“Classical PE” was not exclusive to the United States; it was global. Here’s a nice vintage image of women in Ireland taken circa 1908. Pre 1920, PE was very gymnastics based. The gymnastics of this era was medical and orthopedic unlike today’s gymnastics designed mostly for competition with high injury rates. This kind of gymnastics…… More
Examining historical physical education and fitness photos is like reading Hemingway who explained his writing like being an iceberg. What is obviously sticking up in plain view is not the real story. What’s are the lost messages above? What is obvious is a beautiful woman with boxing gloves. Cool pin up style sort of…next…but wait!…… More
NAZDAR! (Czech Sokol greeting that translates “on to success!”) To the non-physically literate person who does not understand the history of movement and physical education, large mass calisthenic groups appear to be Nazi propaganda. While Hitler bastardized the reputation of large mass group movement, this form of physical training is as pure as it can…… More
People often ask, what is the best way to help young children get fit or healthy through exercise? Sincerely, one of the best recommendations is playing with gravity. The placement of simple bar structures like this can provide amazing “fitness” for children…while they have fun doing it. Let’s highlight just a few… Strength by lifting…… More
“Vertical Climbing” was a major part of classical PE and fitness from the late 1800s into the early 1900s. This is a nice example of ropes and ladders. Let’s take a closer look. From the far left, we see a rope ladder with fixed horizontal steps. There were many variations of climbing ladders which represented…… More
Join us for our very first show with an actual alumni from LaSierra High School. Hugh Rhoads grew up a block from LaSierra, was a water boy for the LaSierra football team in middle school, and graduated from LaSierra High in 1967. LaSierra High School in Carmichael, CA was the last great physical education program…… More
Durability can be defined in brief as “the ability to withstand wear, pressure, and damage.” Vintage playgrounds were durable…for decades. So were the kids who used them. Real steel. Quality weather-worthy equipment that provided endless fun and some real fitness too. A few bumps, bruises, and scrapes definitely built up some tougher kids than we…… More
Join us and Indiana PE and Health teacher Tim Jordan to discuss the latest in progress from Tim’s students entering their second year running the vintage calisthenics program from LaSierra High PE in the early 1960s. https://theleanberets.com/podcast/lasierra-high-pe-updates-indiana-tim-jordan
September 11, 2001 started off as another routine morning for me. I was eating my breakfast casually watching the early morning news before teaching my community college “Shape Up” physical education class. This morning ended up changing my life and the world…in seconds… My first thought was that my oldest daughter Alicia was in New…… More
What happens when a culture honors sports more than the historical lessons of “building better citizens” through physical education as opposed to building more awards through a single sport? Enter the latest sports scandal with American swimmers at the Rio Olympic Games where their dishonorable behaviors have become an justifiable embarrassment to their whole country.…… More