Eastern Thought And Movement Forms: Possible Implications For Western Sport And Physical Education. Essay, Research Paper

TITLE: Eastern Thought and Movement Forms: Possible Implications for Western Sport and Physical Education.

AUTHOR: Case, Robert W.

1983

ABSTRACT: American sport stresses the outward aspects of participation such as outcomes, rewards, goals, and winning;

Eastern thought and movement forms emphasize the inner and spiritual aspects of human movement such as self-realization,

spontaneity, body awareness, and enlightenment. In relating Eastern thought and movement forms to Western sport, five

themes are found to be repeated in the literature: (1) practical and utilitarian concerns; (2) hidden dimensions; (3) metaphysical

(mind/body) concerns; (4) competition concerns; and (5) pedagogical concerns. A discussion and analysis of these concerns’

implications for Western sport is presented. Two emerging trends are identified. The first is the “movement arts” trend which

emphasizes the depth and fullness of human movement experiences and a subjective/qualitative understanding of the body in

meaningful relation with the world. The second trend suggests that movement activities which emphasize self-awareness and

self-expression will play an important role in coping with a high technology future. (JD)

DESCRIPTORS: *Athletes; Competition; *Holistic Approach; Human Body; *Meditation; Movement Education; Non

Western Civilization; Participant Satisfaction; *Physical Education; Physical Fitness; Relaxation Training; *Self Actualization;

Social Attitudes; Sport Psychology; Western Civilization

ERIC_NO: ED104831

TITLE: Re-Visioning Sports, Physical Education and the Body.

AUTHOR: Leonard, George

1975

ABSTRACT: Physical education and athletic programs are usually considered expendable parts of the American lifestyle.

Nearly half the adults in the United States do not exercise at all, and of those that do, many indulge in their favorite sport only

once or twice a month. Although America seems to be a sports-conscious nation, the majority of the population are spectators

rather than active participants. A demand for equal time for health, physical education, and recreation needs to be made.

However, there should first be a change in attitude concerning sports. Why should the national favorites continue to be football,

baseball, and soccer when they have been found to not be conducive to physical fitness and health? Besides being poor body

builders, competitive sports have recently been considered drains on the spirit because competition makes more losers than

winners. There is now a growing movement in American physical education which emphasizes lifetime sports rather than the

usual team sports learned in school. This movement is exemplified by the increasing number of local recreational athletes,

creation of new family games, booming interest in dance, Eastern martial arts, and other disciplines. With a change in

attitude, people can have both sound bodies and sound minds. (JS)

ERIC_NO: ED401406

TITLE: Imaginaries of “East and West”: Slippery Curricular Signifiers in Education.

AUTHOR: Aoki, Ted T.

: 1996

ABSTRACT: The labels “East and West,” suggest two distinct cultural wholes. “East and West” is

understood as a binary of two separate preexisting entities, which can be bridged or brought

together to conjoin in an “and.” This image has dominated Western modernist thought in the works of

historians, anthropologists, and others. Educators, like tourists or business people, may be overly

emphasizing “crossing” from one nation to another, from one culture to another, as in bridging

across from land to land. By viewing a bridge not as a mere path for human transit or route for

commerce, but as a dwelling place for people, one can move away from the identity-centered “East

and West” and into the space between. To try to change an identity-oriented image into one that

allows someone into the space between “East and West,” to the site of “and,” requires a discourse

that can entertain “both this and that” and “neither this nor that.” The “and” between “East and West”

is then understood as both “and” and “not-and,” allowing space for both conjunction and disjunction.

In this reframing, the bridges of the Pacific Rim can be viewed as both bridges and nonbridges. This

third space is an ambivalent space of both this and that, of both East and West, wherein the

traditions of Western modernist epistemology can meet Eastern traditions of wisdom. (YLB)