The Dominion TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1910. THE ADVANTAGES OF PHYSICAL TRAINING.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 712, 11 January 1910, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1910. THE ADVANTAGES OF PHYSICAL TRAINING.

.- '. -./•■ '' V' y ./.-;' . At the recent Conference of School Teachers, the president, Me. MacDONALD, made reference to the value of real physical training and the lack of it in the public schools of the Dominion. "What was required," he said, "was a harmonious, an even development of the . human frame, and, to that end, at least half an hour each day should: be devoted to oxercisis; for the muscles of the head, the arms, the body, the legs, and the feet, with special attention to breath-ing-exercises. : The school that possessed a .gymnasium was fortunate in having. a powerful aid in the training of the upper standards..

.'v . ; - . In a few schools wherein these exercises- formed part' of tho daily routine, the percentage of attendance proved a high standard of physical health—one schoolj with, a roll of; B00,: returned 05 per 'cent-, of attendance—demonstrating ' that systematic physical training ensured far greater capacity for the work of life." The October numbor of > The Nation in Arms, the journal of the National /Service League, contains a very instructive statement summarising the result of, a courso of physical training. When tho effort; to increaccs tho numbers of the London Territorial Divisions was made recently, Mr. Eugen tho well-lmown instructor, generously offered a i free courso to those who had been rejected owing to inability to ; reach:the necessary medical standard, an offer subsequently extended so as to include all recruits of the ■ London Divisions. "Ho originally .to . give'; lessons' three times a week in, the Territorial Drill Halls. .But, as few of the-men could- get away except in the , evenings,.'when the halls were usually required for drill purposes, his, proposals bad to undergo considerable modification. Ultimately, tho coursc was fixed at one lesson ,per, month, with" daily exercises to bo carried out, of course more or less irregularly, by tho men at. their own homes. At the conclusion of the series 104 prizes wero awarded to the most efficient, and the. physical results'shown by,the, lo4 prize-winnors are' hardly less than startling. ; At tho beginning of the course . thirteen, measurementsf were taken of every man, of which two, the. waist and ' the.: height, ■ werej/ndt; liable to any great increase. 'As a result, of, tho three months' course, 1 the total ,of these various measurements increased by an amount varying; from ;27J inches. in the, case ,of. the i:.st prize-winner, to in- that of tho hundred.;and fourth,'and the averago, increase of chest measurement alone amongst these. 104 young'' men was over 2 inches per man. It cannot be , doubted, we think, that each and every one of the- recruits is now -a better -man dn ■ his civilian .workj'■:whatever./,ite" nature may be, than ho .was before he, went through the course. --His muscles art firmer, his oye ia clearer, his brain'is more active. He is,of greater value• to himself, to his employer, and- to his country. We : have recognised ;in Now Zealand that universal compulsory; military training is a step that must be taken, if we wish to preserve from the invaSer the Empire that our fathers in many eases gave their blood for. In our view, such training is tho mecessary and' desirable complement -of physical training.. /.AVhat ./tiie . latter does, for : the body,' : . the iformer does for the mind, ■in that it; teacheshabits of order, obedience, discipline, . and- self-re-straint..; ; One of ' the ■, most satisfactory features, of/the,'new .compulsory, scheme is the importance which is attached -. to . - physical. /training amongst the '/cadet; corps. ; In. the past," in many , cases, physical. tra,in-: ing has been sacrificed 'to military instruction in connection with school cadet;'corps,- but the; new/ v scheme should remedy this, and a material improvement in- the; physique; of the race should.result. - " ... •:■ .1