Sport

An exact definition of sport is elusive.

For example, the well-known philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein argues that sports are defined, not by a set of common characteristics, but by new activities sharing some common aspects with existing sports, but not necessarily sharing any common characteristics with all. Credence to this comment may be taken from the increasingly diverse set of activities that are at least claimed by some as sports - from chess to cheerleading, from sheepdog trials to ballroom dancing. What do all of those activities have in common?

Many of the above would not be recognised as sports by fans of more traditionally-recognised sports, and using Wittgenstein's "extension" approach it would be quite reasonable to claim a "battle of the bands" competition as a sporting event and thus playing rock and roll as a sport, a definition which makes "sport" so broad as to be potentially useless and quite different to the common understanding, fuzzy though that may be.

An operational definition.

A pragmatic approach to defining "sport" is to look at the common usage of the term.

A sport can be operationally defined as an activity characteristically involving :

The exercise of an everyday skill or ability , to a high degree of attainment
Conforming to rules of the sport, and
the skill is exercised for a purpose other than its usual application in daily life.

For example:

Gladiators in Rome fought and killed for the delectation of the audience, rather than to protect the Empire:
Yachting is the travel across water for enjoyment or competition rather than e.g. for transport or commerce:
Running is done on a course for a fixed length of time or distance, rather than simply to catch a bus.

Physical sports use characteristics such as strength, stamina, speed, dexterity and other skills, other sports use more cerebral skills, such as strategic thinking in chess.

A Taxonomy of Sports

One system for classifying sports is as follows, based more on the sport's aim than on the actual mechanics. The examples given are intended to be illustrative, rather than comprehensive.

Racing

Human-powered (Running, swimming,....)
Human-assisted (Cycling, rowing, canoeing, ...)
External power source (Motor racing, sailing, powerboating...)

Opponent

Combat (Judo, karate, boxing...)
Court (Tennis, badminton, volleyball...)
Team (Football, rugby, hockey ...)

Achievement

Target (Archery, golf, shooting ...)
Display (Gymnastics, equestrian, diving ...)
Strength (Weight-lifting, triple jump, shot put ...)

Sportsmanship

It is interesting that the motivation for sport is often an elusive element. For example, beginners in sailing are often told that dinghy racing is a good means to sharpen the learner's sailing skills. However, it often emerges that skills are honed to increase racing performance and achievements in competition, rather than the converse. 'Sportsmanship' expresses an aspiration or ethos that the activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, but often the pressures of competition, individual achievement, or introduction of technology can seem to work against enjoyment by participants.

Regulation of Sport

The regulation of each sport is usually done by its own regulatory body resulting in a core of relatively invariant, agreed rules. People responsible for leisure activities often seek recognition and respectability as sports by joining sports federations such as the IOC, or by forming their own regulatory body. In this way sports evolve from leisure activity to more formal sports: relatively recent newcomers are BMX cycling, snowboarding, wrestling, etc. Some of these activities have been popular but uncodified pursuits for different lengths of time. Indeed, the formal regulation of sport is a relatively modern and increasing development.

F1 motor racing is an example of strict and changing regulation, where the regulating body appears to control rather than to simply define the sport. There have been major changes in the rules of F1 recently, almost on an annual basis, and more are planned. Sometimes this is done for safety reasons, sometimes to make the racing more interesting as a spectator sport, and sometimes to promote competition through involvement of smaller teams.Some changes make overtaking more probable for example or reduce the probability of an overwhelming technical advantage by any one team. Although heavily regulated, most people agree that the sport has thereby greatly benefitted, not least through dramatic leaps in safety.

The degree of organisation can vary from national or worldwide competitions for the sport, or it can occur in a purely ad-hoc, spontaneous way. A sport may be played individually (e.g. time trialling in cycling) or in a team, or just for recreation and well being (e.g. swimming).

Some challenging situations have had to be dealt with when there is an overlap of the regulation of the sport with other forms of regulation, e.g. safety (There have been serious losses of life in football audiences, through stand collapses or poor crowd management), or simple laws of the land (Some inadvertent or otherwise physical interchanges occur between participants: when is it acceptable for the sport regulating authority alone to investigate and if necessary punish these?) Can there be economic or public relations pressures affecting these issues?

Professionalism in Sport

There have been major problems caused for some sports by either the increaseof professionalism, or attempts to resist the spread of professionalism.

Professionalism has increasingly come to the fore through a combination of developments: mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organisations or teams can command large incomes. As a result, more sportspeople can afford to make the sport their primary career. This can have the major advantage of increasing the level of proficiency in the sport. It can also be seen to exclude the part-time or amateur participant, and thus to be a limiting influence on the sport.

Other influences come from organisations seeing professionalism as an attack on the central ethos of sport, i.e. of being done for its own sake, and for pure enjoyment, rather than as a means to earning a living. Consequently, there has been some reactive resistance to professionalism in some organisations, and some people see this as an impediment to the development of the sport. For example, Rugby was seen for many years as a part-time sport engaged in by amateurs, and English cricket is alleged to have suffered in quality because of a non-professional approach.

Sport and Politics

There have been many dilemmas for sports where a difficult political context is in place.

When apartheid was the official policy in South Africa, many sportspeople adopted the conscientious approach that they should not appear in competitive sports there. Some feel this was an effective contribution to the eventual demolition of the policy of apartheid, others feel that it may have prolonged and reinforced its worst effects.

The 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin was an illustration, perhaps best recognised in retrospect, where an ideology was developing which used the event to strengthen its spread through propaganda.

In the history of Ireland, Gaelic sports were clearly carried on with nationalistic overtones: for example, last century a person could have been banned from playing professional Gaelic football, hurley, or other sport, if the person was seen to have played Soccer, or other game which was seen to be of British origin.

Nationalism in general is often evident in the pursuit of sport, or in its reporting: people compete in national teams, or commentators and audiences can adopt a partisan view. These trends are seen by some as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sport being carried on for its own sake, for the enjoyment of its participants.

Art and Sport

Tai chi, aesthetics, performance art, admiration of the beauty in the greek ideal, notes, excuse me Sport has many affinities with art.

History of Sport

Paleontological evidence for prehistoric sports (is there any)?
The sports of ancient civilizations:
- Egyptian

Pre-History

Sport seems to involve basic human skills being developed and exercised for their own sake, in parallel with being exercised for their usefulness. This suggests that sport is probably as old as the existence of people as purposive beings. Of course, as we go further back in history the dwindling evidence makes this more difficult to support.

Captain Cook, when he first visited the Hawaian Islands, in 1778, reported on the native people surfing. The native American Indians engaged in games and sports before the coming of Europeans, such as lacrosse type ball games, running, and other athletic activities. The ancient Mayan and Aztec civilisations played serious ballgames, see the link below. The courts used at that time are still used today.

It is reasonable to assume from these and other historical sources that sport has origins which lie in the beginnings of mankind itself.

Ancient China

There are artifacts and structures which suggest that Chinese people engaged in activities which meet our definition of sport as early as 4 000 years BCE. The origin and development of China's sports activities seem to have been closely related to the production, work, war and entertainment of the time.

Gymnastics appears to have been a popular sport in China's past. It certainly remains so today, as the skill of Chinese acrobats is internationally recognised.

China has a Bejing Museum which is dedicated to the subject of Chinese sport and its history. See [[1]]

Ancient Greece.

A wide range of sports were already in operation at the time of the Ancient Greek Empire. Wrestling, running, boxing, javelin and discus throwing, and chariot racing were prevalent. This suggests that the military culture of Greece was an influence on the development of its sports.

The Olympic games were held every four years in Ancient Greece. The games were held not simply as a sporting event, but as a celebration of individual excellence, cultural and artistic variety, and a showplace for architectural and sculptural innovation.

Fundamentally, it was a time of gratitude and respect for the Gods of the Greek religion. The games are named after Mount Olympus, a sacred place where the Gods were said to live. A time of truce was declared during the Olympic Games, as military actions and public executions were suspended. This was to enable people to congregate peacefully and to compete in a civilised and respectful atmosphere.

Developments up to the present time

Sport has been increasingly organised and regulated from the time of the Ancient Olympics up to the present century. There has been the growth of professionalism which has gone hand in hand with the advent of mass media and global communication. This perhaps contrasts with the noble Grecian ideal, where victory at the Games was much sought after, and rewarded with an olive branch.

Perhaps in a reaction to what is seen as over-commercialisation, there have been developments in sport which are best described as post-modern: extreme ironing being a notable example. There is also a move towards adventure sports as a form of escapism from the routines of life, examples being white water rafting, canyoning, BASE jumping, and more genteely, orienteering.