The History And Practice Of Gymnastics

By Joshua Nelson


Gymnastic exercises refer to the performance of exercises that require flexibility, strength, control, and balance. These performances are under the regulation of the FIG, which is an international body with global powers. Besides the FIG, each country in which gymnastics is practiced has its own governing body that regulates the sport. State regulatory bodies have affiliations to the FIG.

The name gymnastic has its root from the Greek language. The Greek word translates to naked in the English language. Another form of the word translates to training while naked in English. The reason for adopting this word was because people in the ancient world practiced without cloths. The first instance of using the word was in the 1570s. Its use and adoption has grown and expanded ever since.

Gymnastic originated in Ancient Greece. Its invention was for military training. As part of preparations for war, soldiers trained in different gymnastic exercises. The skills and knowledge could assist soldiers in fighting according a common belief at the time. Inclusion into military training was dropped later. Some aspects of training in the military may however still be based on some gymnastic exercises even today.

The birth of modern gymnastic took place in the state of Germany by the work of three pioneers. This happened following the creation of exercises for boys and young men to be performed on apparatus designed by the pioneers. These exercises were later to lead to the gymnastic industry as it is known today. Educative gymnastic in France was introduced by Don Franscisco Ondeano. Today, international competitions include the use of high bars, parallel bars, and rings, a phenomenon that was promoted a lot by one of the German pioneers named Jahn.

Liege is where FIG got established in 1881. Men events were first introduced in Olympics in 1896 following its popularity. Significant changes were made in the events gymnasts competed in from 1896 through to the 1950s. The changes happened at international as well as national levels.

What seemed normal back in the day would be very strange to the audiences of today. Some among the exercises participants took part in include high jumping, horizontal ladder, running, rope climbing, and floor calisthenics. Women started to take part in gymnastic events in the 1920s. The first Olympic competitions in which women participated were very primitive. The only events included were track and field and synchronized calisthenics. This Olympic Games occurred in Amsterdam in 1928.

Standardization of both women and men Olympic events and apparatus had already been done by 1954. There was global consensus on grading structures and formats. The Soviet surprised the world by high caliber of performance and set a precedent that persists even today. The modern age of this field was initiated and publicized by the newly invented television.

Today, gymnastic has reached a very high level of quality in both male and female events. It is a sport that attracts global interest and admiration with excellent gymnasts on all continents. The traditional system for scoring point was changed to a new system in 2006.




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