EVERY GYM HAS ITS CHARMS AND NOOKS: the praxis of gymnastics in gymnasiums between 1975 and 1988 in the city of Salvado
Teacher Training; Gymnastics in gymnasiums; Oral History.
It is well known that gymnastics is experienced from multiple objectives, executions, and social spaces, thus encompassing several modalities. As one of the most experienced body practices in the world, through the course of time, it is essential to understand its history and professional performance. Therefore, this research aims to understand the praxis of gymnastics in Salvador from 1975 to 1988. The study is based on a historical research, founded through orality by using interviews, bibliographic sources, official and unofficial documents. It can be affirmed that the precursor formation in the state, the Catholic University of Salvador, developed its base from the knowledge in European gymnastics methods. Thus, the professionals started their actions in an autonomous way, systematizing their methods of intervention for this practice. The Cooper Method in the 1970's and aerobic gymnastics in the 1980's strengthened and guided the actions in a mass model. Adding the North American phenomenon to its various manifestations in the period, gymnastics in gyms became an opportunity to work in the city and opened doors for these professionals, thus grounding a generation that marked the progress of this practice in the city of Salvador. In light of the above, it is understood that the praxis of gymnastics in gyms is consolidated in the city of Salvador and that it permeates through non-established paths that need new looks that consider the perspectives of gymnastics in gyms in their entirety.