A common thread of this week’s readings was the connection of sports and human bodies to the modern nation in some way. Morris and Brownell depicted how martial arts represented either a backwards tradition that contributed to China’s defeat at the hands of the Western powers or a valuable, uniquely Chinese tradition that was still scientific and that could be just as valuable for strengthening the nation’s bodies as any foreign sport or callisthenic. Eventually, with the Guoshuguan, martial arts became a bureaucratized arm of the state itself.

According to Fedman, early twentieth century mountaineering culture in Japan helped get rid of religious connotations attached to mountains and instead brought them into the realm of the rational, scientific nation-state. It also coincided with Japan incorporating Hokkaido into the fabric of the nation.

In briefly tracing the development of modern sports in China, Brownwell demonstrates how the introduction of Western sports into China in the early twentieth century highlighted Chinese cultural practices like the queue, which, at the time, were dismissed as being emblematic of China’s weakness at the hands of Western powers. In response, many in Chinese society first adopted Western notions of competition (derided as “metals-and-trophyism”) and later moved towards a Maoist model focused on health, labor, and egalitarianism.

Ram Sahai – A Game of Polo

(from page 299 in The Art of Contest: Polo)

This image of polo is particularly striking because of its militaristic undertones. This is fitting given that all of the week’s readings noted a close connection between sports and the military. Were it not for the ball and polo sticks visible in this painting it would appear to be a depiction of a battle. Battle lines are clearly drawn, and it’s not difficult to imagine the two riders in the center practicing a form of jousting rather than playing a stick and ball game. Other riders wait nearby, ready to jump in, but for the time being they are content to let their champions fight it out.