Physical Function and Aging

[Mark Rippetoe]

I wish that our school physical education system in America focused more on different movement patterns and skills like tumbling and climbing instead of running.

You wish the schools hired better PE people.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I think everyone should learn to fall, but when they’re young. By the time people are in an elder care center, it’s almost certainly too late for that. I wish that our school physical education system in America focused more on different movement patterns and skills like tumbling and climbing instead of running.

An excellent point to make. Judo was (is still?) part of the PE program in every Japanese school from grade 1 through 12. The kidlets start learning to fall on Day One of that class. Of course I'm sure that this was a mere coincidence that Jigoro Kano (the guy of the Samurai class who systematized Judo from several styles of Jujitsu [or however one chooses to spell it]) was the national minister of education.

[stef]

I think everyone should learn to fall, but when they’re young.

Right aka "play." Normal skills that normal kids develop in normal environments.

Contrived scenarios simply don't get this done as they're too artificial and too predictable and too infrequent.

[Yngvi]

There may also be a large natural selection component. The kids who fall correctly may do so instinctively (and by extension the elderly people those kids become). The ones who don't have the correct instinct will experience negative evolutionary selection pressure and that is ok.

[markus1]

I disagree with it simply being about play. Just visit a school playground and witness. Not all kids have the temperament to play to that level of boisterousness and develop that high level of body awareness. Plenty just shy away and never learn those skills. Contrived examples facilitate the playground learning, build confidence, and push the kids. Its learning no different to any learning. Both myself and my brother are perfect examples, same upbringing, same schools,same PE, but his temperament outdoors was far more unconfident. After years of martial arts at an early age I'm worlds ahead of him and I credit that to why I rarely get hurt bad yet break anything even at 42 and still pushing hard in sports where falling is expected. My body awareness in space is high. My training is one of the reasons why I got so confident playing hard back when my bro just stayed the same and didn't develop the same way. Rather than martial arts im putting my kids into gymnastics. The 9 year old is exactly my brother, he now does about 12 hours a week and the level of coordination he's getting from it is amazing. I wouldn't say it's quite the same level of learning as martial arts in terms of body awareness but it's changing him totally and apparent in his sports. Not to mention the girls are just going to be hanging off him in a few years with the body he's developing. The 2 year old is completely different, very boisterous - he'll have no dramas just learning in the playground. When puberty hits I'll give them the bar. Both strong AND coordinated.

Does any of this early life training benefit anything when your 75? I'm sure it does. But there's no way to co-ordinate a successful fall without the requisite muscle strength to do so imo. The days of millisecond reaction times to save your arse when falling head over heels are long gone by that age unless you've been very active your whole life.

[Mark Rippetoe]

An excellent point to make. Judo was (is still?) part of the PE program in every Japanese school from grade 1 through 12. The kidlets start learning to fall on Day One of that class. Of course I'm sure that this was a mere coincidence that Jigoro Kano (the guy of the Samurai class who systematized Judo from several styles of Jujitsu [or however one chooses to spell it]) was the national minister of education.

You seem to know something about Judo. Do you have a history with Martial Arts?

[Erik Y]

Right aka "play." Normal skills that normal kids develop in normal environments.

Contrived scenarios simply don't get this done as they're too artificial and too predictable and too infrequent.

I think there’s room for both, but of course unstructured play is a big part of it. Kids can go through all sorts of falls and heal up just fine. I often regret that I wasn’t more adventurous when I was younger, I didn’t get hurt enough.

And of course, there needs to be some roughhousing. The schools can’t just ban running the moment somebody cries.

[stef]

The schools can’t just ban running the moment somebody cries.

"Schools."

[Mark E. Hurling]

You seem to know something about Judo. Do you have a history with Martial Arts?

You want my curriculum vitae starting from age 15?

[Yngvi]

The schools can’t just ban running the moment somebody cries.

We are a long way past thinking they won't or haven't been.


Stef is right, they are more like free daycare centers.

Private school, home school or supplemental work is needed to approach the educational attainment standards of 75 years ago.