ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that in physical education, there is a close embodied relationship the knowledge objects of practical knowledge and the knowing subjects. It explains this argument through a series of reflections on the objects of practical knowledge, on poise as an important element in movement literacy, and finally through a reflection on skill acquisition and Merleau-Ponty's conception of habits. The literature on the philosophy of sports includes many discussions of the phenomenology of skill acquisition. The work of Hubert Dreyfus and the phenomenological philosophy he developed have become a particularly influential paradigm for understanding the phenomenology of skilled sports performances. Even though the development of motor skills is one of the claimed benefits of physical education, it is perhaps more correct to say that in physical education, the major component is sport skills. David Kirk, for instance, argues that physical education can be thought of as the teaching of sport techniques.
