GYMNASTICS — Gymnastics (from Gr. γυμνός = naked) is the art of moving the human body; in certain cases, when it is pursued with particular aims, it is also a science (medical gymnastics, orthopedic gymnastics, educational gymnastics, etc.).
There are various forms of gymnastics, each with its own purposes; among the most important are educational gymnastics, medical gymnastics, differential gymnastics, social gymnastics, so-called room gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, apparatus gymnastics, calisthenics, acrobatic gymnastics, military gymnastics, etc.
An indispensable condition for the realization of any type of gymnastics is a precise psychophysical evaluation of the individual who wishes or needs to exercise.
I. EDUCATIONAL GYMNASTICS — This is the foundation of physical education (q.V. Education: X. Physical education). It has become part of school curricula, as it is still largely practiced throughout the world, thanks to Adolfo Spiess (1810–58), who around 1837 recognized and implemented the principles of simultaneity and rhythm in exercises, thereby establishing school gymnastics and initiating a true form of school gymnastics for girls.
Without doubt, Spiess contributed to the spread of gymnastics, but the later abuse of methodical gymnastics partly distorted its true objective, provoking a reaction aimed at freeing physical exercise from rigid forms in favor of new ones.
Educational gymnastics includes methodical exercises and gymnastic games.
Methodical exercises comprise: a) organizational exercises, which serve disciplinary and practical purposes, especially for gymnasium exercises; b) walking exercises, which strengthen the lower limbs and impart grace and agility to posture; c) elementary exercises, which are the true analytical exercises for psychomotor education; d) exercises with small apparatus (wands, clubs, hoops, sticks, reeds, clubs, supports, stocks, etc.), which, besides having specific purposes, offer many of the advantages of elementary exercises and often improve their effectiveness; e) balance exercises (Baumann beam and stocks, beam, basket, globe, etc.), which have great psychomotor value as they particularly engage the nervous system, fostering calmness, stimulating attention, and instilling courage; f) jumping and vaulting exercises (springboard, beam, vaulting horse, plinth, horse, etc.), which develop agility, dexterity, and courage; g) support and suspension exercises (climbing frame, wall bars, ladder, bar, bench, wall, gymnastic frame, horse, horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings, etc.), which are highly effective for muscular development, especially of the upper limbs and chest. The practice of these latter exercises and the particular use of certain apparatus (horse, horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings, etc.) must be carefully graded and distributed according to age and physical development, avoiding any strain due to their intensity; h) classroom exercises (gymnastics among desks) are practiced by primary school students for didactic and practical reasons. They instill order and discipline and have a beneficial physiological effect, particularly in preventing and correcting poor posture common among primary school children. With classroom gymnastics, the desk, a true deforming instrument, becomes, through specific exercises, a tool for compensatory gymnastics.
Methodical exercises, characterized by the precision of their movements, today are complemented by gymnastic games, which, due to their spontaneity (imprecise movements), not only provide recreation but also possess immense pedagogical and psychomotor value.
II. MEDICAL GYMNASTICS — This is perhaps one of the oldest branches of medicine; the Chinese practiced it several millennia before the common era. Medical gymnastics primarily serves physiological purposes. Cardiac patients, those with respiratory difficulties, the obese, and individuals suffering from visceral ptosis, among others, benefit from medical gymnastics.
Here, we refer to a rational form of gymnastics, dosed like a medicine and monitored for its effects like any other medical therapy. A specialization of medical gymnastics is orthopedic gymnastics, a branch of orthopedics that employs gymnastics with and without apparatus, both active and passive, for the physical re-education of those with motor function impairments. Civilian and war amputees, in particular, derive great benefit from such gymnastics.
III. DIFFERENTIAL GYMNASTICS — This aims at the true recovery of an individual’s physical personality. It includes: corrective gymnastics for mild paramorphisms frequently found among primary school students; compensatory gymnastics for imbalances caused by particular occupations (occupational diseases of shoemakers, blacksmiths, laborers, etc.) or natural tendencies (left-handedness, adenoids, etc.); and gymnastics for the physically and mentally handicapped (gymnastics for the blind, deaf-mutes, the mentally ill, etc.).
IV. SOCIAL GYMNASTICS — The Swedes call it voluntary gymnastics. Its goal is the improvement of public health; it concerns everyone, from children to adults, from the wealthy to manual and intellectual workers. This type of gymnastics varies with age, both in substance and purpose; while young people practice developmental gymnastics, adults engage in exercises to maintain and strengthen health. Manual workers perform physical exercises to counteract the negative effects of their daily labor, while intellectuals pursue physical culture tailored to the movement needs sacrificed by their occupations.
In Sweden, there are approximately 3,000 free gymnastics associations with over 300,000 members out of a population of about 6,000,000. In Italy, something similar has been achieved through after-work organizations.
V. ROOM GYMNASTICS — This has essentially hygienic and aesthetic aims. This type of gymnastics is widely practiced across all social strata; radio broadcasts with specific programs have greatly contributed to its spread.
A characteristic of room gymnastics is that it consists of breathing exercises, analytical exercises without apparatus, and small-apparatus exercises that can be performed in a confined space. The benefits of these exercises are considerable when practiced daily.
VI. RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS — This is preeminently a form of women’s gymnastics; it aims at the education and harmony of the body through natural and free movements, with or without musical accompaniment. A widely practiced system of rhythmic gymnastics is that of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze. With this system, Jaques-Dalcroze pursues a threefold aim: the development of rhythmic and metric musical instinct, a sense of plastic harmony, and the regulation of motor habits. Other systems have followed the one mentioned above.
VII. APPARATUS GYMNASTICS (ARTISTIC) — This is of an agonistic and spectacular nature; it consists of strenuous exercises. The parallel bars, horizontal bar, rings, and pommel horse are the typical apparatus of this gymnastics. These exercises, which must be supplemented by intense jumping and running drills, are advisable only for individuals deemed physically suitable and possessing particular aptitudes. Apparatus gymnastics, which also includes agility and dexterity exercises on the ground, is part of the Olympic events (q.V. Sport); in Italy, it is under the control of the Italian Gymnastics Federation, which reports to the Italian National Olympic Committee.
VIII. CALISTHENICS — This is a form of gymnastics reserved for women, primarily with aesthetic aims.
IX. ACROBATIC GYMNASTICS — This serves professional and spectacular purposes. Exceptional physical fitness, fearlessness, and great technical skill are the prerequisites for this gymnastics.
X. MILITARY GYMNASTICS
Its immediate aim is the improvement of physical performance, the cultivation of discipline, and the habituation to overcoming the foreseeable environmental and technical difficulties faced by the future combatant. Systematic gymnastics, pre-sport and sport games, certain track and field disciplines, and applied gymnastics form the foundation of military gymnastics.
For athletic gymnastics, see SPORT.
GYMNASTICS AND THE CHURCH’S THOUGHT
The purpose that gymnastics sets for itself—to give to the body “a most noble instrument of the soul, agility and solid grace, health and true and good strength” (Pius XI, Letter, cited in bibliography)—is appreciated and approved by the Church, which cannot “restrict its competence and its action to purely religious matters, exclusively spiritual ones, as if the body, a creature of God like the soul to which it is united, should not have its share in the homage to be rendered to the Creator” (Pius XII, Address cited in bibliography).
Gymnastics, in fact, contains within itself excellent positive pedagogical elements. Gymnastic movements, conducted rhythmically and according to wisely defined methods (see above), not only gather all the advantages of motion, which the organism requires, correct faulty postures, decongest the brain, and offer the spirit relief and joy, but they also become a precious instrument of education. For in gymnastics one must observe certain laws: obedience to commands, isochronism of movements, promptness of execution, endurance; all of which contributes to instilling a sense of discipline and to making it appreciated—elements that are decisive for the formation of a strong and resilient will like steel. Moreover, gymnastics, especially in school and when practiced in competitions, engages the spirit in emulation, success, and victory over one’s peers, thus gradually engendering the feeling that, by willing it, one can improve oneself not only physically but in every other respect as well.
For this reason, gymnastics must not lose sight of the sense of measure and its original purpose. Therefore: 1) the education of the body must remain a means and not degenerate into a cult; as a means it must be and remain ordered to the end, which consists in the perfect and balanced formation and education of the whole person, to which it is of assistance for the prompt and joyful fulfillment of duty, whether in study or in one’s profession; 2) the exercises must be suited to age, sex, state of health, and stage of development of the organism; otherwise, instead of helping, they hinder the work of the spirit; 3) both from the part of the spectator and from the part of the one who exposes himself to the gaze of others, a sense of healthy modesty, decorum, dignified ease, and mutual respect is required. Hence, not only must vulgarity, disorderliness, impropriety, and boldness be avoided, but also clothing that is too scanty or too tight and exercises that aim rather at unhealthy or, worse, morbid exhibitionism than at true utility; 4) these observations and cautions must be all the more heeded when it comes to women’s gymnastics, whether in simple gymnasia or, and especially, in competitions and so-called athletic events. The sensitivity and attention to the delicate considerations owed to the young woman and the girl are founded on motives of a physical and moral order of pure common sense, intuitively grasped and felt, as by natural instinct, by parents and teachers who are not prejudiced or misled by exaggerated or false theories or by motives entirely extraneous to good and sound pedagogy. Therefore, everything that does not accord with the reserve and composure that are both adornment and safeguard of virtue must be avoided, and every incentive to vanity and violence must be excluded.