Generally, the term sport implies intense physical activity. It requires the body to move quickly and to move through an environment, burn calories, and exhaust one’s physical energy. It also involves competitiveness and the development of body parts that aren’t normally used in everyday life. It also involves the use of rules and regulations to promote fair competition.
Sports are also shaped by social and spatial patterns. While some nations are dominant in specific sports, others are marginalized. For example, the Soviet bloc was able to outperform Western countries for a period. This forced major sporting nations to introduce state-sponsored programs. However, poorer nations were unable or unwilling to allocate the scarce economic resources necessary to sports. As a result, they often struggled to compete on the world stage.
While many forms of sports are played for recreation and health, there are many other types that are purely competitive, such as war games and team sports. There are even’social’ sports, which are based on societal values and motivations. For example, a team sport can be a way for a child to bond with a group of friends. Likewise, a child’s self-esteem will rise as a result of playing in a team environment.
Globalization has also affected the way sports are played in different countries. Many non-Western cultures resist Western sports, preserving their own indigenous recreational pursuits. A sign of globalization in sports is the increasing popularity of martial arts in Asia.