Physical

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Physical

rangement of the exercises chosen are deter-
mined by the sex, age, and physical condition
of the individuals to be trained. The result
which should be secured by a rational system
of physical training is to secure a complete
education of the body which can be attained
only by careful and continuous training from
early childhood to maturity.

During the first six years of life, the child's
need for exercise is fully satisfied by free play.
During the first four years of the elementary
school, the physical training of the child con-
sists mainly of free play supplemented by in-
struction in simple gymnastic games and some
of the fundamental exercises. The period of
adolescence, from about 10 to 18 years, is by
far the most important for the physical train-
ing of the individual. The physical training of
the individual should be completed when he
reaches 18 to 20 years. This does not mean
that physical exercise is no longer necessary,
for physical activity is essential to health in
every period of life. After 40 or 45, the heart
and blood vessels become m'ore susceptible to
strain, and the muscles and joints lose in sup-
pleness ; in consequence it becomes necessary
to abandon exercises of strength, speed, and
endurance, and to substitute some of the light-
er forms of muscular activity. Three systems
of physical training, developed in Europe dur-
ing the iQth century, constitute the basis of
modern physical training; they are the British j
the Swedish; and the German.

The British system is essentially a system
of plays and games which has developed grad-
ually as an expression of the play instinct in
the English people. This system is valuable
because it gives expression to the normal hu-
man instincts for physical activity and com-
petition, but it lacks a scientific basis and is
incomplete as a system of physical training.
The Swedish system was developed at the
Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics, found-
ed in Stockholm in 1813 by Peter Henry Ling.
The characteristics of the Swedish system are
as follows: Positions are distinguished from
movements; every movement is selected for a
definite purpose; movements which tend to
constrict the chest or require the breath to be
held are rejected; definite progression in the
character of the movements is made from day
to day; all movements are executed to the
word of command, as in military drill. The
weakness of the Swedish system is due to the
too great emphasis given to the neural factor
in exercise, the monotony for the rigid May's

order' or lesson, am' particularly to the omis-
sion of all competitive and recreative exercises.

The German system of physical training is
one of the oldest and most extensively practic-
ed today. Friedrich Ludwig Jahn is given cred-
it of founding this system. With the coopera-
tion of his friends and pupils, Jahn developed
a scheme of physical training which included
such exercises as running, jumping, vaulting,
and various exercises on newly invented gym-
nastic apparatus. He made use of every form
of exercise which proved interesting. New
forms of exercise were added from time to
time until the system included games, free
movements with and without hand apparatus,
heavy gymnastics, running, jumping, climbing,
throwing weights, wrestling, and fencing.

Physical training has been developed fat
more extensively in the United States than in
Europe. In the sixties, the colleges of Harvard
Yale and Amherst built gymnasia; rowing,
baseball, and athletics were introduced in a
number of colleges; Dr. Dio Lewis inaugurated
a movement in favor of light gymnastics; and
the Germans organized gymnastic societies
and founded a school for training teachers.
The new movement developed slowly during
the first few years, but since that time the de-
velopment has been very rapid. Abundant re-
sources and freedom of thought and action
have made possible the development of a
national system of physical training which is
rapidly taking its place as an integral part of
American education. That the leadership of
the United States in physical training and ath-
letics is recognized by foreign nations is shown
by the large number of commissions sent by
foreign governments to study American insti-
tutions and methods of physical training.

One of the direct results of the popular in-
terest in national preparedness aroused in
the United States by the great European War
of 1914 was the passage by the legislature of
the State of New York of 'An Act to amend
the education law, in relation to courses of
instruction in physical training and discipline
in the schools of the State.' The chief pro-
visions of this act are as follows: After Sept.
i, 1916, all pupils above the age of 8 years in
all elementary and secondary schools shall re-
ceive as part of the prescribed courses of in-
struction therein such physical training as the
Regents, after conference with the Military
Training Commission, may determine, during
periods which shall average at least 20 minutes
in each schqpl day. Pupils above such age at-