PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3026, 24 October 1908, Page 6

PHYSICAL CULTURE.

This column is conducted by Mr R. M? 0. Jarrett, Physical Culturist, late I 1 supervisor to the Wanganui Educa- j* tion Board.Pdncipal of theWanganm, J Feilding, Palmerston North and * Foxton Physical Culture Schools, * Who will be glad to hear from beginn- , * *rs in Physical Culture, and will re- I jply to "questions in tsie following * Saturday's issue. Initials and ad- * <dressonly will be used when answering 'questions. Thus: W. McK, Carterton, or G.'lf-, Featherston-, aa '•the case may b©. Most students, •especially beginners, have "little •difficulties whic?i beset them, and it be a pleasure to help these along. *sJpon receipt of a penny stamp, Mr -Jarrett will post to any address his } 'book on '"Exercise for health and i 'Brain," which contains auraeful chart and valuable information for young | end old. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. I take this opportunity of introducing myself to the readers of the Age. As a teacher «sf Physical Culture, I have, sincd "taking up my residence in their midst, received numerous requests it© open a school Of instruction in this district. I, have most reluctantly had to de•cline. Wishing fco do as much as possible for the general good, especially for the rising-generation, 1 have decided, thanks to the facilities ■offered by the proprietory of the Age, ' to contribute an article every Saturday in its columns dealing with the various phases of Pnybical Culture. Some of the articles will contain illustrations of suitable exercises for various deformities and ailments ameriable to curative physical culture. I will be glad to receive letters from, and answer questions, to budding physical culturists. And, as far as possible, printed advice, I will be glad to assist those who may he afflicted with deformities, such as curvature of the spine, muscular weakness, -weak lungs, and other kindred troubles. SOME HOME TRUTHS FOR ■YOUNG MANHOOD. DO YOIJ WISH TO SUCCEED? The term'"Physical Culture" to most people .means muscualr development. But muscular development does not always mean health. In fact, it > does not always mean strength. - For strength depends not upon the amount of muscular tissue, ■but upon the nervous energy of the individual. Muscular development, as secured by the usual methods, is a distinct disadvantage to the owner, and amenace to his health and life. This is true, not because the large muscles are in themselves undesirable, but'because the excessive development is produced by a method •which istin itself unphysiological and . injurious. A brief explanation will .make this, clear. Muscular development can be gained only by increasing the nutrition of the muscle. This can be done in either one or two • ways. One—the natural method-—i s to bo regulate the diet and general system that the' entire body is thoroughly well nourished, each of the'organs and tissues receiving its • fall share. A v ery moderate amount of exercise then suffices to keep the muscular system well fed ■without depriving the vital organs of their supply of food. With a wellnoiarished body and full breathing, violent muscular exercise is not necessary to proper maintenance or development of the muscular system. The usaal method of acquiring muscu- , lar development ia by rapid and vigorous muscular contractions, main- . tained to the point of fatigue, ofttimes to exhaustion. Little or no attention is paid to the diet, or the condition otthe alimentary and excretary organs. Thus the general nutrition o£ the body is net materially increased. At the same time, the exercise taken has created an imperative demand for nutriment on the part of the exercised muscles. To meet this artificially created demand, nutrient matter needed by the internal organs is sent to the depleted muscles. The vital organs thus regularly robbed of their natural and needed food supply are starved and weakened to such an extent that their structural organisation undergoes degenerative changes, and they become a ready prey to disease. The constitutional weakness and the Jow,ered vital resistance of trained athletes is a well recognised fact among practical medical men. In addition to these, the vital organs are given many additional pounds of muscular tissue to feed and care for, thus at the 3ame time reducing their capacity and increasing their duties. The really important organs, the organs through the activity of which life is maintained—lungs, stomach, intestines and liver—are drained to fieed a huge mass of unnecessary muscle. Some months ago an advertised professional strong man called upon me, at one of my schools, and suggested that I should .arrange a private demonstration at 'which he would pose before the medical profession as an exponent of physical culture, the object of which •.was to show what rational .and scientific physical culture can do in the development of the human body. Before agreeing to invite the .doctors to attend, I requested him to Allow me :to examine him. This he readily agreed to. I discovered that he was badly varicosed inarms and legs. (Upon enquiry, I learnt that has development was due solely to heavy weight-lifting practice, not weightJifting exercises, but heavy, strenuous lifting, taxing his physical strength to the limit. I invited a ! medicaj friend to examine him, when he drew my attention to his very weak pulae beat, which was not ■equal to that of an average healthy ten stone man (his own weight exceeding 14 stone). Needless to write, the proposed demonstration for medical men did not take place. In the light of this obvious illustration, it js easy to understand why the excessively developed athlete dies in early life. The scientific training of the body means a larger life, but physical culture as ordinarily taught and practised is not only a menace 4o health, but a frequent cause of death. • i These are trying times. The' struggle for existence, common to all life, has become in our day a brutal scamble;for place and self—a struggle in which many must perish that a few survive. Statistics show that in business, only one man in twenty succeeds, while in the professions the

percentage is smaller. Only a few years ago success was a question of willingness to work. Not so to-day. | To-day the ambitious young man | looks out upon the future, and asks ( himselt not "Am I willing to work \ for success?" but "Have I tte strength to win success. Can I withstand the long hours, the intense.-ap-plication, and the nervous strain necessary to wrest success from others, as determined as I, and perhaps stiwrger?" Success to-day is more a matter of endurance than of application. The chief essential of success for a young wan is what the vast majority J of yecng men think about the least, that <is, good health and a sound constitution. That is the first thing. N«tthing precedes it. In the battle f©r success, that should be a young eman's first thought: Not his abilities or his work, but his health. That is rthe basis, the corner stone of all. Abilities cannot bring health, but health may and generally does develop ability. A young man with splendid health and average ability will outstrip every time the brilliant voung man who is in poor heaJth. With the former the one strengthens the other; with the latter, the one constantly saps the other, and effort becomes less and less possible. In any success, good health and the <eeping of it is the first and greatest essential. Everything possible de'elops from it.