The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-11-29
A CHAPTER OF GYMNASTICS.
BY WOoDsMAN.
From Tile american Sportsman.

Inc Ureek, are UNDERSTOOD all DoQlly eX-
ercises, which may be divided into,
Military exercises; 2, Exercises systemati-
cally adapted to develop the physical pow
ers, and preserve them in perfection, which
constitutes the art Of gymnastics, properly
SO called; 8, Exercises for the sick, a most
important branch, which has been very
little attended to, for many years. The
ancients divided their gymnastics into gym
nastica matlitaria, gynnastica medica, in
Guiding under this head our second and
third divisions and gyasnastica athzetica, or
as Galen calls them, Uitiosa, which were
practised by professional athletes at the
gymnastic games, and were in bad repute
i'll those times on account of their injurious
effect on the health and morals. The class
of gymnastics enumerated under the second
head. have their origin in the exercises of
war and the chase. The preparation of
youth for those occupations leads to the
introduction of gymnastics; and the chase
itself has been considered by many nations
as preparation for war; the Spartans and
our American Indians for instances. The
ancients do not inform us precisely of the
origin of gymnastics. They are first found
in systematic form among the Greeks, and
the first gymnasium was established in
Sparta. In Athens, gymnastics were re-
fined from the rude military characters
which they bore among the Spartans, into
an art; and the gymnasia became temples
of the graces. In each gymnasium there
was place called palasstra, in which
wrestling, boxing, running, leaping, throw
ing the discus "a heavy circular piece of
from and other exercises Of this kind, were
taught. Gymnastics were afterwards di-
vided into two principal branches-the pal
lestric, taking its name from the palestria,
and orchestrc. The former embraced the
whole class of athletic exercises; the lat
ter, dancing and the art of sesticulation.
The enthusiasm for athletic sports among
the Greeks, their love for the beautiful
which was gratified in the gymnasia by
the sight of the finest human forms in the
prime of youth, and by the halls and colon
nades, adorned with statues and pictures,
and occupied by teachers of wisdom and
philosophy, rendered these places the
favorite resorts of the old and young
Gymnastics even formed an essential part
of the celebration of all the great festivals
The Greeks, as well as the Romans, set a
very high value upon the art of swimming
In Sparta, even the young women swan
contempt, "He can neither swim nor
write," is well known. Running was also
much esteemed, and the Olympiads were,
for long time, named from the vctors in
the race. Riding on horseback was deem
ed a liberal exercise. Dancing, by which
we are not to understand the modern dane
ing of the two sexes intermingled, but the
art of graceful motion including oratorical
gesture, together with certain formal dances
performed at festivals, was likewise indis-
pensable to an accomplished man. Wrest-
ling was also much valued. With the de-
cline of Greece, the gymnastic art naturul-
ly degenerated, and became gradually re-
duced to the exercises Of professional ath-
lete, which survived for a long time the
ruin to the land of their birth. We may
date their revival from the commencement
of tournaments, the first of which were
held in the Ninth and Tenth centuries, in
France, and may have had their origin in
the military games of the Romans, aided
by the martial spirit of the defendants of
the German conquerors of France. They
received, however, their full perfection
from the spirit of chivalry.
At later period, the character of these
celebrations degenerated so much that they
were finally prohibited by the Pope and
the Emperor, as the Roman ludi had been
several times prohibited by the Emperors.
With the superiority which, in the course
of time infantry began to acquire over
cavalry, as it always does with the advance
of civilization and scientific tactics and
the invention of gunpowder, the institu-
tions of chivalry declined. Tho heavy
steel coats were done away, and the art of
skillful fencing began to be introduced.
The first treatise upon this subject appear
ed in the Sixteenth century. The Italians
were the first teachers, and three different
SCHOOLS, the Italian, French, and German,
were soon formed. We speak here of
fencing with the small-sword; but the Ger
mans also practised the art of fencing with
straight broad-sword, perhaps owing to
their neighborhood to the Sclavonian ma
tions, who all prefer the cut to the thrust.
The weapon Of Sclavonians, however, is
the crooked sabre. At the same time
vaulting began to be much practised.-
The Roman desultorss Livy, xiii. 30, and
Vegetius, indeed, lead us to suppose that
the Romans knew something of this art;
and it was no doubt also practiced by the
knights of the middle ages; but the pres
ent art of vaulting is modern in its charac-
ter, and carried to the greatest perfection
in France. Modern craftsmanship had its
origin in Italy. The first riding school
was established at Naples.
In the reign of Henry VIII, it was intro
duced into England. Running, shooting,
hurting and leaping, were not taught sys-
tematically; yet much importance was at
tached to proficiency in them, in many
parts of Europe, on account of the numer-
Gus popular meetings, like those which
still exist in Switzerland. Swimming, at
this period, was not taught as an art
Where there were convenient places for
bathing, children naturally found it. In
the age of wigs, gymnastics declined, and
effeminate pleasures took their places
Riding, fencing, vaulting and dancing
alone remained, and even these were gradu-
ally neglected by the people, and confined
to the nobility, on which account these ex-
ercises were sometimes called the "exer-
cises of the nobles;" at least this was the
case on the European continent. In Eng
land, where noble families never formed so
distinct caste as in other countries of
Europe, those branches of gymnastics
which still survived, were more generally
practised. The Greeks had, besides, the