IHPRA Newsletter
August 2005
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Over thirty soldiers from the Iowa Army
National Guard
successfully completed a one-week
Physical Readiness Training Leader Course
at Camp Dodge on 01-05 August..
They were required to master, demonstrate, and instruct
a variety of calisthenic drills and assessments.
These graduates will attend an advanced PRT course later this month.
The IHPRA salutes the IARNG men and women who protect us.
| The National Association for Sport
and Physical Education (NASPE) speaks for over 17,000 physical education
and sports professionals. NASPE contends that programs consisting of
"mass exercises following a designated leader or standard
routine" are inappropriate. This disdain for teaching group exercise
has endured in physical education since the 1920s. On a recent NASPE
online forum, Board Administrator Steve Jefferies writes, "A change
we need to make in physical education is the view that getting kids in
shape necessitates lap running and mind-numbing calisthenics."
Calisthenic refers to conditioning drills or exercises using hand-held tools like medicine balls, wands, Smart Bells, kettle bells, Heavy Hoop, Indian clubs, dumbbells, tubing, etc. In more rational times, students were taught en masse to properly exercise with these and other convenient and inexpensive training tools. While many physical educators across the country are trying to learn how to teach these skills, the mainstream physical education profession remains uninterested and uninformed. This attitude toward rational and structured exercise has endured in physical education for most of the last eighty years. IHPRA newsletters have made numerous reference to rational group calisthenic training. Here are a few:
In his 1965 book, Backache, Dr. Hans Kraus recalls a 1957 conversation he had with a group of physical educators. He writes: At the time I simply did not realize that many physical educators had such an ingrained dislike of exercise. I found this out in 1957, when I attended a meeting with a number of physical educators. It was a very friendly session. After a few minutes we got down to the main problem. I asked, "Why are you against exercise?" "We can't use exercises," one physical educator said. "Why not?" I asked. He smiled. "Very simple," he said, "Twenty-five years ago we gave exercises to school children. And as far as I'm concerned, that's enough. We were looked down on as the boobs of the school system. We had no status at all. So we changed our emphasis. Now who are we? Well, we're not the boobs we used to be. We're respected members of the academic community. We're educators, physical educators if you wish. We're not 'exercise teachers' any more. We're educators, coaches, and administrators. You want to know the truth? Exercise is finished! It's passé. It's out of date. You want us to turn back the clock. Well, I'm telling you doctor, we don't care what your findings show, we're not going back to the old days. We've worked hard to get where we are, and we're going to stay there." Calisthenic is derived from two Greek words that mean "beautiful strength." Properly taught, they are engaging, rational, and valuable for all children and youth. There will come a time when our best physical educators/coaches oppose the current mainstream dislike for calisthenic, and our youth will benefit from the paradigm shift. We should reject the misguided condemnation of calisthenic and encourage our best and brightest physical educators to learn the proper methods for teaching it to all children and youth.
"When physical education takes the proper place in our schools, young girls will be trained in the class-rooms to move head, hands and arms gracefully; to sit, to stand, and to walk properly, and to pursue calisthenic exercises for physical development as a regular school duty as much as their studies. (Catherine Beecher, Educational reminiscences and suggestions, 1874, pp.85-86.)" Calisthenic clubs can be found throughout Australia. Calisthenic demos and competitions are often featured in the Australian media. American Sokol still respects calisthenic NASPE tries to clarify its position on physical education/physical activity |
Education Board approves tougher nutrition, activity guidelines
As gym classes dwindle, how can kids keep fit
Working is a big pain in the back for many
Straighten up for your own good health
Presidential fitness and physical education