Nick Dow's blog : How did gymnastics originate and develop?

Mass or developmental gymnastics underlies all modern Olympic disciplines related to this sport. Its origin dates back to ancient times, when developmental gymnastics was the basis of physical education and physical training.

Origins

According https://usghof.org/ the beauty of the body, glorified in Ancient Rome, the worship of the cult of health in Ancient Egypt required a type of physical training that would have a restorative, healing and developing effect on the entire body.

Gymnastics was exactly the sport that solved the problems. In ancient times, gymnastics was popular in:

Ancient Greece;
Egypt;
China;

During the Renaissance, developmental gymnastics was popular in Italy, and later in Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland.

Vittorino da Feltre, the great teacher-humanist of the Renaissance, wrote the following about developmental gymnastics: “Such a pastime provides many benefits, not to mention the important benefits for the development and strengthening of the body. A person becomes beautiful and dexterous. Idleness and effeminacy, leading to corruption, disappear, and the young man devotes himself more zealously to learning and meditation.” Montaigne, Luther, and Amos Comenius advocated for physical development in a playful way. They emphasized the importance of physical education for children from a very young age.

Gymnastics received official recognition exactly 138 years ago. On July 23, 1881, the European Gymnastics Federation was founded and “Gymnastics for all” was approved. The ideological inspirer and founder of developmental gymnastics was Nicholas Kuperus from Belgium. Initially, the European Gymnastics Federation included only 3 countries - France, Belgium, Holland.

Gymnastics for everyone

Nicholas Kuperus presented gymnastics as a mass sport, feasible for people of any age and physical ability. Gymnastics was designed to give pleasure, joy and fun from the “magic of movements”. Subsequently, the Olympic types of gymnastics received more active development, and the ideas of the founder of mass gymnastics were embodied in a separate movement “Gymnastics for All,” which began to rapidly gain popularity in the world due to its effectiveness, accessibility, and health-improving effect.

At the beginning of the 19th century. developmental gymnastics received a new impetus for the development of physical education of youth in Europe and Germany. A new movement has appeared in Germany - tournaments or German school gymnastics.

Before its appearance, the English sociologist and philosopher Herbert Spencer downplayed the educational significance of gymnastics for the younger generation. Although he admitted that gymnastics, for lack of anything better, can be used to strengthen the body. But he did not advise imposing it on children. The tournament showed the possibilities of gymnastics from a completely different point of view.

Thanks to the efforts of the teacher and writer Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, the first publicly accessible area with gymnastic equipment was equipped in 1811. The teacher sought to unite, teach collective thinking and interaction, and physically develop teenagers. 82 years later, the German Workers' Union was created.

As a result of his work, many gymnastic equipment were improved and exercises were developed that are still used in developmental gymnastics today. Also, for the first time, the formation of groups taking into account the age of the athletes was used. The big disadvantage of the tournament was that only children and male teenagers were covered by the movement. Girls and young women began to train only at the end of the 19th century.

The Swedish system was of great importance for the development of Gymnastics for All. Unlike the German school and other national trends, it had a scientific basis. The creation of developmental gymnastics sections was entrusted to Stockholm University professor Per-Gunter Ling. In 1813, through his efforts, the Institute of Gymnastics was created. It used special means and methods of physical development. Ling divided gymnastics into the following types:

military;
pedagogical;
aesthetic;
medical

And although the main attention was paid to military gymnastics, other groups were also developed.

In the USSR before the war, these gymnastics schools were popular. Gymnastics for everyone in the USSR was popular until the 70s. XX century Then the emphasis began to be placed on achieving sports results. But the popularity of developmental gymnastics in the world has not decreased. More and more countries joined the movement.

Movement today

Today “Gymnastics for everyone” is popular all over the world. People who are interested in gymnastics travel around countries, exchanging experiences, acquiring new knowledge and skills, and participating in competitions for non-professional gymnasts. The purpose of such festivals is not the struggle and competition of professionals, but the demonstration of one’s own capabilities and getting pleasure from it.

Organizations such as the European Gymnastics Club and the American Gymnastics Club are involved in the popularization of gymnastics. Since 2018, the American Gymnastics Club has opened a network of sports clubs in Ukraine, you can learn more about this here.

The developmental gymnastics program is a new approach to improving the health of children, maintaining the physical health of adults and the path to active longevity. Developmental gymnastics has developed various programs aimed at different ages and levels of physical fitness.

50 countries have already joined the movement. The results of the development of the Recreational Gymnastics program in such countries as:

USA;
Switzerland;
Sweden;
Germany;
China;
SOUTH AFRICA;
Finland;
Denmark and others

In Germany, scientific research is being conducted, programs are being developed to improve the development of children, involve them in sports, and form the habit of active and fun leisure time.

Once every 4 years, Gymnasteriads are held around the world, in which more than 22 thousand non-professional gymnasts take part.

In addition to such large festivals, similar events are held annually in certain countries of the world:

“Gym for Life Challenge” – performances by gymnastic groups of children and adults, which are held in different countries every 4 years;
“Eurogym” – annual performances by groups of teenagers;
"Golden Age" is a European festival for older people. The number of participants exceeds 1,500 people from 20 countries.

Performances by people of mature age are a great success, as they personally demonstrate the possibilities and accessibility of developmental gymnastics. But developmental gymnastics has the greatest benefit on the formation of a comprehensively developed personality from the first independent steps.

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