Selected problems in international terminology of the human movement science

• Published in: Kinesiology (Zagreb, Croatia) Croatia), 2007-07, Vol.39 (1), p.5-14
• Main Authors: Starosta, Włodzimierz, Petryński, Wacław
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Efficiency; Physics; Science; Terminology
• ISSN: 1331-1441; 1848-638X

What is necessary is to call things by their right names Confucius The authors discuss the problem of human movement science terminology and point out the fact that terminology is (together with the field of research, subject of research, methods and methodology) one of the basic epistemological assumptions of any scientific discipline. Building the abstract models of reality, which is the fundamental task of science, seems to be impossible without the proper terminology, because the words are the main building material of theoretical models. Here lies the great responsibility of scientists, especially the English-speaking ones because English is the most commonly used language in contemporary science, in order to avoid ambiguous words and use clear terminology. Unfortunately, the scientists often seem not to be aware of this problem, and consequently some terms used in the science of human movement seem to be used inconsistently. This phenomenon is especially dangerous in translation from one natural language into another, because an improperly used term becomes even more improper in the process of translation. Thus the authors distinguish between two types of linguistic problems - the intralingual and the interlingual ones. The authors show some obvious inconsistencies in the usage of basic movement science terminology. They discuss the notions of physical efficiency, endurance and exercise tolerance. At first the authors quote some definitions formulated by other authors and show their obvious inconsistencies. The main source of inconsistencies seems to be treating each of them separately, while in fact they form a coherent system. Thus the authors show at first the interdependencies of all these notions and turn to the basic physical roots to describe the terms properly and to build their coherent system. Taking the previously mentioned into consideration, such a system should consist of four notions: physical efficiency, endurance, exercise tolerance and post-exercise tolerance. They make up a logical system, combined with the basic laws of physics and firmly rooted in biological realities. Especially illustrative is the phenomenon of supercompensation, which creates a fundamental basis of every sport and recreational training. The authors discuss the notion of force and its variants used in human movement science terminology. In physics it is an axiom, thus it may be described only by its effects in the environment. The most popular description of fo