Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

This photo from The Library of Congress attracted me. Here are a group of girls from Chicago, competing in Sokol Sports in Austria.

Chicago girls at Sokol Sports, Prague, Austria by The Library of Congress from Flickr

What are these Sokol sports? This website lent me a little information about them:

• Czech Sokol Organization

The idea of physical education as well as the promotion of moral values was formulated by Miroslav Tyrs, a professor of the Charles University, and by Jindrich Fugner. The philosophy, evolved from the ancient Greek ideals of “kalokagathia” and now propagated by Miroslav Tyrs and his followers, became the basis of the movement, which is connected with the origin and destiny of the Czech (Czechoslovak) Republic. Four times Sokol was banned or its activities were restricted by wars or totalitarian regimes. It was still alive, though- in other countries, in communities of Czech immigrants on all continents of the world.

Although these girls seem to have tennis rackets in their hands, Sokol is said to be gymnastic training. According to The Sokol in the Czech Lands to 1914: Training for the Nation by Claire E. Nolte:

The history of the Sokol, the Czech nationalist gymnastic organization, from its founding in 1862 until the outbreak of World War I emphasizes its role in articulating national values and facilitating mass mobilization in the political context of the multinational Habsburg state. By including background on the German Turnverein, this study goes beyond the Czech context to explore the intersection of gymnastics and mass nationalism in Central Europe.

All of this makes me wonder why those girls from Chicago were there in Prague, so long ago. Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

On another note, the idea of staying physically active and strong as a service to our nation has been talked about a lot in our news. It’s not addressed on a nationalism level, but the idea that America has become weak because of our obesity epidemic is an underlying theme. Is it our patriotic duty to stay fit?