Study On Sport Culture In Europe

According to the theory about culture with three levels, the author has used the documentation method, the interview method, the demonstration method, the induction method and the case study method to carry out this study on the basis upon the knowledge, the latest research achievements of many subjects and the European sport history in the modern time and present-day, in order to understand the sport culture in Europe from the Chinese perspective.The main discussed topics include following three parts:Firstly, the author has analyzed and discussed the material level of sport culture in Europe which concern about the induction of the most important three physical movement systems, such as Swedish gymnastics, German gymnastics and English sport; the researches on their features, establishment and development histories, spread processes in other European countries; the summarizations of 7 features which distinguish English sport between the other athletic forms in the ancient time, the analysis about the conflict and integration with other physical movement systems in the spread course in European countries; the studies on the development process in term of Tiyu concept in the Chinese context and the concepts of physical education in Europe.Secondly, the author has analyzed and discussed the value level of sport culture in Europe. From the perspective of state subject, three great values during the different historic phases in Europe have been analyzed and induced, for instance, sport for mother country, sport for all and sport for development. Thirdly, the author has analyzed and discussed the institution level of sport culture in Europe. By taking Germany as typical case, the author has analyzed the status of organized sport in sport club in Europe and corresponding reasons from the welfare state point of view; created the sport welfare triangle in order to demonstrate the complicated interrelations relating to the organization of sport between state, market, civil society and informal sector in Europe, by regarding the sport as an element of a state's welfare policy in the course of discussion about the financial and functional interrelations between sport and welfare government in Germany. It means that the institution arrangements of sport in Europe include two aspects: firstly, sport club and sport association; sport and welfare politics.The Results can be developed as followings:1. Because of the brilliant physical culture in ancient Greece, the strong influences of renaissance, enligentenment movement, and long time of war and the industry revolution, etc, Europe has cultivated Swedish gymnastics, German gymnastics and English sport from the beginning of the 19. Century. In the process of influence, assimilation, conflict and integration with the traditional folk forms of physical movement in European countries, the three most important physical movement systems have become the elements of material level of sport culture in Europe.2. The seven characteristics of English sport are secularism, equality of opportunity to compete and in the conditions of competition, specialization of roles, rationalization, bureaucratic organization, quantification, and the quest for records which distinguish the English sport and the other sportive forms in ancient time.3. From the 1960s of the 20.Century, or at least form the 1975 as a lot of European counties had signed European Sport for All Charter, with the reason of new motivations, values, demands and disciplines when the people in Europe took part in the sports in traditional and new organization forms. In this sense, sport has become the Tiyu concept in the Chinese context. We can use pyramid sport model, two pillars sport model and different types sport model to describe and understand the developments and changes of sport concepts in Europe. 4. From the time of second part of the 19. Century, Swedish gymnastics, German gymnastics and English sport have become the basic concept of physical education and popularized in Europe. On this basis, at the end of 1960s and at the beginning of 1970s, there were three new concepts of physical in Europe, such as sport education in Germany, movement education in Netherlands and Great Britain, healthy education in Scandinavia countries in Nordic. Howerer, the time of 1990s, the four major concepts are supplemented by four other minor concepts, which are located between the major crossroads to bring balance to new concepts of physical education in-between two major strands. In this respect, there appears to be no ready general consensus of the meaning of the terms, the function and range of concepts of physical education in Europe.5. From the perspective of state subject, three values of sport culture in Europe can be discovered: sport for mother country, sport for all, and sport for development which appeared in different historic phases. The changing process shows the different values of development with regard to sport in Europe: sport as the tool, sport as the goal, sport as the tool and goal.6. The most important institution arrangement in sport is that sport club is the non-profit organization regulated and protected by the private law. The sport club keeps to the principles of voluntariness of membership, independence from state, orientation on the members'interests, democratic decision-making structure, and voluntary work. The autonomy of sport vis-à-vis the state and willingness to defend it against government interventions are the core political principles of umbrella organization of sport clubs.7. Although the interconnections between sport and the welfare state in European countries are by no means obvious, sport can be regarded as one of the elements of welfare politics, because of the basic principles of public law and private law, the coincidence of goals sport for all politic and welfare politics, therefore, the governments support the organized sport in sport clubs through decentralization channels and with different measures, such as, direct subsidies or financial contributions, indirect subsidies like tax privileges, immaterial supports like free or low-priced utilization of public sports grounds and investments in facilities.8. The sport welfare of welfare countries in Europe consists of three social orders, such as state, market, civil society, from four sectors, such as government, market, sport club and informal sector which can be illustrated by sport welfare triangle. In this model, the sport club is placed in the space between state, market and informal sector, because in relation to the state, it is distinguished by being private; in relation to the market, it is distinguished by being non-profit-making; in relation to informal sector, it is distinguished by being organized.9. On the basis of this theoretical sport welfare triangle model, the institutionalization of sport, and any changes in this, are thus connected with the institutionalized structure of society in general and the legitimacy of the different logics of society and the different sectors generally and in the single social area, therefore, we can use this model to analyze the complicated interrelations between sport and welfare politics.10. Sport clubs and associations are still the major pillar of sport in almost every European country, nevertheless, this kind of organized sport in sport clubs is not only facing the challenge and threaten from market and informal sector, but also the dilemma between the lose of autonomy and supports from government, because of the welfare crisis and new public management in Europe.