Volume 51 (2011): Issue 1 (June 2011)

Human biology and medical science focus on the normality of the human body. This focus deserves, however, to be questioned. Cultural studies, in contrast, focus on normalities in plural - normalities of diverse cultures, revealed by comparison and under the historical perspective of change. The normality and otherness of bodily ageing delivers pictures for this analytical problem, among these the figure of the shaman, the elderly as healer.

Normality is connected with power. That is why the cultural analysis of normalization can be connected with the theory of democracy, especially with the understanding of human sovereignty and equality, otherness and recognition.

Likewise, the theory of sports as a field of trialectic tensions opens up concrete, bodily differences. The body of the Japanese sumo wrestler delivers a living picture of how to relate to bodily otherness. This leads to a deeper understanding of the politics of recognition and of bodily relativity. Additionaly, normality in terms of biology and normalities in terms of cultural studies need to be confronted within a critical dialogue.

Identity has long since been a key concept within historical, sociological and philosophical enquires into sport. This article asserts that identity politics in sport is not enough and alternative forms of thinking about identity need to challenge the conventional wisdom that identity for identity sake is sufficient. By introducing the notions recognition and re-distribution this research attempts to move the field of sport on. Only by looking at alternative conceptions of the links between identity, redistribution and recognition can we meet the requirements of justice for all through and in sport. This article addresses the following concerns (i) sport in the age of identity politics; (ii) from identity politics to recognition through sport and (iii) from recognition through sport to redistribution and social justice.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Hungarian sports team's performance was worse than expected by most of the Hungarian people and the leaders of the Hungarian sports establishment. The Hungarian athletes returned home with a much lower medal tally than in previous decades. More than two years have elapsed since the Olympic Games, but instead of analysing the real reasons for the poor performance, most of the debates in Hungary are about whether we will restore our reputation by taking 8-10 gold medals in the 2012 London Olympics.

People in the United Kingdom are also full of hope for a great medal tally in London, not just because of the "home team advantage" but also by reason of the UK's outstanding performance in 2008. The British team finished fourth in the final medal table at the Beijing Olympic Games despite their poor performance one-and-half decades ago in Atlanta, surprising not just the British but also the whole world. By this time, the British strategy was to invest not just in elite sports but also in grass-roots participation sports. If Hungary wants to enhance its elite sports, it must engage in similar changes. It is clear from the latest data that the Hungarian XXI Sports Strategy's aim of making Hungary a sporting nation seems an illusion. Participation sports, which are the foundation of national sporting success and provide the future talents for the elite sports sector, are in need of urgent and substantive reform.

By means of secondary analyses and document analyses this article discusses the current state of British sport using the latest data. It then examines recent reforms in English participation sports as well as the latest sports strategy in England and its objectives. In all this, it makes comparison with what is happening in Hungary. The upshot is that Hungary and Britain differ at many points throughout the whole process, from strategy planning to implementation. These contrasts explain the differences in the effectiveness of the British and Hungarian processes. We hope that the outcome of this examination of the efficient Western European process and its comparison with the unsuccessful Hungarian system will assist those responsible for the development of participation sports and elite sports in Hungary.

The presented paper focuses primarily on the tourism activities of teaching staff at universities and other research institutions. This applies in particular to travel during which the principal purpose is, inter alia, various exploratory internships, conferences, trips as a guest professor or a visiting professor under the auspices of the Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus programs. These peregrinations require extra effort, not only with regards to teaching and research duties, but also present opportunities to confront, test and evaluate one's own research results and outlook with new listeners in new locations in different environments. This travel especially applies to the foreign environment, a situation that presents high degrees of professional, scientific and linguistic challenges, resulting in increased contributions and activity to the specific field of science. Regardless of the workload and the difficulties of the discussed travel, such travel can also bring about much personal satisfaction: a) due to a sense of a well done job as a result of meeting expectations of the employer and the host placed on the ‘messenger of science’ and b) due to the pleasure associated with those tourist experiences having autotelic and pragmatic (instrumental) overtones.

The modern lifestyle, with its emphasis on enjoyment and immoderation, could lead a human being to the point where he is not a master of himself anymore. Inner desires and outer pressures force a man to take those actions that are not in accordance with his rational human nature and that are not good for him. According to the classical philosophical view of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, this clearly shows the inner slavery of modern man. Temperance, moderation or asceticism today seem old fashioned and unnecessary virtues; nevertheless, it is obvious that many problems of modern societies have roots in the absence of these virtues. These problems include a high percentage of obese population, different addictions and other health problems concerning the immoderate life style. It seems that nowadays enjoyment is the highest imperative for the individual and for society as a whole. However, these days it is possible to recognize the revival of these virtues. This paper points out the case of sport where these virtues are still cultivated and highly appreciated. At first this may seem somehow strange, because many times sport is perceived as connected with pleasure, fun and excess, but in reality sport demands much of participants. It could be even said that professional athletes are modern ascetics, and a big part of recreational sport is all but not enjoyment. In conclusion we can assert that virtues acquired in the field of sport can indeed help a human being to live a better life in general.

This paper discusses the significance of expression through movement in modern education. People's attitudes towards their body image are described both in the context of physical culture and as they are perceived by society. Also discussed are the necessary changes to be made in physical education programs.

The aim of the study is to analyze students' attitudes towards movement expression as a manifestation of body consciousness and the importance of using it in different aspects of social life. The study was carried out with 224 students from the University of Physical Education and the University of Technology in Warsaw. The paper is based both on opinion polls and empirical study. Different research methods, such as a questionnaire and an analysis of documentation, were applied.

The resulting analysis indicates the need for movement expression in youth, both for personal and career development, nowadays an essential factor of success. Expression through movement is an important field of physical education that should be developed in modern times. Therefore it seems justifiable to include it in physical education programs at schools and universities. Above all, expression can become a useful tool for functioning in a dynamically changing social environment.

Considerable research has been devoted to sport mega-events including the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, and the Commonwealth Games. Yet few studies have focused on the lesser known or "second tier" international sport events in order to understand the patterns and the impact of participant consumption. Further, few sport event studies are extended beyond a single assessment. This study examines a recurring sport event, the World Universiade Summer Games, that took place in two different countries, Belgrade, Serbia and Bangkok, Thailand. A profile of participants at the 2007 and 2009 Universiades was generated to reveal and compare their consumer behaviour in the host cities and over time. Subjects were queried on-site during selected days of competition (N=441, 2007; N=221, 2009). Findings demonstrate a remarkable consistency in participant characteristics and local spend from 2007 to 2009, though the amount spent per night was considerably less than the average per night spend by other types of tourists in the host countries, suggesting that Universiade athletes are non high-value tourists. Discussion and implications of findings to sport and tourism destination scholars and marketers are presented.

Although there has been a growing body of research that explores Chinese masculinities within imperial China, the connection between masculinity and physical culture has been neglected. In this article, the author argues that Chinese emperors used Confucianism and the civil service examination (keju) to rule the country, and at the same time, created a social group of sedentary gentlemen whose studiousness and bookishness were worshiped by the public. In particular, the political institution of keju played a crucial role in disciplining the body. Behavior that did not conform to the Confucian standards which stressed civility and education were considered barbaric. As a result, a wen-version of masculinity was constructed. In other words, an anti-physical culture that strengthened the gross contempt towards those who chose to engage in physical labor.