The Impact of Sports in China (Essay Sample)

Running head: THE IMPACT OF SPORTS IN CHINA
The Impact of Sports in China
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Introduction
Sports have often been highly regarded in the society as a powerful universal language that promotes tolerance, peace and understanding by uniting people of different races, religion and cultures. Since ancient times, sports have encouraged multi nations understanding and have been used to foster peace and mutual relationship between countries. In many countries, it is considered an important event since it is deeply entrenched in cultural history and traditions. It is against this backdrop that paper explores the impact of sports in China by illustrating popular sports and their importance in the Chinese culture.
Discussion
According Riordan and Jones, China has a long and rich history in sports dating back to the beginning of civilization. However, modern sports in China can be traced to 20th century and since then sports have been played with enthusiasm and regarded with pride and esteem CITATION Rio99 \l 1033 (Riordan & Jones, 1999). Although new sports have sprung up and gain popularity, many sports are the same ones played during the ancient times. Others like dragon boat racing and martial arts which existed several centuries ago have remained uninfluenced by time and civilization and remain a cultural sport event held in China every year. Wu and Murphy note that there is evidence to show that a game similar to football which is one of the most popular sports was played in China during the ancient times CITATION WuD94 \l 1033 (Wu & Murphy, 1994). However football was introduced during the 1990s and according to Riordan and Jones, many aspects in terms of rules, design and management have changed compared to the game played during the ancient times CITATION Rio99 \l 1033 (Riordan & Jones, 1999).
Wu and Murphy point out that sport is highly regarded and appreciated as an important part of the Chinese tradition and physical culture arguing that traditionally, the Chinese regards physical fitness as a way of improving health CITATION WuD94 \l 1033 (Wu & Murphy, 1994). This is best illustrated by the Republic of China continuous emphasis and support through government funding. According to Riordan and Jones, the physical health law stresses among others the importance of health enhancement through sport, and other programs like the National Fitness Program encourages everyone especially children to participate in daily sporting activity CITATION Rio99 \l 1033 (Riordan & Jones, 1999).
The people of the republic of China fancy sports and according to a 2008 report by the National Physical Program Administration, it is estimated that more than a third of Chinese population visits sports club for fitness session and more than half of urban population part have daily physical exercises CITATION Hou11 \l 1033 (Houlihan & Green, 2011). Wu and Murphy argue that unlike other countries which have adopted the Anglo-Saxon sport style of US and England, China sports is closely linked to the Chinese physical culture. Wu and Murphy assert that the Chinese culture emphasize on competitive sport, physical education and fitness CITATION WuD94 \l 1033 (Wu & Murphy, 1994).
Popular sports
Football is one the most popular and spectacular sport in China. It’s not only a local event but a very competitive international event played at international competitions. Due to accessibility to venues, cheap playing equipments and its simplicity, badminton also has grown to be one of the popular sports in China. Badminton is even popular among the young and amateur leagues exist through which children have developed interest at an early age and eventually becoming world class players. It is perhaps through its popularity that China has produced renowned world class players like Huang Sui, Gao Ling and Ning Zhang CITATION WuD94 \l 1033 (Wu & Murphy, 1994).
Basketball’s popularity in China goes back to 19th century when the sport was introduced by American workers and with the globalization and technological revolution in the 1990, China contact with Basketball played outside widen thus leading to its expansion CITATION Guo08 \l 1033 (Guoqi, 2008). Guogi asserts that the formation of Chinese NBA helped shaped the management of the sport and with the arrival of Yao Ming in 2002 the sport’s popularity climaxed to great heights and is expected to grow further CITATION Guo08 \l 1033 (Guoqi, 2008). Yao Ming’s and other player’s success has help popularize the sport in the republic of China and it is estimated that more than 300 million people play basketball in China and viewed by more than 1.6 billion people in 51 media outlets CITATION Mas11 \l 1033 (Masteralexis & Hums, 2011).
Table tennis commonly referred as Ping Pong is yet another popular sport in China boasting of many world class players and many upcoming. Ping Pong is treasured by women and men alike and notable players like Wang Ho and Zhang Yinning have raised to celebrity status in China because of their exemplary performance in the court CITATION Guo08 \l 1033 (Guoqi, 2008). Table tennis is highly regarded throughout the republic and China has managed to remain competitively afloat in international competitions by producing top class players. Besides being played professionally, ping pong is also a recreational sport and according to LaFleur, it is one of most popular and televised sport CITATION LaF09 \l 1033 (LaFleur, 2009) . Other popular sports include boxing, chess, martial arts.
Impact of sport
The success of basketball, badminton and Ping Pong players in international competitions has put China in the sport limelight that it is a force to reckon with. Sports popularity in China has been an effective way of improving China’s image which has led to increase in international trade CITATION Hou11 \l 1033 (Houlihan & Green, 2011). According to LaFleur, the republic of China’s emphasis on sport as a way of promoting health and overall physical fitness has led to an increase the numbers of people opting for sport session in abide to improve their health conditions CITATION LaF09 \l 1033 (LaFleur, 2009). Since the...