SPORT IN THE ANCIENT

WORLD AND OUR

EUROPEAN HERITAGE

EARLY CULTURES• Egypt

– Warriors trained– Dancing was valued in religion

• China– Only the military class valued

physical development• India

– Yoga, a system of meditation and regulated breathing

HOMERIC ERA (prehistoric time to 776 B.C.)• Greek Poet, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey—

describes the early athletic competitions.

• Aristocratic sports—warrior skills displayed in sports by noblemen– Individual events only– Informal– Spontaneous– Only amateurs

• HOMERIC ERA (con’t)• Events

Chariot racing Boxing

Wrestling Javelin

Foot racing Discus

• Development of the Greek Ideal– Man of Action—sports skills and military prowess– Man of Wisdom—development of mind and

philosophical abilities– Stressed unity of Man of Action and Man of

Wisdom– Emulated the Greek gods who were believed to

have superior intellect and physical capabilities

SPARTAN ERA (776 B.C. to 371 B.C.)

• Early years they had freedoms and cultural activities

• Man of Action later took over with an emphasis on military supremacy

• State controlled life and education– Girls were trained at home in gymnastics—to

bear healthy children– Boys--Raised at home until age seven and

trained by mothers

• Between ages 7-20 males stayed in barracks training for military; were in companies of 64 boys with one leader; discipline was severe

• Between ages 20-30 males were in the military

• At 30 years, males became citizens and married

• Between ages 30-50, males trained boys in barracks

• Narrow-minded society

• In the early years, the Olympic Games were dominated by the Spartans (46 of 81 victories)

EARLY ATHENIAN ERA(776 B.C. to 480 B.C.)

• Developed into a liberal, progressive, and democratic city-state

• Athenian education– Moral (character) training at home for both

girls and boys– Girls at home received no educational and

practically no physical training

– Boys were raised at home until 7, but

sometimes went with father to the gymnasiums

– If could afford formal education• Palaestra—place for physical training, sometimes

called a wrestling school (the teacher was called a paidotribe)

• Didascaleum—place for intellectual training, sometimes call a music school

• Males could become citizens at 18 years

• Between ages 18-20 males were subject to military service (always had to be ready for war)

• Citizens—physical work-outs and intellectual (philosophical) discussions at the state-furnished gymnasiums

PANHELLENIC FESTIVALS

(776 B.C to A.D. 400) Greek Athletic (Crown) Festivals

Festival Place Honored Wreath Interval Founded

Olympic Olympia Zeus olive 4 776 B.C.

Pythian Delphi Apollo bay 4 582 B.C.

Isthmian Isthmia Poseidon pine 2 582 B.C.

Nemean Nemea Zeus wild celery 2 573 B.C.

LATE ATHENIAN ERA (480 B.C. to 338 B.C.)

• Military successes in the Persian Wars led to freedoms, individualism, and self-confidence

• “Golden Age” (443 B.C. to 429 B.C.)—cultural explosion as Man of Wisdom was stressed and Man of Action ignored

• Loss of interest in physical development– Intellectualism– Decline of Athenian military interest and

involvement (no longer soldiers)– Replacement of citizens by mercenaries

• Professionalism and specialization in athletics (citizens became spectators instead of participants);

• Athletes sold their services to city-states• Gymnasiums became pleasure resorts and

places for philosophical discussions instead of activity-filled centers; the only ones who trained physically were the professional athletes

HELLENISTIC PERIOD(323 B.C. to 146 B.C.)

• Under Alexander the Great—all Greek city-states united

• Diffused Greek culture throughout his empire

IDEALS DEPICTED THROUGH GREEK ATHLETICS

• Appreciation of the aesthetics of beauty of movement

• Beautiful body matched with beautiful deeds

• Respect for courage and endurance• Reverence for the gods• Emphasized honor, modesty, and fair play• Love of competition—man against man for

superiority, not for records

OLYMPIC GAMES (776 B.C. to about 400 A.D.)

• Held every 4 years in honor of Zeus and the Olympic Council of gods

• Cultural interaction between city-states • Competitors and spectators (up to 40,000)

were guaranteed safe passage (truce) through warring city-states

• No women at Olympic Games except for those who were in charge of the sacrifices

• Olive wreath for each winner• Winners received; cash; pensions; statues;

triumphal processions at city-states

COMPETITOR REGULATIONS

• Required to be Greek citizen• Could be from any social

class• Required to train 10 months • Required to train the last

month at Olympia under the supervision of judges

• Pledged an oath of fair play • Competed in the nude

EVENTS

• Footraces—how started; turning post– Stade—the length of the stadium or

about 200 meters (776 B.C.)– Diaulos—2 stades (724 B.C.)– Dolichos—24 stades (724 B.C.)

• Wrestling—standing with the winner throwing his opponent to the ground twice before being thrown twice (708 B.C.)

PENTATHLON—All-around athlete (708 B.C.)

• Race of 1 or 2 stades

• Javelin—8-10 feet to test both distance and form (with leather thong)

• Long jump using halteres

• Discus—using 1-foot diameter and 4-5 pound stone thrown from a fixed position

• Wrestling—always the deciding event

OTHER EVENTS• Boxing—with leather thongs on hands (688

B.C.)– Confined blows to the head– No weight classifications– Loser had to give up

• Pancration—combination of boxing and wrestling (loser had to give up) (648 B.C.)

• Chariot racing—(680 B.C.)—12 laps around 500-meter hippodrome

• Races in armor (580 B.C.)• Boys’ events (632 B.C.)• Horse racing (648 B.C.)—(1-6 laps)

ROMAN REPUBLIC (@500 B.C. to 27 B.C.)

• Freedoms for people under aristocratic oligarchy; more democratic

• Moral and military training—superior to intellectual attainment

• Goal was to become a citizen-soldier• Campus Martius and military camps—training

for military (run; jump; swim; javelin; fencing; archery; riding; marching)

• Ages 17 to 47—could be drafted for war • When not training or fighting, males and many

females were spectators at festivals

ROMAN EMPIRE (27 B.C. to A.D.476)

• Loss of individual freedoms; lessened emphasis on military prowess; hired mercenaries after Romans had established the Empire; accompanied by a decay of morals

• Games and festivals (maybe as frequently as 250 days of the year)– Staged for spectator entertainment with

political overtones– Professional athletes and gladiators

competed for lucrative prizes

ROMAN EMPIRE (27 B.C. to A.D.476)

• Chariot races -- the more brutal, the more popular (usually 7 laps for a 3-mile event); took place at the circuses (Circus Maximus—260,000 capacity)

• Thermae or bathes—contrast baths with minimal exercise (except for the training of professional athletes and gladiators); cultural centers; dining areas

MIDDLE AGES (11th to 16th centuries,

especially 1250-1350)• Chivalry—moral and social code for noblemen

(to serve God, lord, and lady)– Feudalism—protection and government– Manoralism—economics

• Knightly training– Until 7 years—training at home– 7-14 years (page)—under the lady of another castle

for general training– 14-21 years (squire)—under the direction of the lord

of the castle for physical training– 21 years—could become a knight

MIDDLE AGES (11th to 16th centuries especially 1250-1350)

• Activities of the squire – Attend his lord as a valet and bodyguard– Served his meals– Assisted him in battle– Cleaned his armor– Learned knightly arts of riding; swimming;

archery; climbing; jousting; tourneying; wrestling; fencing; courtly manners

– Learned responsibilities of knighthood

MIDDLE AGES (11th to 16th centuries especially 1250-1350)

• Tournaments—favorite amusements of the people– Joust—combat between two armed

horsemen with blunt weapons– Grand tourney or melee—

similarities to war with many men fighting with real weapons

• Crusades—interrelationship between the physical and spiritual (1095-1200s)

RENAISSANCE (1400-1600)

• Artists again depicted the human body as a revelation of beauty

• Health stressed to overcome epidemics

• Embraced the classical ideal of “a sound mind in a sound body”

REFORMATION (15OOs)• Protestant sects relegated physical

education to an inferior position and endeavored to curb “worldly pleasures” (religious fervor)

• Martin Luther and John Calvin were leaders in this movement– Exercise was okay for health—in order

to serve God better

• Protestant work ethic affected America

THE Age of ENLIGHTENMENT (1700s)

• John Locke– Knightly activities for British

gentlemen– "A sound mind in a sound

body" in 1693 in Some Thoughts Concerning Education

EDUCATIONAL Protagonists (1400s to 1800s)

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau– Wrote Emile as a philosophical model– Stressed "everything according to nature"– Training of the body preceded formal intellectual

training—best if both could develop together naturally

– Stressed recreational, vigorous activity for children (natural activities)

– Readiness was the key concept

GERMAN GYMNASTICSNaturalism1770-1830

• Johann Basedow—Philanthropinum—1774– Based on naturalistic principles from Rousseau– Program—1 hour in morning; 2 hours in

afternoon; 2 hours of manual labor• Fencing; dancing; riding; vaulting—Basedow• Running; jumping; throwing; wrestling—Simon

– Johann Friedrich Simon—first physical education teacher

GERMAN GYMNASTICS• C.G. Salzmann (teacher at Philanthropinum)

Schnepfenthal Institute—1785– Patterned after the Philanthropinum and naturalism

• Program—daily for 3 hours– Natural activities—run; jump– Greek-type activities—wrestling; throwing– Knightly activities—swimming; climbing– Military exercises—marching; swordsmanship– Manual labor—carpentry; gardening

GERMAN GYMNASTICS• Johann Friedrich GutsMuths—1786-1835

– Gymnastics for the Young —1792—

foundation for physical education– Games—1796—105 games classified with

skills

GERMAN GYMNASTICS

• Friedrich Ludwig Jahn– Physical education was a means, not an end—the

hope of German freedom lay in the development of strong, sturdy, fearless youth—national regeneration

– Half-holiday excursions in natural settings—based on GutMuths’ ideas

– 1810—Turnplatz (outdoor exercising ground) with vaulting bucks; parallel bars; climbing ladders and ropes; balance beams; running track; wrestling ring

GERMAN GYMNASTICS• Common uniform to make all social classes

equal (gray canvas smock and trousers)• Working classes and lower middle classes

predominately• Initially open only in July and August; later

open year round• Individualized under Jahn• Vorturners trained younger boys • 1819—illegal• 1840—legal• 1848—illegal (underground)

ADOLPH SPIESS—GERMAN SCHOOL GYMNASTICS

(late 1840s)

• Stressed the essentially of physical education within education– Exercise hall required– Trained instructors—established a normal

school to train them– One class period per day– Grades given—physical education was equal to

other subjects– Adapted to age levels– For both boys and girls

ADOLPH SPIESS—FOUNDER OF GERMAN SCHOOL GYMNASTICS

(late 1840s)

• Program– Free exercise with music– Marching with music and stressed

discipline– Little formalism in sports, games, and

dancing– Manual of gymnastics for schools

DANISH GYMNASTICS —FRANZ NACHTEGALL

• 1799—Established his private gymnasium based on the ideas of GutsMuths

• 1804—Director of the Military Gymnastic Institute—government financed and the first normal school for physical education

• Danish gymnastics—required in the schools in the 1820s

• Program– Danish gymnastics—based on ideas from

Germany, Sweden, and England– For boys and girls—in the schools

DANISH GYMNASTICS—FRANZ NACHTEGALL

• Formalized exercise on command with no individual expression allowed

• Theme—nationalism• 1809—Gymnastics in secondary schools• 1814—Required for elementary boys• 1828—Required for all boys (girls in the

1900s)• Equipment—rope ladders; climbing masts

and poles; balance beams; vaulting horse (like GutsMuths)

SWEDISH GYMNASTICS• Per Henrik Ling—founder of Swedish

gymnastics• Four areas of gymnastics

– Military—national preparedness– Medical—therapeutic healing– Pedagogical—educational (methodology

stressed)– Aesthetics—expression of feelings

• 1814—Royal Gymnastics Central Institute• Established by the government for military purposes

with Ling as director

SWEDISH GYMNASTICS

– Posture correcting—rigidly held positions– Movement on command into positions (no

freedom of movement)– Apparatus developed—stall bars; vaulting

boxes; climbing poles and ropes; oblique ropes; Swedish boom

– Devised a system of massage (appealed to females)

SWEDISH GYMNASTICS• Hjalmar Ling—Director of the

educational segment of the Royal Gymnastics Central Institute (RGCI) in 1840s–Developed Swedish school gymnastics

—based on Per Henrik Ling's (father) principles

Hjalmar Ling (Swedish)

–Program• Day's order—progressive, precise execution of movements on command (for 11 body parts)

• Adapted to age and ability levels• Adapted to both sexes• Adapted apparatus to children

Great Britain (1800’s)ENGLISH SPORTS

• English sports movement in the public schools—for upper-class boys

• Students worked toward (and were) the highest ideal of British sportsmanship

• Influenced amateur sport worldwide and especially in America

• The best sportsman makes the best citizen

Working-class males

• Pugilism (bare-knuckle boxing)

• Blood sports (cockfighting)

• Football (soccer)

• Required little equipment

• Encouraged gambling

• Banned by the church.

ENGLISH SPORTS• Sports

– Rugby– Association football– Cricket– Track and field– Rowing

• Muscular Christianity—teaching values through sports

ATTITUDES TOWARD SPORTS HELD BY STUDENTS IN THE PUBLIC

SCHOOLS• A "public-school" type boy was more a product of

sports and games than of books and scholastic training

• Physical fitness was not valued; instead, if one engages in sports, he will be fit; sports are just a part of life

• Sports were played by those less specialized, therefore, the level of expertise will be lower

• Skills are seldom practiced because sports skills will be learned by playing

ATTITUDES TOWARD SPORTS HELD BY STUDENTS IN THE

PUBLIC SCHOOLS• Sports were mostly played between the houses

with few spectators, although sometimes interschool matches were held

• Masters, out of school loyalty, acted as coaches

• Belief in playing the game for the game's sake—trying to do one's best

• Believed to teach socialization skills, leadership, loyalty, cooperation, sportsmanship, self-discipline, and initiative

ENGLISH SPORTS IN THE UNIVERSITIES

• Believed in informal, casual, and non-intense sports involvement—playing at their games

• Usually students played several sports (exception was rowing)

• No paid coaches—had undergraduate captains• No faculty involvement and support• Purchased own equipment; paid own travel• Football and hockey paid for the upkeep of

fields for other sports

Pierre Coubertin

• Founded the modern Olympic Games in 1896, Athens Greece