Teachers, especially in public gymnasia, where the attendance is voluntary, will welcome anything that will make the exercises more attractive and do away, as far as possible, with the idea of “work.”

Tumbling should form a part of every system taught in our public gymnasia, and to those who have not heretofore studied the subject we submit the following propositions:

1. Tumbling will develop, harmoniously, the whole body without the aid of any apparatus whatever, or any other set of exercises. A careful study of the physiques of professional tumblers will verify this statement.

2. The exercises can be easily graded, so that there will be absolutely no danger in going from primary to advanced tumbling. In individual tumbling, the body being always close to the ground, the chances of a break or a sprain are reduced to a minimum; and in comparison with other forms of exercise, such as boxing, wrestling, or apparatus work, the percentage of accidents will be found to compare most favorably.

3. Friends can enter into the keenest competition, urging each other to the highest possible development and perfection, and never experience the inconveniences of black eyes and bruises—the usual resultants of combative exercises.

4. At least 50 per cent. of those entering the gymnasium can participate in some form of tumbling, either individual or combination; the greatest progress for adults being attained in the latter, where two or more men exercise together.

5. No expensive appliances or apparatus is necessary in introducing or teaching tumbling, the mats absolutely essential in any gymnasium being all-sufficient for ordinary class work. But if tumbling is to be made a feature, then a large mat, 15 feet long by 6 feet wide and 2 feet high and stuffed with straw or hay, will be found a very attractive addition, as it can be used to great advantage with any gymnastic apparatus.

6. For boys, tumbling is the most natural exercise in the world, as they are easily interested and held in this form of exercise when a dumb-bell drill would run them away. Besides the development, they get co-ordination and control to a remarkable extent, which will be invaluable to them in any exercise that they may engage in later on.

7. A tumbler easily adapts himself to all gymnastic apparatus, and will usually be found to be more graceful than an exclusive apparatus worker. If teachers who have never used tumbling would introduce it, it would do away, in a great measure, with that stiffness which is so distasteful to many; and, if as systematically taught as their apparatus work, would change the product of their gymnasiums from the top-heavy type to a symmetrical whole.

8. It is the one universal exercise used by the whole human family from the earliest times to the dawn of the twentieth century, and will continue in use as long as the world lasts. The millions of babies tumbling in the world to-day, learning their first physical exercise—to walk—reminds us that we have all taken a few lessons, at least, in this most useful art.

9. Tumbling is of more importance than all other exercises, as, nolens volens, we all take a tumble occasionally; and if we know how to tumble—so as to land on our feet or keep from falling—it will give us a confidence that we would not otherwise have. There seems to be a very prevalent idea that if a man has never learned how to tumble before he is twenty-one he had just as well not start. On the contrary, if a person has never taken gymnastic exercises, he can make greater advancement in tumbling than in almost any other form of exercise, if his physique permits of tumbling at all. After acquiring a few of the exercises, tumbling can be practiced with pleasure and satisfaction on any lawn, sand-bar, or sawdust pile, and in this way will prove of more practical utility than almost any form of gymnastics.

A word of caution might not be out of place: In teaching adults (where a large mat, such as already described, is not used) the small mats cannot be piled too high to prevent jars and shocking surprises. If pupils suffer from dizziness, excuse them from these exercises. In combination tumbling the belt, or lunger, must always be put on for a first trial, however simple the exercise may appear.

In the following pages I have depended almost entirely upon the illustrations, and have intentionally made the text as short and concise as possible—following the plan of Messrs. Hitchcock and Nelligan’s most excellent work, “Wrestling.” I am also indebted to Dr. William Anderson, of Yale University, for many valuable suggestions.