PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11460, 19 December 1902, Page 5

PHYSICAL CULTURE.

WHAT IT REALLY MKAXS. A CHAT Willi MR SAXDQW. (BY OUR SrECIAL RF.rORTER.I Prclxibly in no in N«w Zealand ! ha« the advent of the ny*»lle of physical ! culture. Mr Swidow. be*n looked I forwaixl to more than in ' Christchurch. j Under tlw direction of Mr Horuibrook. a teacher of the Sandow system, a strong Ul;i&<; has been forim-d hore, whose proj fickney and appi-ar.ince won ywterdny "if warm "commendation of the strong m.«i himself. I A member of "Th: Pre«" Maff had an taik with Mr &uid«w, mainly I (in tlu- bern-lit of phvfieal culture- and tin. , working of h* system. Cli*m hair, a bright alert Lok, iimi that indefinable pui.se which marks tlie twined athlete. Mr Santlow fully bans out his description a.s a magnineont spei-imon of a mun. As he talked intertstedly imd at iiiu<* emphatically on the subject to which he has d-'- j j you'd h* tutrgio*, h> f.ico lighted up. and ; th.-- wuuli ciuiu in .-hort, .-harp *,enter.Ct* j just tiiurod with v ioivign ateait. Thou-'h I brr.-i in (itnnaiiy, Mr Samlow is proud to j h.iir>elf t-'n Knglishman. having j lhtd in England since lw «m.» cighlc-e-n ; yeans. "lk'Mde.s" he iwded with a .siinl,\ j -.vhilit talking en th? matter, "1 have nur- | iitd an J-lnji'li-sh lady." Looking at h>s j magnificent devJopmuit, ono cm hardiy ! b'litvo that, he was in his youth wfikchested. Yet so it was, and he was Uk-.-n from fo ; rgy England to the gonial o'.imutf { m Italy on that account. J "WliiLst there," said he, "I wed to study ! iho.-e n'agniikviit specimens of humanity in tho olden t:mv.s which have been preserved to ius in sculpture. How was thi* perfection obtained, I wjkjd myself, by what, syMem, and cannot 1 become wmething like th<«*>. 1 tried to find .some books to .give me an insight into the syetein they practiced, but without, avail. Yet there must have been a Hyetem. So I 6 p t myavll' to work to think out my way in tli% direction of perfecting myself, and commenced with tho study of anatomy, so a» to make mysolf familiar with the muscles of the body. This of course was all very well, but 'the difficulty remained how to apply the knowledge intelligently. And then came the discovery which is the keystone of my system, viz., that mind is t controlling power over tho muscles, which brings each single one and each group into play, and enables physical culture to be carried. Tho vital force may bo latont in the body, but till the mind calls it forth by development in conjunction with physical exerci&e it does not come out. Take a child of good vitality and shut him up without exercise he becomes weak, though the vital force is there all the time, but it has snot beeai called forth by the mind acting upon it intelligently. I commenced my training by bringing my mind to bear upon the different muscles of tlie body, and so bringing them into action at will. This I continued to do till 1 had got all of them into line, as it were, with the mind, and then tdie result for which I had been working, viz., physical development of the highest character, was achieved. "There are lots of parents who develop* the minds of their children only with i>ne idea, of making money, forgetting that their minds must be strengthened with, the selfcontrol which physical culture gives them. This is what my system dees, as it is an extract of all athletic shorts in a small compa«B. whereby a, man can move or exercise all his muscles in twenty-five minutes or half aa hour. It is true that muscles are brought into play oy every sport, but only the set "of muscles adapted to that eport. Take for instance football. About sixtyfour musclra only out of the 400 in the body aie exercised by this, and when fchev are exercised it .i« done violently, which is harmful. Five out of every ten young men are ruined in health by this system, instead of the whole of tho muscles being brought, gradually and steadily into play as in physical culture. "As to the question of diet?" asked our representative. "I do not believe," was the answer, "in any particular system of -diet. The saying what is one man's meat is another man's poison, is perfectly true. The idea of a starvation diet for men in training is a mistake, and I proved it in a controversy at home in 1896 that took place through the papers. As to taking alcohol, if a man is in the habit of takeng it no -harm will ensue if taken in moderation, but there is no need to drink alcohol to make a man strong. It i« when a. man's body is weak, and not. physically cultured, that the danger exists of hi« not kno-weng when to stop. As soon as he takes up the system of physical culture a man finds that it gives him self-control, and brings out the control which mind exercises over the body. He thinks more of his body ondtakes care of it. I Lave ofcen thought that if ministers of religion would go in more for the encouragement of care of the body in the direction of physical culture religion would be all the better for it, and nwn would as a whole ue better also." 1 i' l li th ! ey , s i ei V of P^ywcal"culture applicable to elderly men as well as young men.' v j t> -Certainly. There are two distinct stages in physical culture. In the one the young men lay the foundation of their health m life, and in the other old men can restore their vitality and power. If a mam makes it a rule to exercise on my system for a short period eacli day, he will add years to his life. There 'is no necessity at all for the violent gymnastic exercises which as a rule are prescribed. A man is told to take gymnastic exercise for his health, and perhaps goes-first at a bar, lifting his own weight, some 200 or 3001b, and putting a violent strain on tho muscles. There is no need for this. All that is wanted is exercise with 21b or 31b dumb-bells, and carrying out the other exercises of the system, which gradually, and without violent exercise, brings ifie whole of the muscles of the body under control of the mind. And there is this about it too: th.it once you have attained to tho control of the muscles, there is no a\e«d for continuing exercise. ' You use tliem involuntarily, without knowing. At one time I left off work for two years; yet when I returned to it again I was as good as I am to-day. All that is necessary is to obtain control by means of the mind over tho muscles." In reply to a question whether climatic influences had anything to do with muscular development, Mr Sandow said that he did not think it had, though, of course; the beautiful climate which Xew Zealand possessed would enable plenty of open-air j exercise to be taken.