Sport Starts Here, Part 2

Movement, it seems, is the principal aim of athletic development. Every action taken in the training environment should be directed toward improving human physical movement capacities. On the soccer field, one team of players attempt to move with more control than the other while kicking the ball toward the net. 

The second but equally important enterprise of sports is to ensure that its practitioners follow its rules. When two wrestlers start a match, they understand that they must disengage upon the referee’s request; they also know that specific techniques (like punching, which is encouraged in boxing and other contact sports) are prohibited in their sport. 

The players on the soccer field, and the people watching the game, are aware that the ball may not come in contact with a player’s hand without the team the player belongs to incurring a penalty.

Proper movement within a set of rules is what sport is about; cooperative games that adhere to this contract promote good psychological development in those who play them. Rules ensure fair play and a solid framework for players to develop their physical movement skills. Sports are currently being used as a unifying force by the United Nations to mitigate the damages brought about by cultural differences worldwide, especially in the developing world. You can read more about the importance of sport here 

let us know if there are other positive aspects of it that we might have missed, and we will include them in a future article.

I will do my best to set my biases aside. Still, if I had to pick one activity that covers the two main initiatives of sport almost absolutely, I would have to point to the sport of gymnastics.

This sport can be considered the ultimate expression of human movement. Gymnastics doesn’t only require a complex set of rules and a sophisticated set of progressions; it necessitates that training rules be adequately followed for it to remain functional. 

Gymnastics’ rules go beyond its abstract competition guidelines. Specific [coaching] rules must be obeyed to facilitate the safe movement development of athletes and coaches. 

For this reason, I believe everyone should partake in Gymnastics, dance or martial arts training once in their lives, especially during their formative years.

Read Part 3.

— Coach José

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