ASICS
Encyclopedia
ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football
, running
, netball
, tennis
, badminton
, squash
, martial arts
, cricket
, golf
, wrestling
, track & field, cross-training, volleyball
, cheerleading
, lacrosse
, and for many other sport disciplines. In recent years their running shoes have often been ranked among the top performance footwear in the market. ASICS bought the outdoor
brand Haglöfs
on July 12, 2010 for SEK
1,000,000,000 ($128.7 million).
, Hyogo Prefecture
, Japan
. Soon after the range of sports activities widened to a variety of Olympic styles used throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s by athletes worldwide. Onitsuka became particularly renowned for the Mexico 66 design, in which the distinctive crossed stripes, now synonymous with the company brand, were featured for the first time. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of ASICS shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.
The name of the company, "ASICS", is an acronym of the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano, which translates to "Healthy Soul in a Healthy Body", which derives from the aphorism mens sana in corpore sano
or Thales
' saying Νοῦς ὑγιὴς ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ.. Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym, and its translation has been truncated for advertising purposes to "Sound Mind, Sound Body".
In its 2006 fiscal year, ASICS generated 171 billion yen in net sales and 13 billion yen in net income. Sixty-six percent of the company's income comes from the sale of sports shoes, 24 percent from sportswear, and 10 percent from sports equipment. Forty-nine percent of the company's sales are in Japan, 28 percent in North America, and 19 percent in Europe.
On 4th October 2011 it was announced that ASICS will be the new official kit manufacturer for the Australian Cricket Team
replacing the German manufacturer Adidas
.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, running
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
, track & field, cross-training, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, and for many other sport disciplines. In recent years their running shoes have often been ranked among the top performance footwear in the market. ASICS bought the outdoor
Hiking equipment
Hiking equipment is gear or equipment that one takes along on an outdoors hiking trip. While hiking is considered different from backpacking , the equipment is of necessity of a shorter term more practical nature for such a walk...
brand Haglöfs
Haglöfs
Haglöfs was founded in 1918 by Victor Haglöf and is today the largest supplier of outdoor equipment in Scandinavia. Haglöfs currently markets more than 500 products in three product areas: Hardware, Clothing and Footwear. The range is characterized by functional design, highly technical materials,...
on July 12, 2010 for SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
1,000,000,000 ($128.7 million).
History
ASICS Ltd. began as Panmure Co., Ltd on September 1, 1949. Its founder, Kihachiro Onitsuka, began manufacturing basketball shoes in his home town of KobeKobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Hyogo Prefecture
Hyogo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Soon after the range of sports activities widened to a variety of Olympic styles used throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s by athletes worldwide. Onitsuka became particularly renowned for the Mexico 66 design, in which the distinctive crossed stripes, now synonymous with the company brand, were featured for the first time. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of ASICS shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.
The name of the company, "ASICS", is an acronym of the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano, which translates to "Healthy Soul in a Healthy Body", which derives from the aphorism mens sana in corpore sano
Mens sana in corpore sano
Mens sana in corpore sano is a famous Latin quotation, often translated as "A sound mind in a sound body." There is also a sports equipment company with a name based on a twist of this quotation...
or Thales
Thales
Thales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition...
' saying Νοῦς ὑγιὴς ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ.. Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym, and its translation has been truncated for advertising purposes to "Sound Mind, Sound Body".
In its 2006 fiscal year, ASICS generated 171 billion yen in net sales and 13 billion yen in net income. Sixty-six percent of the company's income comes from the sale of sports shoes, 24 percent from sportswear, and 10 percent from sports equipment. Forty-nine percent of the company's sales are in Japan, 28 percent in North America, and 19 percent in Europe.
On 4th October 2011 it was announced that ASICS will be the new official kit manufacturer for the Australian Cricket Team
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
replacing the German manufacturer Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
.