The Evolution of Gymnastics

PART 1 INTRODUCTION COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL cc01.indd01.indd 1 228/06/138/06/13 9:199:19 AAMM cc01.indd01.indd 2 228/06/138/06/13 9:199:19 AAMM Chapter 1 The evolution of gymnastics Keith Russell Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), Lausanne, Switzerland and College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada For most readers, the name “gymnastics” brings to The word “gymnastics” is today an umbrella mind those Olympic sports that gain wide media term, much the same as “aquatics,” in that it attention every 4 years. These include Men’s Artistic encompasses not only a group of competitive Gymnastics (with its six apparatuses: fl oor exercise, sports but also many less formalized gymnastics pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars, and hori- activities in the fi elds of education, recreation, zontal bar); Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (with its and fi tness (Figure 1.1). These noncompetitive four apparatuses: asymmetric bars, balance beam, forms of gymnastics are showcased every year in vault, and fl oor exercise); Rhythmic Gymnastics gym festivals in many countries, some with over with its lithe, fl exible female gymnasts doing 100,000 participants. There is also the World incredible manipulative skills with hand apparatus; Gymnaestrada held every fourth year with 20,000 and, of course, the acrobatically spectacular sport participants. The Fédération Internationale de of Trampoline Gymnastics (TG). Collectively, these Gymnastique (FIG) is the world’s oldest inter- sports represent a very small percentage of the national sport governing body (incorporated in total gymnastics community. There are, in addi- 1881 as the Fédération Européenne de Gymnas- tion, several non-Olympic sports including Aerobic tique) and has a contemporary stable of sports Gymnastics and Acrobatic Gymnastics plus a large that includes the four Olympic sports plus two family of recreational, educational, and exhibi- non-Olympic multicategory sports of Acrobatic tion forms of gymnastics that are grouped under Gymnastics and Aerobic Gymnastics. In addition, the moniker Gymnastics for All. The word “gym- there are three competitive subdisciplines of TG nastics” comes to us from the ancient Greek verb that are not contested in the Olympic Games but “gymnazo” meaning to train naked, which is how are included in all other TG competitions: Tum- young men in the 7th to 3rd centuries BC practiced bling, Double Mini-Trampoline, and Synchro- the physical health and fi tness part of their edu- nized Trampoline. cation in the outdoor “gymnasion,” supervised by Gymnastics-type movement was performed the trainers or “gymnastē s.” The aristocratic young in the ancient Chinese, Mesopotamian, Indian, men devoted considerable time to practicing vari- and Mediterranean cultures, which all left ample ous athletic endeavors to be contested at religious records of the importance they placed on this type festivals. They also received education in music, of physical exercise and body movement. It was the letters, and philosophy. Greeks of the Homeric and Classical eras, however, who had the most lasting infl uence on subsequent educational and medical gymnastics practice. Their emphasis on mind/body integration in the educa- Gymnastics, First Edition. Edited by Dennis J. Caine, Keith Russell and Liesbeth Lim. © 2013 International Olympic Committee. tion of their youth would greatly infl uence educa- Published 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. tors 18 centuries later. Plato, whose original name 3 cc01.indd01.indd 3 228/06/138/06/13 9:199:19 AAMM 4 Chapter 1 The gymnastic family FIG’s Sport Disciplines Gymnastics for All A R T A A G F E R T E G R H R C E Y I D E E S Y T Y A R R M T U C A T M I T M O O N N C R M H N S H P B B E A E E T M O A I F S T A G T I I I L T C E S I T Y I N C C I I S O I M C N C T G N O N O E I Y A N A G T V M L A S Y H A N L T M E * ** L G I N R S Y G C M Y S S N M P N O R T *Olympic sports S Figure 1.1 The many faces of “gymnastics.” (With courtesy of Keith Russell.) was believed to be Aristocles, was given the name Gymnastics evolution from the Plato by his “gymnastai” Ariston of Argos because performing arts he had a broad (platon) and athletic chest (Yian- nakis and Yiannakis, 1998). The Romans followed the Greeks and contin- The earliest pictorial references to gymnastics ued many of their practices, but with more mili- activities come from paintings and engravings at tary emphasis. After the classical Greek era, the several Egyptian sites. Most of them depict female ensuing 10 centuries (the Middle Ages) had very performers tumbling and balancing and are dated little emphasis on sport, games, or the practice from 2300 to 1000 BC (Touney, 1984). The tombs of integrating the mind and the body in educa- at Beni-Hassen show tumbling and ball passing tion as extolled by the Greeks. It was not until and juggling skills that are surprisingly compara- the 1400s that we see a shift in thinking and a ble to the contemporary sports of Tumbling and rebirth of the educational concepts introduced Rhythmic Gymnastics (Figure 1.2). many centuries before by the Greeks. Let us trace Around the same time, the Minoans, another how the contemporary sports and activities of great Mediterranean society centered on Crete, gymnastics have coalesced via a fascinating and left many pictorial examples of performers vault- long journey through four primary ancestries: ing and performing acrobatics on large adult bulls. (1) the performing arts, (2) military training, Both male and female acrobats are illustrated and (3) the medical professions, and (4) the education they appear to be paid professional performers professions. (Gardiner, 1930). It would appear that subsequent cc01.indd01.indd 4 228/06/138/06/13 9:199:19 AAMM The evolution of gymnastics 5 1st century BC, a combination of dance, acrobatics, and music called Juedixi was very popular in China. The circuses, traveling minstrel shows, and court performers throughout the world contained acrobatic performers and they often used a variety of devices to extend the acrobats’ time in the air. The ancient Minoans used the momentum from grasp- ing a bull’s horns while being tossed in the air, while the Inuit of northern Canada used skins stretched between several throwers to toss one member high in the air to better see distant animals and also to entertain during celebratory events. The tossing of one acrobat by one or more others has a long tradi- tion that continues in today’s Acrobatic Gymnastics. Many aerial enhancement devices like teeterboards, Russian swings, trapezes, and contemporary devices like Double Mini-Trampoline and Trampoline have a clear genesis in the performing arts, and circuses had such devices that allowed performers to be propelled into the air. American inventor and per- former George Nissen used his springing invention in a three-person traveling “rebound tumbling” act called the Three Leonardos soon after designing and building it in 1934. It was while traveling in Mexico that he learned that the Spanish word for diving board was trampolin. It is obvious that the sports of Trampoline, Tumbling, Acrobatic Gym- nastics, and Rhythmic Gymnastics can trace part of their lineage directly to the various performing arts that have evolved over the millennia. Figure 1.2 Ancient Egyptian gymnasts from tombs at Beni-Hassen (Source: Gardiner, E., Athletics in the Ancient World (1990) with permission from Oxford University Press.) Gymnastics evolution from military training societies on mainland Greece took much of their reverence of athleticism and physical fi tness from the Minoans and it became an integral part of Greek There was an obvious appreciation for physical education. The Homeric poems describe Corfu artists prowess in most ancient societies as a requisite for combining acrobatics and dance with ball and musi- survival. The ancient Greek city-states developed a cal accompaniment (Frantzopoulou et al., 2011). strong competition ethos that resulted in intercity When we follow acrobatic performances through competitions in many endeavors including physical history, there is a clear thread of continuity running activities like running, throwing, wrestling, and cal- through them. The performances were often com- isthenics. Many of these activities were associated bined with dance and musical accompaniment, with military prowess and are wonderfully described and are depicted in illustrations and text in both in Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Western and Eastern civilizations. Chinese stone Greek city-state competitions and regional athletic carvings from 1000 BC as well as 3rd century BC competitions evolved into large gatherings that writing described acrobatic performances. By the culminated in four major games, one of which was cc01.indd01.indd 5 228/06/138/06/13 9:199:19 AAMM 6 Chapter 1 the games at Olympia fi rst documented in 776 BC. was followed a year later by another book Exercises There was great debate in Greek literature about the for Ladies Calculated to Preserve and Improve Beauty value of so much time being devoted to training for in which Walker described the use of smaller, two these festivals, especially when the athletes became pound Indian clubs he called “sceptres,” which are increasingly more professional and the rewards for the precursors of contemporary clubs in Rhythmic winning multiplied (Manning, 1917). Gymnastics (Todd, 2010). Indian club swinging The subsequent Roman Empire took these fi tness subsequently became an important part of physi- arts to even greater sophistication but directed the cal education training in many countries.

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