PHYSICAL TRAINING

Evening Star, Issue 22798, 5 November 1937, Page 10

PHYSICAL TRAINING

NOT JUST A MUSCULAR MATTER THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT With the exception of those connected with schools and the services, all physical training classes in Britain must, of necessity, be voluntary, and owing to the fact that most of us have a job of work to do, they usually take place in the evening after business hours, says Major W. K. Garnicr. This is unfortunate, but unavoidable, and I know that it causes a large number of people to hold back. Leisure hours are few enough in all conscience, a,nd in these days no one is going to give up his spare time indefinitely to anything which is not, unmistakably to his advantage or to his enjoyment. We hear a groat deal about improvement in bodily strength, in health, in general suppleness, and adaptability, in connection with physical training. But this is only ono side of the question—physical fitness is not just an affair of muscles; it affects the whole way you think, feel, and live, ■and I can tell you that some of the results can be startling. . Many young men, when they first join a class, ar© psychological cases. They hardly know their legs from their arms. They are quit© unable to give their attention to anything for any length of time or to transform thought into quick action. And they are very easily bored. If this is true of a group of individuals who voluntarily give up their spare time to attend a gymnasium, what of the great majority who have no intention of doing anything of the kind? The fact is that a lot of people go through life without knowing what they are missing. A great part of them is lying fallow. They may feel quite well, but they are only firing on two cylinders. Physical training can, and does, perform miracles. That, you may think, is a surprising statement or an exaggerated claim. But I hope, to show you that it is nothing of the kind. For the last 12 years I nave myself been running evening classes, and, during that time I have had to do with 3,000 men and hoys of varying ago, occupation, and physique. Three-quarters of the psychological side of physical training can be summed up in two words—mental alertness. Mental alertness E reduces quick reaction, adaptability, alanoe, and most important of all—character. At times I wonder whether I am dreaming, when I look, at the change which has come about in some very hard case. The eyes are bright and responsive. The line of the mouth has tightened up, the whole general bearing has changed—for you can always tell the state of a person’s mental and physical fitness by the way ho walks and stands. What does all this mean? It means that a revolution has taken plaec and that tho individual in question has become aware of himself. Consider this only from the lowest point of view—a a commercial asset. It is priceless. Many a man has lost a job by the way he walked across a room.

1 remember, some years ago, a little Irish Cockney boy, who joined our gymnasium. His job in life was to boil the water to make the tea for a gang of labourers. Not a very inspiring form of employment! He was small and undersized, and I was afraid that he might become disheartened and give up the class. One night, as I walked through the dressing room, I saw him stripped to_ the waist, admiring and preening himself in front of the looking-glass. And- then- I knew that we had got him; he had discovered that _he had a body and was proud of it. Apparently ibis was a habit of his, as all the others called him ‘ Chesty ’! He has got a very good job now, and there is not much in the acrobatic line that ho cannot do.' Not only that, but,,, he takes his own classes. He has become a leader! And here is another story : About four years ago,' a doctor sent'one of his patients to join a class. Although ho was a psychological case and might have required special handling, he brought with him no covering letter. He merely became merged into a crowd of 60 others. His trouble, unfortunately, was not an uncommon one. Ho had had a bad home, was listless, and took no interest in anything. In fact, he simply didn’t function. The next day he was asked how ho had liked it, and his reply was: “It was the most lovely thing that I’ve ever done! ” And that boy has now got a very good job. I have told you these two stories, because I do want to get at the person who is too shy, too diffident, to join a class, _ mainly because he has a very poor opinion of himself and is afraid of being shown up before others. I really don’t know how many times I have heard people say: “ Do you think that I shall ho good enough, I have never done any of this work before? ” Those are just the very people who should flock to a gymnasium. And, as for any fear that they will be made to look foolish, in a well-run class that is impossible. No one is expected to run •before he can walk, and all successful training is founded! on a slow method of progression. Actually, as far as my experience is concerned, I often find that these same shy birds, after a few attendances, become rather “fresh” and exuberant! Of course, what has happened is that they are finding out that they are beginning to do feats which they have never even aspired to, and they are acquiring a new-born sense of self-confidence and —personality. I could tell you of many who have come forward and, with surprise, have explained how they have found that they can add up figures better in the office since they started physical training, or that life has become simpler and that the little worries cease to annoy. One evening each week is enough to feel a benefit from the training, and you can also spare two minutes every morning in front of an open window as soon as you get out of bed; you will be surprised at the result—particularly on your temper.

Let me try to sum this up in a few words: Physical training is more especially for tho-ordinary man. By making him mentally more alive, it will help him in his job—and in his life. A long and arduous training is not necessary. One evening a week is quite enough. It will produce balance, quick reaction, self-confidence, a sense of responsibility, courage, personality, and character. . It is, in fact, not recreation but re-creation.