An extreme sport in its own right, Black Friday is not for the weak of heart, spirit or health. We who enjoy it are the brave, the competi-tive, possibly even the undiagnosed insane.

But nothing rivals that thrill of waking up before the sun, or that sprint through the store for the perfect present, coupled with the race to the checkout line in what always feels like a real-life episode of "Supermarket Sweep."

"I'm just mad I won't be out there, too," said Lee, a senior sales associate at Central Park's Circuit City. "I used to shop it every year until I started working here. I still like it, though. It's competitive--now I get to watch everybody else fight."

To spare yourself excess bloodshed and hospitals bills this holiday season, here are some nonviolent tips to get the most out of your money--and precious time--on the first official day of the Christmas shopping season.

May the best shopper win.

Plan ahead

Contrary to popular belief, Black Friday's name did not, in fact, derive from the saying "out of the red ink and into the black," thus showing retail profit. According to linguist Bonnie Taylor-Blake, Black Friday actually received its name in the 1960s, when police officers compared the day's chaos to Black Tuesday of 1929--the day the stock market crashed.

The biggest similarity? Traffic jams on both roads and sidewalks--in this case, from shoppers.

And because every store in Spotsylvania Towne Centre opens at 5 a.m.; Central Park's largest retailers open between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m.; and every store in Tysons Corner opens by 6 a.m., crowds will be hungry for deals all day. This means heavy delays, which of course means lengthy lines both in and out of stores.

To avoid any I-was-here-first fist fights or vulture-like lot circling for hours, know your terrain.