A System of Physical Education: Theoretical and Practical |
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ACTION AND POSITION beam bending the arms chest COURSE COURSE III COURSE IV descend yielding distance eighth exercise elongate the trunk exer extend fifth exercise grasp the bar grasp the pole ground gymnastic half reach hand and foot HAND OVER HAND hands at once hands Fig inches instructor knees and elongate ladder leading hand learner left bar left following left foot forward left hand leading lift both feet lift the right limbs in position lower limbs lower the body machine movement pass Position of attention preceding exercise press strongly quit the grasp raise the left Raise the right reach and grasp rear Repeat rest right and left right foot RIGHT HAND LEADING right or left rise rope round the bar Second Series side leading slip the leading slip the right spar step straighten the knees supporting foot supporting hand Third Series toes pointed trapezium trunk and lower upper limbs vault
Popular passages
Page 24 - Yes, it is health rather than strength that is the great requirement of modern men at modern occupations ; it is not the power to travel great distances, carry great burdens, lift great weights, or overcome great material obstructions ; it is simply that condition of body, and— that amount of vital capacity, which shall enable each man in his place to pursue his calling, and work on in his working life, with the greatest amount of comfort to himself and usefulness to his fellow-men.
Page 74 - The muscular additions to the arms and shoulders and the expansion of the chest were so great as to have absolutely a ludicrous and embarrassing result; for before the fourth month several of the men could not get into their uniforms, jackets, and tunics without assistance; and when they had got them on, they could not get them to meet down the middle by a hand's breadth. In a month more they could not get into them at all, and new clothing had to be procured, pending the arrival of which the men...
Page 83 - The joints, which are made for motion — which retain their power of motion only by frequent motion — have been held motionless. The muscles, which move the joints by the contraction and relaxation of their fibres, have been subjected to an unvaried preservation of the one state or the other — the muscles of the trunk in unremitting contraction, those of the limbs in effortless relaxation. Now, one of the most important of the laws which govern muscular action is, that it shall be exerted but...
Page 52 - ... foundation, and is, I believe, more than any other single cause, the influence to which can be attributed the present unhappy state of British industry. British trades-unions embrace nearly 2,000,000 members. The greater part of this army of organized labor has adopted a false economic theory. They hold that there is a given amount of work to be done in Great Britain, and that, if the day's output of the individual worker is decreased, the result will be an increase in the aggregate number of...
Page 72 - The first detachment of non-commissioned officers, twelve in number, sent to me to qualify as Instructors for the Army were selected from all branches of the service. They ranged between nineteen and twentynine years of age, between five feet five inches and six feet in height, between nine stone two pounds and twelve stone six pounds in weight, and had seen from two to twelve years
Page 74 - Now, who shall tell the value of these five inches of chest — five inches of additional space for the heart and lungs to work in? There is no computing its value, no power of computing it at all; and, before such an addition as this could be made to this part of the body, the whole frame must have received a proportionate gain. For the exercises of the system are addressed to the whole body, and to the whole body equally, and before this addition could be made to the chest every spot and point...
Page 91 - ПОЛУ wasted. And then, but not till then, should the practical application begin — an exposition earnest, ample, and varied, which will shew him how every article of commonest use may be utilized on emergencies to important purposes ; how obstacles of every form and character may be surmounted, and how burdens of every size and shape and weight may be borne ; which will shew him...
Page 80 - ... resembling riding-schools, in which drill may be carried on throughout the year. And, as this Gymnastic system is viewed but as drill, aims but at being drill, it is in winter carried on in these buildings, — the few articles of apparatus employed, for the sake of the advantages which they specially offer to the soldier, being erected in a corner of them. And this continuity of practice increases manifold whatever good it can yield ; and thus, although meagre and inadequate, its fruits are...
Page 25 - ... a physical condition implying that all are sound, well-fitting, and well-matched. Some minds do not look far enough into life to see this distinction, or to value it if seen ; they fix their eyes longingly upon strength, — upon strength now, — and seemingly care not for the power to work long, to work well, to work successfully hereafter, which is health,
Page 87 - ... one head, under the single designation of Practical Gymnastics. The evil which naturally and inevitably springs from this want of arrangement is the undue importance which it gives to all exercises of a merely practically useful character, above those whose object is the training and strengthening of the body. This is emphatically the case in the earlier stages of the practice, where the whole attention of the instructor should be devoted to the giving, and the whole effort of the learner should...