Gymnastics. According to the derivation and original use of the word Gymnastics (gymnos, 'naked or stripped') all athletic exercises might be included under this head, but the term is now much more restricted in its application. It excludes athletic sports, and all outdoor games such as cricket, football, and lawn-tennis, and is limited to certain exercises devised to strengthen the muscles and bones, especially those of the upper half of the body.
Gymnastic games in their original sense are so old as to be prehistoric; they are alluded to in the 2d and 23d books of the Ilad. Before the time of Hippocrates gymnastic exercises had been adopted in Greece as part of the course of medicine intended to counteract increasing luxury and indolence. The various exercises were speedily combined into a system, and gymnasia, where they should be practised, were formed first by the Lacedæmonians, and subsequently at Athens. The Romans adopted the system, and constructed gymnasia on a magnificent scale. Many of their buildings, having extensive baths attached, were known as thermæ. The exercises in the gymnasia consisted of running, leaping, dancing, wrestling, boxing, hurling, &c.; and in those days, when all men bore arms, and when, in close combat, victory went generally to the strongest man, these games were doubtless of great value. In subsequent ages of knightly prowess similar exercises were probably practised, though less publicly; but with the introduction of gunpowder, and through its means, the gradual substitution of fighting at a distance—in which science and skill were the main requisites—for personal encounters where strength and muscle went far to carry the day, the attention paid to gymnastics decreased, and finally vanished altogether. To make infantry soldiers perfect in the drilled movements of masses, cavalry soldiers good horsemen and fair swordsmen, and to have gunners who could take an accurate aim became the utmost sought by the possessors of great armies; while the science of gymnastics, having gone out of repute for the military, was speedily neglected in merely civil life. It is only since the earlier portion of the 19th century that the science has at all revived.
The revival commenced in Germany, where, in 1774 and 1784, gymnasia were opened by Bascdow (q.v.) and Salzmann at Dessau and Schnepfenthal in Thüringen, that of the latter being under the superintendence of the celebrated gymnastic pedagogue Guts Muths (q.v.). In 1811 Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (1778–1852), the so-called 'Turnvater,' or father of gymnastics, opened the first 'turnplatz' at Berlin, and he rendered the science of gymnastics so popular that it speedily attracted the attention of the youth throughout the kingdom, and to the training thus obtained must be attributed, in no small degree, the vigour which succeeded in driving out the French army of the first empire. Sweden soon imitated Prussia, and from that time gymnastics has formed a prominent feature in the Scandinavian course of education. In Prussia the gymnasia began to be the scenes of political gatherings, too liberal in tendency to please its semi-military government; and in 1818 they were all closed. The troops were, however, continued in gymnastic exercises, and showed so clearly the advantages of the training they experienced that, about 1844, Louis-Philippe adopted and improved the system in the French army. From that time gymnasia have been constructed for almost all continental armies, and, with more or less success, for the civil population. England moved publicly in the matter in 1860, in which year Major (afterwards Major-general) Hammersley, the 'father of military gymnastics,' was sent to Oxford to be trained in Mr MacLaren's gymnasium, and the gymnasia at Aldershot and other stations were then built and placed under his superintendence. In private life, however, there had long been many excellent gymnasia, one of the best and earliest being that opened at Oxford by the late Archibald MacLaren in 1858.
Gymnastic exercises may be divided into two great groups, those conducted without and those conducted with apparatus, while the latter group may be again subdivided into those requiring movable apparatus and those requiring immovable apparatus—i.e. so far as the gymnast is concerned.
Exercises without apparatus have been specially studied in Sweden, and thence chiefly by Professor Ling (1776–1839), whose name is generally associated with them in England. By various movements of the arms, trunk, and lower limbs, singly or combined, every muscle in the body can be brought into play, and all that is required for keeping the body in health can thus easily be practised. In schools these movements have often been carried out with great advantage between lessons, giving the children that exercise which their growing frames demand, and thus avoiding restlessness, which is the natural result of enforced quiet. When a number of children work together, and especially when in time to music, the interest of the practice is greatly increased. For further information the reader may consult Dr Roth's account of the Ling system (1864), or Ling's Swedish Gymnastics (Lond. 1885). So important are these exercises without apparatus considered in the army that a series of them, known as 'Extension Exercises,' have been laid down in the ordinary Field Exercise Drill-book, and in the 1888 edition of this work they have been carefully reconsidered and improved.
Next in simplicity are gymnastic exercises with movable apparatus—i.e. such as weights and bars. Of these, the commonest forms are dumb-bells, bar-bells—i.e. bars about 3 feet long with a weight at either end—and Indian clubs. The arms and shoulders can be made to do any amount of work with these, according to the weights employed, and, if so desired, many of the exercises of the first group designed for the trunk and lower limbs may be carried out while dumb-bells or bar-bells are held in the hands, thus materially increasing the work done. The weight of any or all of these should be carefully suited to the strength of the individual, otherwise more harm than good may result from their use.
The forms of apparatus required for the last group of exercises are numerous, but only a few are really essential. Thus we have the horizontal bar, capable of being placed at any desired level between 3 and 10 feet; and parallel bars—i.e. two bars about 30 inches apart, and fixed about 4 feet from the ground. With these almost as much exercise as may be wanted can be obtained. But in most gymnasia there are, besides, iron rings hung by ropes from the roof, a trapeze-bar also hung from the roof, ladders horizontal at some distance above the floor and vertical, climbing poles and ropes, and various pulleys with weights attached for exercising the wrists and shoulders.
It is advisable that beginners working in a gymnasium should be under the direction of an instructor, who will be able to graduate their exercises, so as to avoid any overstraining. Light and loose flannel clothing should in all cases be worn.
The special value of gymnastics lies in their exercising the arms, shoulders, and chest. On this account they are particularly valuable for all who lead sedentary lives, and also as an important auxiliary for those who wish by athletic exercises to perfect their muscular development.
The system of gymnastics adopted in the British army is a thorough one, and is well calculated to develop the frames of recruits, as well as to harden and strengthen those of the drilled men. The course begins with the use of movable apparatus, after which the trunk and lower limbs are exercised by walking, leaping, and vaulting; next the muscles of the arms and of the trunk are brought out by exercises on the trapeze and parallel bars. Then the muscles of the whole body are developed by various climbing exercises on poles, ropes, and ladders; and, lastly, the training is brought to a practical bearing by escalading practice. In order to improve respiration running drill has also been instituted.
The theory of the advantage derivable from gymnastics is simple enough. An admirable law of nature provides that—within certain limits—parts of the human frame increase in strength, aptitude, and size in proportion to the use made of them. In gymnastics this law is brought to bear successively on every part, and finally on the whole system in combined action. If the exertion be not carried so far as to induce excessive fatigue, all other parts of the body sympathise with the improving condition of that which is mainly exerted; the circulation, excited from time to time by the exercise, acquires fresh vigour, and, blood being driven with unwonted force into all parts of the system, every function is carried on with increased activity. An improvement in the general health soon becomes manifest, and the mind—if simultaneously cultivated with judgment—increases in power and endurance.
See Captain Chiasso's Gymnastics and Calisthenics; G. Roland's Gymnastics; Walker's British Manly Exercises; and MacLaren's Training, in Theory and Practice, and Physical Education, Theoretical and Practical (1868). The books written in German on Gymnastics ('Turnkunst') would form a small library.