New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-01-28
COMMON SENSE ATHLETICS.
,,rpr EXERCISE WILL NOT NECESSARILY
PRODUCE THE BEST RESULTS.

-. resident of Princeton University that
- ,e,r,larlv delivered 10 each incoming class el-e
<-,-vvsrr brief but pertinent homiiy' Aouhe 80
- # YOU haven't learning you know Whe.e
-. a.. =. ron haven't piety, you know where 10
= r. b,t If you haven't common seise-A''0'
Tsesven have mercy upon your Souls -,
~ snecdote is probably spocryphai pul tne
,o-l51r wisdom sparkling IN this utterahce = -.
first requisite Of a sound and oeieNs,oie -. S5yv
.p,-sscaI culture. Common sense-wha' tne
$500 farmer means BY the homely woro RuHIp
49, IS the secret OF all successful systems -
z,rfs,,al and team training. coach nc. a.
,.-re5 All there Is to be known soou. 80
e.s.z Of a particular game, and trainer me-
=, bic for his knowledge OF pns sioiO
-s.a-v and hvgieuic principles, but II oO00 -
+-ofnsr lacks IN good, hard, old Iashi""eu -
e.,se the team will suffer many uhiooheu III,
- And what is true OF team i seN
- ~ the individual who is badly ADVISED q 40
ssss himself badly. in regard 10 phE ,
-. T. ie possible thai he may be farnliiaF VIZ
- : z,-sr systems Of freehand gymnastics anu
- thoroughly the basic principles % 49,
ti15ire but II the Individual does not Ah0" ~
s,sr,.fate himself from all other men, ana 10
10 Gu -, >, his own special and peculiar
-, - MI undoubtedly. soon or late InaAe
- - his training AS Josh Bil!ings Feihai As
= l.++o- not 70 know so many things thah 10
t,or 81 many things that amt SO! anu one
~ most ordinary violations Of the Jaw -.
- sense as applied TO athletics is the Ia1ulls
- -,iob neorje repeat the old exploded error
go pruelling. Furnishing work is healinlu'
er-ise- .,- 10 no
utter vrfr1 never forget the ludicrous hgure
- b,- an old instructor, man OF ro0uhu anu
.. s.,,re whom he suddenly encountered IL
ls1i-s' -a5 in what he called gymnastlc eN-
Win b,iging eyes and face OF apopiepuc
,,s ne stood in his shirtseeves. Slowly aiiu 40
t,-so,,sf, lifting fifty pound dumooei aooFe IL
,5 ars- with one hand. then WIN 'he 0- -
Ilet2'A- me- keeping down MS
me - promoting digestion by such contor-
WIS" - This same man, who fancied hnseH
= ,+,,rfry on the art Of keeping Wen useu u
80. that on the coolest Of winter hsh's' VIZ"
-be mercury below zero. and a Floish1 sHO" IN
- ne would open the window wide close TO MS
= - s,n1- in the mound Of snow piled UP on
= -o,,,a-rane as evidence Of his faithfulness IN
The matter Of fresh air. That man died IN la'e
riddle life simply because he did not unoers'ahu
~ n care for himself properly. Spurgeon was
accustomed 10 say TO young ministers; Gentlemen,
,-s,cb sancri6cation but never cranktincatlon'
Capitalization" has been and is now. TO a GER
tain extent the bane Of athletic culture. PROBABLY
H. instance lust mentioned is extreme Probably
the more sensible and scientific modern ideas are
WIDESPREAD. But the tendency with multitudes
who ought 10 have learned better is still toward
excess in the careless use Of heavy apparatus, and
Furnishing movements in place Of light and dexterous
movements that give sUppleness and elasticity TO
the body while yet efficient in converting fat into
muscle.
OF course. the reverse Of this proposition also
obtains. The seeker after health may foolishly
suppose that he is able 10 counteract dissipation of
brain and nerve substance in overwork by giving
the fag end Of the day to perfunerCry swinging Of
clubs and pulls at his exerciser. AS Edwin Check
ley writes: Men carelessly retard and njure their
physical system say, fourteen and half Of their
waking hours, and then hope TO counteract all this
by fifteen minutes work few muscles of their
body. and generally not on the muscles that are
most injured by the careiessness Of the day" But
the old error Of pouderous exercise, pushed TO the
point Of exhaustion, still includes large number
Of victims in the aggregate, whose common sense
is swallowed up either by the ambition to display
great muscular development or by ignorance of
real health promoting exercise.
MERE MUSCLES NOT ALL.
One whose business it is to study and teach ath-
letics saw stripped few years since young fell
low who for years had worked with the idea OF
becoming q marvel Of physical development And
his naked body was. indeed, suggestive OF phe-
nomenaI strength. Muscles stood out like whip
cords from head to foot, and his frame resembled
e gnarIed and knotted oak. But the keen eye of
the professional trainer saw what the eye OF the
inexperienced observer would never detect-that the
vitality OF the athlete had utterly gone to seed.
vigor alertness, energy, had been sacrificed TO
strength alone and the difference between strength
OF muscle and vigor Of physique is as wide as the
difference between mere power and the lasting
quality Of power 1t is the lasting quality, the
tnSlSIenl On-Ine~tOeS IetIlllB
the right use Of means to the achievement Of phys
icaI stamina. When this note is absent something
is wrong with the method, and deceptive sturdiness
OF frame cannot disguise the fact Strength and
from il There is no reason why the strong man,
like John L. Sullivan in his palmy days, should fan
Of being keyed 10 the most dominant nervous en-
6I5i6e athlete must e5peI from ms mind once
for an the chimera that mere muscular develop
uent in itself considered is the thing to be won
be able TO lift horse: but he who rides him or is
able 10 clear the horse at q bound is the more
and this brings one 70 another consideration ,t,1E
where common sense applies MOnotony IN train
ing exercise that is taken IN obedience 10 the IN
flexible rule and compass of an undertaking sys-
mar IN 2 ManchesTer factory Complained to Joseph
Cook. All, sir it's not the wurruk-its the dom
nSvelisf an gbo 5eds-ag bat he was tired Of life
through WEAKNESS Of the everlasting grind" OF
them Of an niglt-of dressing and undressng7 So
II all walks Of life the weight that presses most
heavily upon multtudes Of people Is monotony.
And The principle holds equally true in athletlcs
OF course. and in way, monotony Is the ineyita-
BE accompaniment Of every form OF exercise Ihis
factor cannot De alJogether ellIninated BUY Il =
the part Of wisdom 10 study now 10 reduce II 20 a
- anu t a4ta- o9
establishment 10 Englishmen. There was great
the Cambridge contingent actually smoking pipes
Of good tobacco while training for the field contests
yale Also faiIad eirs} Oxford az the Cueen's club
meet This is not plea for pipe and glass for
the athlete But the point is that any system OF
ezercise OF training which deprives .monotony Of
It's dulng influence and permits the largest indu-
gence OF personal freedom OF enjoyment consistent
With building up a sturdy physique is the common
sense method.
MENTAL PLACIDITY TELLS
The phenomenal success Of almost perfect
university football team Is a case in point The
ooacn and tralner-men Of shrewd perception and
4-leI personal confdence-slloWed marked innova-
TORS upon established usage in developing the
team me diet was liberal and varied 70 the danger