GYMNASTICS

the performance of systematic exercisesoften with the use of rings, bars, and other apparatuseither as a competitive sport or to improve strength, agility, coordination, and physical conditioning. Additional reading Ahmed Eldemerdash Touny, Sports History with Ancient Egyptians, published by the Egyptian Olympic Committee in 1981, contains hieroglyphic graphics on Egyptian sport and includes the sites and approximate dates of origin. James G. Thompson, Clues to the Location of Minoan Bull-Jumping from the Palace at Knossos, from the Journal of Sport History 16(1):6269 (Spring 1989) shows one possible way a bull could have been approached by acrobats in the ancient sport of jumping bulls. Information on tumbling and its history may be found in Bonnie and Donnie Cotteral Historical Sketch of Tumbling, in The Teaching of Stunts and Tumbling, 1936. For details on Turnfests from 18601987 see Herbert Neumann (ed.), Deutsche Turnfeste, 1985. For a biography of gymnastics founder J.C.F. Guts-Muth, see Nicholas J. Moolenijzer, Johann Christoph Friedrich Guts Muths and His Gymnastik fr die Jugend: A Commentary and Critique to Accompany the Reprint of the English Translation of 1803, 1970. For information on the trend to very young female gymnasts and its associated problems, see Joan Ryan, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters, rev. ed., 2000. Bruce Frederick