Grundgymnastik Eller Primitiv Gymnastik
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Niels Ebbesen Mortensen Bukh (15 June 1880 – 7 July 1950) was a Danish gymnast and educator who founded the first athletic folk high school in Ollerup in Funen, Denmark. He achieved international fame as a gymnastics trainer for the Danish team at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912. He was inspired by the rhythmic female gymnastics of the Finnish gymnastics educator Elli Björkstén(1870–1947) and the medical gymnastics of Kaare Theilmann.


Primitive gymnastics

Within the tradition of Pehr Henrik Ling, Bukh developed his own primitive gymnastics, aimed at using forceful exercises to prevent stiffness and bad bodily habits. His 1924 book "''Grundgymnastik eller primitiv gymnastik''" (known in English as ''Primary Gymnastics'' or ''Primitive Gymnastics'') was a how-to manual about his method, which was later adopted by organizations such as the YMCA. Historian Mark Singleton has argued that through the YMCA and their gymnastics training in British India, Bukh's exercises influenced Tirumalai Krishnamacharya's style of
asanas An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...
in modern yoga as exercise. In 1931 his gymnastics team toured the world, visiting Japan where his system became highly influential.


National Socialism and homosexuality

His system of exercise became highly popular in Germany, and in 1933 Bukh publicly expressed his allegiance to the National Socialist cause and its aim of improving the health of the Aryan race through gymnastics. This made Bukh unpopular in Denmark, especially after the German occupation of Denmark in 1940. Bukh's support for Nazism caused a backlash when a previous lover publicly revealed Bukh's homosexuality. Bukh had lived together with a male partner for several years, and his sexuality was well known in his family and among his friends and students. Biographers speculate that Bukh never became aware of the Nazi stance against homosexuality, even with his frequent visits to Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. Bonde, Hans (6 November 2000)
Krop og karisma
. udd.uvm.dk
Niels Bukh
'' Great Danish Encyclopedia'' (26 May 2010).


Manor house

In 1944 he bought Løgismose manor, which he sold again in 1947.


See also

* Physical culture


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bukh, Niels Danish gymnasts Gymnastics coaches 1880 births 1950 deaths People associated with physical culture