This paper proposes an investigation of what involved the notion of "physical culture" in the gestational process of the Uruguayan National Commission of Physical Education (CNEF) in the first two decades of its creation. For that, Uruguay-Sport, the official journal of the institution, is taken as source of inquiry. Among the main findings, the high incidence of the United States on the conformation process of the CNEF is noted. The "physical culture" is primarily understood as sport. Certain processes of sportive homogenization are produced based on sport models fundamentally imported from that country. A true level of what can be called an sportive optimist is shown.
Physical culture; Body; Uruguay; 1918-1926