Today, the editor begins to bring the lost skills of the second chapter of PrisonerFitness, and also let everyone know more about "old-school gymnastics".
Chapter 2 Lost Skills
“Old School” Gymnastics
Today, the term gymnastics , which is not often mentioned in the fitness world anymore. The word calisthenics did not appear in English until the 19th century. It is actually derived from the ancient Greek words "kallos" (meaning beauty) and "sthenos" - (meaning strength).
Simply put, gymnastics is a skill that uses your own body weight and body inertia to exercise the body. The exercise system introduced in this book is actually an advanced form of gymnastics, which can maximize a person's strength and athletic ability. It is a pity that modern people do not think of gymnastics as a practical strength training method. Nowadays, when it comes to gymnastics, most people only think of repeated push-ups, sit-ups, and less difficult jumping jacks, stepping on the spot, and other movements. Gymnastics has become a secondary choice for people's fitness and a low-cost aerobic exercise. The "destiny" of its physical education has not always been this way.
The ancient body weight training method
Human beings have known for a long time that correct use of body weight for exercise can not only create a perfect figure, but also build a strong body. power. In prehistory, when early humans wanted to enhance and demonstrate their physical abilities, they took advantage of their control over their bodies. They will pull their body up, jump on their knees, and use their arms to push their body off the ground. These movements eventually evolved into the basic movements of gymnastics.
The ancients never understood the bodyInstead of thinking of calisthenics as an endurance training method, think of it as a strength training system. Gymnastics is also a method used by elite warriors to increase their combat effectiveness and build fearsome muscles.
One of the earliest extant records of gymnastics comes from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who recounts an incident at the Battle of Thermopylae (circa B.C. Before 480 AD, the Persian army had an overwhelming numerical superiority. The Persian King Xerxes sent a team of scouts to look down on their opponents in the valley - Spartan warriors led by King Leonidas. To the surprise of Xerxes I, the scouts returned and reported that the Spartan soldiers were busy doing gymnastics, looking as if they were flexing their muscles for the coming war. Xerxes I found it ridiculous because there were more than 120,000 Persian troops outside the valley, while the Spartan side only had 300 people. He issued a message to the Spartans, ordering them to withdraw or destroy them all. The Spartans sternly refused, and in the ensuing battle, the 300 Spartan warriors successfully held the huge Persian army within the narrow pass until the other Greek forces united. In Zac Snyder's epic film "300" (2007), we can also appreciate the grandeur of this war.
The Spartans have always been considered the strongest nation. They attached great importance to gymnastics exercises - this is an important reason why they can become outstanding warriors. In ancient Greece, it wasn't just the Spartans who loved gymnastics. According to Pausanius: In the original Olympic competitions, outstanding athletes (including top boxers, wrestlers, and ancient strongmen) exercised their bodies through gymnastics. Many of the surviving drawings on Athenian pottery, mosaics, and architectural reliefs explicitly depict scenes of formal gymnastics training. These were originally created using Olympic athletes as models, whose physiques were developed through gymnastics. Reached peak condition. The ancient Greeks believed that gymnastics could improve a person's physiquebe developed to the maximum extent. Through gymnastics exercise, a person's body will not be ugly and swollen like many bodybuilders today, but will show perfect proportions and look natural and harmonious. It is not difficult to achieve this harmonious state, because body weight itself is a kind of resistance, neither too big nor too small. It is nature's perfect resistance: the ancient Greeks knew that Gymnastics can not only enhance people's physical strength and athletic ability, but also make our movements more elegant and A more graceful figure. Therefore, the word gymnastics in Greek is a combination of "beauty" and "strength".
The skills of gymnastics, like many other knowledge, were passed down from the ancient Greeks to the ancient Romans. The art of bodybuilding was passed down among gladiators, who fought in open-air arenas. The ancient Roman historian Livy described how the "super warriors" of his day would train with their own body weight day after day in training camps, performing exercises that are now considered advanced gymnastics. It is said that by constantly repeating these actions, gladiators became extremely strong. There was a theory circulating at that time that these strong men were the illegitimate children of mortal women and Titans (a race of giants who often fought with the gods before humans appeared). The bodies developed through combat training and gymnastics were so strong that in the 1st century BC, ancient Roman gladiators nearly destroyed the Roman Empire. At that time, gladiators led by Spartacus revolted and wanted to overthrow the rule of the Roman Empire. Although the gladiators were poorly equipped and pitifully outnumbered compared to the Roman army, their bodies were strong and powerful, and the huge Roman army was eventually routed. There is no doubt that the ancients used many different systems of gymnastics for physical exercise. But what we do know from surviving texts and images is thatthe bodyweight training methods used by legendary warriors and athletes bore little resemblance to what is known today as “gymnastics.” It's far more than a soft aerobic workout. It's more like strength training. In fact, their exercise methods are indeed more suitable for building strength and power.