Physical culture
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Physical culture, also known as body culture,[1] is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany,[1] the UK and the US.
Origins
The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century owed its origins to several cultural trends.[2]
In the United States, German immigrants after 1848 introduced a physical culture system based on gymnastics that became popular especially in colleges. Many local
By the late 19th century reformers worried that sedentary white collar workers were suffering from various "
Physical culture programs were promoted through the education system, particularly at
Industry began the production of various items of exercise-oriented sports equipment. During the early and mid-19th century, these printed works and items of apparatus generally addressed exercise as a form of remedial physical therapy.
Certain items of equipment and types of exercise were common to several different physical culture systems, including exercises with Indian clubs, medicine balls, wooden or iron wands and dumbbells.
were also widely practiced in physical culture schools and were touted as forms of physical culture in their own right.The Muscular Christianity movement of the late 19th century advocated a fusion of energetic Christian activism and rigorous physical culture training.
"The Battle of the Systems"
As physical culture became increasingly popular and profitable, there arose intense national and then international competition amongst the founders and/or promoters of various systems. This rivalry became informally known as "the Battle of the Systems". Both public gyms and educational institutions tended to take an eclectic approach, whereas private physical culture clubs and organizations often promoted particular exercise systems initially based on ethnocentric and cultural links.
Early private establishments were based on ethnic and cultural affiliation, such as the Turners and Sokol movements. These ethnocentric systems in America were centered on integration, and later stood apart from their origin countries, having very little contact with them by the time World War I emerged. Later outfits were based on preference to what each system offered as a matter of practicality, with some systems retaining in their names historical references to their geographic origin.
The
The
By contrast with the German and Czech systems, the "Swedish System" founded by Pehr Henrik Ling promoted "light gymnastics", employing little, if any apparatus and focusing on calisthenics, breathing and stretching exercises as well as massage.
At the turn of the 20th century, bodybuilder and showman
Other notable advocates of physical culture include Jørgen Peter Müller and Mary Bagot Stack.[4]
Physical culture ("physie") in Australia
A physical culture practice, informally known as "physie" (pronounced "fizzy") developed in Australia in the 19th century and continues to this day, especially for women. It combines elements of march, rhythmic gymnastics and dance, with a focus on good posture and is aimed at young girls and women, from pre-school age to seniors.[5]
The original physie school
In March 1934, a "physical culture demonstration" was performed at the Theatre Royal in Adelaide, by Weber, Shorthose & Rice.[8]
Other leading historical schools include the Edith Parsons School of Physical Culture, founded in Sydney in 1961; and the Burns Association of Physical Culture, founded in Sydney in 1968, both still in operation.[when?]. Other schools founded later include the Western Zone Physical Culture (1972), and The Australian Physie and Dance Association (APDA) (2011).[citation needed] United Physie was founded in 2023.
Competition structure varies between associations, but generally there are local, state and national competitions for teams and individuals. National championships are typically held at prestigious venues such as Sydney Opera House or the Sydney International Convention Centre.
Contemporary interest in 19th-century physical culture
Considerable academic research into 19th-century physical culture has been undertaken since the 1980s, and numerous articles, theses and books have been produced addressing the topic from various perspectives.[9]
A number of contemporary strength and health training programs are based directly upon, or draw inspiration from various physical culture systems.
The historic
Modern collections of antique physical culture apparatus include those of the Joe and Betty Weider Museum of Physical Culture, part of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports at the University of Texas at Austin and the Gymuseum collection at the Forteza Fitness and Martial Arts studio in Ravenswood, Chicago.
See also
- Fitness culture
- History of physical training and fitness
- Physical education
- Body culture studies
- Bodybuilding
- Weightlifting
- Powerlifting
- Strongman
- Arm wrestling
- Gymnastics
- Pilates
- Modern yoga, based on a combination of physical culture and hatha yoga
- Western sports
References
- ^ ISBN 9781845455507.
- ^ Shelly McKenzie, Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America (University Press of Kansas; 2013)
- ^ Gertrud Pfister, "The Role of German Turners in American Physical Education," International Journal of the History of Sport (2009) 26#13 pp 1893-1925.
- ^ Zweiniger‐Bargielowska, Ina. (2005). The Culture of the Abdomen: Obesity and Reducing in Britain, circa 1900–1939. Journal of British Studies 44 (2): 239-273.
- ^ John Donegan; Richard Glover (22 June 2015). "Exploring Sydney's Obsession with the Physical Culture Movement". ABC Radio Sydney.
- ^ Howden, Saffron (June 26, 2015). "Physie: the 'underground' fusion of dance and sport". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ "The BJP Physie History". BJP Physie.
- The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 22, no. 1, 139. South Australia. 24 March 1934. p. 20. Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ McKenzie, Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in Americach 1
Further reading
- McKenzie, Shelly. Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America (University Press of Kansas; 2013) 304 pages
- Martschukat, Jürgen (2011). ""The Necessity for Better Bodies to Perpetuate Our Institutions, Insure a Higher Development of the Individual, and Advance the Conditions of the Race." Physical Culture and the Formation of the Self in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century USA". Journal of Historical Sociology. 24 (4): 472–493. PMID 22250307.
- Vertinsky, Patricia; Hedenborg, Susanna (2018). "Physical Culture Practices: New Historical Work on Women and Gender". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 35 (6): 487–493. .
- Weber, Eugen (1971). "Gymnastics and Sports in Fin-de-Siecle France: Opium of the Classes?". The American Historical Review. 76 (1): 70–98. S2CID 34502831.
- Welch, Follansbee Goodrich (1869). Moral, Intellectual, and Physical Culture; Or, the Philosophy of True Living. New York: United States: Wood & Holbrook. ISBN 978-1355886099. Retrieved 15 June 2019.