Why is Gymnastics a sport?

Why is Gymnastics a sport?

Gymnastics is considered as a tool for training and fitness utilized for carrying out military activities primarily. Secondarily, gymnastics is part of learning physical education. Gymnastics in this perspective can be considered as sport and not an entertainment tool. Gymnastics in an abridged form can be understood as a way to improve our physical fitness. Gymnastics is also perceived as a collection of physical exercises which are conducted to enhance the stamina, strength, coordination and balance. Gymnastics feats are performed on the floor as well as on certain equipments that are specially designed and used for execution of the gymnastics.

Gymnastics is today viewed as involving the basics of physical fitness which is empirically taught in the physical education. Gym is visited to carry out physical training and activity which is essential for every normal healthy person in order to maintain his good health. Several people like John Basedow have proposed Gymnastics as part of education for the young people.

Since gymnastics was made as part of education, the intercollegiate and inter university competitions were proposed to be held. This process was started for the first time by Federation Internationale de Gymnastiques in the year 1881. Gradually, national as well as international Gymnastics associations were formed. Later, world gymnastics championships were conducted by national collegiate athletic association. With these improvements, gymnastics has every reason to be considered as one among the sports.

The other reasons for gymnastics to be one among the sports are that it requires skills which need the gymnasts to have higher strength of their upper body, balancing of their body extraordinarily, and intensified confidence and courage. Gymnastics cannot easily be learnt by the athletes who are practicing other sports and learning gymnastics is really very difficult. To learn all the gymnastic skills the person has to have extraordinary commitment and hard work. The gymnastics done for a competition rather than for recreational purposes needs a specific personality to be possessed by the performers. The gymnasts in the competition will have more focus, more determined and will perform fearlessly. Lot of risks are involved in performing gymnastics like many of the other sports. For example trampoline, trapeze, springboard, platform, cliff and other acrobatics involve much risk. The history of the gymnastic sport followed by several people earlier stands this practice as one among all the sports.