The Process by Which University General Physical Education Leads to Lifelong Sports Practice: A Narrative Inquiry of Two Graduates

This study aims to explore how the experience of general physical education (GPE) classes in university is remembered and how it leads to the long-term practice of lifelong sports in the lives of graduates. In particular, it seeks to recontextualize the educational significance of GPE by focusing on bodily sensation and identity formation.Two graduates who had taken GPE classes during college and have continued practicing the same sport were selected through purposive sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed using a narrative inquiry framework. The analysis followed the structure of ‘telling’ and ‘retelling,’ paying attention to the temporal flow and the persistence of sensory experience. Participants vividly recalled their sensory and emotional immersion during the GPE classes, which served as a strong motivational basis for integrating physical activity into their daily routines post-graduation. The telling phase revealed themes such as emotional responses during skill acquisition, bodily adaptation, and interaction with peers. In the retelling phase, theoretical perspectives were used to interpret how the continuity of bodily sensation, physical literacy, self-determination, and embodied identity functioned as core mechanisms for sustaining lifelong sports practices. GPE functioned not merely as a practical skills course, but as an integrative educational experience that shaped participants’ rhythms of life, sensory awareness, and self-perception. This study empirically demonstrates the long-term value of GPE as a foundation for lifelong physical practice and provides foundational insight for future curriculum development and policy justification regarding general physical education.