Present paper aims to draw attention to the potential problem of the concept of body and culture, subsisting from the emergence of modern European physical education theory to the coming of P. de Coubertin's Olympism, in the realm of the French history of pedagogical philosophy, and to represent it as an origin of theoretical problem that our Society has been confronting with. The outline of discussion is as follows: 1. The education in the period of the Ancien regime looked Health or Physical performance as Moral profiles of particular beings. Body is attributed to private-ness. 2. On arrival of the Enlightment, Body, amalgamated with the Performance culture in the Ancien regime education, is conceived as the Physical, and it is the beginning of a peculiar type of theory for educating the Physical. 3. The Physical grasped by new pedagogy becomes not only a blank depriving the Body of its given traditional bases of Performance culture, but also a functional spot of the physics' time axis. 4. Guts Muths' pedagogy grappled with above conceptual problem of compatibility of the Physical as nature with the culture. His way of thinking provides our Society of Physical Education with the prototype. 5. Attempting to build up a practical moral science by rigid method of physical training and by codification of motorics, Amoros' pedagogy suffered from dilemma of "funambulism" which persisted between the highest exploitation of physical functions and the formation of moral conduct. 6. In the modem education theory, the problem of the Performance culture was requested retrospectively to the ancient Greek culture, while there were no alternatives during 19th century. 7. Looking for the deepest entity of the Physical, and deeply influenced by the philosophical trends of the 20th century, the New physical education theories came up to investigate the monistic totality of the non-intellectuals in the Physical, whereas it becomes more and more difficult to apprehend the humanity going over the scientifism and the philosophism. 8. P. de Coubertin's Olympism challenges to restore the Physical to the humanistic culture. He wrote a civilization history of 'sport instinct', on the other hand, he intended to describe psycho-motor representation tied the muscle up the awareness in order to identify proper live time axis of body with overarching historical time axis. This would be considered, however, as aggravation of the theoretical problem of modem education of the Physical and the Culture.

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A study was conducted to identify the most important factors involved in the process by which athletes overcome troubles while taking into account the limitations of the subjective socialization theory as a methodology. This study was undertaken by first examining the methodology, which consisted of the subjective socialization theory based on the context of lifelong socialization or resocialization. As a result, Erikson's theory of ego identity was confirmed to be a useful methodological framework. Secondly, we examined the way that athletes tend to overcome troubles based on the above framework by the "life history approach". The materials used were a biography written about Ruy Ramos (a famous former professional soccer star) as well as his own autobiography. These materials were selected because they demonstrate how he overcame some difficult problems. His example was also considered useful for understanding the limitations of the subjective socialization theory. The main findings of this study were as follows. 1) Not only "subjecthood" (autonomy) but also feelings (spirit or heart) and emotional support from others are the most important factors determining whether athletes can overcome their problems. In addition, Ramos' example suggested that an athlete's ego identity plays an important role in overcoming troubles. 2) The theory of ego identity, namely, the subjective socialization theory is useful for understanding the subjective process of athletes overcoming troubles and their resocialization. Unfortunately, this methodological framework cannot be utilized to understand feelings because it is based on a rational "modem subject". Such a study therefore also requires researchers to apply the above framework in a flexible manner.

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A study was conducted to examine gender and age differences for factors related to life satisfaction levels in terms of the family, daily life-style, health, personal relationships, environment and life design. Data were collected from 1,320 healthy people aged 60 years or more in the community (665 males and 655 females). The main results obtained, using data with high reliability (a coefficient = 0.88), were as follows: Men had a higher satisfaction level for family and health factors than women. The satisfaction level for men aged under 75 was high and this trend was especially marked for the health factor in men and for all factors in women. The satisfaction level for women aged 75 or older was lower for all factors than that for men, and the trend was marked for health and personal relationships. Because gender and age differences in life satisfaction level vary from one factor to another, the satisfaction level should be evaluated accordingly.

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A study was conducted to examine the effects of regular exercise on the quality of life (QOL) of elderly residents in a home for the aged. The exercise program, which include stretching and resistance training involving the upper arm, shoulder, and femoral muscles, was conducted 2 or 3 days a week for 3 months. Twenty-four home residents (training group) participated in the training, and five home residents (control group) did not participate. The subjective conditions of living and health, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), geriatric depression scale (GDS), and subjective rating of satisfaction and happiness using a visual analogue scale were assessed with standardized questionnaires. Physical fitness (muscle strength, agility, flexibility, and balance) and functional fitness were measured. These measurements were done before and after training. The scores of LADL, evaluation of subjective health, feelings, human relationships, satisfaction with life, and happiness did not change significantly over the training period in either group. However, the GDS score was improved in the training group after 3 months. Maximum isometric leg force, reaction time, stepping, balancing on either leg with the eyes closed, and functional fitness were improved significantly over the training period in the training group. On the other hand, sitting trunk flexion, one leg balance with the eyes closed, balancing on either leg with the eyes open, and grip strength were not changed after training in either group. These results show that 3 months of regular exercise training can partially improve the physical fitness and QOL of elderly residents living in homes for the aged.

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A learning program was designed for improving the overhand-throwing ability of elementary school pupils, and its effectiveness was investigated through regular physical education classes from a biomechanical viewpoint. The program consisted of four kind of teaching materials and was carried out seven times during three weeks by 31 boys and 30 girls in the second grade, and 36 boys and 36 girls in the third grade. Although the number of throws per class varied from 12 to 20 in the learning stage, there was no significant difference among the students. Measurement of throwing distance and analysis of throwing motions were performed before and after the learning program. The means and standard deviations of throwing distance for second-grade boys and girls, and for third-grade boys and girls were 18.32 ± 6.10m and, 10.80 ± 3.43m, and 19.37 ± 6.61m and, 13.71 ± 3.82m, respectively. After learning, the throwing distance of each group increased significantly to 21.56 ± 5.54m and, 14.45 ± 4.60m, and 22.33 ± 5.35m and 17.58 ± 3.96m. However, some boys who retained a higher throwing ability before learning showed a decrease in throwing distance. The motion pattern of the legs during the preparatory phase of throwing was improved, while the motion pattern of the arm was not changed. Some factors of motion during the main phase of throwing were also changed. It is concluded that the learning program designed in this study is generally effective.

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