Sports
Japan, one of the few non-Western nations where traditional sports still rival modern ones in popularity, is also one of the few non-Western nations to contribute significantly to the repertory of modern sports. Judo, invented in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō in an effort to combine Western and Asian traditions, attracted European adherents early i n the 20th century. In 1904 Robert Guérin led a group of football enthusiasts in forming the Fédération Internationale de Football Association , which England’s insular Football Association was at first too arrogant to join. While the aesthetic element survives in sports such as figure skating, diving, and gymnastics, the modern emphasis is generally on quantified achievement. In fact, the transition from Renaissance to modern sports can be seen in a semantic shift; the word measure, which once connoted a sense of balance and proportion, began to refer almost exclusively to numerical measurements. Robert Sarver Says He Will Seek Buyers for Phoenix