Gymnastics is a sport that requires strength, flexibility, dedication, and determination. However, gymnastics also requires the ability to be graceful and delicate. For many years people have been dedicating themselves to this sport, training for either artistic or rhythmic gymnastics.
The sport of gymnastics has been around for many years. Originating around 2,500 years ago makes it one of the oldest sports. People believe that the first "apparatus" used was actually a bull. Men would grab onto the bull's horns and when they were thrown in the air they would try to perform the best stunt before landing (Gutman, 1).
Gymnastics originated in Greece where they believed that physical fitness was very important, but only to men. It was so important that there was an open-air gymnasium in every city. The gymnasiums were also used as schools where philosophy, literature, and music were taught. The athletes, who were only men eighteen and older, trained all day every day. When they would compete they threw the javelin, climbed ropes, ran races, wrestled, and lifted weights. The athletes would perform without clothes on, and all women were forbidden to watch. Unlike Greece the Emperor of Rome closed all the gymnasiums in A.D. 393 (Gutman, 2-3, 5).
Years later around 1800 a German man named Johann Frederich Guts Muths developed a system of exercises that were based off the exercises that the Greeks used. He also added climbing, balance movements, and military drills. Muths also wrote the first real book on gymnastics (Gutman, 6).
According to Gutman the true father of gymnastics was a German professor named Frederich Ludwig Jahn. He opened the first modern gymnasium around Berlin in 1811 and modeled it after the ancie...
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The sixth and last event is the horizontal bar. It is eight feet long and hangs eight feet above the floor. Gymnasts perform skills similar to the skills that women perform on the uneven bars (Bragg, 23).
The second and less known type of gymnastics is rhythmic gymnastics. It is performed on same floor as artistic gymnastics and gymnasts show body movement and dance moves long with music. At the same time, they have to handle a small apparatus such as a rope, hoop, ball, clubs, or ribbon. The routines can also be performed in groups of five people performing simultaneously (World, 2).
The sport of gymnastics is known to be demanding and it requires a great deal of determination and dedication. However, it is becoming an increasingly popular sport. For thousands of years people have dedicated their lives to artistic and rhythmic gymnastics.
Fraser, Allen. “What a great gymnastics movie should be.” The New Yorker. conde Nast, n.d. May. 17 Feb. 2014
Education and intellectual discourse were accessories to athletic events. During competitions, spectators would engage in lectures and philosophic conversations concerning current events and other scholarly subjects. In fact, the Greek word for "gymnasium" was the same as the Greek word for "school (http://www.mediaconcerto.com/olympic/olympia/ideal_o.php, September 27, 2004)." Athletic events became a center of learning and exchange of ideas in Greek civilization.
Professor Chris Pelling of UCL wrote The Ancient Olympics. In addition, the author is a member of the UCL Department of Greek and Latin. In this article, the author describe and explain how sports were more than a competition in the ancient Greece. His hypothesis was that sports were a way to get honor and power instead of just competing. It represents more than a simple crown of leaves and olive-branch at the Olympics. It gave power, fame and honor to the athlete and their home city. In addition, they were awarded with many material rewards such as money, and women. For instance, the primary method employed in this research consisted
When the Olympic Games first began in 776 B.C. in Athens, Greece, wrestling was the premiere event. It was considered the ultimate test of discipline and strength, in which the world would discover who the greatest warrior is. Wrestling exemplifies the motto of the Olympic Games: Citius, Altius, Fortius. Which means faster, higher, stronger.
Gymnastics is the foundation of who I am. My experience has shaped me, challenged me, and inspired me.
Athleticism is the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina of an athlete(dictionary). In Cheerleading athleticism is crucial since it is necessary to keep up in the tightly pack routines. People in other sports look at cheer and think of some non-athletic girls who do not try and just are on the sidelines of football games, but it is so much more than being on the sidelines. For cheer, to build the stunts takes a loads of strength to lift girls that are 100 pounds, and they can even be taller than the stunt group. To build these upper body and leg strength is key. "Using your legs, not your back," this is a common saying made by all coaches and cheerleaders, they say this knowing if you use your
Gymnasts use physics everyday. As a gymnast I never realized how much physics went into every motion, every back handspring, every mistake on the bars. If gymnasts were physicists (or at least knew more about physics) they would be better equipped to handle the difficult aspects of gymnastics. As a gymnast I learned the motions that were necessary to complete the tricks that I was working on, and as a coach I taught others the same. I never truly understood why a particular angle gave me a better back handspring or why the angle that I hit a springboard at really mattered when completing a vault. We are going to explore some of the different apparatuses in gymnastics and a few of the physics laws that are involved in them. We will not even barely scratch the surface of the different ways that physics can explain gymnastics.
The Ancient Greek Olympics were not only sporting events, it was a celebration to honor the great and powerful Zeus. The Ancient Olympics were held every four years at the famous Olympia, a district of Elis, here all free Greek men were allowed to compete. The first record of the Olympic Games was held in 776 B.C. The main sports were the Pentathlon, the Equestrian Events, Pankration, and Boxing.
Following Poliakoff’s introduction to the ancient combat sports, he proceeds to provide a basic outline to the world of ancient combat sports in a series of sections within the chapter, including: The definition of a ‘combat sport’ and its relation to recreation and training; similarities amongst combat sports, training methods and common practise; the premise of athletic festivals, and the organization of said competition.
The sheer energy of a gymnast alone can be felt by audiences of all ages, but what the spectators lack the ability to feel is the pounding of the bodies that bear the impact of the athletes in action. Gymnastics consists of a mixture of acrobatic performances of four different events for females, and six different events for males (Gianoulis 1). Gymnastics is demanding in a multitude of ways, including: physically, emotionally and mentally. It requires countless hours of dedication. The concerns of most gymnasts are moving up to the next level, or getting a more advanced skill, while the concerns of the doctors, coaches, and parents revolve mostly around the athlete’s health, which is put at stake for the adored yet dangerous sport. Injuries are common among both male and female gymnast alike, but due to the fact a female gymnast’s career peaks at the same time of major growth and development, a female gymnast’s body as a whole is more likely to undergo lifelong changes or affects (Gianoulis 2). Among the injuries of the mind blowing athletes, the most common ones affect the ankles, feet, lower back, wrist, and hands of individuals (Prevention and Treatment 1). From sprains, to the breaks, the intriguing sport of gymnastics is physically demanding on a gymnast’s body.
As Jackie Joyner Kersee once said, “The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing” (“Sports Quotes,” 2013). Sports play a major role in entertainment all across the world. Sports can range from driving in NASCAR to playing in the NBA (Careers in Pro Sports, 1999). Sports usually involve teamwork and is fun for everyone. Although sports are supposed to be fun, there is natural competition. Being a feminine art, dance is considered to be just about anything other than a sport. Dancers are trained to the height of their ability, just like other athletes in other sports. Even though the dancer might not perform with their whole dance studio on stage at the same time, the dancers are all apart of the same team. Dancing is not an easy sport to participate in, so if you are looking for a sport that does not require practice then you might want to look into a different sport. There are hour-long practices, healthy diets, and several routines to remember. Normally, if someone is convinced that dance is not a sport, they have not fully engaged or experienced dance. In order to better understand dance, it is important to understand the history of dance, the competition of dance, and the comparison of dance to other sports.
The Ancient Olympics were huge in introducing sports and events that we now play. The sports that were played in the Ancient Olympics consisted of boxing, chariot racing, riding, pentathlon, discus, javelin, jump, running, and wrestling. All those sport would have never been played without the Greeks introducing them. These sports have become very popular and a lot of people play them. For example wrestling can be played at very young ages and all the way through high school. Another example is running, jumping, javelin, and discus which are all played in high school and some even in elementary.
Many people will insist that dance is not a sport, but they are wrong. Dance, though also an art, is an intense sport, especially ballet. Sports are physically demanding, require a commitment, involve being fit and active, and are competitive and enjoyable. Ballet fits every single criterion above. A professional ballerina attends class every day, including tests of flexibility, gracefulness, and strength. Ballerinas are also continually rehearsing for their performances, which involve stressful costume changes. Nevertheless, dancers love it. Indeed, ballet should be considered a sport by all. Ballet is an old art and intense discipline that has endured for hundreds of years with a long, complex, and remarkable history including famous men and women remembered to this day.
Did u know that there is a lot of history behind Olympic swimming? It is amazing how much history there is behind it. According to http://www.olympic.org/swimming-equipment-and-history. The swimming Olympics were started in 1896. The very first Olympic events were free style (crawl) or breaststroke. Backstroke was added in 1904. In the 1940s, breaststroke swimmers discovered they could go faster by bring both arms forward over their heads. Ur body is longer when you do that. This practice was immediately forbidden in breaststro...
In addition to being used as an artistic demonstration, ballet can also be used as a sport. There is a saying among ballerinas, “Ballet. Like sport, only harder.” Why harder? you might think. It is undertaken mostly by girly girls. It is demanding because...