romances "Raja Hindustani" (1996) and "Dil To Pagal Hai" (1997), established her as a star. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the former, and the National Film Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor cemented her status by starring in five of David Dhawan's comedies—"Judwaa" (1997), "Hero No.1" (1997), "Biwi No.1" (1999), "Haseena Maan Jaayegi" (1999) and "Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge" (2000), and the family drama "Hum Saath-Saath Hain" (1999). In the early 2000s, Kapoor won the Best Actress and Best Actress (Critics) awards at Filmfare for her titular roles in the dramas "Fiza" (2000) and "Zubeidaa" (2001). She took a sabbatical from acting after leading the television soap opera "Karishma: The Miracles of Destiny" (2003–2004), and has since acted sporadically, starring in the thriller "Dangerous Ishhq" (2012) and the web series "Mentalhood" (2020).


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor was married to businessman Sanjay Kapur from 2003 to 2016; the couple have two children together. She has featured as a talent judge for several reality shows.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor was born on 25 June 1974 in Mumbai, to actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita ("née" Shivdasani). Her younger sister, Kareena, is also a film actress. Her paternal grandfather was the actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor, while her maternal grandfather was actor Hari Shivdasani. Her paternal great-grandfather was actor Prithviraj Kapoor. The actors Rishi and Rajiv Kapoor are her uncles, while the actress Neetu Singh and entrepreneur Ritu Nanda are her aunts. Her first cousins includes the actors Ranbir Kapoor, Armaan Jain and Aadar Jain, and Nikhil Nanda. The actors Shammi and Shashi are her grand-uncles, and the late actress Sadhana was her mother's first cousin. Kapoor is informally called as "Lolo" at her home. According to Kapoor, the name, Lolo, was derived after her mother made a passing reference to the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida. Both of her paternal and maternal grandparents were from Peshawar, Lyallpur and Karachi respectively, who moved to Bombay for their film careers before the partition of India. Kapoor is of Punjabi Hindu descent on her father's side, and on her mother's side she is of Sindhi Hindu and British descent.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Particularly inspired by the work of actresses Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, Kapoor was keen on pursuing acting since childhood. While growing up, Kapoor regularly attended award ceremonies and accompanied by her parents to film sets. However, despite her family background, her father disapproved of women working in films, because he believed it conflicted with the traditional maternal duties and responsibility of women in the family. This led to a conflict between her parents and they separated in 1988. She and her sister Kareena were raised by their mother, who worked several jobs to raise them, until she made her debut in films as an actress. The couple reconciled in 2007, after living separately for several years. Kapoor studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School and later, for a few months at Sophia College. Kapoor later said that she left college to pursue acting for financial support.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor made her acting debut in 1991 at the age of 16 with the romantic drama "Prem Qaidi", opposite debutant Harish Kumar. Upon release, the film emerged as a moderate box office success and received mixed reviews from critics, as did Kapoor's performance, with Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" describing it as "mechanical". The following year, Kapoor's first five releases—"Police Officer", "Jaagruti", "Nishchaiy", "Sapne Sajan Ke" and "Deedar"—flopped at the box office. "Jaagruti" and "Nishchaiy" marked her first two collaborations with Salman Khan, while "Deedar" marked her first collaboration with Akshay Kumar. She next starred in the action drama "Jigar" (1992), followed by the romantic drama "Anari" (1993), both of which emerged as box office hits and among the highest-grossing films of their respective years. "Jigar" marked Kapoor's first of several collaborations with Ajay Devgn, while "Anari" featured her in the leading role of Rajnandini, a princess who falls in love with her poor servant (played by Daggubati Venkatesh).


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor's next four releases of 1993 were the dramas "Muqabla" (which marked first of her many collaborations with Govinda), "Sangraam", "Shaktiman" and "Dhanwaan". With the exception of "Muqabla", none of these films performed well either critically or commercially. In 1994, Kapoor had nine film releases; four of them — "Prem Shakti", "Dulaara", "Andaz" and ""—were critical and commercial failures. Her first hit that year was David Dhawan's comedy film "Raja Babu", opposite Govinda, in which she played Madhubala, an educated arrogant girl who calls off her engagement upon discovering her fiancée's illiteracy. Kapoor next played the blind wife of Govinda's character in the hit action drama "Khuddar", following which she starred with Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Raveena Tandon in Rajkumar Santoshi's acclaimed comedy film "Andaz Apna Apna". Kapoor played Raveena Bajaj, the daughter of a London-based business tycoon, who travels to India in search of true love, and falls for Salman Khan's character. Although the film underperformed at the box office, it developed a significant cult following over the years since its release.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor's final two releases of the year were the action drama "Suhaag" (alongside Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar and Nagma) and the comedy-drama "Gopi Kishan" (alongside Suniel Shetty and Shilpa Shirodkar), both of which were critically and commercially successful. In the former, she starred as a college student and Devgn's love interest, while in the latter, she played a police commissioner's daughter who falls in love with a criminal. In 1995, after appearing in the box office flops "Jawab" and "Maidan-E-Jung", Kapoor starred as Malti, a rich girl who marries a poor coolie (played by Govinda) in David Dhawan's blockbuster comedy film "Coolie No. 1". The film garnered positive reviews and emerged as a commercial success, grossing in India. On her initial career struggle, she later said:


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: When I first entered the industry, things were made tough for me. I am not saying that I was singled out. I think every star kid has to go through this. Everyone was so unfair to me. Other newcomers were praised for every little achievement, but I was not given an iota of acknowledgement. When it came to me, it was always, 'Okay, she has done well, but what's the big deal about her?'. Nobody gave a 17-year-old credit for doing my job reasonably well.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 1996, Kapoor appeared in 10 films. Five of them—"Papi Gudia", "Megha", "Bal Bramhachari", "Sapoot" and "Rakshak"—were commercially unsuccessful. Her next release was David Dhawan's romantic comedy "Saajan Chale Sasural", co-starring Govinda and Tabu. "Saajan Chale Sasural" emerged as a commercial success. For her fifth release, Kapoor was paired opposite Suneil Shetty in S. Deepak's box office hit "Krishna". She starred alongside Sunny Deol, Salman Khan and Tabu in Raj Kanwar's romantic drama "Jeet". She played Kajal, a woman who falls in love with a criminal, but ends up marrying another man. Finishing up as the second highest-grossing film of the year, "Jeet" emerged as a "super-hit" at the box office. Critical reaction was positive on both the film as well as Kapoor's performance. That same year, Kapoor played the female lead in Dharmesh Darshan's romantic drama "Raja Hindustani" opposite Aamir Khan. The film emerged as the highest-grossing film of the year and she won her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film; the film's success established Kapoor as a leading actress of Hindi cinema, and marked a significant turning point in her career. "Raja Hindustani" was not only the biggest commercial success of 1996, but also one of the most successful films of all time in India with worldwide revenues of . Kapoor's final release of 1996 was Suneel Darshan's action film "Ajay", with Sunny Deol. The film was also a financial success.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 1997, Kapoor re-united with David Dhawan for two projects, the comedy film "Judwaa" (alongside Salman Khan and Rambha), and the romantic comedy "Hero No. 1" (opposite Govinda). The former's concept was similar to "Gopi Kishan"; it tells the story of twin brothers who are separated at birth and re-unite in their youth. Kapoor and Rambha played the love interests of Khan's characters. It was a moderate critical and commercial success. In "Hero No. 1", she played Meena Nath, a girl who falls in love with Govinda's character while on a foreign trip, however, she finds it hard to convince her strict grandfather (Paresh Rawal) of this relationship. A major critical and commercial success, the film earned Kapoor praise for her portrayal. She eventually received a nomination for Zee Cine Award for Best Actress for her work in the film. She next starred in the Mehul Kumar-directed dramas "Lahu Ke Do Rang" and "Mrityudata", both of which were critical and commercial failures. Kapoor's fifth and final release of 1997 was Yash Chopra's musical romantic drama "Dil To Pagal Hai". Co-starring Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Akshay Kumar, the film depicts the love lives of the cast and crew in a musical dance troupe. Kapoor played Nisha, a bubbly dancer who secretly falls in love with her best friend (played by Khan), however, she unites her with the girl he loves (played by Dixit). Initially hesitant to take on the part, Kapoor was cast by Chopra (after he was impressed by her work in "Raja Hindustani") after several leading actresses of the time had put down the role. "Dil To Pagal Hai" emerged as a blockbuster at the box office and proved to be the highest-grossing film of the year. Kapoor eventually won the National Film Award and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Her diminutive comeback in 1999 proved to be good as she took part in the year's most successful films. Kapoor starred in four hits. She next re-united with Dhawan and Salman Khan (alongside Sushmita Sen) for the romantic comedy "Biwi No.1", in which she portrayed Pooja, a woman whose husband gets involved in an extra-marital affair with a model. The film, which emerged as a major commercial success, earned Kapoor critical praise for her performance. Mohammad Ali Ikram of "Planet Bollywood" commented: "Kapoor may not look like a mother of two offsprings, but she continues to mature as an actress with each successive film." Kapoor received a second Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for her work in the film. She proved to be successful with comedy films, as another of David Dhawan's films "Haseena Maan Jaayegi", did fairly well at the box office. Kapoor collaborated for the first time with the Rajshri Productions for the family drama "". The film featured an ensemble cast (Mohnish Behl, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu and Sonali Bendre), proving to be one of the biggest Bollywood successes of all time in the market, earning worldwide. Her last release of the year, "Jaanwar", opposite Akshay Kumar, was another box office hit, making her the most successful actress of the year.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor's first release of 2000 was Dhawan's romantic comedy "Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge", opposite Salman Khan. She played Sapna, a girl who falls for Khan's character while on a foreign trip, however, she finds it tough to convince her three uncles of this relationship. The film finished up as one of the biggest hits of the year. Aparajita Saha of "Rediff" commented: "Karisma Kapoor and Salman Khan elicit more than their fair share of cat-calls in the movie and make a delectable pair. Both are in form – Karisma looks glamorous and at ease while Salman has perfected the lost-boy-muscle-man get-up". Kapoor's next two releases, the romantic comedies "Chal Mere Bhai" (opposite Khan and Dutt) and "Hum To Mohabbat Karega" (opposite Bobby Deol) failed to do well at the box office.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: That same year, Kapoor won her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress for portraying the title role of a girl in search of her brother, in Khalid Mohammed's crime drama "Fiza", a film which received critical acclaim. Her performance in the film was highly acclaimed and several critics noted her for showing great emotional range and depth. Mimmy Jain of "The Indian Express", in a positive review, wrote: "As the young girl who is sick of the suspense and disruption that her brother's disappearance has caused in her family's life, as the obstinate daughter who will not listen to her mother's plea to let her keep hoping for her son, as the determined sister who keeps on in her hunt for her brother despite all odds and then seeks to keep him on the right path, this is a new Karisma, and one that delivers a superbly flawless performance." The film emerged as a "semi-hit" at the box office with a worldwide gross of .


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 2001, she achieved further critical acclaim for her portrayal of a real life actress in the biographical drama "Zubeidaa". Directed by Shyam Benegal, the film was based on the life of ill-fated actress Zubeida Begum, who married a Sikh, Hanwant Singh. "The Tribune" complimented her by arguing that she "has surpassed herself as the passionate, defiant, willful and troubled Zubeidaa, the truly modern woman." In an interview with "Rediff" she explained: "I have been here so long, I have done everything. lead roles, supporting roles, everything. How do I grow as a performer? If I keep doing commercial cinema, I will stagnate and I wanted to grow". For her work, she was awarded the Best Actress (Critics) and also garnered a Best Actress nomination at the ceremony. Co-starring Rekha and Manoj Bajpai, the film had worldwide earnings of over . She next starred alongside Bobby Deol and Rahul Dev in Indra Kumar's "Aashiq"; the movie received little praise from critics, though it proved to be a modest success, grossing over domestically. Suneel Darshan's social drama "" was Kapoor's next release. Co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar, the film became one of the biggest hits of the year.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 2002, Kapoor had three film releases, the first of which was the romantic drama "Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya", opposite Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan. She next starred alongside Nana Patekar in the woman-centric drama "", playing the role of Nandini, a woman who wants to fly away from her in-laws (involved in feudal gang wars) along with her son, after her husband's death. The film, a remake of the Telugu film "Antahpuram" (1998), was itself based on the life of author Betty Mahmoody. "Shakti: The Power" was critically acclaimed and also earned Kapoor highly positive reviews for her portrayal; Taran Adarsh reviewed: "The power clearly belongs to Kapoor. Breathing fire and venom to win back her son from the clutches of a despot, the actress gives it all to the character of a helpless mother and proves what a virtuoso performer she is. Playing the part of a wounded tigress, this is one performance that overshadows all the performances the year has seen so far". Kapoor's work in the film earned her Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies, including a fifth nomination at Filmfare. Her final release that year was Indra Kumar's romantic drama "Rishtey", alongside Anil Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty. She featured as Komal, a wealthy woman who falls in love with a poorer man and marries him against her father's wishes. Despite much anticipation, Kapoor's all three releases that year underperformed at the box office.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 2003, she starred in "", which was her only release that year. However, the film performed poorly at the box-office. Later in the same year, she made her television debut in the Sahara One soap opera "Karishma – The Miracles of Destiny", in which she played a dual role of a grandmother and granddaughter. The serial ended after 260 episodes in 2004 and she took a sabbatical from full-time acting for several years.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 2006, Kapoor was seen in "Mere Jeevan Saathi"; the film had been shot and completed in 2003, but was delayed for three years. In 2008, alongside actor Arjun Rampal and director–choreographer Farah Khan, Kapoor began judging season four of the dance show "Nach Baliye", and continued the following year with the comedy show "Hans Baliye". In addition, she had a cameo in the song "Deewangi Deewangi" from the 2007 melodrama "Om Shanti Om", and in 2008, was as a guest on the reality television show "Wife Bina Life" (2010).


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor made her comeback as an actress with a leading role in Vikram Bhatt's supernatural thriller "Dangerous Ishhq". Co-starring Rajneesh Duggal, the film spans a period of four centuries and tells four different love stories set in different time periods. Kapoor played four characters, one from each century. A major critical and box office failure, the film generated positive reviews for Kapoor's portrayal. Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" commented: "Kapoor puts forth her best efforts, getting to deliver lines in varied dialects. She gets the dialects right, especially Urdu and Rajasthani, but there's not much scope for her to display her acting prowess". In 2013, Kapoor made a special appearance along with several other actors in the titular song of the anthology film "Bombay Talkies", which was made to honour the Hindi film industry for completing a centenary. In 2019, Kapoor made a special appearance in the Aanand L. Rai-directed romantic comedy "Zero". As of March 2020, Kapoor has finished working on the web-series "Mentalhood" for ALTBalaji.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor was in a relationship with her "Jigar" co-star Ajay Devgn from 1992 till they broke up in 1995. She got engaged to Abhishek Bachchan in 2002, but the engagement was called off after a few months. This ended their relationship of a few years and no reason was given for the break-up.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: On 29 September 2003, she married industrialist Sunjay Kapur, the CEO of Sixt India, in a high-profile Sikh wedding ceremony at her ancestral home, Krishna Raj Bungalow, in Mumbai. The couple has a daughter Samaira, born in 2005 and a son Kiaan born in 2010. In 2014, the couple filed for divorce through mutual consent. In November 2015, the couple had filed applications to withdraw their consent to it. The couple's divorce was finalised in 2016.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor supports her close friend Salman Khan's charitable trust Being Human Foundation. In 2005, along with other Bollywood stars, Kapoor performed at the "HELP! Telethon Concert", raising money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In 2010, Kapoor, along with Salman Khan and several other Bollywood actresses walked at the HDIL India Couture Week, for a charity cause. Kapoor was a goodwill ambassador for Pinkathon 2012 for breast cancer awareness. In 2013, Kapoor participated in a campaign with Priyanka Chopra to highlight the rights of girls in India.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor has also been a celebrity endorser for many brands, including Kellogg's, Crescent Lawn, Admix Retail, Danone and Garnier Colour. She walked the runway for such designers as Manish Malhotra, Arpita Mehta, and Vikram Phadnis. Kapoor has been part of several stage shows and world tours since the '90s. The Heartthrobs: Live in Concert was performed across the United States and Canada alongside Arjun Rampal, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Aftab Shivdasani. In 2016, Kapoor participated in the Hiru Golden Film Awards in Sri Lanka as a special guest along with several other Bollywood actors, including Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Sridevi, and Madhuri Dixit.


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor has been described as "possessing exuberance and energy". Her beauty and performances have made her a style icon. Kapoor appeared on Box Office India's list of three "Top Actresses" for five consecutive years and ranked first for three years (199679, 1999). Kapoor has featured on "Forbes India"s "Celebrity 100", a list based on the income and popularity of India's celebrities, peaking at the seventy-sixth position in 2012, with an estimated annual earning of . As of 2016, her eight films have grossed with making more than .


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: Kapoor is the recipient of a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for "Dil To Pagal Hai" (1997), and four Filmfare Awards: Best Actress for "Raja Hindustani" (1996) and "Fiza" (2000), Best Supporting Actress for "Dil To Pagal Hai" (1997), and Best Actress (Critics) for "Zubeidaa" (2001).


title: Karisma Kapoor

text: In 1996, Kapoor earned her first Best Actress for "Raja Hindustani", her biggest commercial success, and later received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the musical romantic drama "Dil To Pagal Hai" (1997). She went on to play the leading role in the critically acclaimed projects, "Fiza" (2000) and "Zubeidaa" (2001), for which she earned the Best Actress and Best Actress (Critics) trophies at the Filmfare Awards. Having done so, Kapoor has established herself as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema.


title: Karma

text: Karma (; , ; ) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called the principle of karma, wherein intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect): Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and happier rebirths, while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and bad rebirths. As per some scripture, there is no link of rebirths with karma.


title: Karma

text: The concept of karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Indian religions (particularly Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism), as well as Taoism. In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life, as well as the nature and quality of future lives—one's "saṃsāra". This concept has also been adopted in Western popular culture, in which the events which happen after a person's actions may be considered natural consequences.


title: Karma

text: The term "karma" (; ) refers to both the executed 'deed, work, action, act' and the 'object, intent'.


title: Karma

text: Wilhelm Halbfass (2000) explains karma ("karman") by contrasting it with the Sanskrit word "kriya": whereas "kriya" is the activity along with the steps and effort in action, "karma" is (1) the executed action as a consequence of that activity, as well as (2) the intention of the actor behind an executed action or a planned action (described by some scholars as metaphysical residue left in the actor). A good action creates good karma, as does good intent. A bad action creates bad karma, as does bad intent.


title: Karma

text: Difficulty in arriving at a definition of karma arises because of the diversity of views among the schools of Hinduism; some, for example, consider karma and rebirth linked and simultaneously essential, some consider karma but not rebirth to be essential, and a few discuss and conclude karma and rebirth to be flawed fiction. Buddhism and Jainism have their own karma precepts. Thus, karma has not one, but multiple definitions and different meanings. It is a concept whose meaning, importance, and scope varies between the various traditions that originated in India, and various schools in each of these traditions. Wendy O'Flaherty claims that, furthermore, there is an ongoing debate regarding whether karma is a theory, a model, a paradigm, a metaphor, or a metaphysical stance.


title: Karma

text: "Karma" also refers to a conceptual principle that originated in India, often descriptively called the "principle of karma", and sometimes the "karma-theory" or the "law of karma".


title: Karma

text: In the context of theory, "karma" is complex and difficult to define. Different schools of Indology derive different definitions for the concept from ancient Indian texts; their definition is some combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, i.e., good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth. Other Indologists include in the definition that which explains the present circumstances of an individual with reference to his or her actions in the past. These actions may be those in a person's current life, or, in some schools of Indian traditions, possibly actions in their past lives; furthermore, the consequences may result in the current life, or a person's future lives. The law of karma operates independent of any deity or any process of divine judgment.


title: Karma

text: A common theme to theories of karma is its principle of causality. This relationship between karma and causality is a central motif in all schools of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain thought. One of the earliest association of karma to causality occurs in the "Brihadaranyaka Upanishad" of Hinduism. For example, at 4.4.5–6, it states:


title: Karma

text: The theory of karma as causation holds that: (1) executed actions of an individual affects the individual and the life he or she lives, and (2) the intentions of an individual affects the individual and the life he or she lives. Disinterested actions, or unintentional actions do not have the same positive or negative karmic effect, as interested and intentional actions. In Buddhism, for example, actions that are performed, or arise, or originate without any bad intent, such as covetousness, are considered non-existent in karmic impact or neutral in influence to the individual.


title: Karma

text: Another causality characteristic, shared by karmic theories, is that "like deeds" lead to "like effects". Thus, good karma produces good effect on the actor, while bad karma produces bad effect. This effect may be material, moral, or emotional – that is, one's karma affects both one's happiness and unhappiness. The effect of karma need not be immediate; the effect of karma can be later in one's current life, and in some schools it extends to future lives.


title: Karma

text: The consequence or effects of one's karma can be described in two forms: "phala" and "samskara". A "phala" () is the visible or invisible effect that is typically immediate or within the current life. In contrast, a "samskara" () is an invisible effect, produced inside the actor because of the karma, transforming the agent and affecting his or her ability to be happy or unhappy in their current and future lives. The theory of karma is often presented in the context of "samskaras".


title: Karma

text: Karl Potter (1964) and Harold Coward (1983) suggest that karmic principle can also be understood as a principle of psychology and habit. Karma seeds habits ("vāsanā"), and habits create the nature of man. Karma also seeds self perception, and perception influences how one experiences life-events. Both habits and self perception affect the course of one's life. Breaking bad habits is not easy: it requires conscious karmic effort. Thus, psyche and habit, according to Potter and Coward, link karma to causality in ancient Indian literature. The idea of karma may be compared to the notion of a person's 'character', as both are an assessment of the person and determined by that person's habitual thinking and acting.


title: Karma

text: The second theme common to karma theories is ethicization. This begins with the premise that every action has a consequence, which will come to fruition in either this life or a future life; thus, morally good acts will have positive consequences, whereas bad acts will produce negative results. An individual's present situation is thereby explained by reference to actions in his present or in previous lifetimes. Karma is not itself 'reward and punishment', but the law that produces consequence. Wilhelm Halbfass (1998) notes that good karma is considered as "dharma" and leads to "punya" ('merit'), while bad karma is considered "adharma" and leads to "pāp" ('demerit, sin').


title: Karma

text: Reichenbach (1988) suggests that the theories of karma are an ethical theory. This is so because the ancient scholars of India linked intent and actual action to the merit, reward, demerit, and punishment. A theory without ethical premise would be a pure causal relation; the merit or reward or demerit or punishment would be same regardless of the actor's intention. In ethics, one's intentions, attitudes and desires matter in the evaluation of one's action. Where the outcome is unintended, the moral responsibility for it is less on the actor, even though causal responsibility may be the same regardless. A karma theory considers not only the action, but also the actor's intentions, attitude, and desires before and during the action. The karma concept thus encourages each person to seek and live a moral life, as well as avoid an immoral life. The meaning and significance of karma is thus as a building-block of an ethical theory.


title: Karma

text: The third common theme of karma theories is the concept of reincarnation or the cycle of rebirths ("saṃsāra"). Rebirth is a fundamental concept of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Rebirth, or "saṃsāra", is the concept that all life forms go through a cycle of reincarnation, that is, a series of births and rebirths. The rebirths and consequent life may be in different realm, condition, or form. The karma theories suggest that the realm, condition, and form depends on the quality and quantity of karma. In schools that believe in rebirth, every living being's soul transmigrates (recycles) after death, carrying the seeds of Karmic impulses from life just completed, into another life and lifetime of karmas. This cycle continues indefinitely, except for those who consciously break this cycle by reaching "moksha". Those who break the cycle reach the realm of gods, those who don't continue in the cycle.


title: Karma

text: The concept has been intensely debated in ancient literature of India; with different schools of Indian religions considering the relevance of rebirth as either essential, or secondary, or unnecessary fiction. Hiriyanna (1949) suggests rebirth to be a necessary corollary of karma; Yamunacharya (1966) asserts that karma is a fact, while reincarnation is a hypothesis; and Creel (1986) suggests that karma is a basic concept, rebirth is a derivative concept.


title: Karma

text: The theory of 'karma and rebirth' raises numerous questions – such as how, when, and why did the cycle start in the first place, what is the relative Karmic merit of one karma versus another and why, and what evidence is there that rebirth actually happens, among others. Various schools of Hinduism realized these difficulties, debated their own formulations – some reaching what they considered as internally consistent theories – while other schools modified and de-emphasized it; a few schools in Hinduism such as Charvakas (or Lokayata) abandoned the theory of 'karma and rebirth' altogether. Schools of Buddhism consider karma-rebirth cycle as integral to their theories of soteriology.


title: Karma

text: The Vedic Sanskrit word (nominative ') means 'work' or 'deed', often used in the context of Srauta rituals. In the "Rigveda", the word occurs some 40 times. In "Satapatha Brahmana" 1.7.1.5, "sacrifice" is declared as the "greatest" of works; "Satapatha Brahmana" 10.1.4.1 associates the potential of becoming immortal ("amara") with the karma of the "agnicayana" sacrifice.


title: Karma

text: The earliest clear discussion of the karma doctrine is in the "Upanishads". For example, causality and ethicization is stated in "Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad" 3.2.13:Truly, one becomes good through good "deeds", and evil through evil "deeds".Some authors state that the "samsara" (transmigration) and karma doctrine may be non-Vedic, and the ideas may have developed in the "shramana" traditions that preceded Buddhism and Jainism. Others state that some of the complex ideas of the ancient emerging theory of karma flowed from Vedic thinkers to Buddhist and Jain thinkers. The mutual influences between the traditions is unclear, and likely co-developed.


title: Karma

text: Many philosophical debates surrounding the concept are shared by the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions, and the early developments in each tradition incorporated different novel ideas. For example, Buddhists allowed karma transfer from one person to another and sraddha rites, but had difficulty defending the rationale. In contrast, Hindu schools and Jainism would not allow the possibility of karma transfer.


title: Karma

text: The concept of karma in Hinduism developed and evolved over centuries. The earliest "Upanishads" began with the questions about how and why man is born, and what happens after death. As answers to the latter, the early theories in these ancient Sanskrit documents include "pancagni vidya" (the five fire doctrine), "pitryana" (the cyclic path of fathers) and "devayana" (the cycle-transcending, path of the gods). Those who do superficial rituals and seek material gain, claimed these ancient scholars, travel the way of their fathers and recycle back into another life; those who renounce these, go into the forest and pursue spiritual knowledge, were claimed to climb into the higher path of the gods. It is these who break the cycle and are not reborn. With the composition of the Epics – the common man's introduction to dharma in Hinduism – the ideas of causality and essential elements of the theory of karma were being recited in folk stories. For example:


title: Karma

text: The 6th chapter of the "Anushasana Parva" (the Teaching Book), the 13th book of the "Mahabharata", opens with Yudhishthira asking Bhishma: "Is the course of a person's life already destined, or can human effort shape one's life?" The future, replies Bhishma, is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances. Over and over again, the chapters of Mahabharata recite the key postulates of karma theory. That is: intent and action (karma) has consequences; karma lingers and doesn't disappear; and, all positive or negative experiences in life require effort and intent. For example:


title: Karma

text: Over time, various schools of Hinduism developed many different definitions of karma, some making karma appear quite deterministic, while others make room for free will and moral agency. Among the six most studied schools of Hinduism, the theory of karma evolved in different ways, as their respective scholars reasoned and attempted to address the internal inconsistencies, implications and issues of the karma doctrine. According to Professor Wilhelm Halbfass,


title: Karma

text: The above schools illustrate the diversity of views, but are not exhaustive. Each school has sub-schools in Hinduism, such as that of non-dualism and dualism under Vedanta. Furthermore, there are other schools of Indian philosophy such as Charvaka (or Lokayata; the materialists) who denied the theory of karma-rebirth as well as the existence of God; to this non-Vedic school, the properties of things come from the nature of things. Causality emerges from the interaction, actions and nature of things and people, determinative principles such as karma or God are unnecessary.


title: Karma

text: Karma and "karmaphala" are fundamental concepts in Buddhism, which explain how our intentional actions keep us tied to rebirth in "samsara", whereas the Buddhist path, as exemplified in the Noble Eightfold Path, shows us the way out of "samsara".


title: Karma

text: The cycle of rebirth is determined by karma, literally 'action'. "Karmaphala" (wherein "phala" means 'fruit, result') refers to the 'effect' or 'result' of karma. The similar term "karmavipaka" (wherein "vipāka" means 'ripening') refers to the 'maturation, ripening' of karma.


title: Karma

text: In the Buddhist tradition, "karma" refers to actions driven by intention ("cetanā"), a deed done deliberately through body, speech or mind, which leads to future consequences. The "Nibbedhika Sutta", Anguttara Nikaya 6.63:


title: Karma

text: How these intentional actions lead to rebirth, and how the idea of rebirth is to be reconciled with the doctrines of impermanence and no-self, is a matter of philosophical inquiry in the Buddhist traditions, for which several solutions have been proposed. In early Buddhism no explicit theory of rebirth and karma is worked out, and "the karma doctrine may have been incidental to early Buddhist soteriology." In early Buddhism, rebirth is ascribed to craving or ignorance.


title: Karma

text: The Buddha's teaching of karma is not strictly deterministic, but incorporated circumstantial factors, unlike that of the Jains. It is not a rigid and mechanical process, but a flexible, fluid and dynamic process. There is no set linear relationship between a particular action and its results. The karmic effect of a deed is not determined solely by the deed itself, but also by the nature of the person who commits the deed, and by the circumstances in which it is committed. "Karmaphala" is not a "judgement" enforced by a God, Deity or other supernatural being that controls the affairs of the Cosmos. Rather, "karmaphala" is the outcome of a natural process of cause and effect.


title: Karma

text: Within Buddhism, the real importance of the doctrine of karma and its fruits lies in the recognition of the urgency to put a stop to the whole process. The "Acintita Sutta" warns that "the results of kamma" is one of the four incomprehensible subjects (or "acinteyya"), subjects that are beyond all conceptualization and cannot be understood with logical thought or reason.


title: Karma

text: Nichiren Buddhism teaches that transformation and change through faith and practice changes adverse karma—negative causes made in the past that result in negative results in the present and future—to positive causes for benefits in the future.