Bronwell starts off talking about the early days of exercise in the Qing dynasty, explaining the political heirarchy of sports in China. Sports were a lower class thing, upperclass citizens could exercise in the comfort of their own rooms. They did not need to change out of their long gowns, which were a sign of being upper class, in front of other people to exercise.She also talks about sports enterance into the social sphere and the implications like the incompatibility of the hair que with modern sports. Moving further into it, we see how the body is linked to the nation.

Nationalism and physical education is a topic covered in the reading, and an interesting one. I had never thought of physical education or group exercise as a way to create feelings of nationalism. But using physical education classes in schools as a way to spread nationalist speeches and propaganda, there couldn’t be a better way to instil the ideas of national pride into youth. By using military drills in classes you create a larger base for future military involvement by the nations youth.With the link of exercise and nationalism comes the idea to pus the spirit as well as the body. The idea that to become physically great your must also cultivate your spirit and that it could be more important than the physical aspects of pride and community exercise could create.In order to acheive great physical streght you must concentrate on your spirit.

Moving further foward into National games and the olympics, sports and exercise further nationalism with shows of strength in competitions with other countries, winning is the ultimate prize in itself, as it furthers nationalist pride in citizens. With television and radio nowadays most everyone is able to partake in these events through media sources, gaining even more people to be swept up into the feelings of pride when their country beats out all others in an event. Through this publicization of national events and pride we see discussion about women in sports and competition enter into the sphere of public conversation. Sports and the culture surrounding them create something that people in a country, who might consider themselves no more than just someone who lives in a geographical location, can gather around and feel united with a sense of community and national pride that they otherwise would not feel.

Sports and sporting competitions create a sense of community and nationalism that nothing else can quite create.

Tentative paper topic: I want to explore the connection of technology and games, and if technology is the next evolutionary step for games or if there is a future in board games and card games not played online. I’m not quite sure on a specific question, but I think this is the area I want to explore.