Etymology of physical education

The etymology or origin of Physical Education, as a discipline, has been building up

a corpus of its own knowledge throughout history, based on constant and unequal
incorporations of the various sciences. Thus, depending on the historical moments,
some have contributed more than others to the formation of this corpus, and the
medical sciences of education, or the psychological sciences, have been part of it in
one way or another.
Considering the background and opinions of some authors regarding the
sociology of E. F., one should not make a historical approach, treating it in isolation,
but rather considering it immersed in a sociopolitical-cultural context. In other
words, the different methods and models that have emerged throughout the history
of this discipline are the result of the general principles of the ideology, religion or
science that dominated in each era.
General division of the history of Physical Education
Prehistory Traditionally, the history of the
discipline is divided into two major
Ancient Gymnastic Era eras: the ancient gymnastic era (from
Hellenism 400 BC) until the 18th century),
Humanism characterized by its globalizing
Philanthropism conception, that is, all the exercises
that were practiced, make up Physical
Modern Gymnastics Era Education, which was not yet called
that. This era is divided into three
Emergence of the great schools
periods: Hellenism, Humanism and
Creation of gymnastic methods.
Philanthropism; before them we must
Diversification of methods.
make some references to what
happened during prehistory and the first civilizations, considered pre-Hellenic; and
the modern gymnastic era (from the 18th century) during which the birth of the
great gymnastic Schools and Movements will take place, which will give rise to what
we know today as Physical Education and Sports.
2.1. Prehistory
The evolution of E. F. It goes back to the origins of man, who, in order to survive,
continually faced adverse situations. Prehistoric men carried out muscular activity
through utilitarian exercises, essential for life, such as hunting, fishing and the use
of rudimentary tools and weapons, the same exercises that are still practiced today,
although systematized and with appropriate techniques and tactics.
2.2. Pre-Hellenic Civilizations
Physical Education applied in a systematic and objective manner has its origins in
ancient civilizations, India and China, where the practice was similar to our
gymnastics, receiving the name of Cong-Fu, created around the year 270 BC, with a
religious purpose, to cure the body of illnesses and weaknesses that prevented it
from being a servant of the soul.
The Japanese, for their part, based on the weak points of the body, created the
first Jiu-jitsu, intended to ensure the physical superiority of the samurai. In these
countries, games and dances are also used for teaching. Later, in Mesopotamian
and Egyptian cultures, its practice was directed towards achieving improved health
and preparing man for war. The Egyptians practiced it around 2500 BC. stick
fighting, intended primarily for training his soldiers, apparently without any
competitive objective. Persian and Tibetan horsemen were the first to play Polo,
which spread from India to China, Japan, the Arab world and Europe.
2.3. Classical Antiquity: first differences between physical activity (gymnastics) and
other body practices.
2.3.1. Greece
As is known, Greece is considered the cradle of Western culture, a place from
which some of the first references to philosophical, medical and mathematical
knowledge, among others, are taken. Greece bequeathed us that magnificent
creation called Hellenic or Classical culture. It is also in Greece where we find the
origin of the word gymnastics, which means naked, due to the way the Greeks
performed gymnastic exercises.
 During the centuries that Greek society was at its peak, a notable evolution can
be observed in the concept of the body and the values assigned to it, from Archaic
Greece to Hellenistic Greece (8th century BC). C. Approximately). However, they
always knew how to differentiate gymnastics used for education from agonistic
gymnastics, which conceived physical exercises for competitive purposes.
In principle, gymnastics was conceptualized as a natural necessity. As Plato's
words illustrate: “Every living being has a need to jump, to leap, and is the bearer of
a rhythm that produces dance and song”... “the closest thing to mental agility is
physical agility, and precisely those who were called to solve great problems of
thought should practice gymnastics at the same time, always exercising, together,
the body and the soul (dualism), and never, one without the other.”
Children's games were also very important. Thus, Greek children played with
balls, ropes, spears and "being kings", which can be considered the first use of
imitation or role-playing games.
Such was the importance that the Greeks gave to physical activity, that their
schools were called gymnasiums, where they were instructed in science, culture,
politics and social relations, and a great deal of time was devoted to physical
activity. From there emerged concepts such as: “a soul of gold and a body of iron”,
“comprehensive education, physical, intellectual and moral”. In this sense, and with
the aim of its citizens achieving beauty and perfection of body and soul, the school
left education in the hands of teachers in grammar, music, and gymnastics. That
was the relevance of physical practices in the context of the philosophical thinking
of the time.
But the most important physical practices and those that have transcended the
most in Hellenic culture were those that took place outside of school: competitive
games and agones. These activities were accessible to people from all walks of life
and, due to their level of sophistication, they took on an elite professional character.
We will highlight the most important of the various Hellenic Regional Games, held in
Olympia every four years, in honor of Zeus, since 884 BC. until 394 AD, on the full
moon following the summer solstice, known as the Olympic Games. They were held
in a region located in the western part of the Peloponnese for twelve centuries.
Given the importance of the city where the games were held, Olympia, numerous
monuments were built such as the Temple of Zeus. Apart from these monuments,
places for physical activities were also built, such as the stadium of Olympia, which
consisted of a rectangle measuring 31.50 m wide by 211 cm long.
From the XXV Olympiad onwards, the number of tests increased compared to the
previous ones and became more sophisticated, with the following tests appearing:
Horse racing, within which there were many categories.
Pankration (wrestling and boxing)
Junior test.
We can add as an interesting fact how women were not allowed near the
stadiums.
A crown of olive branches was the prize received by the winner of the Olympic
events.
The contribution of philosophers, such as Aristotle, Plato, Thales of Miletus, was
very important within the Greek world and therefore of the Olympics.
The Greeks are considered the Fathers of sport, since they were also able to
collect, during their many travels, a series of games that they generically called
Eferistic, because they used balls of different sizes, as well as a series of
Rudimentary Sports, which they later perfected with new techniques and
appropriate codes.
2.3.2. Rome
Roman culture in general and thinking about the body-soul relationship in
particular are seen as an extension of the Hellenistic character of the Empire.
Roman youth carried out their physical activity on the parade ground and there was
a program dictated by military needs. Swimming was part of the obligatory
practices of soldiers and rowing became part of the physical activities before the
Punic Wars, when they were forced to arm the fleet. This physical practice became
the spectacle, evolving into enormous Naumachias, consisting of a simulation of
naval combat, held in the pond, which could be built especially for the event, or,
alternatively, constituted by the amphitheater track that was flooded.
Finally, the fall of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions produced a
turbulent period in Europe, during which physical activity could not find the
environment that would allow it to survive.
2.4. Middle Ages
At this time everything is governed by the power of the church, but in the face of
this, various bodily practices have a certain development. Athletics was unknown in
the Middle Ages but we will highlight the appearance of team physical practices.
We can say that the following were practiced at this time:
2.4.1. Cavalry: To achieve a clear conquest of this skill, they learned fencing and
horse riding at the age of twelve, when they were fifteen they accompanied the
knights on hunts and from this age they were named knights. Being knights they
were allowed to hold contests and tournaments such as jousting.
2.4.2. Wrestling: Wrestling was most popular during the Breton festivals in the
Middle Ages. The man who emerged victorious in these fights paraded around as
the strongest until he was defeated in the fight. There were some general rules and
it was forbidden to hit the opponent below the waist.
2.5. Renaissance
A time of important social, political and economic changes that had a direct
impact on education. During the Renaissance, important events occurred such as
the invention of the printing press, the discovery of America, the influx of Eastern
artists to Europe and the resurgence of classical culture, which would make beauty
and body control of interest again. There is a renewed interest in the practice of
physical activity, which had acquired such importance in ancient times. Physical
exercises were excluded from university youth activities, as the ascetic influence
was dominant. The physical activities of the knights were not considered decorous
by the students, who spent their free time drinking and getting involved in
continuous brawls, trying to recover the classic concepts of dignity and value of life,
which caused the Renaissance schools to give great importance to physical activity
and to include in the activity programs, exercises of horse riding, running, jumping,
fencing, games, etc.
The courtiers preferred parlour games and abandoned ball games, with fencing
remaining and horse racing appearing.
2.6. 17th century
With the evolution that has taken place up to this point and the appearance of a
series of works on the usefulness of physical activity in the education of youth, until
then exclusively spiritual, we enter the 17th century, which corresponds to the
period that we have called philanthropism, in which the religious furor is revived,
which represents a step backwards in the extension of the practice of physical
exercise.
Education is modified with important pedagogical contributions from the
philosophical field, more specifically from rationalism, giving rise to rationalist
pedagogy, whose greatest representative was René Descartes (France, 1595-1650),
influenced by Platonic philosophy, which had originated a physical activity of an
instrumental nature, a tradition that would be reaffirmed with his idea of man-
machine, which gives rise to a physical activity of performance, maintained until
recent times "mens sana in corpore sano", and in which the idea of unity and
globality of the body has fortunately crystallized in currents of E. F. such as
Psychomotricity and Sociomotricity.
At the end of the 17th century, the era of modern gymnastics began, with the
first practical achievements that took place during the 18th and 19th centuries and
the first half of the 20th century, with the appearance of the first gymnastic schools
and movements.
2.7. 18th century
It was in the 18th century that pedagogical ideas, which inspired Physical
Education, revolved around the concepts of freedom and individual demands of
education.
The century of the Enlightenment discovers natural education and education in
nature, of which Jean Jacob Rousseau (1712-1778) is the greatest representative. In
this context, exercise and natural movement have their own values, typical of
contemporary gymnastics. Physical activity. For him, it has a significant value in the
formation of intelligence and in the comprehensive education of the individual.
2.8. 19th century
In the 19th century, educational priorities changed; modern education was
essentially utilitarian, the main objective being to prepare man for life. In school,
the primacy of science over literature is established, due to the help that it is
believed they offer to the development of intellectual faculties. This trend gave rise
to the birth of vocational studies and contributed to the introduction of manual work
in schools, because it helps the development of physical and intellectual faculties.
From the 19th century onwards, with educational systems on the rise, authors
considered to be the initiators of Physical Education, which we will know as School,
emerged, from which Gymnastic Systems and Movements emerged.
Gymnastic schools appeared in this era, the modern one, and have as a general
characteristic a differentiated conceptualization, compared to the globalizing
conceptualization of the Ancient Gymnastic Era, that is, they recognize the different
aspects of physical activity: Sport, Gymnastics, Game, Dance, Body Expression and
Communication, etc. In the first period stated, the continuous specific
manifestations on physical activity, which had been occurring in the 19th century,
will give rise at the beginning of the 20th century to the almost simultaneous
appearance of four great Gymnastic Movements, corresponding to the evolution of
what has been called "the Schools":
2.8.1. Swedish School
Created by Pier Henrich Ling (1776-1839), doctor, military man and fencing
teacher. Gymnastics according to his methods not only served to strengthen the
body and correct some physical defects, but also contributed to the comprehensive
education of the child, prepared the soldier and helped develop the aesthetic sense.
His method tends to seek physical health through Gymnastics, which is
fundamentally configured with analytical exercises, located around an articular core
and whose essential characteristics are their artificiality and excessive construction,
determination of the phases of execution in the starting position, development and
end, statism, order and use of command voices.
2.8.2. German School
At the moment when France defeated Prussia, the philosopher Fichte established
that a new education based on physical effort was needed in order to revive the
country. In the work entitled "German Nationality", published in 1809 and written by
Friedrich Ludwing Jahn, the aim is to instill physical exercise in the German people,
as long as this exercise is free. This author aims to give a sporting content to
physical exercises, the way he incites is somewhat curious.
At the end of the 1914-1918 war, Germany suffered another decline, so the
government once again encouraged the population to practice games and sports.
With the emergence of the Reich, it imposes its rules on sports.
The German school, at the beginning of the 19th century, will become the Center
Movement, formed by two types of Manifestations, Artistic-Rhythmic-Pedagogical
and Technical-Pedagogical, and will give rise to the Rhythmic or Synthetic systems.
2.8.3. School of Great Britain
In Britain, sports were governed by the Spartan principles of pain resistance.
Sports are taught in both English schools and universities. Thomas Arnold allows his
own pupils to lead associations, thereby instilling a sense of responsibility and at
the same time, teaching them to live in society. Although sport plays an important
role in schools and universities, there were no teachers in charge of teaching any
type of sport or physical education.
Because of this sense of social life instilled by Thomas Arnold, English universities
and colleges have important differences with the French ones.
2.8.4. The United States School
We can say that American children initially begin their education with games
derived from different sports. This method has children practice several sports
before settling on one in particular and becoming familiar with the main movements
of all of them.
 Sport in this country has, over time, taken on a commercial character that
involves the movement of large sums of money. Baseball is one of the most
influential sports in the USA. Another sport that attracts many fans is American
football, which has its origins in English rugby.
They also practiced athletics, as evidenced by the interuniversity competitions
that originated at the end of the last century.
2.8.5. The French School
At the beginning of the century, only the upper classes could practice sports in
France, and there were very few of them.
One of the catalysts, strange as it may seem, was the contributions of the French
air force. Notable among the first victories in the sporting field were those of the
cyclist Jean Bovin and the boxer Georges Carpentier.
Through sport, French youth are transforming their pessimistic thinking into a
mindset marked by action.
Athletic competitions were held between both clubs and around 1890 both added
a new sport, rugby. Football had already been introduced by the English in 1841,
when the first football club was founded: The White Rovers, and a year later (1842)
the Standard Athletic Club was created.
One of France's contributions to sport was the work of Pierre de Coubertin.
2.9. Spain
Physical activity in Spain, both in Physical Education with some type of
systematization, and the practice of any sport, has been minimal, until the 18th
century, when society began to demand educational attention and the State began
to consider the possibility of including Physical Education in its educational system.
The most relevant events that occurred from that moment until today were the
great reform that education underwent, which began in Spain in 1767, during the
reign of Charles III. However, despite the two great advances that occurred,
education in general, and Physical Education in particular, remain far behind the
rest of Europe.
During the 19th century, Spanish society, in conflict with a strong conservative
tradition, was not among the European societies most willing to welcome
pedagogical naturalisms from the Enlightenment, which may explain the scant
attention that Physical Education almost always received in our schools. Despite
this, advances in society and science, and progress in medicine and hygiene, will
have a strong impact on the educational approaches of the second half of that
century and on the inclusion of Physical Education in school programs for children
and youth.
Physical Education took a long time to be recognised in the curriculum, so that it
was not until 1900 that it became a subject at all levels of education, although not
definitively.
In the 20th century, despite the abundant legal provisions on Education in
general and E. F. In particular, significant progress was not made until the 1970s,
when a certain openness began to occur, with Physical Education maintaining the
hygienic and military character given to it by Jovellanos.
The Second Republic (1931-1936) addressed a broad educational reform that
included games and physical exercise.
After the Civil War (1936-1939), sport became an element of affirmation of the
regime. Physical Education becomes compulsory again at all levels of education,
always respecting the separation of the sexes and depending on a Ministry other
than Education, the General Secretariat of the Movement, to whom the Law of
December 16, 1940, entrusts the control, organization and teaching of Physical
Education throughout the country through the Women's Section and the Youth
Front.
The contents of Physical Education are based on the Swedish method: tables,
uniforms, formations, deployments, alignments and analytical movements, which
would be modified for women, with adaptations to neo-Swedish gymnastics and the
introduction of wave-like movements, oscillations, vaulting and swinging. For men,
their military character is corrected towards more recreational tendencies.
 The Spanish Constitution of 1978 recognises sport, although not as a right, but as
a competence and obligation of the State and autonomous entities in its promotion
and encouragement.
In 1990, the LOGSE introduced Physical Education at all levels of education on an
obligatory basis, and at the University, as a consequence of the University Reform
Law (LRU) of 1983 and the Decree of 1991, the specialty of Physical Education was
created in Teacher Training Schools, most of which have now become Faculties of
Education.
The 1992 Olympic Games had a great influence on these processes, as did
current social trends of body worship, in search of aesthetics and health, as well as
greater availability of leisure time and the creation of municipal sports facilities,
which allow the population to access physical activities.