Ministry of education and science of the russian federation

The concept of sport

Sport (eng. sport, short for the original English. Disport - "game", "entertainment") - organized according to certain rules of the activity of people, consisting in comparing their physical and intellectual abilities, as well as preparation for this activity and interpersonal relationships arising in its process.
Sport is a specific kind of physical and intellectual activity performed for the purpose of competition, as well as purposeful preparation for them by warming up, training, combined with rest, the desire to gradually improve physical health, increase the level of intelligence, obtain moral satisfaction, and strive for perfection , improvement of personal, group and absolute records, fame, improvement of their own physical abilities and skills.
Sport is an integral part of physical culture. This is actually a competitive activity and preparation for it. It clearly manifests the desire to win, achieve high results, mobilize the physical, mental and moral qualities of a person. Mass sports enable millions of people to improve their physical qualities and motor capabilities, improve health and prolong creative longevity.
Sport of the highest achievements is the only model of activity in which the functioning of almost all body systems can manifest itself in the zone of absolute physical and practical limits of a healthy person. The goal of high-performance sports is to achieve the highest possible sports results or victories in major sports competitions.

History of sports

The development and change of sport throughout human history can tell a lot about both social changes in society in general and the essence of sport in particular. Many examples of cave art discovered to date contain depictions of ritual ceremonial scenes. Despite the fact that the actions depicted in these images cannot be attributed exclusively to the modern concept of sports, it can still be concluded that even then there were activities and rituals resembling sports activities. These images are located in France, Africa and Australia were made 30,000 years ago.

There are objects and structures that indicate that in China there was an activity that fits the modern definition of sports, already 4,000 years before our era. Apparently, gymnastics was a popular sport in ancient China. Images and objects in the tombs of the pharaohs also indicate that different types of sports activities were developed several millennia ago, Among them are swimming and fishing. On the territory of ancient Persia, sports such as polo and competitions of mounted knights on spears originated. In ancient Greece, there was already a wide variety of sports. The greatest development was received by various types of wrestling, running, throwing discus and chariot competitions. Judging by this list, military culture and military art were directly related to sports in ancient Greece (and not only there). In the same place, the Olympic Games were held every four years - in a small village in the Peloponnese called Olympia.
From the time of Ancient Greece to the present day, the history of sports can be easily traced. Over time, the sport became more and more organized and regulated. New types and sub-types of sports appeared and formed, the rules were clarified, the sport acquired traditions and supporters. The Industrial Revolution and mass production led to the fact that more and more people began to have free time, which led to the mass character of sports - more people wanted and could make sports a part of their lives by playing sports directly or devoting their leisure time to watching sports. These trends have been further developed with the advent of the media and global communications. The sport became professional, which further increased its popularity.
Modern post-industrial society, based on resources such as information and knowledge, using the possibilities of individual contacts of people with the help of Internet technologies, actively cultivates intellectual sports such as poker and online multiplayer games.