2 Responses

1. Indrani

   June 19th, 2008 at 12:23 am

   1

   There is documentary evidence that a a game or skill building exercise, involving kicking a ball into a small net, was used by the Chinese military during the Han Dynasty – around the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC.
   Earlier evidence – of a field marked out to play a ball-kicking game has been found at Kyoto, in Japan.

   Both the Greeks and ancient Romans played a soccer-type game which resembled modern soccer – although in this early version, teams could consist of up to 27 players!

   It is impossible to say accurately where and when soccer started – but it is reasonable to assume that some type of ball game – from which the organised sport we know today developed – has been played somewhere on the planet for over 3000 years.

   Britain is the undisputed birthplace of modern soccer/association football. Scotland and England being co-founders of the organised game.

   Football – as soccer is called in Britain – was a popular sport of the masses from the 8th century onwards.

   But the game at that time was a war game!

   There is a story which places the first football game in the east of England – where the locals played ‘football’ with the severed head of a Danish Prince they had defeated in battle!

   In medieval times, towns and villages played against rival towns and villages – and kicking, punching, biting and gouging were allowed.

   The object of the game was to move the ball to an agreed spot which had been marked out before play commenced.

   Hundreds of people took part and games could last all day.

   So violent did these matches become that many attempts were made by the authorities to ban soccer.

   In England, King Edward III passed laws in 1331 to try and suppress football. In Scotland, King James 1, in 1424, proclaimed in Parliament, “That na man play at the Fute-ball” (No man shall play football/soccer).

   Good Queen Bess, Queen Elizabeth 1 of England, had a law passed which provided for soccer players to be ” jailed for a week, and obliged to do penance in church.”

   But no law could stop the game in Britain.

   It was too popular.

2. ferlacentre

   June 21st, 2008 at 12:25 am

   2

   The modern soccer (that is what you see today) invented by English and it begun in XVII Century. I don´t understand what do yo mean when you said: elements of fitness. Do you mean “exercises”?