The History and origin of sport Will allow us to understand this concept which, in principle, presents a difficulty to be defined. It is from the analysis of its foundations and historical background that different perspectives can be taken into account in order to fit it.
There is a huge diversity of definitions about it, because it is complex to find a definition that encompasses everything that sport represents and describes it as a multidimensional phenomenon.
A historical tour will be made from the origin of the sport to the present time, including a socio-historical perspective. With this we will try to understand the sport in each and every one of the historical contexts.
Focusing on the analysis of its origin and its history, it is as evidenced that the sport finds its genesis in the development of the first human physical activities, l Which are conjugated with other behaviors and feelings proper to human beings, in turn corresponding with the various cultural modes of humanity.
What is sport?
Sport can be understood as a spectacle that generates the movement of multitudes of people. Also, as a distraction chosen by them; As a form of recreation and fun; As a source of pleasure and as a means by which societies found a way to compete.
At the same time, sport can be considered as a tool of union, play or distraction, a hobby or a professional activity.
The term sport is intimately related to the performance of a physical activity. Which can be constituted by a game or by a competition subject to rules. In this way, sport can be understood as a demonstration of the physical and mental dexterity of a subject.
At institutional level, for a physical activity to be considered a sport, it must have regulations endorsed by the different administrative structures, inherent in each country, these being known as the national sports organizations.
Now, there are sports activities that are not inherent to the physical, but to the psychic. In this type of activities the mind is exercised, as in chess games for example.
It is the game that is the main manifestation of sport, being an individual or group activity, which can be chosen at random, without major interests, and an attractive attraction for those who practice it, providing satisfaction to the individual in its development.
As the game evolved, rules began to exist. That is to say, the game began to be governed by a regulation, to which the players had to adhere and to respect.
This allowed people, in addition to obtaining satisfaction through the game, to learn different ways to play and to acquire different learning, because the game provides a great educational value.
Thus, participants or players, as they play, acquire values t Such as respect, cooperation, fellowship, among other multiple learnings. Which forge the characteristics of the personality of each individual.
In this way, sport also allows learning about different ways of socializing and relating. It provides values inherent to friendship, competitiveness, teamwork and fellowship.
It can also be understood as a way of expressing one's own feelings and as a means of struggle for social equality.
In addition, sport and play can be used as motivational elements to promote positive attitudes and values in individuals.
What should I know about the history and origin of the sport?
It is through the history of sport that one can know its influence on individuals and their diverse cultures.
The history of sport arises in the years before Christ. Thousands of years ago, in various societies, different types of instruments were used, which are believed to be used for various sports.
At the same time, in their daily tasks, primitive men performed exercises for their survival. They ran, to escape the animals that could be considered prey or else, to escape from possible enemies; They hunted to eat; They swam through the rivers to sanitize or shorten paths; And fished to survive.
In the early days, sport was used as training for hunting and warfare. It was the primitive men who created the primitive dance from the association of the movements of the body with the imagination. They were performed for cultural purposes, including myths and legends inherent in each society. With the passage of time, these dances were acquiring a sporting character.
In the year 2700 BC In China began to practice Kung Fu, which had a religious and healing character.
In Egypt, the fighting was carried out with sticks and, from these, the soldiers were trained.
The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC. Lasting six days. They were made up of a few sporting events such as fighting, horse racing and athletics, long jump and discus throwing and javelin.
In the year 884 a.C. Began to take place every four years, in a western region of the Peloponnese. In this way, the city of Olympia became more relevant, and it is there that the Temple of Zeus began to be built.
By then, the people in charge of organizing the Olympic Games were called Helanodices. Those who constituted what is now known as the International Olympic Committee.
As a curiosity, at that time, women could not approach the stadiums where the games were held and the The winners received as an award an olive branch.
When it was conquered, first by the Macedonian people and soon, by the Roman Empire, in Greece the Olympics are finished towards the year 393.
With the adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the Olympic Games and pagan celebrations were banned.
The first Olympic Games, which correspond to those that are known today, were held in the year 1892, in Olympia, Greece.
They were organized every four years and in them, various sports practices were developed, which are still known to this day.
These were competitions where several athletes faced each other. Over time, they were becoming more popular, which allowed the emergence of professional sports.
In the nineteenth century competitions and war between different neighboring towns, were considered as sports. By then the archery and fencing were already practiced in these battles.
The sport already existing at the time was consolidated, and began to become better known such as football, water polo, table tennis, among others. This made the range of sports known by then broader.
In England, sport appears not only as a means of fighting adversaries, but also against natural means. Using elements from nature, such as water or wind, with activities such as sailing and regattas. Besides, and S in this country where arises rugby, sport existing at present.
History of sport in the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is the historical period after the Old Age and before the Modern Age. It comprises from the fifth century, when the Roman Empire ends, until the fifteenth century. This era is characterized by the power of the Church and the great development of sport. By then, athletics and team sports appear.
Among the characteristic sports of the Middle Ages are the cavalry, the soule, the palm and the fighting.
Medieval children learned fencing and riding around 12 years of age. By the age of 15, they were appointed knights, after accompanying them to perform the hunting tasks.
Once named as such, they could participate in contests and tournaments. This aroused the feeling of heroism and virility in the youth of the time.
But to be able to dedicate themselves to the cavalry had to have determined material means, to which not all had access. Although this sport did not correspond to the privilege of any social class.
For those who could not practice it, or were not named knights, there were various popular games.
The soule begins in the twelfth century. Performing mostly in the celebrations of popular festivals. It consists of a game practiced with a ball or balloon of different sizes, depending on the country where your practice will take place. It was generally performed in a place between two posts, having to take the ball to the opposite space.
The palm is a game of ball arisen in century XIII and, is in France where greater development had. This game was developed in two different fields, each of them, with different surfaces. And separated from each other by a network. The game was characterized by staying as long as possible in the field of best features. The winner being the winner. The ball was struck first with the hand, then with a shovel, and finally with a racket.
In the fourteenth century the first constructions of closed fields are carried out so that the climate is not responsible for having to abandon the games of this game.
Besides the French, it was the Basques who adopted this sport as one of the main developed in their region.
The struggle had its great rise in the Middle Ages. There were some general rules for them, including not hitting the opponent below the waist. The winner proclaimed himself as the strongest man, until he was defeated in a new struggle.
In the Middle Ages the sport is not the same in the East as in the West. At the same time, the sport of the upper classes differs from that of other social classes.
As the years progress, the sport begins to be intimately linked to military training. For many of those who practiced were used to train soldiers.
In the late Middle Ages it is where sports become popular. With the rise of medieval cities towards the fourteenth century and the emergence of the bourgeoisie, sport ceases to be exclusive to the upper classes.
It is in the cities, where popular games are developed, such as the ball game, of which all can be participants.
From this, the real and municipal regulations of the cities are developed. And with them appears the prohibition of the games where money is bet, giving place to the primacy of the physical sports and of dexterity.
History of Sport in the Modern Age
The Modern Age is the period following the Middle Ages, which comprises the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. It is then that there are significant changes in the sport.
In the fifteenth century in Italy began to practice a sport very similar to football; In Scotland the sport emerged was a rudimentary golf; In Germany stones were thrown against sticks, this game being a derivative of bowling.
The old boat games and beating gave rise to various types of European tennis. In the fourteenth century they played with rackets made with ropes made from animal guts. The game consisted of several players, who took advantage of the streets or the architectural constructions of that time as space to play it. It was in 1559 that the first treatise on racket and ball games was published.
Later it was a sport realized by the upper class, in the palaces and castles, reason why what was called real tennis. Becoming fashionable in the north of France, it was as they began to create closed spaces for this game.
The skating was another sport of the time, arisen in Holland. In the winter season, the canals were frozen and people began to use the frozen waters to skate, using it as a recreation mode.
The pole became popular in India in the middle of the sixteenth century, known as sangol kangjei. By then, it was a sport played by all social classes.
This sport is constituted by two opposing teams, where the players are mounted to horses with some sticks. It is with these sticks that they must push a ball and convert notes or goals, making it enter the opposite goal, formed by two posts.
The origins of the pole are found in Asia in 600 BC. The life of this civilization revolved around that of the horses. Through the pole, they were not only physically well-kept by men, but also by the horses, which had made them gain various achievements.
In Persia the pole was practiced from the fourth century BC, representing diplomatic relations between different peoples.
In Italy, between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries calcium was played, a game similar to soule. A game consisting of a ball the size and shape of a cannon ball, which developed the muscles of arms and legs in a fight. It began to be practiced by the soldiers who remained free between battles and later, it was used as training in the art of the combat, in young men.
It is at the beginning of the eighteenth century that the socialization of sport begins. In the upper classes team games are developed, such as cricket or fronton.
The war sports existing so far, become sports like fighting or boxing.
In England, after the fights organized by the kings, the first rules of what would later be boxing begin to be established. It is also in this region that athletics, which had entered decadence, become increasingly important. Besides, and In 1863 the British Football Association was established, establishing the rules for this sport.
It is football and rugby that replace soule towards the nineteenth century. Rugby originated in the year 1823 and is currently one of the most practiced sports in the United Kingdom.
With the arrival of the Renaissance, games began to prevail in the hall, and fencing prevailed against the decline of other sports. But by then they could only be practiced by those belonging to the upper classes of society.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, modern sport began to take shape. The Industrial Revolution allowed people to have some money and free time, which facilitated the reappearance of some sports and the emergence of new ones.
In 1823 rugby was born in Great Britain, which gave rise to the creation of American football. Baseball was invented in the United States and basketball in 1891.
Around 1896, the first Olympic Games of the Modern Age were held in Athens, Greece, becoming the largest multidisciplinary sporting event in the world, with more than 200 participating countries.
By 1900, sports and their respective regulations had spread to all parts of the world. In France began to race car and motorcycle.
Since then, the popularity of sport has gone up. Increasing its capacity of organization and regulation from Old Greece to the present.
The mass media and their massification have contributed to the expansion of the sport, its popularity and its professional practice.
How does sport influence in society?
Sport is the means by which national identities manifest themselves, being a form of expression of the diverse world cultures.
That is why it exerts a high influence in society, since it also has the power to affect different spheres of the same, such as education, economics and health.
In the educational field, sport allows people to acquire and put into practice a multiplicity of values such as:
- Respect
- The responsability
- Commitment
- Dedication
- The companionship
- Team work
- Self-discipline
- Self-knowledge
- Self-realization
- Recognition
- The Rewards
- Success and Failure
- The perseverance
- The obedience
Helping in this way the individuals to be involved in a process of socialization, where the sport, like common denominator, helps to improve the social relations, the structures and the social attitudes.
Thus, sport facilitates the union of diverse cultures, prevailing respect for others, and the notion of equality.
In the economy, the sport influences remarkably, since it has become a millionaire business. By means of which sportsmen are financed, stadiums are built, and tickets are promoted to different tournaments and competitions.
In the sphere of health, practicing a sport increases personal well-being. Generating in the person who realizes it daily and routinely, a better quality of life due to the innumerable physical and psychological benefits that the realization of a sport generates.
Sport today
Thanks to the socio-economic advances produced in the central countries towards the XX century, the sport has evolved remarkably, Acquiring a protagonist role due to the new capitalist model of market.
New sports myths appear, fanaticism and idolatry, favored by the media.
In the 20s and 30s of the last century, there was an unprecedented media interest in the history of sport. Radio and the press had a large number of listeners and readers interested in sport in general.
The universalization of sport came after World War II, around 1945, the United States being the exporter of sports philosophy at a global level. At that time, l A woman began to have an existing role in the sports world, being able to participate in it.
With the development of fanaticism and rivalries, coupled with the social, political, economic and cultural problems of various parts of the world, violence has been introduced in the world of sport, despite the efforts made to prevent it Sports federations. AND This is a true reflection of the lack of values of societies.
The new economic interests, advertising or television rating among others, were distorting and distorting the sport. For the values which, through it were imparted, have been left on the sidelines in pursuit of other ends.
However, the personal and social benefits of playing a sport remain the same. When practiced for healthy and / or recreational purposes, m Improving the quality of life of people and being an optimal way to relate, leaving aside the ideological, political and economic differences.
References
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