Amid Progress and Wilderness: Early Reception of Georges Hébert’s Naturist Ideas in Brazil During the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing how Hébert’s naturist ideas were received and assimilated in Brazil based on the perusal of sources such as Azevedo (1915, 1920, 1931), Miranda (1945) as well as some broadsheets and periodicals, for example Correio da Manhã, O Paiz, Gazeta de Noticias, and Fon-Fon! (1913–1928). Furthermore, it investigates by what means Hébert’s conception of nature integrated the mindset of Brazilian sanitarians in the first half of the twentieth century. Evidence suggests that there must have been some intertwinement of points of view that brought together Hebert’s Natural Method and the French Naturist Perspective at the time of the arrival of the latter in Brazil. Hébert’s thoughts on the concept of Nature reached Brazil early in the 1910s, and were incorporated in the shaping of a new approach to therapeutic treatments focused on preserving the patient’s welfare. As a result, this study has enabled us to properly understand the reception of Hébert’s works in Brazil, and come to terms with the historical connection between French gymnastic practices based on the Natural Method and their subsequent acclimatized Brazilian variants.     

‘A Different Kind of Test Match’: Cricket,English Society and the First World War

This paper uses cricket as an analytical tool for investigating developments in English society at the time of the First World War. It firstly explores contemporary attitudes to how cricket responded to the outbreak of war, making comparison with the experiences of other sports. It is shown that the fact cricketers enlisted in their thousands, allied to conspicuous attempts by the cricket authorities to support the war effort, largely deflected the kind of criticism that was heaped upon other sports. This paper then considers the role played by cricket in shaping the wartime experiences of both civilians in England and members of the armed forces serving in areas of conflict. It is demonstrated that contemporaries believed that cricket provided respite from the war and boosted morale. This study lastly considers the insights that cricket reveals about the impact of the war upon society, demonstrating that the evidence offered up by the game suggests that rather than breaking down social divisions of Edwardian-era England, the war in fact reinforced societal stratification as the anxieties imposed by the conflict led people to seek comfort from established structures.     

‘Physical Education’s First Lady of the World’: Dorothy Sears Ainsworth and the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Women and Girls

Abstract

Dorothy Sears Ainsworth has received wide acclaim for her pioneering efforts in international relations that enhanced collaboration among female physical educators in the decades following World War II. As Director of Physical Education for Women at Smith College (1926–1960), Ainsworth became a global figure, traveling extensively and organizing the first international conference on physical education for women and girls in Copenhagen in 1949. This resulted in the establishment of the International Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women (IAPESGW), today counting over 400 members from 45 different countries. In this paper we (re)consider the largely hagiographical accounts of Ainsworth’s career and re-examine her contributions to the international stage in light of her maternalist views on female sport and physicality. Indeed, women’s difference from men dominated the discourse of many international women’s movements at this time. We consider what IAPESGW’s long-term governance by primarily white and wealthy women may have meant in terms of the organization’s focus and globalizing efforts and conclude that though Ainsworth’s essentialist approach ignored earlier feminist sporting movements, and would not outlast the more progressive winds of change in the 1970s, neither should her early contributions to establishing bonds among female physical educators globally be minimized.     

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The 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm – The First Meeting of the Highly Trusted Men and What Happened to Them Since

At the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912, Johannes Sigfrid Edström, Avery Brundage, Carl Diem and Karl Ritter von Halt met each other for the first time and started to cooperate afterwards. From the 1930s they all played a very important role in IOC and in the Olympic System (I prefer system instead of movement). The article examines the role of the network in the international discussion about the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, the networks perceptions of the Jews and their cooperation with the Nazis, the networks importance for the denazification of Karl Ritter von Halt after the Second World War and the influence in IOC to West Germany and East Germany during the Cold War until the 1972 Olympics when East Germany participated for the first time as a sovereign state and Avery Brundage resigned as president of the IOC.     

Was Pontarii Fighting the Origin of the Gladiator-Type Retiarius? An Analysis of the Evidence

Abstract

The origin of the retiarius has always been a mystery for experts, since there seems to be no source that gives reliable information about that question. Some experts have proposed that its origin might be found in the Siege of Tyre (332 BC), when the defenders of that city used tridents and nets to repel the attackers. Yet those same experts also warn that that episode might have more to do with the invention of pontarii fighting (a modality of fighting where the retiarius took part) than with the invention of the retiarius itself, which, according to them, would have been invented before pontarii fighting. Here, I propose the idea that an attempt to re-enact the siege of Tyre around the 30s–20s BC in order to offer a new gladiatorial entertainment might have been the origin of pontarii fighting, and of the retiarius too, since in such a re-enactment, a gladiator would have been given a trident and net to play the role of the defenders of Tyre. Thus, pontarii fighting and the retiarius would have been invented at the same time (30s–20s BC), the latter as a consequence of the former.     

Sport,Media, Politics and Nationalism on the Eve of the Spanish Civil War: The First Vuelta Ciclista a España (1935)

The Vuelta Ciclista a España, whose 75th anniversary will be celebrated in 2010, is one of the three big stage races in the world, alongside the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia. It is arguably a major yearly sporting event with a wide popular appeal and media coverage, not only at a national level but also increasingly at a global one. Yet, unlike the Tour and the Giro, it remains unexplored from a socio-scientific perspective. This article aims, therefore, at breaking some new ground while analysing the socio-political dimension of this long-lasting, successful sporting event's first instalment in 1935, putting it against the backdrop of the turbulent Second Republic and the path leading to the Civil War. The media-confected nature of the Vuelta is highlighted, which brings it close to its fellow races of the Big Three Tours (also set up and managed by daily newspapers), but a major difference is pointed out: the first Vuelta's predominant political-ideological rationale, its overwhelming propagandistic aim put to the service of Spanish reactionary forces, compared to the mainly commercial purposes of the first Tour's and Giro's marketing-driven organizers.     

For the Good of the Game? The Legacy of the Football Trust,the Football Pools,and the Dangerous Seduction of Political Promise

During the late twentieth century, the United Kingdom’s football infrastructure and spectatorship underwent transformation as successive stadia disasters heightened political and public scrutiny of the game and prompted industry change. Central to this process was the government’s formation of an independent charitable organization to oversee subsequent policy implementation and grant-aid provision to clubs for safety, crowd, and spectator requirements. This entity, which began in 1975 focusing on ground improvement, developed into the Football Trust. The Trust was funded directly by the football pools companies who ran popular low-stakes football betting enterprises. Working in association with the Pools Promoters Association (PPA), and demonstrating their social responsibility towards the game’s constituents, the pools resourced a wide array of Trust activities. Yet irrespective of government mandate, the PPA and Trust were continually confronted by political and economic obstacles that threatened the effectiveness of their arrangements. In this paper the history of the Football Trust is investigated, along with its partnership with the PPA, and its relationship with the government within the context of broader political shifts, stadia catastrophes, official inquiries, and commercial threats. It is contended that while the Trust/PPA partnership had a respectable legacy, their history afforded little protection against adverse contemporary conditions.     

Football’s First Free Kick: Demography and the Media – How and Why Australia Got a Game of Its Own

There have been numerous attempts to explain why the precocious code of football that started as a game played under Melbourne Club rules devised in 1859 became the dominant form in Victoria and the most influential in Australia, while Association football (soccer) had little impact until the second half of the twentieth century. In this article, attention is directed at some demographic features that have not been addressed in the literature and on the journalists who helped shape public perceptions of this form of the game. For the first 20 years after the codification of this unique football there was virtually no inward migration into Victoria, so the domestic game had its first free kick with few foreigners with different ideas of how the game should be played to disturb its establishment. Furthermore, the journalists who shaped the ideas of the readership of the Victorian newspapers had little or no knowledge of the forms of football played in Victoria prior to 1855, and their unconscious or conscious imperialism helped secure the pre-eminence of the new code.     

Is the occurrence of the sticking region the result of diminishing potentiation in bench press?

In this study we investigated if the occurrence of the sticking region was a result of diminishing potentiation (coinciding delayed muscle activation) or the result of a mechanically poor region in which the muscles can produce less force. A regular one-repetition maximum (1RM) free-weight bench press was compared with isometric bench presses performed at 12 different positions. A lower force at the sticking region compared to the other regions in the isometric bench presses would confirm the mechanically-poor-position hypothesis. Twelve resistance-trained males (age 21.7 ± 1.3 years, mass 78 ± 5.8 kg, height 1.81 ± 0.05 m) were tested in 1RM and in isometric contractions in bench press in 12 different positions, indicated by the vertical distance between barbell and sternum, covering the whole range of motion during the concentric phase. Barbell kinematics and muscle activity were registered. In both types of executions a region of lower force output was observed, which supports the mechanically-poor-position hypothesis. Electromyographic activity of four muscles showed the same pattern in the isometric and 1RM attempts. It was concluded that diminishing effect potentiation could not explain the existence of the sticking region.     

Different durations within the method of best practice affect the parameters of the speed–duration relationship

The aim of the study was to determine whether estimates of the speed–duration relationship are affected using different time-trial (TT) field-based testing protocols, where exhaustive times were located within the generally recommended durations of 2–15?min. Ten triathletes (mean?±?SD age: 31.0?±?5.7?years; height: 1.81?±?0.05?m; body mass: 76.5?±?6.8?kg) performed two randomly assigned field tests to determine critical speed (CS) and the total distance covered above CS (D?). CS and D? were obtained using two different protocols comprising three TT that were interspersed by 60?min passive rest. The TTs were 12, 7, and 3?min in Protocol I and 10, 5, and 2?min in Protocol II. A linear relationship of speed vs. the inverse of time (s?=?D??×?1/t?+?CS) was used to determine parameter estimates. Significant differences were found for CS (p?=?0.026), but not for D? (p?=?0.123). The effect size for CS (d?=?0.305) was considered small, while that for D? was considered moderate (d?=?0.742). CS was significantly correlated between protocols (r?=?0.934; p?D? (r?=?0.053; p?=?0.884). The 95% limits of agreement were ±0.28m?s^?1 and ±73.9?m for CS and D?, respectively. These findings demonstrate that the choice of exhaustive times within commonly accepted durations results in different estimates of CS and D?, and thus protocols cannot be used interchangeably. The use of a consistent protocol is therefore recommended, when investigating or monitoring the speed–duration relationship estimates in well-trained athletes.     

The Decline of the ‘Elite’ Sport Officials and the Dissolution of the Israeli Sport Association

This historical study will examine the rise of a hegemonic group of sports officials in Israel during the period between 1948 and 1996. The formation of this group is a unique phenomenon of the Israeli sport society. The main argument of the study is that officials of rival sport centres, ‘Hapoel’ and ‘Maccabi’, founded a joint elite group as a side effect of the ‘fifty-fifty’ agreement, signed in 1951. The agreement stated that the Israeli Sport Association, the National Olympic Committee and the Israeli Football Association would be mutually led by officials of both organizations. The members of this elite group, who enjoyed access to economic resources and other benefits, adopted a hedonistic lifestyle, in contrast to the social ethos of Israeli society in the first and second decades of the State. Three events dismantled the group in the middle of the 1990s. The first one was the establishment of the Elite Sport Department in 1984. The second was the establishment of independent Federations by Yadin Machnes. The third was the Maliniak Commission Report. These three events led to the collapse of the Israeli Sport Association in 1996 and to the fall of the Israeli hegemonic group.     

World Cup Football as a Catalyst for Change: Exploring the Lives of Women in Qatar's First National Football Team – A Case Study

In 2012, five Qatari women participated in a qualitative research study, which aimed to explore the negotiation of opportunity to be members of Qatar's first national women's football team. Qatar is a conservative Islamic country which is experiencing rapid modernisation. Part of this modernisation includes the increasing visibility of sport, for example the successful bid for the 2022 men's Football World Cup. In response to this bid, the first Qatari women's national football team was established in 2011. The project was positioned within a social constructivist framework. Five out of 12 squad members, over the age of 18, volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interview questions probed the women's experiences and influences on their opportunities and journey to membership in the national team. From a thematic analysis, issues such as the management of gender norms and the influence of significant others dominated the data. This research indicated that the women's agency enabled them to manage their situation with a range of strategies and to change attitudes towards women footballers. The winning of the bid to host the men's World Cup has been a catalyst for change in making spaces for Qatari sportswomen.     

Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Parents’ Proxy MPAQ-C in Chinese Population

We examined psychometric properties of a Modified Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (MPAQ-C). Thirty-two parents (Study 1), 40 students (6–9 years) and one of each student’s parents (Study 2), and 625 parents (Study 3) completed the MPAQ-C. The MPAQ-C (six items) measured children’s physical activity (PA) after school, and during evenings and weekends for 7 days. Test–retest reliability (Study 1) and convergent validity (Study 2) were measured. Factor validity of the MPAQ-C (Study 3) was examined using confirmatory factor analysis. A single-factor model of the MPAQ-C fit the data well (χ² (9) = 42.78, p < .001; comparative fit index[CFI] = .977; non-normed fit index [NNFI] = .962; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .079 [90% confidence interval {CI} = .057 to .11]), with good test–retest reliability, composite reliability (.80) and convergent validity. The factor loadings of MPAQ-C were invariant across fathers/mothers (Δχ² (6) = 3.44, p > .05). The MPAQ-C is a suitable parent proxy for measuring young Chinese children’s PA.     

Looking at the extraordinary success of the ‘Clockwork Orange’: examining the brilliance of total football played by the Netherlands

This essay describes some of the legendary accomplishments of the Netherlands football team in the World Cup and other international tournaments. It focuses on the Dutch teams led by Johan Cruyff and affectionately known as ‘The Clockwork Orange’ because they introduced a modern style of play with precision passing that was referred to as ‘total football’. The Netherlands advanced to the World Cup final in 1974 and 1978, only to lose the championship each time. The study also explores the role of the Dutch coach Rinus Michels and some of Cruyff’s teammates such as Johan Neeskens and Rob Rensenbrink. Looking at the Netherlands’ performances in the European championships and World Cups in the last three decades, the essay attempts to bring out the transformations in Dutch football in post-Cruyff age. Finally, it discusses the team’s rabid and energized fan base, and the ambush marketing scandal that took place during the 2010 World Cup.     

Getting to the heart of the matter: A diary study of swimmers’ appraisals of organisational stressors

Abstract

We explored sport performers’ cognitive appraisals of organisational stressors. The relevant demands and transactional alternatives that athletes experience in relation to the situational properties were identified. Thirteen national standard swimmers completed semi-structured, interval-contingent daily diaries for a 28-day period. A combination of inductive and deductive content analysis was used to organise and analyse the diary entries with a focus on the following areas: organisational stressors, their underlying situational properties, and the swimmers’ transactional alternatives. One hundred and thirty-one of the organisational stressors were appraised as threat, 41 as challenge, and 83 as harm/loss. Support was found for the majority of Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) situational properties with the only exception being temporal uncertainty. Imminence was associated with the greatest number of threat appraisals (47), novelty was associated with the greatest number of challenge appraisals (17), and duration was associated with the greatest number of harm/loss appraisals (22). It is concluded that appraisal plays a pivotal role in sport performers’ experiences of their organisational environment. Swimmers’ transactional alternatives are influenced by the situational properties of the stressors encountered.     

Looking at Losing: Presentations of the Media's Narrative of the Cleveland Browns’ Relocation

On November 6, 1995, Art Modell announced his intention to relocate the National Football League's (NFL) Cleveland Browns to Baltimore following the season. After 4 months of civic activism from Cleveland's community and legal action from the city's politicians, Cleveland, the NFL and Modell agreed to a deal that allowed the long-time owner to honour his contract with Baltimore and simultaneously provided a NFL club to Cleveland to begin play in 1999. This settlement was unique because it allowed Cleveland to retain the naming rights, colours, logo and, most significantly, the history of the Browns. Media presentations of Modell's announcement during the 4-month period illuminated a complex symbiotic relationship between the press, the public and sports entrepreneurs. The local media castigated and vilified Modell for betraying Cleveland's community and disturbing the city's supposed ‘renaissance’, while the national media connected with Cleveland as a leading member of the dilapidated ‘Rustbelt’ in the new American economy. These interconnections led fans, followers and other pundits of the NFL to question the actions of football entrepreneurs and provided a platform at the turn-of-the twenty-first century for sustained criticism of the business of professional sports, franchise relocation and the widening social class divide in the NFL.