ARMY. GYMNASIUM

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 139, 10 December 1919, Page 14

ARMY. GYMNASIUM

OPENED AT TRENTHAM

BEST IN THE DOMINION

AN IMPRESSIVE DEMONSTRATION.

The big gymnasium at Trentham Camp, the construction of \yhich was commenced some eighteen mpnths ago, was formally opened Monday afternoon, when a demonstration of physical training and gymnastic exercises was given by 150 officers and n.co.'s attending the General Headquarters Instruction School. There was a. distinguished assemblage present in honour of the occasion, those present including Major-General Sir A. W. Robin (General Officer Commanding the Forces), Major-General Sir E. W. 0. ChaytoT (commander of the famous Anzac Mounted Division, who is succeeding Generai Robin as G.0.C.), Colonel G. F. C. Campbell, C.M.G. (Coast Defence Commander), Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Sleeman, I.G.S. (Director of Militarytt Training), Lieutenant-Colonel W. M. B. B. Thorns, D.5.0., M.C. (General Staff), Lieutenant-Colonel R. B. Smythe, D.S.O. (staff officer for Military Operations and Intelligence), Lieutenant-Col-onel M. M. Gardner, D.S.O. (Director of Artillery), Lieutenant-Colonel C. Guy Powles, C.M.G., D.S.O. (Camp Commandant), Major D. B. Blair (Camp Adjutant), Major H. M. W. Richardson, D.5.0., M.C. (Instructional Staff), Major W. C. Finnis (General Staff), Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., and the following representatives of the V.M.C.A. : Messrs. H. W. Kersley (chairman of the National Committee), C. M. Luke (chairman of the Military Committee), and A. Varney (General National Secretary). DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. The building has been erected by the V.M.C.A. and the Defence Department, the V.M.C.A. supplying tile material, and the Department providing the labour. It is a huge building, giving an uninterrupted floor space lOOft. long, by 66ft. wide, with commodious dressing rooms 10ft. wide running along both sidee. It is, without question, the biggest gymnasium in the Dominion, is well lighted, and is equipped with all the apparatus necessary, such as vaulting horse, horizontal and parallel bars, Roman'rings, climbing .ropes, basket ball fixtures, boxing gloves, medicine balls, fencing weapons, etc. Its erection was commenced early in 1918, with the intention that the building should be used for the physical training of the Reinforcement drafts, but when the war concluded the construction was suspended, and was not resumed until recently, when the work was pushed ahead to completion. REMARKABLE POSSIBILITIES. Tho spectators, who included! a large number of men in "hospital blue" from the camp hospital, were treated to a really fine exhibition of physical training and gymnastic exercises by officers and n.c.o.'s. of the G.H.Q. Instruction School under the direction of Captain A. W. Brocks, M.C, Army Gymnastic Staff, Chief Instructor in Physical Training for the Dominion. The members of the class are almost solely returned officers and n.c.o.'s, who have been selected as candidates for appointment to the Staff Corps and Permanent Staff for their fighting qualities as shown in the field, and not for their athletic prowess; many of them are still suffering from wounds, and considering that they havo only undergone two months' training at Trentham with physical instruction as only a portion of the syllabus, it might have been expected that as a class they would only make an ordinary exhibition. The result, j however, was astonishingly good, and j demonstrated in a remarkable manner what might easily be achieved with the most favourable material, the unblcmish- J ed youth of the Dominion. Every officer and n.c.o. went through the exercises with a rhythm and poetry of motion which was delightful to see. Each movement was smartly executed, there were no laggards, and very few made mistakes, all acting together in admirable unison. The changes, too, were made rapidly and without fuss. The whole reflected the greatest credit upon the instructional and organising capacity of Captain Brocks, who is desei'ving o_ the heartiest congratulations. FOR BENEFIT OF SENIOR CA2>ETS. The display commenced with an exhibition of massed exercises, including marching, running, jumping, and games selected from the Cadet Syllabus of Physical Training, 1919. The spectators wore much impressed with their simplicity and general physical benefits, every muscle being called into play without being unduly strained, and each man being called upon to have all Jus wits about him in order to execute the rapidly changing orders given. The ga_nes, too, made a marked impression, providing plenty of fun and healthy exercise for every member of the class. These included "two's and three's," "Medicine b .nu" an.d "jumping the swinging rope." I hen followed a demonstration of a lesson in boxing according to the Army system, exercises on the parallel bars, and the formation of pyramids, exercises on the double beam and bar stalls, and vaulting horse exercises. These were all well earned out and earned for many of the performers hearty applause. Captain Brocks, who is a first- ■ class gymnast himself, wa_ the star performer, executing several difficult feats with an ease and symmetry of motion seldom seen in New Zealand. BRAIN STIMULATING EXERCISES AND GAMES. These were succeeded by a demonstration of brain stimulating exercises and games, devised at a late period in the Great War to replace the stereo typed physical training in the field with trench-weary and war-worn troops. These were mostly physical training exercises, which were specially designed to catch the unwary who are obliged to pay whatever simple penalty is required. One of these which provoked intense amusement both among the members of the class and the spectators was the giving of an ordinary physical training exercise, which was not to be executed unless the instructor, Captain Brocks, prefixed the word of command by the words, " O'Grady says it." Many were caught napping and paid penalty by being obliged to somersault on a mat. The fun had been going for soma time, when Captain Brocks cried: "Hands up those who have hot been ciught." Half a dozen did so. "O'Grady did not say it," remonstrated the laughing instructor, and so all were caught! The six executed their penalty amid roars of laughter. A similar game with equally amusing results was "This and That," in which the class, imitating the instructor, was obliged to follow him in "this," but not in "that" —if they did "that" then it was another case of paying penalty. Another game required the rear line to -chase the front line on the word "r-r-r----rats" or "r-r-r-rabbits," the penalty being that if the front line man allowed himself to be caught by his rear-rank man he had to carry him mounted on his back for the remainder of the distance. The impression created on the spectators by these games was that they were «0.50.d tho.'.lL.y .bouid not- only bo , introduced into the Territorials and Sen- [

ior Cadets but into the Public and Secondary Schools. CULTIVATING THE TEAM SPIRIT. The demonstration was concluded'with an exhibition of basket ball—officers v. n.c.o.'s, the whole of the members of the school being put through in quick time ;* teams of seven aside. The objects o" this and similar games on the ' tabloid principle are the cultivation of the team spirit and the compelling of, every member to take part. SPEECHES OF CONGRATULATION. Major-General Robin, in a short speech, congratulated Captain Brocks and tile members of the school on their splendid exhibition. He said that if the people of the Dominion had seen it, they would have realised that the physical training as being imparted under the Army system was going to be of permanent benefit to the nation. Mr. T. M. AVilford also spoke. He said he was deeply impressed with all he had seen. The demonstration was extraordinarily good, and he confessed his surprise at the great value of the * training being given at Trentham. Appreciative references were also made to the fine action of the V.M.C.A. _ in enabling the gymnasium to be built, thereby conferring a permanent benefit on New Zealand's Citizen Army. The officers of the school subsequently entertained all the visitors at .afternoon tea.