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| Monday, October 22, 2001 Edition
| Updated 1:55 AM
CST |
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A
long way from dodge ball
Former NIU
instructor takes physical education very
seriously
By
Lisa Weber
Health and Fitness Reporter
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| Courtesy
Photo |
Ed Thomas (right) uses an inversion
table to decompress the spine, develop spatial
orientation and compensate for the constant
stress of gravity that contributes to aging and
a variety of postural deformities and organic
dysfunction with the weight training students at
NIU in the early
1990s. |
| To Ed Thomas, physical education is
so much more than just a class we were forced to take
every week in elementary school; it’s his life.
Thomas is an Iowa State health and physical
education consultant and he was a physical education
instructor at NIU from 1979 to 1993.
While at
NIU, Thomas used historical methods of physical
instruction to develop training models which are now
being integrated into Army-wide physical readiness
training.
“Students on campus acquire
deformities through education,” Thomas said. “Physical
education was designed to correct these things.”
Organized American physical education began in
the mid-1800s, Thomas said.
“It was influenced
by physicians who understood that rational movement
could prevent and cure illnesses,” Thomas said.
“European immigrants fueled the evolution of the
physical education profession by bringing highly-evolved
systems of physical training from Germany, Sweden,
Czechoslovakia and other countries.”
These
European systems were aimed at improving national
productivity, national security and leisure, Thomas
said.
“Training included on-the-ground,
off-the-ground and combatives,” Thomas said. “Boxing,
wrestling and fencing were the most common combatives,
and the off-the-ground training was highly
sophisticated. On-the-ground training included drills
with dumbbells, medicine balls, sticks, Indian clubs,
free calisthenics, running and other skills.”
In
the 1920s, America began to focus on sports and games,
Thomas said.
“We have struggled since then to
understand the nature of physical culture,” he said.
“Today’s youth are less fit than ever before, and
postural deformities are so common that we look at them
as normal.”
Progression, variety and precision
are three principles of rational physical training,
Thomas said.
“Post-secondary physical educators
began to focus on theory in the early 1960s,” Thomas
said. “Practical physical training skills are not
appreciated in many schools, but I actually enjoyed
serving without recognition or support at NIU. My
rewards came from watching thousands of students
transform themselves, and I appreciated the opportunity
to teach and study at NIU.”
NIU was Thomas’
academic base camp.
“I arrived in 1979 and I was
an instructor in the physical education department,”
Thomas said. “I left in 1993 as an assistant professor.”
Thomas’s time at NIU motivated him to develop
training models.
“My experience at NIU was a
combination of continued study and practice, fueled by
the joy that comes with working with interested and
motivated students,” Thomas said. “My childhood
experiences, military service and years of teaching at
the University of Iowa all began to come together at
NIU, and each trip abroad gave me more ideas about how
to be a better teacher.”
Thomas received a
service award and medal in 1996, and the United States
Army Physical Fitness School recognized him when he left
for Iowa in late 2000.
Thomas has advice for
today’s students.
“The development and care of
your body is a moral responsibility,” he said. “Take a
careful look at how you treat it, and resolve to become
wiser with time. Associate with people who value mind,
body and spirit equally, and never be satisfied with
mediocrity.” |
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© 2001 Northern Star. All Rights
Reserved.
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