The volume is a collection of papers delivered at the conference organized in May 2003 in Moryń, a small Polish town at the German border. The conference venue was selected deliberately: after the 1989 political changes in Poland the Poles and the Germans discovered great possibilities to enjoy common vacations in this well-known holiday and health resort built there after World War Two. In the course of European integration this place has had special symbolism: it was here, regardless of the political circumstances, that the representatives of both nations enjoyed recreation and debate on fair play issues in the international context – a situation fairly uncommon in the past of both countries. Among the distinguished conference guests and the authors of conference papers were Jenö Kamuti, a former Hungarian fencer and Olympic champion, now a physician of international fame and the president of the UNESCO’s Fair Play Committee; Professor Roland Naul of University of Essen, Germany; and Vladimir Roditchenko of Moscow. The leading paper with the title identical with the theme of the conference was delivered by Zofia Żukowska, professor of the Physical Education Academy and a long-time fair-play activist in Poland. Her message to the conference was plain and straightforward: fair play as a set of ethical norms is a well-understood principle to be implemented in the modern conflicting world which is divided on a number of issues. “Introduction of fair play values into the educational system makes them part of the international strategy for the 21^st century. The two pillars of this strategy: sport with its principle of fair play; and health, which sport should serve, are universal and timeless values, which can be incorporated into educational systems of many European countries. [...] Sport marks two main ways of grasping the human situation: rivalry (in confrontation with others) and perfection (pertaining to one’s self through a set of ideals and developmental measures). [...] Confronting many threats of modern sport, and at the same time its overwhelming influence on the youth, both negative and positive, fair play becomes the leading and foremost standard of conduct for all sporting events. This explicit message, which to a substantial degree constitutes the basis for development of sport and Olympism, includes the values for which sport and Olympism are instrumental” (passim, pages 20-22). The thematic range of the conference papers is immense: ethical and religious elements in indigenous sports and games through philosophical foundations of fairness in sport (Józef Lipiec of the Jagiellonian University); agonistic ethics of Homeric epics (Krzysztof Zuchora); Vladimir Roditschenko’s analysis of relations between the idea of fair play and its implementation; Professor Naul’s discussion of the Olympic ethical idea; or fair play principles as an element of integration of physically or mentally disabled participants in sport, presented in a paper by Bożena Biniakiewicz. Unfortunately, all these papers were published only in Polish, and even those which had been delivered in other languages (English, French and German) were ultimately translated into the Polish language. One can understand the problems of the editors who for financial and technical reasons were unable to prepare a volume in several languages; however, translation of the publication into at least English would have greatly contributed to its more successful dissemination. A number of interesting initiatives is inaccessible to the international readership due to the fact that they have not been published in any international language.

Wojciech Lipoński

The first three volumes of the series Rocznik Naukowy Idõ – Ruch dla Kultury, and the third volume in particular, are collections of remarkable papers by many outstanding experts on the issues of holistic human development. The publication will be extremely attractive to readers who are interested in the broadly understood humanism of sport and martial arts. For some time, there has been a general shortage of publications on culture studies in close relation to physical culture, and martial arts in particular. This valuable publication, prepared by the editors from the University of Rzeszów, successfully fills this gap.

Particular sections of the Yearbook are respectively devoted to historical perspective, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, education, health culture, organization theory, anthropology of culture, book reviews, profiles, and news-reports. In accordance with the authors’ intentions Volume Three consists of original research and general studies, meta-analyses as well as conceptual studies on philosophy, Eastern traditions, culture, health and education. The works include paradigmatic and systemic depictions; the theoretical (methodological and epistemological) foundations have been discussed in Volume One.

Volume Three appeals to the international reader – “not only from Europe but also from outside the Old Continent”. Particular sections of the volume concentrate on history, philosophy and the interdisciplinary discourse of Far-Eastern martial arts, cultural perspective, socio-political and legal issues, linguistic issues, psychology and pedagogy, physical culture, organization and management theory, medicine, poetry, profiles (biographies), book reviews and news reports.

With contributions from outstanding professors, acknowledged scholars, sports coaches and champions, and experts in various areas, the volume offers the reader a fascinating subject matter. Especially noteworthy are articles by such remarkable Polish humanists as Andrzej Szyszko-Bohusz and Jerzy Kosiewicz, as well as martial arts theorists and practitioners affiliated with centers in Poland, France, Germany, Greece, and the United States – Zbigniew Czajkowski, Wojciech J. Cynarski, Lothar Sieber and Roland Maroteaux.

In his work Problem natury świadomości (pokłosie 40 letnich poszukiwań) (Thenature of consciousness (the essence of 40 years of research)) Andrzej Szyszko-Bohusz, the author of the concept of genetic immortality, explains in a scientific way the generational transfer of consciousness and somatic traits in the genotype. According to his theory, which assumes there is a unity of all being, the concept of individual death understood as the end to the earthly life is senseless. In conclusion to his work A. Szyszko-Bohusz writes that, “Through experience of his own nature, the attitude of a man of science is linked to and identified with the attitude of a mystic. The scientific and religious outlooks find a common ground, for the TRUTH is the peak of the mountain to which many paths lead”.

An original research study by Wojciech J. Cynarski Wstęp do logiki nowego paradygmatu nauki (Introduction to the logic of a new paradigm of science) is also worth mentioning. The author presents new intellectual schemes that might successfully replace the old patterns. He emphasizes the necessity to implement a new theory of problem solving, which in his opinion “should exceed the confines of sensory capacities”.

Roland J. Maroteaux shares his martial arts championship experience gained in various countries as well as his philosophical reflections with the readers in O filozofii japońskich sztuk walki – pytania i odpowiedzi (On philosophy of Japanese martial arts: questions and answers), claiming that instructions and directions referring to the martial arts practice have an interdisciplinary character.

Dietmar Schmidt’s short article Zendō-ryū karate-dō – Die Schule der Studien der praktischen Karatephilosophie als Lebensweg (Zendō-ryū karate-dō – the school of practical karate philosophy as a way of life) is an excerpt from the abridged version of his book Zendō-ryū karate-dō, published in 2002 and devoted to the modern variety of this martial art, its philosophy and applications.

Less known aspects of modern Olympism are presented in a transparent and captivating way in a specialist study by Jerzy Kosiewicz Pierre de Coubertin – narodziny i rozwój ideologii neoolimpizmu (Pierre de Coubertin: the origins and development of the idea of modern Olympism).

Mirosław Ponczek’s review Glossa do gier i zabaw średniowiecznego duchowieństwa polskiego w świetle zapomnianych badań ks. Jana Fijałka (Glosses for plays and games of Polish medieval clergy in the light of Jan Fiałek’s forgotten studies) also deserves credit. The author reminds the readers that a number of games popular among the clergy (e.g. chess) as well as some sports were in fact of Eastern origin.

The Rzeszów series presents a larger number of papers by foreign authors with each new volume, and its contributors include more and more university professors and independent academics. Rocznik Naukowy Idõ – Ruch dla Kultury stands a great chance of becoming a renowned international, interdisciplinary journal – the first of the kind in Europe – devoted to the humanistic theory of martial arts.

Maciej Łuczak

The subject of the Olympic Games, Olympic competitions, records and medals has been so exhaustively exploited by the media that anything of intellectual value within the Olympic Movement goes almost unnoticed these days. The pedagogical idea and philosophy of the Olympic Movement created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin remains rather unknown to the wide Olympic audience. This idea conceived at the turn of the 19^th century requires substantial intellectual improvements. One of the responses to the modern failure of the Olympic Movement was a very interesting intellectual movement initiated by the establishment of the International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia, Greece. This academy has a twofold purpose: to carry out scholarly research on Olympism; and to popularize its idea among the young from all over the world. The Academy’s national branches have been set up in several dozen countries and quite a few regional co-operation schemes have taken international forms, e.g. Singapore has been holding its Olympic Academy annually on the international basis and is visibly taking a lead in developing research on Olympism in South Asian countries. In 2003 the Academy of Physical Education in Gdańsk, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary, organized an international scientific conference that saw participation of representatives of all Baltic countries under the name of Baltic Olympic Academy. The intention of the organizers is to hold the conference on a regular basis in the future. Numerous papers from almost all Baltic countries and also from Norway were delivered and have now been published in a single volume. The leading theme of the conference was included in the proceedings titles. In fact, the majority of papers concentrated on the intellectual and practical aspects of the Olympic Movement, such as its relation to post-modern theories of culture, globalism, philosophical and ethical questions, sport education, etc. Several papers on the relations between sport and religion deserve particular attention. Father and Professor Stanisław Kowalczyk of the Catholic University in Lublin delivered a paper titled The Ethos of Postmodernism and Sport which yielded a long, intellectual and valid discussion among the conference participants. Equally inspiring was Henning Eichberg’s paper Playing and Displaying Identity. About Bodily Movement, Political Ideologies and the Question of Olympic Humanism. There were at least several other papers, currently chapters of the book, which also deserve scholarly attention. The conference was by no means a “paper” or “theoretical” conference. It touched upon the most sensitive cultural aspects of Olympism and the idea of sport in general. The publication of the conference proceedings in English definitely facilitates the international circulation of this extremely valuable book.

Wojciech Lipoński

The Celts belong to one of the most ancient ethnic societies in the world. The traditions of their sports and games are comparable to those of the ancient Hellenic games, although historically they had no chance to exert a similar influence on other European nations. For most readers it is surprising to learn from Sean Egan’s book that ancient Celtic games included such sports as... chariot races, e.g., according to preserved sources Aonach Colmain, High King of Ireland around 100 BC, went to the games with four chariots! Some modern events such as Scottish Highland Games and Gatherings have historical roots in Celtic antiquity. Individual Celtic sports, such as Irish hurling and Gaelic football are mentioned in ancient Celtic literature, e.g. the Irish national epic Tain bó cuailnge, in which they are played by Cu Chulain. The Scottish tossing the caber belongs to the most colorful sporting events in the British Isles, if not in the whole world. Cornish-style wrestling appears in some Shakespeare’s dramas, and can be traced back to the times when Henry VIII hired a Cornish wrestler to fight the first ever international wrestling match against the French team also made up of Celtic descendants, i.e. Bretons. Welsh cnapan or knapan belongs to the most frequently described Welsh customs frequently referred to by British pioneer ethnographers. For a long time, Celtic sporting heritage has been dispersed in different historical sources and often analyzed in different scholarly works, but until Egan’s publication no complete discussion of the subject has been published. The bibliography section of the book, beginning with ancient Celtic sagas and ending with modern scholarly works, is utterly breathtaking. The arduous task of gathering all such data in a single volume has been undertaken by Sean Egan, a Canadian scholar of Irish origin. Individual sports are discussed according to their national affiliation: games of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany. Two other areas where Celtic influences were historically present are also discussed, i.e. Iceland where some Celtic ethnic elements mixed with the Viking population, and the Basque Country where some Celtic Britons once fleeing the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles decided to settle down. The publication is Volume Three of a longer series devoted to Celtic Studies. With his book Sean Egan has won an important place for sport among general studies of history and culture, a position not frequently achieved in general studies on any nation.

Wojciech Lipoński

All the four books are lexicons of indigenous sports and pastimes, and they all have one important characteristic feature in common: they have been written and published thanks to the efforts and dedication of both professionals and amateur enthusiasts of traditional and regional sports and games. Professor Alida Zurida Bocanegra was for many years researching indigenous games of Mexican people. It was owing to her endeavors that the Mexican Federation of Traditional and Indigenous Games and Sports of Mexico established its high reputation as a model organization of this kind. Some years ago when I asked for information about indigenous Mexican sports I obtained some descriptions of traditional Mexican games myself, which later on developed into a larger collection. The publication edited by Professor Bocanegra is a lavishly illustrated album with pictures of outstanding quality and descriptions of such original forms of children’s competition as palo de buro, juego de corozo, juego de la caña de maíz; wrestling forms (such as caida de dos,lucha tarahumara); and various indigenous ball games such as pelota purhepeca, pelota tarasca, or ulama played by adults and stemming from ancient Mesoamerican times. A number of these games have regional or technical varieties (ulama, for instance, appears as ulama de cadera, ulama de antebrazo, ulama con mazo). A single book review is not sufficient to fully explain the cultural or technical character of all these games, but all of these unknown forms of physical competition make us realize that each country, regardless of its geographical location, boasts its own rich traditions in what we call the sporting tradition by European standards.

Games and Pastimes of Rural Aragon by F. M. Guerrero is a lexicon which leaves the reader with a similar impression. It is astonishing to realize that a single district of Spain, although historically a separate ancient kingdom, was able to produce such a tremendous number of local sports, enough to fill over 250 pages in print. Together with competent ethnographic information the book contains as many as 109 different traditional sports and pastimes. The author has managed to collect material for his book directly from 92 local informants. It is a proof beyond any doubt to the remarkable effort and quality of Guerrero’s ethnographic fieldwork. The book comes with unique photographs and drawings of individual games which provide useful explanations of their rules and settings.

The tradition of sports and games from a single village in Western Poland, rather than an entire region, is contained in A. Kowol-Marcinek’s lexicon of Ancient Children’s Games and Pastimes in the Village Bukówiec Górny. The book has “only” 48 pages but contains dozens of local folk sports and physical activities. It is a work of a regional amateur ethnographer, who died prior to the publication. The reader can find here a precise description of biegi z klekotami, i.e. rattle or clapper running competitions between two village teams, performed on Good Friday and Holy Saturday for religious purposes. This sport is comparable in its religious tradition with Shrove Tuesday football or Easter ball games popular in some Western countries, especially in England, Germany and France. One of the most interesting games in the village has been kulanie kulotka (driving the roller), in which two competing teams try to alternatively hit and receive a specially shaped wooden puck or trolley by using clubs.

It is also through regional sports that some European regions remind us of their ethnic wealth, originality and diversity. A number of modern European languages stem from Latin that remained after the decline of the Roman Empire over fifteen centuries ago. Ancient and folk Latin was developed into a number of Romance languages such as French, Spanish, Catalonian, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, etc. Not all of those languages were fortunate enough to become the national tongue of autonomous political states. Few people ever heard about the Occitan language spoken in southern France. It is probably a “post-Roman” language which is closest to Latin itself. It is the language of Bernard Cauwet’s lexicon Jeux de Cocagne (the book includes also a French text). My wife, who is an academic teacher of Latin, was able to read Occitan texts almost with no difficulties, easily recognizing most of the words and surmising those which differed from the Latin forms but still bore its Roman character, close in some cases to Spanish or French. The traditions of the Occitan people are as rich as their language. The lexicon is full of exciting games, often humorous ones such as lo còpa-cacal (le casse-noix in French), which means something like “cutting the nut”. The idea of the game is to throw a nut into a long tube and then hit it with a hammer once it comes out at the other end. A similar game can be arranged using ... a sausage or rolled ham pushed through a pipe or tube with a larger diameter (trenca-salsissòt in Occitan, or tranche-saucisson in French). The idea is then to cut a piece of a sausage or ham once it comes out at the end of the tube. Such amusements are accompanied with humorous illustrations demonstrating the ideas of particular pastimes. Certainly, one may say that such humoristic sports are unworthy of a serious dictionary, but we should remember, however, that in this serious and tragic world laughter is also something we desperately need. It is laughter which discriminates us from animals.

Wojciech Lipoński

Britain is the motherland of sports encyclopaedias and dictionaries. It was here that as long ago as in 1735 Sportsman’s Dictionary was published. Since that time numerous publications of similar kind have been published both in England and ... Ireland where publications were illegally copied, printed and sold throughout the British Empire for almost one hundred years. To the most popular encyclopaedic dictionaries of sport of the 19^th century belonged William Taplin’s The Sporting Dictionary and Rural Repository of General Information upon Every Subject Appertaining to the Sports of the Field from 1803. Two years earlier the famous ethnographic and historical work of Joseph Strutt Glig Gamena Angel Deoth, or The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England (London 1801) was published. Strutt’s work was neither an encyclopaedia nor dictionary, but rather a comprehensive description divided into chapters devoted to different sports and pastimes. Nevertheless, if provided with an alphabetical index, it can serve as a hugely informative encyclopaedic source. At the end of the 19^th century another source of knowledge on sporting tradition appeared – Alice Bertha Gome’ two-volume publication The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland (vol. I, 1894; vol. II, 1898). After World War Two the most important encyclopaedia – Oxford Companion to Sports and Games (1975) was the sole work of John Arlott. As the earlier British encyclopaedias were devoted almost exclusively to sport in the British Isles, Arlott’s work also focused on sport worldwide. The most recent British sports encyclopaedia, devoted solely to sport in Britain, by all standards a magnificent work, unfortunately lacks an entry on the history of the British sports encyclopedic tradition. It is one of the most important elements of British sport tradition in general. The same can be said about sport literature and art. There is an entry on sport literature, but its content is rather poor, as if its author, Jean Williams, was unfamiliar with numerous British writers that covered the topic of sport for over two centuries (beginning with Joseph Strutt’s The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England or series of stories devoted to sporting adventures of Mr. Jorrock by Robert Surtees and ending with 20^th century A Friend in Need by W. Somerset Maugham). An entry on sporting art by Mark Hathway is incomparably more exhaustive, however, it could have easily been completed with some more information on the artists’ names included in Paul Goldman’s catalogue of the Sporting Life exhibition organised by the British Museum in 1983, not to mention the Olympic Art Competition as a competitive event itself (held during the 1948 Olympics). Similar remarks can be made after having read the entry on British mass-media. The very beginnings of sporting press are associated with “Sporting Magazine” whose first issue appeared in December 1792 (this is why some historians date its first publication to 1793). “Sporting Magazine” is briefly mentioned in Paul Wells’ entry entitled simply “Media” as a publication of late Victorian era, which is not precise. “Sporting Magazine” fell into decline around 1825 and after a short break it changed its name into “New Sporting Magazine”. It is in fact the latter which can be labeled as a “late Victorian publication”. The fact that Wells does not emphasize the role of “Sporting Magazine” as the real pioneer of the sporting press world-wide gives an impression of unnecessary British modesty. Entries on the language of sport are not very consistent. The entry “Language” by Vray Wamplev is comprehensive, but it seems quite puzzling why horse-racing terminology has been distinguished while there are no similar separate entries on other important sports. It is fairly easy to criticise any encyclopaedia for lacking some entries but Encyclopedia of British Sport is, nevertheless, a magnificent publication about British sport, especially modern sport. It provides the readers with well-documented information on almost all aspects of the subjects. The aim of this criticism is not to make the authors and editors frustrated, but rather to encourage them to supplement their work with some important information they omitted while fulfilling their extremely difficult and ambitious project.

Wojciech Lipoński

Singapore has been renowned for its commercial successes. And it seems that Singaporean social policy, in some respects controversial, at least in the field of sport is one of the most interesting and progressive in the world. This small multi-ethnic country presents the world with an example of peaceful co-existence between different races, which in other parts of the world is often so hard to achieve. Sport in Singapore has become one of the most conspicuous areas in the process of race and gender emancipation. Nick Aplin’s book is devoted to the latter aspect. It concentrates on three Singaporean female champions: Tang Pui Wah, Mary Klass, and Janet Jesudason. The author Dr. Nicholas Giles Aplin is an Englishman working as a faculty member at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. According to his official curriculum vitae his research interests concentrate on “values and pursuit of sports excellence in Singapore with particular reference to the status of women during the post-war period and the period of national independence”. He decided to write the book owing to the fact that “sport for the majority of women in Singapore, as in other Asian countries, once represented a topic that was virtually taboo. The public display associated with the involvement of girls and women in organized competition before the Second World War was only conceivable if the participants were from European or wealthy Chinese families [...] although there were exceptions to the rule” (p. 21). The sport careers of the three mentioned female athletes, all born shortly before World War Two, became pivotal in the Singaporean emancipation process. Their participation in international as well as national events, including the Olympic Games, broke away with traditional customs and became momentous in democratization of Singaporean sport during the first post-war years. Aplin’s book is a professionally written sociological study based on real epic stories of three courageous female athletes. It makes us aware how important sport can be in social and cultural transformations in contemporary society. The fact that all of it took place in a country not really being a world power in competitive sport does not mean that such processes are not worth studying.

Sport has played a similar role not only in Singapore. Unfortunately, not every country has its own Aplin who can so aptly describe a process that can serve a valuable lesson for other nations. For the developed sporting countries, the book conveys a clear message: “Your sport is not the only one which is important in the world, and the number of records and Olympic medals means nothing in comparison with the crucial social progress made by sport, not only as a competitive phenomenon but also as a cultural one”. It can also serve as an example to follow for less developed countries.

“The finishing line – writes in end of his book Nick Aplin – always leads back ultimately to a new start and here they are – the Cynosure, the Comet, the Convent Girl (nicknames of the three women athletes – WL) – offering new challenges to those who dare follow in their slipstream” (p. 211).

Wojciech Lipoński

Sport of ancient Greece has been one of the most extensively discussed topics from among all historical and cultural subjects related to sport. It seems that in this field nothing important can be added. Professor Yannakis’ works have for many years denied this popular conviction providing the readers with fresh ideas concerning seemingly routine problems of ancient agonistics. The editors of “Studies in Physical Culture and Tourism” are very proud that some of Yannakis’s works have been already published in our journal offering new views on ancient sport, such as Ancient coins as carriers of the classical Olympic and athletic ideas (in co-operation with Silvia Yannaki). In 2000 Yannakis took the specialists in ancient sport aback with his dictionary of terms pertaining to ancient athletics. We apologize that we have come to review this publication so late, but it happens quite frequently that valuable international books reach Poland with some delay. Despite this shortcoming we still find ourselves as the first ones in reviewing some worthwhile books overlooked by seemingly better known international journals.

Everyone, who has ever decided to write on classical sport knows how difficult it is to understand some confusing terms or name particular phenomena in original Greek. Yannakis’ dictionary can be of great help, provided that its user knows the basics of the Greek alphabet and language. The differences between the ancient and Modern Greek language are not so wide to make this dictionary incomprehensible to classical scholars. The Greeks, despite their dramatic history (especially the almost four-century Turkish occupation of their country) have proudly managed to preserve their native language almost untouched. Nonetheless, a prospective publication of the dictionary with original Greek entries explained in one, two, or even three international languages is worth some serious consideration. This would not only facilitate a wider use of the dictionary, but would also help to strengthen general appreciation of Hellenic studies.

The Greek language belongs to Hellas – the motherland of European culture – and has greatly contributed to the process of naming ideas and objects in all languages of the Old Continent. In our daily speech routine we hardly remember that such basic terms of our culture and abstract thinking as “theatre”, “drama”, “philosophy”, “philology”, “biology”, “technology”, “academia”, “politics” and “police”, not to mention the Platonic concept of “idea”, and hundreds of others, all stem from the language of ancient Greece. Also contemporary sport has absorbed the ancient linguistic heritage in such terms as “Olympic Games” (Olympiake Agones), “stadium”, “athletics”, “gymnastics”, “decathlon”, “pentathlon”, “discus”, and hundreds of others with minor phonetic and spelling differences observed in all European languages. This whole process makes us aware how important also to modern sport the linguistic heritage of Greece has been. Professor Yannakis’s dictionary is an important step in understanding not only Greek, but also our entire European heritage.

Wojciech Lipoński