THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
LEISURE INDUSTRY

The leisure industry is currently the biggest and
fastest growing industry in the world.
Today hobbies and pastimes are increasingly
pursued due to lack of employment, modern
technology e.t.c

The history of leisure
• Leisure is not a new thing or area
• Many of today’s leisure activities have their
origins
• In the past leisure activities were usually
associated with festivals and celebrations.

ANCIENT CULTURES (TIMES)
• Most f our ancestors did not need to set aside
a period during the day to participate in
various forms of activity like today.
• Leisure was part of their daily routine

China
• China had a unique way of life. Ancient China
followed a policy of isolation.
• Didn’t care to associate with the rest of the
world but instead desired to live unto itself
• At first the topography of the land provided
China with the necessary natural protection
against invaders

• laws were passed to keep foreigners out of the
country
• Ancestor worship was also an important part
of their religious life
• Individuality was suppressed
• All persons were destined to live a rigid and
stereotyped existence.

• Little room was made for organized physical
education and leisure activities
• Leisure and Physical activity meant stressing the
importance of the body and individual freedom
of expression, which were contrary to the
teachings of this ancient culture
• Evidence exists of participation in physical
education and sport activities in China despite
the emphasis on intellectual excellence and the
influence of Taoism, Confucianism, and
Buddhism, which stressed the studious, quiet,
and contemplative life

• In many Chinese classics, discussions of sons of
rich families engaged in leisure and recreation
activities e.g. music, dance and archery
• Wrestling, jujitsu, boxing, ts'uchu (football),
polo, water games, Chui wan (similar to golf),
shuttlecock, and flying kites were also popular
• Thus the more favored classes engaged in play,
but the masses had little opportunity the
supreme god.

• As time went on Chinese medics thought that
certain diseases were caused by inactivity
• As a result, history discloses that the Cong Fu
gymnastics were developed in 2698 B.C
• These were medical gymnastics intended to
keep the body in good organic condition
• Therefore , kneeling, bending, lying, and
standing exercises could be performed to treat
disease

Ancient India
• In many ways, ancient India was similar to
ancient China.
• Indian people lived an existence that was very
religious in nature ,Hinduism and Buddhism.
• Hinduism stressed that the human soul passed
through several reincarnations before
being united with Brahma

• The quickest and most certain way to attain this
goal was to refrain from catering to the body and
enjoying worldly things
• The person who desired to be holy ignored the
physical needs of the body and concentrated
solely on spiritual needs
• It can readily be seen that leisure and recreation
activities had little place in the culture of these
religious people.

Buddhism emphasized that right living and thinking,
including self denial, will help the individual's soul
reach Nirvana, a divine state
However
Buddha's prohibitions of games, amusements,
and exercises in ancient India did not totally
prevent participation in such activities
Evidence is available about pastimes such as dice,
throwing balls, contests, tumbling, and chariot races,
marbles, riding elephants and horses,
swordsmanship, foot races, wrestling, boxing, and
dancing

The Greek Civilization
• The Greeks were the first to distinguish between
work and leisure
• They promoted a balance between work and play
as the routine to a healthy lifestyle and a healthy
society.
• In the ancient Greece, sport was an important
part of the culture of every day life.
• The major purpose of recreation was to test and
improve military skills.

Ancient Egypt
• China and India stressed religious and intellectual
matters
• Egyptian youths were reared in a manner
involving physical activity, leisure and recreation.
• They were instructed in the use of various
weapons and also required to participate in
exercises and activities to make the body strong
and capable of great endurance and stamina.

• The Greeks strove for physical perfection and
this objective affected all phases of their life;
that is, on political and educational systems.
• The modern Olympic movement is based on
the sporting events from the ancient Greeks
• Some of the words which associated with
sport today derive from the Ancient Greek
culture, for example gymnasium and stadium

Sparta
• The main objective of physical education and
leisure activities was to contribute to a strong
and powerful army
• In Sparta the individual existed for the state,
• Every one was required to help defend it
against all enemies. This included women who
had to be in good physical condition.

• To determine the tempers and test bodies of
babies mothers bathed them in wine
• Boys, just after 6 years, were sent to a public
barracks for compulsory public training.
• Sparta build up one of the strongest armies in
Greece.

Athens
• Athenians lived a democratic life, which did
not seek to control and regulate leisure
activities
• Athenians engaged in physical education for
development of their bodies
• Ideally, they wanted to achieve proper balance
in moral, mental, physical and aesthetic
development.

Ancient Rome
• In Roman times, leisure meant entertainment.
• The Roman calendar had 200 days of the year set
aside for celebrations, 175 were for games
• The great Roman engineers build public facilities
for the masses to enjoy
• The healing powers of spa waters were first
recognized in Roman times

• Slaves played music, competed in sports and
took part in gladiatorial contests where
success meant freedom, but failure meant
death.
• Further, Romans did not see the value of play
as an enjoyable past time
• Physical activity was considered important for
good physical shape and readiness to serve
the nation at short notice

• Soldiers did rigid marching, running, jumping,
swimming and javelin and discus throwing
schedules

LEISURE DURING THE DARK AGES
We shall learn about
• leisure during the Dark Ages,
• Middle Ages and
• Renaissance.

The Dark Ages
The Roman Empire collapsed about AD
476,resulting into a period of history referred to
as the Dark Ages.
It is argued that the tremendous costs
associated with the lavish entertainment
provided by the Romans led to the down fall of
Rome
The collapse of the Roman empire certainly had
major impact on leisure mercenary

This collapse left behind good lesson about
keeping a strong nation i.e. a state must be
physically as well as morally fit.
The dark ages suggested that these were hard
times with few
opportunities for the masses to take part in
leisure activities

Middle Ages
• The rise of Christianity after the Dark Ages led
to leisure being associated with ‘holy days’
• In Britain religious festivals took place at key
stages of the year Christmas, Easter, Sunday
holy day e.t.c
• Middle Ages were between the tenth and
fourteenth centuries, leisure continued to be
enjoyed by feudal lords

• They enjoyed leisure activities like hunting,
music, dance
• Towards the end of the middle ages leisure
began to take on an unpleasant bloody thirsty
aspect. It meant drinking, gambling and
bloody sports. How ever this also came to an
end

The Renaissance and Reformation
Renaissance means ‘rebirth’
The Renaissance period was a change of life
Many great and practical scholars made important
scientific
discoveries at home and Abroad
Leisure was no longer available for only the privileged class
It became available for every one in the society
Important leaders and scholars who were responsible for
popularizing physical education during this emerged.

INFLUENCE OF THE GROWTH OF THE LEISURE
INDUSTRY

The German Influence
Leisure activities in Germany during the modern
period is associated with names such as
• Basedow
• Gutsmuths
• Jahn and
• Speiss.

Johann Bernharil Basedow (1723 to
1790)
• Early in life he went to Denmark as a teacher, where he
witnessed leisure in practice as part of a combined physical
and mental training program
• After gaining experience in Denmark, he went back to
Germany and decided to spend all his time reforming the
educational methods.
• He established a school at Dessau
• In his model school, leisure activities played an important
part in the daily program of all students.

• The activities included dancing, fencing,
riding, running, jumping, wrestling, swimming,
skating, and marching. This was the first
school in modern Europe that admitted
children from all classes of society.
• Basedow's innovation greatly influenced the
growth of Leisure in Germany and in the rest
of the world.

Johann Christoph Friedrich Guts
Muths (1759 to 1839}
He was influential in the field of Leisure and
recreation through his association leisure
Professors
He was an instructor of physical education and
Sports
His beliefs and practices in physical education
were recorded for history in various books

Adolph Spies (1810 to 1858)
• He was the founder of school gymnastics in Germany
• He helped to make leisure a part of school life
• His own theory was that the school should be inter-
ested in the total growth of the child mental,
emotional, physical, and social
• Should be required of all students, with the possible
exception of those whom a physician would excuse

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