Los Angeles herald., 1890-08-08
HOW TO TRAIN A CHILD.
CAN HAVE HEALTH AND STRENGTH
BY BREATHING RIGHT.

10 Inhale Correctly Means an Erect Body
and . Graceful Carriage-The Spine
should BE Straight and the Muscle.
Soft-Little Good In Gymnasiums.
Over in Brooklyn is little man with g
gigantic chest and marvelously strong
muscles. He is the founder of new sys
tenn of physical education. Thirty-tw
years ago, when he was wearing his first
knickerbockers, he was so puny that his
parents thought it was hardly worth while
to encourage him to go on living. Today
although he is small he is as strong as q
bulldog and delights in amusing his
friends and astonishing strangers by lying
fiat on his back and lifting up 24O pound
men at arms length. He thinks the Gus
tom Of putting young Americans through
q course of calisthenic and gymnastic ex-
,ercises is all wrong.
1.-THE present system is wrong from be-
ginning to end,' he said to reporter
''Pick up six months old infant" he
added, "hold him in an unstrained upright
position, and you will find that his back is
broad and fiat and that his spine is perfect
ly straight. AS soon as the child begins to
walk the spine begins to curve. Why2 The
weight of the abdomen causes the lower
part of his back-the hollow of his back, ,
80 called-to sink forward and sag down.
There is error number one. Subsequent
physical training takes no notice of it.
DEFECTS OF CALISTHENICS.
you will find, too, that an infant in
arms has the power, while sitting bolt up
right, of putting his foot, or at least a part
of 1t, in his mouth. This is because his hip
joint is perfectly free and flexible He loses
this hexibility almost from the moment he
begins to walk. The ordinary system of
athletic or calisthenic training takes no no.
tice Of this loss.
"Now, claim that above all else child
should be taught how to stand and how to
breathe Next he should be instructed as
to the proper way of using every muscle
and joint Teach him those things and he
will be graceful, healthy, strong man.
Neglect them and while he may become
temporarily strong his power is neither
lasting nor conducive to long life and vigor
'Nothingi is more important than to teach
children the general principles of right
development. It is a mere makeshift to
bring forward calisthenics. Only small
minority Of the children in classes for
physical training give any vigor or mean
ing to the few insignificant movements of
the arms. Most of the boys and almost all
of the girls make merely superficial move
ments, with no sense of the meaning and
no feeling of exhilaration. Ifanything has
been said to the children about breathing
NO effect is visible. If anything has been
said about the carriage of the body the in
struction has been confined to an injunc-
tion to keep back the shoulders
POSITION IS EVERYTHING.
'In nervous effort to obey the latter in
junction children are often found with hol-
lowed backs and shoulder blades driven in
against the spine. When the shoulders are
violently and persistently thrown back the
shoulder blades almost meet. They press
on the spine and jam the upper part of it
forward This effect is simply unavoida-
BILE.
''If child is sent to school at the age OF
S or the teacher should watch him at his
desk to make sure that he maintains ar
erect position. 1t will be found that if the
head is kept properly held erect the chin is
bound to draw up the breast bone BY
holding the body erect and straight the
child will find it easy to breathe in the
'costal way--that is, with the upper part OF
the chest This l claim is the proper way
learn all this at once, but careful teacher
by taking pains could soon bring her class
into such condition that they would find
it easier to stand, walk and sit right than
wrong.
1t is not necessary to spend any special
half hour day in teaching these things
The instructor who is with children all
the time is the one to keep them standing
or sitting properly. Folding the arms,
the present attitude of respectful attention
is one that cramps the chest and the
breathing apparatus. 1t should never b,
practiced. Let the teacher instruct hel
children to keep the upper point of til,
forehead and the most prominent part O.
the chest always uplifted, as if trying tc
push up through the ceiling. A word now
and again will soon inculcate the righ1
sort of carriage Let all bending forward
be done from the hip joint-not from tn,
waist. The back bone need not and should
not be bent in STOPPING to pick up any
thing.
WE SHOULD ALL LIVE TO BE so.
Instead of wasting time over rods ant
wands teachers should make the children
learn how to hold their bodies and how tt
move the shoulders, hips and other Joint.
properly in the ordinary business Of life
Children can get little good from wha
they learn mechanically. The youngster
interest must be aroused Teach him tha
not dumbbells but the knowledge he ac
quires in the carriage and department O
his body will make him agile and strong
and then his physical education vii
amount to something. Physical educa
ton is properly accomplished only through
the mind.
The mere requirement of muscular tis
sue is not of so much Importance as goot
sheath of sound, healthy, agile bone cover
ffng. By that mean elastic, supple ten
sdOns and muscles working in harmony, di
rected by a we'll regulated mind That i,
what children need
"The shoulders should not be strained
back Of the hip joint. These two joints
should be on the same perpendicular line
The chest must have prominence on iti
own account, and the shoulders when helC
back far enough to give the chest free de
velopment find natural and comfortable
center.
81 am no believer in the theory of eXten
.sive destruction in tissues and hurried re
shuilding Of them to secure health. Sucl
training is abnormal. The cat, the horse
dog, tiger and other lower animals keeI
their strength for the most part with Hgh
exercise. The tendency of hard exercise i.
hard muscles, and hard muscles are bad. L
is in the conservation of energy, and not il
- L 4 Il