This is a generalized history of the Physical Education in some ancient countries.

1. HISTORICAL FOUNDATION OF PES,
RECREATION AND LEISURE EDUCATION

2. PRESENTATION CONTENTS:
 Early Culture/Primitive Society
 Egyptians
 Indians
 Chinese
 The Homeric Greeks
 The Spartans
 Greece
 Rome

3. DIFFERENCE OF RECREATION AND LEISURE:
 Recreation – indulging in thrilling and
exciting activities, to derive some pleasure
and have fun in one’s leisure time
 Leisure – the spare or rest time in the daily
life of a person when he is not occupied by
work, studies, sleep etc

4. EARLY CULTURAL AND PRIMITIVE SOCIETY
 Beginning-6000 B.C.
(Physical Education for
Survival).
 Aims: increase group
survival and
improvement of youths.

5. EARLY CULTURAL AND PRIMITIVE SOCIETY:
 Program – Unorganized. Games of war,
chase, tag, ritual dancing.
 Methods – Imitation, Indoctrination, Trial and
Error.
 Two main activities are hunting and fishing.

6. EGYPTIANS (3000-1100B.C.)
 They believed in living a full life (a life full of
physical activities).
 Aims – Vocational, recreational, and
religious.
 Program – Swimming, dance, archery, lion
hunting, fishing, stick fighting, acrobatics, ball
games, wrestling, etc.

7. EGYPTIANS (3000-1100B.C.)
 Methods – Apprenticeship.
Young boys are instructed
to use: Bow & arrow,
lance, shield, battleaxes,
and mace. They are
required to participate in
exercises and activities for
the body’s endurance and
stamina.

8. INDIANS
 Their religious belief stressed reincarnation
of the soul before being united finally with
Brahma, the supreme God.
 Aims – They believe solely on the spiritual
rather than physical needs.

9. INDIANS
 Program – Hindu Dance as their oldest
organized dance; Yoga is a great contribution
which is composed of exercise in posture
and regulated breathing.
 Methods – Throwing balls, dice, tumbling,
chariot races, marbles, riding elephant,
plowing contest, horse riding, wrestling,
swordsmanship, and boxing.

10. CHINA (1700-800 B.C)
 Ancestor worshipping
was the characteristics
of their religious belief.
They were also into
sedentary living
because of memorizing
the teaching of
Confucius.
 Aims – earlier times
states bodily
conditioning is more
important than later
times.

11. CHINA (1700-800 B.C)
 Programs – Music, dance, archery(military
purposes), polo, swimming, flying kites, light
exercises (ex. Cong fu), wrestling, water
games.
 Methods – Little is known. Probably by
learning by doing and by following the
examples of elders.
Different skill dances: split and whole feather dance, battle dance,
humanity dance.
Cong fu: was found as early as 2698 BC and also called as the earliest
exercise recorded in history.

12. HOMERIC GREEKS
 This era was named after
the Greek poet HOMER.
He wrote the Iliad and
Odyssey which included
the earliest records of
athletic competitions.
 Aims – To develop the
man of action. Every
citizen was a soldier and
physical fitness was a
Homeric era developed the Greek Ideal
> ARETE – All around mental, moral and
physical excellence
“Man of Action” “Man of
Wisdom”

13. HOMERIC GREEKS
 Programs – Chariot race, foot race, javelin
throw. Dancing was another activity they
participated before. Some sports activities
were reserved for the Aristocrats, like boxing,
wrestling, and running.
 Methods – Imitating adults, pay attention to
the feast or funeral games, listening to
exciting tales of the gods, memorizing the
great epics, and absorbing wisdom of the
council meetings.

14. SPARTAN GREEKS
 Their objective is to contribute to a strong
and powerful army.
 Aims – Their P.E was designed to develop a
man of action who possessed brute strength,
physical endurance, unflinching courage and
military skill. The mother was responsible to
train the child until the age of 7.
 AGOGE – formal education system
supervised by the paidonomus
(superintendent).

15. SPARTAN GREEKS
 Stage in education:
 Birth – examined by elders if weak or healthy. If
weak, thrown in Mt. Tygetus and let die; if not it will
be trained.
 3-4 – taught value of obedient soldiers, girls learn
about bearing healthy children and participate in
gymnastics and other activities like horseback riding,
wrestling and swimming.
 7 – began military training in barracks with jumping
and running for body conditioning.
 20 – engaged in intensive military training and actual
warfare.
 30 – qualified for citizenship and were expected to
marry. They also train the youth.

16. SPARTAN GREEKS
 Programs – their curriculum consists of military
training. Gymnastics exercise were main P.E for
youths. Also running, fighting, leaping,
swimming, hunting, wrestling, hiking, boxing,
playing ball, discus and javelin throw, competing
in arena.
 Methods – periodic testing by the ephors (state
officials) was administered to evaluate the boy’s
physical capacity and citizenship, praise and
punishment used. Flogging was the universal
penalty.
 Pancratium - a combination of wrestling and
boxing.

17. ATHENS GREEKS
 They focus on intellect and educational
system rather than power. They believed in
music as “SOUL” and gymnastics as
“BODY”.
 Aims – P.E was an integral part of national
life not only in the need to prepare citizens
for war, but also in the Greek ideals of
Aesthetic (beauty and harmony).
 The state gave no financial support to formal
education.

18. ATHENS GREEKS
 Father determines the child’s physical
fitness.
 Girls remained at home until they are
married.
 They have 2 kinds of private elementary
schools: Palaestra (wrestling) for P.E and
Didascaleum (music) for literature and
arithmetic.
 Paidotribes – first physical education in
palaestra.
 Gymnasiarch – Chief official at the

19. ATHENS GREEKS
 4 special festivals in name of 4 Gods:
 Olympia – in honor of Zeus, the supreme God.
Held in western peloponnesus district.
 Pynthia – in honor of Apollo, the God of light
and truth. Held in north of the Corinthian Gulf.
 Nemea – in honor of Zeus, held at Argolis near
Cleonae.
 Isthmia – in honor of Poseidon, the God of Sea.
Held at Isthmus of Corith.
 Olive Branches – awarded for the victor/winner of the
event.

20. ROMAN REPUBLIC (500 BC TO 27 BC)
 They focused singularly in
serving the state.
 Campus Martius – Military
camps.
 Aims – Their P.E was
designed to develop a good
and obedient soldiers.
 Programs – All sons were
taught to become citizen-
soldiers including their
education in mental and
physical readiness for war,
respect for the law and
reverence for Gods.

21. ROMAN REPUBLIC (500 BC – 27 BC)
 17 years old – men were drafted for active duty
until the age of 47 (if needed).
 Daughters were educated to assume vital role in
raising children.
 Religious festivals for honoring Gods is
important.
 They don’t participate in athletic contest and
dance; rather they offered sacrifices to their
Gods and then a spectator.
 This festival serves no educational purposes.

22. ROMAN EMPIRE (27 BC TO 476 AD)
 Under Augustus Caesar, a
hardy peasant who have
gained land in exchange for
military services.
 Coliseum became the
favorite site for gladiatorial
contests.
 Animal fights.
 Gladiators fought each other
for freedom and for money.
 Roman men participated in
health gymnastics or ball
games to over come indolent
lifestyle.