Physical Activity As The Origin Of Paideia

Physical activity is the nursing of life. It is directly related to everybody's well-being. As an antecedent of intellectual and moral education, it is not vocational training but the fundamental development of the people, and it carries the divine social responsibilities. But in reality, physical activity as a practice of the whole natural life, has been materialized, the eager for realizing the meaning of life lowered as skill pursuit, indoctrination space narrowed. In this case, returning to the original meaning of physical activity, finding out what its basic understandings should be, revealing the values of the original meaning of "physical activity" to "Paideia", and opening a larger thinking space for right-now research, thus becomes very important.Therefore, the thesis returns to the source of western civilization——ancient Greece, analyses its myths and legends about the origin of "physical activity" which reveals the thinking background of the beginning of physical activity, and the connection between "physical activity" and "Paideia". Then it explores the developing process of ancient Greek physical activity and its three traditions----aristocratic athletic contests?Pan-city tournament and gymnasium training----during which the whole "Paideia" system has been completed including physical training, music and poetry and rhetoric(and philosophy). Next, it analyses how this special kind of "Paideia" split apart in ancient Greece, and how the philosophers reconstruct it in Logos to pursuit holistic development of the person through physical activity?music and philosophy by returning to the saint originalorder of the whole universe.This paper believes that ancient Greek physical activity stems from the conviction of the orderliness of nature, and the understanding of life being based on the natural law from tribulation to feeling good. The awe of life's inner purpose, and the seeking for developing natural life to be strong and powerful, is the core value of the ancient Greek physical activity and the key of their Paideia pursuit----arete. It is because the ancient Greeks traced back to their original meaning of the natural order and pursued arete continually that the Greek physical activity and its ideology developed radiantly for hundreds of years.This research gives us the following revelations:First, arete as the core value of paideia stems from the development of the inner order of the natural life; Second, the way of paideia is the participation of life; Third, physical activity is a way for natural life to participate in the world and obtain meanings. In this sense, physical activity is an important source of paideia, which does not mean athletics by itself is the goal of life but the purposiveness of the whole natural life is, nor shall it been limited by the disciplines from outer purpose but should be broadened by the natural life's original meaning promoting excellence. Thus it reveals that we shall also trace back to the divine origin of natural life, promote people's life through Logos, and help them to experience eternal through changing existence as the ancient Greeks taught us.