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This site is dedicated to the complete history of the game of Badminton.
A lot of mistakes are currently spread about the origins and development of this international sport. We would like to propose
in the following pages – and with your contribution – a true vision of badminton history.
Like
all the other sports, Badminton was not invented overnight. In fact, it is not possible to trace the birth of a game or its
transformation into a sport to a specific historical or geographical context with any precision. A game’s invention
happens over time, undergoing continual modification according to particular circumstances. However, it is just as erroneous
to believe in a single and eternal game, historically untraceable, which Adam and Eve would have played to pass the time.
It’s the same with the fallacious legend of the invention of modern badminton at The Duke
of Beaufort’s Gloucestershire home “Badminton House” when guests at a dinner stuck goose quills in champagne corks and began batting them across the table.
The circumstances linked to game's evolution
form such an entangled mess that it is futile to try to unravel them completely. However, this complexity cannot be ignored.
It is important to attempt to reconstruct, demystify and analyse it in order to trace the origins of a sport, understand the
changes in its evolution and explain its contemporary physical and cultural characteristics. Badminton is no exception, on the contrary. The idea that it sprung to life suddenly in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century and that like most other modern sports the British invented it is oversimplified.
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In
fact it is both true and false. It is true insofar as the game of Badminton as we know it today is very similar to the game
played with a net, invented and developed by a handful of British officers at the turn of the century. It is false however
if one considers its social and historical context, and the technical similarities which link it unmistakably to the “battledore
and shuttlecock” game, an English and French recreational activity about which there are many references as far back
as the fifteenth century. We must not overlook the games played with shuttlecock
on other continents with the hand, the foot or a bat, and which also played an important role in defining the modern sport.
Badminton’s development is therefore not linear. It is especially clouded by mysterious aspects that can partially explain
its relative anonymity or at least the modest amount of media attention it generates in some parts of the world. With
such a rich and varied background history, spanning from France to Japan or from China to North America, Badminton could be
one of the most ancient and universal of sports. For this
reason it was necessary to have a complete overview of its history focusing on its various stages of development rather than
concentrating on technical or regulatory aspects.Finally, the story will be dealing with the international recognition
symbolised by its status as an Olympic sport, which for many has confirmed the universal dimension of Badminton.
This website is yours. If you are passionate about badminton history, your
contribution is welcome. Make sure too register this site as one of your favourites. And don't forget to spread the word...
some of your friends will surely be interested. |
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