For those of you who don't know what DTJ is, I'd like to take a moment to give you a brief explanation.The initials DTJ stand for "Delnicke Telocvicne Jednoty" or "Workers' Gymnastic Union". DTJ as an organization is a part of the great Labor Movement as the translation implies. It is an International organization, whose program consists of training the youth of the world to enable it to take part in the great movement for a better and more just organization of human society.
A Little History
The DTJ organization was formed by a group of tailors in Prague, 1897. The group was sympathetic towards the Social Democratic movement of that period. Gym work was started immediately, classes being held wherever room could be found, mostly at the Inns.
The first DTJ group to be formed in America was founded in Cleveland, Ohio by members of the Lassalle Senior Club in 1909. Soon after another group was organized in Chicago, Illinois. An organization affiliated with the DTJ is the American Sokol of New York. Although the D.A.S. has a sick and death benefit provision in its program, there is possibility that it will come in closer contact with the DTJ of the future.
-DTJ Taborville website. (Beware Czech music!)
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Before I was a cyclist, I was a gymnast in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. And I'm saddened to admit that I hated it, and didn't realize the rich cultural heritage that I would eventually miss-out on.
ReplyDeleteMy mother spoke fluent Czech, as did my uncle and grandmother. Alas, my dad, Irishman that he was, didn't want "Hunky" ideas in the heads of his sons. He forbade our mother from teaching my brother David and me the language, and our participation in Czech cultural activities was never roundly endorsed.
I do remember my mom's furtive attempts to at least teach me how to say in Czech the words for nose, and eyes, and ears, mouth, teeth, etc... We would practice for a few minutes at a time in my grandmother's (Babi) cottage in Taborville.