Part 6

The handling of the pole is the same as in the high leap. The preparatory run is rapid, in proportion to the length of the leap. The spring takes place as in the preceding exercise. The swing is also the same, except that the curve of the leap is wider. The turning of the body may likewise be similar, but it is convenient to make only a quarter turn. In the descent, the hand presses more upon the pole; and the feet are stretched out to reach the opposite bank, as in Plate XIII. fig. 1, in which the leaper is descending. Another method of leaping a river, is to force the body up so high by the pressure of the hands (of which one rests upon the end of the pole, or very near it), as to swing over the top of the pole, and allow it to pass between the legs when descending. (Plate XIII. fig. 2.)

Try the following:--

1. The leap of two lengths of the body.

2. That of three lengths of the body.

3. That of four lengths of the body.

4. Persons of equal strength try to outleap one another.

The lengths of 18, 20, 22, and 24 feet are frequently done by practised leapers.

THE DEEP LEAP WITH A POLE.

Here neither the preparatory run nor the spring occur: there is nothing which requires the exertion of the lower members. The use of the hands and arms, however, is peculiarly requisite, as well as a little of the art of balancing. The leaper fixes the pole, at a convenient distance from the place where he stands, in a chasm, ditch, or river, having one bank high, and the opposite one low. Seizing it with both hands in the usual way, he slips along it lower and lower; the whole weight of his body, at last, resting upon it. Thus, if the depth is considerable, as two lengths of the body, he may slide so far down upon it, that his head appears slanting downward. In this position, he makes a slight push against the bank, or merely quits it, with his feet, which he swings by the side of the pole to the opposite bank. Here, also, the descent is performed upon the balls of the toes, with bending of the knees. The principal advantage in this leap lies in the art of supporting the body, without tottering; and for this purpose, it is absolutely necessary that the feet should be stretched out far from each other, in an angular form, otherwise the balance might be lost. The best way of practising this in an exercise ground, is by a flight of steps.

To the exercise of the abdominal members, these leaps unite a strong action of the muscles of the thorax, arms, and fore-arms, and even of those of the palms of the hand. The body is only half impelled by the abdominal members; but this impulse is rendered complete by considerable effort on the part of the thoracic members. The latter, in the vertical leap, being supported by the narrow and moveable base afforded by the pole, assist greatly in raising the body, and even keep it a moment suspended for the legs to pass over (if the object to be cleared is very high) before it allows the body to obey the force of gravity which carries it down.

This exercise communicates what is termed great lightness to the body, and great suppleness--that is to say, great relative strength of the abdominal members; and it also developes the superior members. It is good for lymphatic temperaments and young persons, but it should not be indulged in immediately after meals. It may occasion accidents of the brain and spinal marrow, unless all the articulations are bent on returning to the ground.

BALANCING.

Balancing is the art of preserving the stability of the body upon a narrow or a moving surface. The balancing bar consists of a round and tapering pole, supported horizontally, about three feet from the ground, by upright posts, one at its thicker extremity, and another about the middle, between the parts of which it may be raised or lowered by means of an iron peg passing through holes in their sides. The unsupported end of the bar wavers, of course, when stepped upon--(Plate XIV.)

The upper surface of the bar being smooth in dry weather, the soles of the shoes should be damped; the ground about the bar should consist of sand, and the exercises be cautiously performed.

POSITION AND ACTION IN BALANCING.

In this exercise, the head should be held up, the body erect, the shoulders back, the arms extended, the hands shut, and the feet turned outwards. At first, the balancer may be assisted along the bar; but he must gradually receive less and less aid, till at last the assistant only remains by his side.

The pole may be mounted either from the ground or from the riding position on the beam. In the latter case, the balancer may raise the right foot, place it flat on the beam, with the heel near the upper part of the thigh, and rise on the point of the foot, carrying the weight of the body before him. (Plate XIV. fig. 1.)

In this case, the beam must not be touched with the hands; the left leg must hang perpendicularly, with the toe towards the ground, and the arms be stretched forward. After keeping the balance for some minutes in this position, he must stretch the left leg out before him, place his heel on the middle of the beam, with the toe well turned outward, and transfer the weight of the body from the point of the right foot to the left heel--(Plate XIV. fig. 2). These steps he must perform alternately, till he reaches the end of the beam.

TURNS IN BALANCING.

When the balancer is able to walk firmly and in good position along the bar, and to spring off whenever he may lose his balance, he may attempt to turn round, first at the broad, then at the narrow end, and to return. He may next try to go backward.

In accomplishing this, it is no longer the heel, but the tip of the toes, which receives the weight; the leg which hangs being stretched backward, with the hip, knee, and heel forming a right angle, till the toes, by a transverse motion, are so placed on the middle of the beam, that the balancer can safely transfer to them the whole weight of the body.

To acquire the art of passing an obstacle placed laterally, two balancers may pass each other thus:--They must hold one another fast by the arms, advance breast to breast, place each his right foot close forward to that of his comrade, across the bar (Plate XIV. fig. 3), and turn completely round each other, by each stepping with his left foot round the right one of the other, as in Plate XIV. fig. 4.

To acquire the art of passing an obstacle placed inferiorly, a large stone may be laid upon the bar, or a stick may be held before the balancer, about the height of the knee. (Plate XIV. fig. 5.)

To pass over men placed upon a beam, the pupil or pupils who are astride in front lie down on the beam, which they grasp firmly by passing their arms round it. The pupil _a_ (fig. 1, Plate XV.) having to pass to the point on the beam marked _b_, places his hands on the waistband of his comrade _c_: he then leans upon his arms, and raises his body to pass forward over his comrade, opening his legs widely, so as not to touch him, till he places himself astride at _c_. He then extends his hands and arms for a second movement, places them at _b_, and leans the body well forward, as shown in fig. 2, Plate XV. Being thus placed, he makes the last movement, raises his body upon the arms to pass over his comrade’s head without touching it, which is the chief rule of this exercise, and places himself astride upon the beam at _b_, moving his hands immediately, and extending them to rest at _d_. This movement being finished, he continues advancing astride, along the beam, over the others, if there be any; raises himself to an upright position, and lies down in his turn on the beam. This last attitude requires some care, because the head must incline either to the right or left of the beam, as shown in the plates, and the pupil must hold tight to the beam with the arms and thighs, which requires both skill and strength.

The pupil may also pass as shown in fig. 3, Plate XV. This method is very easy for the person passing, and indeed more so than any other; but it is necessary that the pupil who is in the position _b_ should have learnt to raise himself up on the beam, or know how to advance along it underneath, in a reversed position.

It is impossible for any one who has not seen the carnivals of Venice, and other towns in Italy, to form an idea of all the difficulties that have been surmounted in the art of equilibrium. To acquire the art of carrying any body, the balancer may at first walk along the bar with his hands folded across his breast, instead of using them to balance himself; and he may afterwards carry bodies of various magnitudes.

* * * * *

To this notice of the rules by which the art of Balancing may be best acquired, it will not be out of place to subjoin a slight outline of its importance to all who desire to arrive at excellence in any of the Manly Exercises. Motion--the source of them all--if not absolutely dependent for existence upon equilibrium, without it would be but the infancy of action--movement tottering, uncertain, powerless. The first effort of locomotion--the walk, without it, possesses neither force nor decision: in the same ratio that a higher degree of muscular exertion is demanded, increases the value and importance of the art which teaches how best to apply the vital energies to its service. What a wise economy is to the social, this art is to the physical system: both serve to augment our resources, by instructing us so to husband them that the term “necessity” be not known to our vocabulary.

While in every instance equilibrium adds greatly to physical power, in many it stands altogether in its stead. To the most casual observer of our usual sports it will be manifest that this is the case in Skating;--the more attentive and competent will have little difficulty in tracing its effects in Leaping, Vaulting, Swimming, and through almost the whole catalogue. It is to the later writers on horsemanship that we are indebted for the knowledge of its vital service to the equestrian. The truth of their theory is proved by the fact that, where formerly scarce a tithe of a hunting-field was found to ride to hounds, now nine-tenths are ordinarily to be seen in good places.

Scouring along, In pleasing hurry and confusion toss’d, Happy the man, who with unrivall’d speed Can pass his fellows.

CARRYING WEIGHT.

The power of raising and carrying weight is of great importance in a general view. Many advantages will be derived from it; for besides strengthening the locomotive muscles, upon which all our physical operations depend, it will fortify also all the system and all the organs. All persons, moreover, may find themselves under the necessity of raising and carrying a wounded or fainting person, and may be glad to have cultivated and acquired the power necessary to perform such an act.

In accustoming young persons to carry burdens, they should be taught to support what is on the back first with one hand and then with the other: by these means the muscles are equally exercised on each side, and acquire an equal developement. These burdens, however, must not exceed their strength; and they should be taught not to carry on one side in preference, for fear of deforming the limbs. There are several modes of supporting weights, and of trying the amount of power possessed for this kind of exercise.

Fig. 1, Plate XVI. represents one method. It consists in loading the shoulders with sacks full of articles whose weight is previously known. The position of the arms and hands is such that the pupil can support a great weight: but in this way he can walk but very slowly; and it is therefore, so far, disadvantageous.

Fig. 2, in the same plate, supports a weight by means of a hod. This is filled with balls or stones, of which the weight is known.

The form of the weight is of consequence. A soldier now carries with ease a knapsack full of articles, and additional weight above it, because the flat shape that has been lately adopted fits the body, and lies close to the back, as in fig. 3, and the centre of gravity is thus very little deranged. But if the knapsack were of the old shape, very projecting and very round, as in fig. 4, the soldier would be forced to incline his body forward, and would not be able to carry as great a weight, nor march as long a time, in consequence of fatigue. It is for this reason, among others, desirable to extend the knowledge of the most simple rules of mechanics, because these rules are serviceable in avoiding many dangers, and diminishing the fatigue and the efforts that vacillation in the movements produces. We may make use of a hook to bear boxes or bags in addition, with the weights marked, and thus learn the carrier’s strength.

Milo, says history, first carried a calf immediately after its birth, and continued to do so every day till it had reached its full size. It was said by this means that he was able to carry even the ox itself, and afterwards throw it on the ground and kill it with his fist.

Augustus the Second, King of Poland, carried a man upon his hand.

A man named Roussel, a labourer in the environs of Lisle, who on a smaller scale (being but four feet ten inches in height), was formed exactly like the Farnese Hercules, raised on his shoulders a weight of eighteen hundred pounds. He cleared a circle six feet in height with very little spring and one hundred-weight in each hand. When seated on the ground, he rose up without aid, carrying two men on his arms. Equally astonishing in the strength of his loins, he took up two hundred-weight leaning backwards over a chair. “I have seen this remarkable man,” says Friedlander: “the whole of his family are very strong: his sister and brother are equally remarkable in this point.” It is very striking to find in him the characteristic traits with which antiquity depicted the ideal of bodily strength.

In the Encyclopædia of Krumtz, vol. lxxii., we find instances of some men similar to Roussel, who lived at the commencement of the last century. A man named Eckenberg raised a cannon of two thousand five hundred pounds weight; and two strong men were unable to take from him a stick that he held between his teeth.

In number 446 of the Bibliotheque Britannique, is to be found a report of some trials made by a Mr. Shulze, in his manufactory, of the strength of men of different heights. These trials show what influence an elevated stature has upon the vertical height to which a man can raise any weight. A short man is, in his turn, capable of employing more force in another direction.

THROWING THE DISCUS.

Among the Greeks, throwing the discus did not form part of the games till the eighteenth Olympiad. This exercise consisted in throwing, as far as possible, a mass of wood or stone, but more commonly of iron or copper, of a lenticular form. From the testimony of ancient authors, there was no mark or butt fixed, except the spot where the discus thrown by the strongest of the discoboli alighted. Mercuriali has handed down to us three engravings, in which the discus is not of the same shape. The first engraving represents four discoboli in the act of throwing with the right hand a discus which is as thick at the circumference as at the centre, which has been bored. The second represents the statue of a discobolus holding a discus apparently of a spherical form, in the left hand. The third shows the arm of an athlete with a flat discus. The discus in the last two engravings now mentioned, covers the greater part of the front of the forearm; and all that the ancients have written respecting this instrument, tends to show that it was of enormous size and weight. Homer tells us, that the athletes threw the discus either up into the air merely as a prelude to accustom their arms to it, or horizontally when they were striving for the prize.

To perform this exercise properly, the thrower should not only balance the discus well on the right arm, (supposing it to be on that arm, as in Plate XVII. fig. 1); but at the moment it leaves the hand, he should throw the whole of the right side forward, so that the impulse may be assisted by the weight of the whole body.--(Plate XVII. fig. 2.) This exercise very much strengthens the body, and developes, in a particular manner, the limb by which the discus is thrown. It may be usefully employed in cases where it is desirable to remedy weakness in either of the arms; and it is well calculated to bring up the power of the left arm to that of the right. The modern quoit differs from the ancient discus only in this, that the instrument so called is much smaller than the discus, that its use is a mere idle pastime, and that the object is always to throw it as close as possible to a fixed mark, requiring more skill than strength.

It is evident that the discus may be heaved from above the shoulder as well as flung from below.--(See Plate XVII. fig. 3.) No exercises can excel these for the acquirement of power. They ought to be much practised with both hands. A man of moderate strength will throw a pound weight of lead a distance of 140 feet, or thereabouts.

Silex 1½ 126 feet. Ditto ¼ 145 Brick ½ 160

CLIMBING.

Climbing is the art of transporting the body in any direction, by the aid, in general, both of the hands and feet. The climbing-stand consists of two strong poles, about fifteen feet high, and from fifteen to twenty-five feet distant, which are firmly fixed in the ground, and support a beam strongly fastened to them. One pole is two inches and a half in diameter; the other, which serves as a mast, should be considerably thicker; and both serve the purpose of climbing. To the beam are attached other implements of climbing: viz. a ladder, an inclined board, a mast, an inclined pole, a horizontal bar, a rope ladder, an upright, an inclined, and a level rope.--(Plate XVIII.)

KINDS OF CLIMBING.

Climbing on fixed bodies should first be practised.

_The Ladder._

Exercises on the ladder may be practised in the following ways:--

1. By ascending and descending as usual.

2. With one hand, carrying something in the other.

3. Without using the hands.

4. Passing another on the front of the ladder, or swinging to the back, to let another pass.

_The Inclined Board._

This should be rather rough, about two feet broad, and two inches thick. To climb it, it is necessary to seize both sides with the hands, and to place the feet flat in the middle, the inclination of the board being diminished with the progress of the pupil.

At first, it may form with the ground an angle of about thirty degrees; and the climber should not go more than half-way up. This angle may gradually be augmented to a right angle, or the direction of the board may be made perpendicular. When the board is thus little or not at all inclined, the body must be much curved inward, and the legs thrust up, so that the higher one is nearly even with the hand. In descending, small and quick steps are necessary.

_The Upright Pole._

The upright pole should be about two inches and a half in diameter, perfectly smooth and free from splinters.

The position of the climber is shown in Plate XVIII. fig. 1, where nothing touches the pole except the feet, legs, knees, and hands. He grasps as high as possible with both hands, raises himself by bending the body and drawing his legs up the pole, holds fast by them, extends the body, again grasps higher up with his hands, and continues the same use of the legs and arms. The descent is performed by sliding down with the legs, and scarcely touching with the hands, as in Plate XVIII. fig. 2.

_The Mast._

This is more difficult, as it cannot be grasped with the hands; and it consequently should not be practised until the climber is expert in the previous exercises. The position of the legs is the same as for the pole; but, instead of grasping the mast, the climber lays hold of his left arm with his right hand, or the reverse, and clings to the mast with the whole body, as in Plate XVIII. fig. 3.

_The Slant Pole._

This must be at least three inches thick; and as, in this exercise, the hands bear more of the weight than in climbing the upright pole, it should not be attempted until expertness in the other is acquired.

_The Horizontal, or Slightly Inclined Bar._

This may be about two inches wide at top, from ten to fifteen feet long, and supported by two posts, respectively six and seven feet high. The climber must grasp with both hands as high a part of the bar as he can reach, and, with arms extended, support his own weight as long as possible. He must next endeavour to bend the elbows so much, that one shoulder remains close under the bar, as seen in Pl XVIII. fig. 4. Or he may place both hands on the same side, and draw himself up so far as to see over it, keeping the legs and feet close and extended.

He may then hang with his hands fixed on both sides, near to each other, having the elbows much bent, the upper parts of the arms close to the body, and one shoulder close under the bar; may lower the head backwards, and may, at the same time, raise the feet to touch each other over the bar.--(Pl XVIII. fig. 5.) In the last position, he may move the hands one before the other, forward or backward, and may either slide the feet along the bar, or alternately change them like the hands, and retain a similar hold.

Hanging also by the hands alone, as in Pl XVIII. fig. 6, he moves them either forward or backward, keeping the arms firm, and the feet close and extended. Or he may place himself in front of the bar, hanging by both hands, and move laterally. Being likewise in front of the bar, with his hands resting upon it, as in Pl XVIII. fig. 7, he may move along the bar either to the right or left. In the position of Pl XVIII. fig. 5, the climber may endeavour to sit upon the bar, for instance, on the right side, by taking hold with the right knee-joint, grasping firmly with the right hand, and bringing the left armpit over the bar. The riding position is thus easily obtained. From the riding position, he may, by supporting himself with one thigh, turn towards the front of the bar, allowing the leg of the other side to hang down; and he may then very easily move along the bar sideways, by raising his body with his hands placed laterally on the bar.

_The Rope Ladder._

This should have several rundles to spread it out, and ought, in all respects, to be so constructed, as not to twist and entangle. The only difficulty here is that, as it hangs perpendicularly, and is flexible, its steps are liable to be pushed forward, and in that case, the body is thrown into an oblique position, and the whole weight falls on the hands. To prevent this, the climber must keep the body stretched out and upright.--(Plate XVIII. fig. 8.)

_The Upright Rope._