Development of research on the human motor skills started with the idea of movement. The next stage were considerations about physical fitness, and in the 20th century the concept of motor coordination appeared. A lot of scientists attempted to define its components. Motor coordination has great importance for physical fitness. In medicine, body balance is the most often examined element of motor coordination. For this purpose, qualitative and quantitative tests are used. A big achievement in this branch are posturegraphic examinations, where body balance is estimated with special platforms. In this thesis development of research on the human motor skills is described, with particular regard to the element of balance.

Key words: motor coordination, body balance, posturography.