A civic idea of moving, after the age of watching

Fewer people, the writer observes, now take exercise than in the past. Work leaves little time in a busy day; and, in the writer’s view, as entrance exams have pressed in, a state that has cut physical-education hours has not much stressed the value of sport, and people have chosen work or rest instead. A lack of exercise, the page says, leads to a thin fitness. Students may have school sport, and people at work may have workplace sport, but many workplaces have no proper programme, and there is then no obvious space or programme in which to move. Sport for all, done in ordinary life, is the field the writer sets out to develop and to put into practice.

Scholars differ on a precise definition. As a general Western idea given on the page, sport for all is any sport or bodily exercise done for a rise in fitness and for better health, by children and older people alike, without regard to sex, religion, or race, and a movement to spread and develop that practice as a civic one. Sport, here, is not only a competitive game run by a rule; it includes activity carried on for physical, mental, and social health together. In the end it is a social effort to satisfy, in each member’s leisure time and under a person’s own will, a demand for movement that they themselves create.

A later change in recognition, from watching sport, as at the Olympics, toward taking part, brought the modern sense of sport for all. As a rapid economic development went on, interest in a more qualitative physical activity rose, and interest in sport for all rose with it. It is, the page concludes, physical activity through sport, aimed at the health of a people and at a qualitative life, without regard to age, class, or sex. It is also a creative leisure through which a person pursues their own health and a social health, and a means, through sport, of a healthy people and of a stronger national capacity. A healthy fitness later helps a person step away from the risk of various illnesses, and so helps the state as well as the person.

Equality, a court that is already there, and a graded aim

To develop an activity, the page says, one must first grasp the many wishes people have, and make a programme that can stir a participant’s interest and keep them coming. Factors that must be considered include equality, creativity, and variety. A chance to take part should be offered fairly, without regard to age, sex, or status; there should be a chance for creative bodily activity, and content across a range of areas. A participant’s wishes should be reflected in some form; facilities should be convenient to use; and a specialist should run the programme.

Busy people, the writer says, want, even in a simple way, to move in their leisure time. That demand is shaped by a personal leisure lifestyle, so a plan may change with the wish, but in general they wish to use exercise as a form of leisure, and to learn sports that use a facility, such as tennis, swimming, or badminton. The writer personally wished to use tennis. A goal, then, might be that a person who did not know the basics can, by the close, receive and hit a tennis ball. Participants should also be able to set a goal of their own, in line with the organisation’s performance aim. The writer’s aim is the acquisition of tennis skill. Players are grouped as beginner, intermediate, and advanced, because people of a similar standard adapt more easily and the skill can develop. A beginner’s aim is to be able to receive and hit the ball properly; an intermediate player should be able to use the strokes properly.

An afternoon hour, and people who teach one another

Because this is a public social-sport service, the aims should be in balance, and the programme should offer a fair chance to every resident, with a variety of programmes by age, by group, and by place. The writer chose tennis with busy people in mind: unless a swimming facility happens to be properly in place nearby, a tennis court is what is commonly installed at a gym or a neighbourhood ground, so convenience and access favour it. The group is set as adults, and the hour in the afternoon, to take in people at work and other adult circumstances. Income, residence, and education are not considered; any adult who wants to learn tennis and to move in leisure time may join. Even a complete beginner should be able to learn, with the groups graded by skill. Activity, efficiency, and timing, the writer thinks, are all in order, because the afternoon hour takes in people at work, specialists are placed across the groups, and people may also practise alone or with others of a similar standard.

A social-sport programme, above all, is centred on voluntary activity. Participants can decide, share, and even lead the content, and can use a method of mutual teaching, in which they instruct one another. Specialists, then, mainly advise, while participants practise together, move, and grow the skill, and can enjoy the activity in that way. For the programme to be reasonably carried out, a chance should be equal, and sex and age should be suitably composed. The programme is limited to adults, but anyone from their twenties to their sixties who can move may take part, without regard to sex, skill, or ability — a variety, the writer thinks, already built in.

The last function named is evaluation: to judge whether a programme has been properly carried out, and to see whether it is going well. The writer expects a fair evaluation if the link to a facility and the publicity are properly in place, because then many people will gather and be able to enjoy the activity. Sport for all, the close holds, is especially needed in a country where a lack of exercise is serious. Some had suggested that a personal activity such as a gym session or a jog could simply be framed as sport for all. The writer disagrees: sport for all, in this reading, is an activity in which members of a society meet and exchange, not only a private hour of exercise.

Why an afternoon court is kept on the page

A public court, an afternoon hour, and a beginner who can at last hit the ball are a small plan, and a civic one. The same Korean essay, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.

Sources

1. Essay on the concept of sport for all, and on developing a tennis programme with a plan, a goal, and an organisation (Korean source page).
2. A general Western idea of sport for all, without regard to age, sex, religion, or race; a shift from watching sport, as at the Olympics, toward taking part; the writer’s plan for graded afternoon tennis for adults.

Last updated: 14 November 2026