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This book explores the emerging concept of 'slow sport' - recreational movement practices that emphasize mindful engagement over competition. Targeted at philosophers of sport, wellness researchers, physical education specialists, and practitioners of mindful movement disciplines, this collection examines how intentional, non-competitive bodily practices cultivate deeper experiential connections with our environments. From yoga, meditation, and martial arts to Saharan recreational activities, contributors analyze how slowing down physical practice creates space for enhanced well-being, environmental attunement, and phenomenological richness.
Ideal for academic readers interested in alternative approaches to physical culture, this book challenges conventional sport paradigms by highlighting how deliberate slowness transforms recreational movement into a philosophical practice - one that prioritizes qualitative experience over quantifiable results, fostering a more contemplative relationship between the human being and the environment.
The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of
Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.
List of contents
Introduction: Slow Sport and Slow Philosophy: Practices Suitable (Not Only) for Lockdowns
1. Qigong, Philosophical Reading, and the Cultivation of Attention: Chinese Contemplative Body Practices and Slow Philosophy
2. From Slowness to Deepening: The Way of Emersive Awareness
3. Saharan Recreation: From a Transformation of Bodily Experiences to a Transformation of Cultural Representations
4. Slowness Out of Sync - Understandings of Time in Ashtanga Yoga
5. Shikantaza - The Practice of 'Just Sitting': Ultimate Slowing Down and its Effect on Experiencing
6. Improving Movement Efficiency through Qualitative Slowness: A Discussion between Bergson's Philosophy and Asian Martial Arts' Pedagogy
About the author
Irena Martínková is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport (FTVS) at Charles University, Prague, Czechia. As Founder of the Sports Ethics Research Centre of FTVS, she specializes in sports ethics, phenomenology, Olympism, and Eastern martial arts philosophy. Martínková is President of the International Association for Philosophy of Sport and Vice-president of the European Association for the Philosophy of Sport and teaches courses including Philosophy of Sport, Ethics, and History of Physical Culture.
Bernard Andrieu is a French philosopher and historian of the body, serving as Full Professor at Université Paris Cité, France. As Director of the Institut des Sciences du Sport-Santé de Paris (I3SP), his research explores the relationship between the living body and lived experience through 'emersiologie'. His extensive work spans philosophy of neuroscience, mind-body connections, and bodily practices, including his editorship of the comprehensive Dictionary of the Body.
Jim Parry is Visiting Professor at the Sports Ethics Research Centre at Charles University, Prague, Czechia, and Former Head of Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK. His work focuses on sports ethics, political philosophy, and Olympism. He has authored or edited key texts including The Olympic Games Explained, Ethics and Governance in Sport, and Olympic Values and Ethics. A former Chair of the British Universities Physical Education Association, he also founded the British Olympic Academy. He has been Visiting Professor in Olympic Studies across Europe and Asia.
