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 THE RENAISSANCE OF 
 THE GREEK IDEAL
 
 iT) 
 
 %' 
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF 
 THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 BY 
 
 DIANA WATTS 
 
 (Mrs. Roger Watts) 
 
 WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR 
 ILLUSTRATIONS AND DIAGRAMS 
 
 • ) * 
 
 NEW YORK 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 MCMXIV
 
 Text copyrighted, igi4, by 
 Frederick A. Stokes Company 
 
 Illustrations copyrighted in 
 Great Britain 
 
 April, jgi4
 
 ^^/^•^, {zi3^o) 
 
 'To all those who by their love and encouragement 
 
 have made this book possible 
 
 I dedicate it in gratitude 
 
 and affection 
 
 2052979
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Comparative Analysis of the Ancient Greek Development 
 
 and that of the Modern Human Being ... i 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 The Essential Training of the Foot as Base . . . . lo 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 Definition of Tension . . . . . , . 2i 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Fundamental Principles of Movement . . . . 32 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Application of Mathematics to Human Movement . , 41 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Interpretation of Sculpture by the Laws of Balance . , 67 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Mental Reactions ........ 86 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Spiritual Reactions . • . . . . . . . 103 
 
 Detailed Explanations of the Twelve Basic Exercises . . 115 
 
 vu
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PLATES 
 
 NO. 
 
 II. 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 Va. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 XX. 
 
 FOLLOWING 
 
 PACE 
 
 The Herakles of the Aegina Pediment 2 
 
 The Author's Reproduction of the Herakles 
 
 First Position of the Archer 4 
 
 Second Position of the Archer 
 
 Final Position of the Archer 
 
 Bronze Reproduction of the Discobolus of Myron 
 
 Discobolus of the Castel Porziano .... 
 
 The Author's Reproduction of the Discobolus 
 
 Taking Aim 
 
 The Swing Back 
 
 Final Position 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 6 
 
 Diagram of the Author's Foot Before and After Training . 12 
 
 The Author's Walking Shoes 20 
 
 Greek Vase Picture Illustrating the Principles of Tension 24 
 Exercise for Stretching Into Tension. Four Positions 
 
 Designs of Curves Made by a Wheel Fixed to a Horizontal 
 Bar, the Pivot of Which Was Travelling Around an 
 Ellipse 
 
 Curves Which Ultimately Become Changeless and Endless 
 
 Curves Produced by Alteration in the Length of Bar . 
 
 More Complicated Curves Produced by a Further Alter.a 
 TiON IN the Length of the Bar 
 
 Optical Registration of Exercise IV. Two Figures 
 Geometrical Version of the Same .... 
 Optical Registration of Exercise III. Four Figures 
 Geometrical Version of the Same .... 
 
 Optical Registration of the Combination of Exercises VIII 
 and IV. Three Figures 
 
 30 
 
 44 
 44 
 
 44 
 
 54 
 56 
 58 
 58 
 
 60 
 
 IX
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FOLLOWING 
 NO. PAGE 
 
 XXI. Geometrical Version of the Same 60 
 
 XXII. Optical Registration of Exercise VIII. Two Figures . . 60 
 
 XXIII. Geometrical Version of the Same 60 
 
 XXIV. Optical Registration of Exercise VII. Three Figures . . 62 
 XXV. Geometrical Version of the Same 62 
 
 XXVI. Optical Reristration of Exercise V. Four Figures . . 64 
 
 XXVII. Geometrical Version of the Same 64 
 
 XXVIII. Geometrical Version of Exercise II 64 
 
 XXIX. The Charioteer of the Capitol, Rome 70 
 
 XXX. The Apotheosis of Herakles 74 
 
 XXXI. A. Heros Combattant du Louvre. B. The Fighting 
 
 Theseus 76 
 
 XXXII. A. The Youth of Subiaco. B. The Author's Alternative 
 Position to That of the Youth of Subiaco, Showing 
 
 Strong Position of the Left Foot 78 
 
 XXXIII. The Amazon of the Vatican 78 
 
 XXXIV. The Author's Altered Restoration of the Amazon . . 80 
 
 The Author's Reproduction of the Amazon 
 
 XXXV. Full View 80 
 
 XXXVI. Profile View 80 
 
 XXXVII. The Athena of the Aeginetan Pediment .... 82 
 
 The Author's Reproduction of Vase Paintings of Athena 
 
 XXXVIII. First Position 82 
 
 XXXIX. A Complete Volte-face Without Lifting the Feet . . 82 
 XL. Another Change of Position With the Feet Still Un- 
 changed 82 
 
 XLI. The Goddess Fortuna 84 
 
 XLII. The Author's Reproduction of the Fortuna in Profile . 84 
 
 The Author's Reproduction of a Greek Dance 
 
 XLIII. Position of the Aphrodite at the Villa Item .... 84 
 XLIV. Position Showing the Lightness Resulting from Extreme 
 
 Tension 84 
 
 XLV. Position of the Greek Dancing Boy 84 
 
 XLVI. Another Position 84 
 
 XLVII. Final Position 84
 
 HO. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 XLIX. 
 
 L. 
 
 LI. 
 
 LII. 
 
 LIII. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 LV. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 LVII. 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 LX. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 LXII. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FOLLOWING 
 PAGE 
 
 Example of Tension in a Falling Cat loo 
 
 Exercise I, of the Twelve Basic Exercises. Three Posi- 
 tions 120 
 
 Exercise II. Three Positions 124 
 
 Exercise III. Four Positions 130 
 
 Exercise IV. Three Positions 136 
 
 Exercise V. Three Positions 140 
 
 Same Continued. Two Positions 140 
 
 Exercise VI. Two Positions 146 
 
 Exercise VII. Three Positions 152 
 
 Same Continued 152 
 
 Exercise VIII. Four Positions 156 
 
 Exercise IX. Three Positions 160 
 
 Exercise X. Three Positions 166 
 
 Profile View of Exercise XI 168 
 
 Full View OF Exercise XI . . 170 
 
 Exercise XII. Three Positions 174 
 
 MO. 
 
 I. 
 
 3- 
 
 5- 
 
 6. 
 7- 
 
 CINEMA SERIES 
 
 FOLLOWING 
 PACE 
 
 Showing the Movement of the Archer in the Author's Reproduc- 
 tion of Herakles. Twenty-one Positions 4 
 
 Showing the Movement in the Author's Reproduction of the 
 Discobolus. Twenty-two Positions 6 
 
 The Same, Showing a Second Way of Finishing the Throw. 
 Twelve Positions 6 
 
 Showing the Movement of the Leap of the Charioteer and the De- 
 scent from the Chariot in the Author's Reproduction of the 
 Charioteer of the Capitol. Thirty-four Positions . . . -73 
 
 Showing the Movement in Exercise I of the Twelve Basic Exer- 
 cises. Ten Positions 120 
 
 Showing the Movement IN Exercise II. Twenty-one Positions . 124 
 
 Showing THE Movement IN Exercise III. Twenty Positions . . 134 
 
 xi
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FOLLOWING 
 
 110. PAGE 
 
 8. Showing THE Movement IN Exercise IV. Twenty Positions . . 138 
 
 9. Showing THE Movement IN Exercise V. Fifty Positions . . . 142 
 
 10. Showing the Movement in Exercise VI. Forty Positions . . . 148 
 
 11. Showing the Movement IN Exercise VII. Thirty-two Positions . 154 
 
 12. Showing THE Movement IN Exercise XI. Thirty Positions . . 172 
 
 13. Showing the Movement IN Exercise XII. Forty-one Positions . . 176 
 
 14. Showing the Movement in a Combination of Exercises VI and VII. 
 
 Forty Positions 176 
 
 15. Showing the Movement in a Combination of Exercises VIII and 
 
 IV. Thirty Positions 178 
 
 16. Showing the Movement in a Puzzle Combination of Exercises. 
 
 Forty-one Positions 178 
 
 Xll
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF 
 THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ANCIENT GREEK DEVELOPMENT 
 AND THAT OF THE MODERN HUMAN BEING 
 
 " No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of 
 physical training: .... what a disgrace it is for a man to 
 grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which 
 his body is capable! " 
 
 Socrates. Xen., Mem. Hi. 12. 
 
 OF all the lost secrets of antiquity, perhaps the 
 most important is that which produced the enor- 
 mous physical superiority of the Greeks over any 
 other race of human beings known to us either before or 
 since their time. 
 
 They proved for all time that this condition of physical 
 excellence was possible in a human being. How the secret 
 of its attainment was lost will probably never be decided, 
 as not one of the many theories can ever be proved. 
 
 The fact only remains that a rising wave of unequalled 
 physical and mental development carried these wonderful 
 people on its crest for one brief period of realised perfection, 
 during which they were able to grasp the full meaning
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 of Liberty under the Law, not only as a nation, but also 
 as individuals. 
 
 The modern human being has drifted so far away 
 in physical form from the Greek as to fail to realise the 
 differences. These differences, however, are not organic, 
 but are in all probability the result of early training. 
 
 I myself began as an ordinarily active human being, 
 but, in the course of training, development, researches, and 
 discoveries, gradually acquired a knowledge that led to a 
 condition which is nearer to that of the Greeks than any 
 other that has yet been achieved. 
 
 The secret consists in a condition of the muscles totally 
 different from any realised by athletes since the time of the 
 Greeks, a condition of Tension, which transforms dead 
 weight into a living force, and which made the Greek 
 as different from the modern human being as a stretched 
 rubber band differs from a slack one.^ 
 
 There are frequent allusions in the Iliad to this power 
 possessed by the Greeks of transforming their muscles on 
 the instant into a condition of almost superhuman force, 
 and although much must be allowed for Homer's poetical 
 imagination, there is no doubt that this extraordinary 
 
 • It is interesting to note that, although the secret of how this condition 
 was acquired has been lost, strong evidence remains that a special science 
 existed, as will be seen in the following extract from Mr. Norman Gardiner's 
 book on Greek Athletics: 
 
 " There arose in the middle of the fifth century a new science of 
 gymnastics, which aimed not at the performance of particular exercises but at 
 the production of certain physical conditions (16s, Xenophon, Mem. I.e.; 
 Aristotle, Pol. 1338 b.), especially the condition required for athletic suc- 
 cess." — " Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals." E. Norman Gardiner.
 
 PLATE I. 
 
 Photo Ciraiitloii.] 
 
 The Herakles ot the Aegina Pediment.
 
 THE ANCIENT GREEK DEVELOPMENT 
 
 force was always produced by will-power acting on some 
 special physical condition which resulted in a complete 
 restoration of exhausted powers, taking away all sense of 
 fatigue, and placing the body once more under an alert 
 control. 
 
 It would be impossible to prove that the means by 
 which I discovered this force in myself are the same which 
 gave the Greeks their marvellous physical superiority; but 
 it will probably be conceded that there is sufficient 
 similarity in the results to justify the hypothesis. 
 
 Among the statues of the Aegina Pediment are one or 
 two figures, the correctness of whose positions has been 
 questioned on account of their seeming physical impossi- 
 bility—notably that of the crouching Archer with the 
 lion's head helmet, supposed to be the Herakles. This 
 exquisite statue is an example of what, to the modern 
 human being, is an impossible position, owing to the 
 difficulty of maintaining a balance on so uncertain a 
 base. 
 
 This was the first statue on which I tested my own 
 newly discovered principle of balance in movement under 
 tension, and with the test the whole sequence of movement 
 came as a revelation. Passing through the positions which 
 led up to that chosen by the sculptor, I proved it to be 
 not only possible, but inevitable, as also the subsequent 
 recovery to an erect position. In demonstrating the 
 principles of balance, which make possible the momentary 
 poise of all the most vividly animated statues, it is not 
 enough to give a careful imitation of the one position 
 
 3
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 chosen by the sculptor. To prove its naturalness and its 
 truth, it is necessary to show what led up to that momen- 
 tary poise, and what followed it, and if all three positions 
 produce an uninterrupted sequence it is safe to conclude 
 that the central poise is correct. 
 
 In giving photographs of my own reproductions of 
 certain statues (for the sake of comparison with the originals) 
 this is the method I have adopted, and in the case of 
 three of the most important statues (from the point of view 
 of movement), viz., the Discobolus, the Archer, and the 
 Charioteer, of the Capitol, I have added selections from 
 cinematographic photos showing how these positions were 
 achieved.^ 
 
 Plate I. shows the original of the Archer of the 
 Aegina Pediment, and Plates II., III., and IV. my 
 representation of his completed movement, while Cinema 
 Series No. 1 gives the detailed analysis of each change of 
 position,^ with an enlargement of No. 12. One can 
 picture him first, standing erect, peering round the corner 
 of a boulder, or from behind a bush, watching for his 
 enemy, when suddenly he spies him, and in an instant 
 
 1 These cinematographic notes were taken in Paris at the Institut Marey, 
 at the request of Professor Charles Richet, the President, who most gener- 
 ously presented them to me afterwards. On an average about ten cinema 
 positions were selected from lOO actual film representations, the sequence be- 
 ing sufficiently clearly illustrated by this average. It should be remembered 
 that the reading of cinematographic sequences begins on the left side and 
 continues downwards, following on to the top of the second line, and so on. 
 The first page of cinema detail has been numbered as a guide. 
 
 - Unfortunately the bow and arrow which are shown in the larger photos 
 did not arrive in time for the cinema pictures, which were the first taken, but 
 their absence makes no difference whatever to the actual movement.
 
 PLATE II 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 First Position ot the Arcl.cr.
 
 PLA'lE III. 
 
 Cupy right. 
 
 Second Position of the Archer.
 
 PLATE IV. 
 
 Copyrights 
 
 final Position of the Archer.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. i 
 
 **^ 
 
 ■\: 
 
 •ssst.. 
 
 Copyti^lU.] 
 
 Representation ot the Movement of the Archer. 
 (Enlargement of No. iz.)
 
 PLATE V 
 
 Pholo AliiKiyi.] 
 
 Hroii/.c Reproduction of die Discobolus of Mvrou, 
 'I'cniic Museum, Rome,
 
 PLATE Va. 
 
 Photo Atinan. 
 
 Discobolus of" the Castcl Porziano.
 
 THE ANCIENT GREEK DEVELOPMENT 
 
 drops from a standing position, in which he was exposed, 
 to a crouching one, in which he is covered and can let 
 fly his arrow in safety. 
 
 The drop is made in one single movement, by the 
 simultaneous bend of the right foot and knee, and the 
 throw-out of the left leg, with the foot well in front, to 
 allow the greatest possible bend of the right foot and 
 knee, all this having been performed without disturbing 
 the vertical line of the torso. The recovery to an erect 
 position is merely the drawing back of the left foot under 
 the body, and the straightening up of the right foot and 
 knee — in appearance an extremely simple movement, and 
 strikingly beautiful because of its simplicity. 
 
 Plate V. represents the Discobolus of Myron, the pho- 
 tograph being that of the bronze reproduction in the 
 Terme Museum in Rome.' Considered statically, it is 
 a comparatively easy matter to reproduce the position of 
 this statue correctly; considered dynamically, it has never 
 been clearly explained. On the contrary, it has often 
 been described as a contortion, and even Professor Loewy 
 regards it in that light." It has also been compared to "an 
 involved figure of speech." But, as soon as the laws of 
 equilibrium in movement are understood, this wonderful 
 momentary poise explains itself with perfect clearness. 
 The rules regulating the throwing of the discus restricted 
 the competitors to a limited space, and in my interpretation 
 
 ^ A photo of the unrestored statue of the Castel Porziano in marble is 
 also shown, as the resemblance of the cinema enlargement is stronger to this 
 than to the bronze reproduction; this is given as Plate Va. 
 
 " " Nature in Greek Art." Emanuel Loewy, p. 87. 
 
 5
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 I have assumed that the Discobolus allowed himself four 
 
 steps. The first position would necessarily be that of 
 
 taking aim, represented by Plate VI. Although there 
 
 was no special mark to be aimed at nor even any restriction 
 
 as to latitude, it is obvious that the straighter the line of 
 
 flight, 'the farther the discus would travel, and therefore 
 
 the competitor would probably take mental note of some 
 
 object he considered possible to reach, and aim for that. 
 
 I myself found I could throw farther when aiming at some 
 
 definite mark than when merely letting the discus fly 
 
 at random. The wavering of indecision, replaced by 
 
 directness of intention, finds its corresponding economy of 
 
 force in the physical expression, which results in a more 
 
 powerful throw. Plates VI., VII., and VIII. show the 
 
 three striking positions from start to finish. That of 
 
 taking aim is followed by a short run of three steps, 
 
 and the swing back of the discus arm on the third step, 
 
 accompanied by the simultaneous turn-back of the head to 
 
 allow the maximum play of the shoulder-muscles and 
 
 also to bring the whole weight in line over the base (see 
 
 Plate VII.). All the force of the throw depends on the 
 
 freedom of the shoulder-swing. This backward movement 
 
 of the arm and head produces a momentary pause in 
 
 the forward momentum, during which the left foot 
 
 performs a supple trailing movement on the bent-back 
 
 toes, offering no resistance either to the pause or the 
 
 momentum, held in abeyance, as it were, ready for the 
 
 final gathering together of all the forces in the actual 
 
 throw. The whole weight of the body is on the right 
 
 6
 
 PLATE VI. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Taking Aim
 
 Pr.A'IT, VII. 
 
 The Swing Back.
 
 PLATE VIII. 
 
 Copyriglu.] 
 
 The Final Position.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 2. 
 
 Copyn^hl.] 
 
 Movement of" the Discobolus.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 3, 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 A Second Way <if Kinisliing the Throw.
 
 THE ANCIENT GREEK DEVELOPMENT 
 
 foot, whose toes grip the ground with tremendous tension, 
 to prevent any pull back of the body by the backward 
 swing of the discus arm. 
 
 Looking at this statue, end on, so to speak, one 
 notices the decided lean-over to the left, although the 
 centre of gravity is over the right foot. This is due to 
 the necessity of counterbalancing the weight of the discus, 
 which averaged 10 lbs. The final position of the Dis- 
 cobolus, as represented by Plate VIIL, is the uplifting of 
 the whole body as the discus flies forward. The force 
 with which it leaves the hand determines the distance it 
 will travel, and this force is dependent on the freedom of 
 the shoulder-swing. The momentum is in the arm alone, 
 produced by the rapidity of its swing in a loose, free 
 shoulder socket. No body weight is needed in this 
 instance, to follow on after the throw, as there is no 
 opposition to the discus. Straight and far it has to fly, 
 and acceleration is the thing to try for. The force or 
 travelling power of an object thrown depends, not on the 
 momentum of a following-on weight, but on the rapidity 
 with which it leaves the hand, and this acceleration depends 
 on freedom from friction or resistance. Therefore, anything 
 that might hinder its speed must be carefully avoided. 
 The main weight of the body must be so perfectly balanced 
 that no danger of a fall forward can occur at the last 
 moment. Body-weight, as a following-on movement, is 
 needed only in the case of a blow. In this case, the arm 
 meets with a sudden reaction from opposition, and the full 
 power of a drive from the shoulder can take effect only 
 
 7
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 when the body-weight follows closely on to counteract the 
 effect of the reaction. 
 
 In the final position of Cinema Series No. 2, which 
 gives a detailed analysis of the changes, it will be seen how 
 the rapidity of the arm-swing has carried the arm itself far 
 above the head, lifting the whole body straight into the 
 air, with its forward foot still in vertical line with the centre 
 of gravity. The central position of this series has been 
 enlarged for the purpose of comparing it with that of the 
 statue, and when it is remembered that the rapidity of 
 the whole movement is such as to render impossible any 
 conscious imitation of one special pose, the differences 
 between the two are surprisingly small. The final position 
 has also been enlarged for the better observation of the 
 tremendous tension in all the leg and foot muscles. The 
 rapidity of rotation, on which depends the accuracy of aim, 
 is given by the final twist of the forefinger as the discus 
 leaves the hand, which movement also governs the height 
 of the trajectory, an important factor in the distance 
 reached. At the moment the discus leaves the hand, 
 the body is drawn up to its full height, tense with 
 the instant arrest of all momentum, the weight poised 
 over the left foot, which has come forward on the trail- 
 ing movement, ready for the fourth step, which it takes 
 as soon as the body is erect, checking any chance of 
 overbalance from the force of the throw. Thus, the 
 final position is almost identical with the first, with this 
 difference, that the body is more erect, and the head is 
 thrown back instead of being lowered to the line of the 
 8
 
 THE ANCIENT GREEK DEVELOPMENT 
 
 right arm as when taking aim, and the arm itself is above 
 the head. 
 
 Cinema Series No. 3 gives ten photographs representing 
 a different finish, which alteration begins the moment 
 the discus leaves the hand. In this series, instead of 
 coming to a full stop on the highest lift of tension, I 
 turned all the force of the throw back on itself, as it were, 
 and came right round in a circular leap in which the right 
 arm acted as motive-power. 
 
 The final position of this series is an almost exact 
 reproduction of that represented occasionally in vase 
 paintings, a photograph of which I have been unable to 
 find up to the present moment. It would seem probable 
 that those athletes who were not quite sure of themselves 
 for the suddenly-arrested finish, practised the circular leap 
 back to avoid over-stepping the boundary. It is difficult 
 to see what other explanation could account for the 
 complete reversal of position shown on some of the vases. 
 An enlargement of one of the positions while in the air is 
 shown for the purpose of demonstrating the force of the 
 arm-swing which is so obviously carrying the body round 
 with it. It would seem at first sight that both these 
 statues, the Archer and the Discobolus, might be quite 
 easily represented in movement, but the first attempt will 
 prove that this is not so. The sequence of all three 
 positions in each case is only possible to achieve with 
 muscles exquisitely trained to elasticity, exceptional activity, 
 and balance.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE ESSENTIAL TRAINING OF THE FOOT AS BASE 
 
 THE Greek child was sent to the Palaestra at the 
 age of five, and, judging by the testimony of Greek 
 Art, the mothers must have modified the shape of 
 their children before they began their gymnastic train- 
 ing. Antique Art gives us many illustrations of this. We 
 have no grounds for thinking that the Greek baby was 
 different from any other baby, but every reason for thinking 
 that the Greek mother was responsible for its eventual 
 development, more especially for the way in which it 
 stood and walked. 
 
 The neck was carried much farther back on the spine 
 without throwing the chin in the air; the hips also were 
 more behind the body than under it; the elbows farther 
 back and turned in instead of out. Above all, the child 
 was made to walk on the inside of its foot with the toes 
 planted in straight line with the heel ; never turned 
 outwards. 
 
 Finally, when the child went to the gymnasium, the 
 object of its training was not how to develop its muscles, 
 but to learn how to transform their condition, at will, into 
 one that rendered the whole body master of itself on the 
 instant. 
 
 The result of this was twofold. In the first place, it 
 entirely abolished all sense of fatigue, and, in the second, 
 
 lO
 
 TRAINING OF THE FOOT AS BASE 
 
 it gave an extraordinary precision of movement, the outcome 
 of a perfect command over the muscles. 
 
 There are many illustrations on vases of the importance 
 evidently attached to exercises performed along straight 
 lines, the trainer standing behind the pupil giving instruc- 
 tions, while the pupil is advancing, with eyes fixed upon 
 some distant object, in the endeavour to maintain some 
 special position of balance. One vase in the British 
 Museum represents a baby crawling on its hands and 
 knees, with a trainer behind it, and the mother some 
 distance in front holding out her hands. The trainer 
 carries, as usual, a long stick, with which he emphasises 
 his explanations and guides the small pupil along a line. 
 
 The two most important things, then, with which the 
 Greek child began its physical training, were : the cultiva- 
 tion in its muscles of a condition that made possible the 
 maximum amount of activity, and the mastering of the 
 laws of balance, which enabled that activity to be controlled 
 with the smallest expenditure of force. 
 
 The feet, being the most important factor in balance, 
 received the most careful training, and Antique Art gives 
 numberless illustrations of special movements on the ball 
 of the foot, to accustom the pupil to dispense entirely 
 with the heel as necessary security for balance, and teach 
 him to maintain the centre of gravity over the forward part 
 of the foot. This is the explanation of the beautiful Greek 
 foot. The form of the Greek foot is totally different from 
 that of a modern foot, and rhe strange sense of flying 
 which is expressed in nearly all antique representations of 
 
 II
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 movement is due to these wonderful feet. The first three 
 toes were very much longer, and were thin and nervous 
 like fingers; the fourth toe was barely used, and the little 
 toe not at all, being nearly always well above the ground, 
 the reason for this being the spread of the pad on the 
 outside of the foot, which formed a sort of wing on which 
 all the ground contact and movement were centred. This 
 wing, which is that part of the pad immediately below the 
 little toe, was the secret of their wonderful flying movement. 
 It has practically ceased to exist, but so great is the power 
 of predestined form, that, in spite of years of distortion. 
 Nature, if given a chance, will repair to an incredible 
 degree all human errors of this type. 
 
 Plate IX. is interesting from this point of view. The 
 « dotted lines represent the outline of my own foot without 
 a shoe, taken at an interval of five years between the two 
 diagrams'; while the thicker lines represent the respective 
 soles worn, — in the case of No. 1 five years ago, and 
 taken from a smart Bond Street shoe, and, in the case of 
 No. 2, that worn at the present day, and made by an 
 equally smart Sloane Street shoemaker. In Diagram 1 it 
 will be noticed that the point of the toe is in direct line 
 with the middle of the heel, as shown by the line E to F, 
 which is the invariable way of making the modern shoe of 
 a woman. To fit the foot into this line, the joint of the 
 big toe, where it meets the ball of the foot at point A, 
 has to be bent over towards point F. This contortion 
 is quite possible, as this particular joint is a partially 
 
 ^ These diagrams have been of course reduced in size. 
 12
 
 PLATE IX 
 
 No. I. 
 
 The foot when wearing the 
 
 habitually shaped shoe. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 The foot when alIo\ved 
 
 perfect freedom. 
 
 13
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 revolving one ; but it was made so to facilitate a more 
 perfect balance on that part of the foot destined to carry 
 the weight of the body, and this fact proves Nature's 
 intention of leaving absolute freedom at that point. The 
 result, therefore, of bending the toe to the side, locks this 
 joint, and makes even a slight bend a constant strain. 
 But, what is still more important, this contortion makes 
 impossible any bend at all of the second joint of the big 
 toe (B), which is formed to move backwards and forwards 
 only; and with the rigidity of this joint comes the paralysis 
 of all joints in line with it. 
 
 Diagram 1 on Plate IX. will make this clear. A 
 represents the junction joint of the big toe and the ball of 
 the foot, B the second joint of the big toe, rendered rigid 
 by the unnatural angle of A to F. The fact that B is 
 unbendable renders C also rigid ; therefore the only 
 possible bend in the forward part of the foot is in a 
 straight line across the ball from A to D, and all in front 
 of that line is rendered useless, although it is the only 
 part provided with joints and elasticity. 
 
 The actual movement of the foot is thus restricted 
 to leverage from E to A and D, and as there are no joints 
 in this part of the foot but only a strong tendon, which 
 depends for elasticity on the freedom of A, the movement 
 cannot fail to be performed in jerks, and the weight cen- 
 tre is thrown back to midway between A and E. The 
 wrench of the muscles at A, necessitated by the angle 
 AF, produces callosities smaller or greater according to 
 the weight of the individual. Diagram 1 is a good
 
 TRAINING OF THE FOOT AS BASE 
 
 specimen of the foot of a modern woman, yet even this 
 represents pain and fatigue and distortion, solely from 
 the fact that joint B is unbendable. 
 
 Diagram 2 on Plate IX. is an outline of the same foot 
 five years later. Joint A has been liberated by making 
 the shoe a different shape, and restoring the angle AF to 
 a straight line, and Nature has responded by bringing back 
 the big toe into this line, as was always intended. This 
 gives B, which can only bend forwards and backwards, the 
 freedom it needs, and at the same time liberates all joints 
 in the line from B to C. The swing-back of the big toe 
 into a straight line considerably shortens the line A to B, 
 while it enormously lengthens that of F to D, the length- 
 ening process taking place in two directions, viz., from C 
 upwards to F, and from the same point downwards to D, 
 gradually getting lower as the wing of the foot responds 
 to its freedom and takes its natural spread. The nearer 
 point D becomes to the narrowing waist of the foot, the 
 more perfect will be the spring and balance of the move- 
 ment, for the reason that the triangular bend from D to A 
 and on to B constitutes a complete leverage in itself, 
 without the need of any help from the heel. The weight- 
 centre is carried forward from the middle of the waist 
 of the foot to a point on the ball of the foot, a little inside 
 A, and the line £ to F is now traced from the inside 
 edge of the heel to the point of the big toe. Having 
 restored the use of the forward part of the foot, and 
 relieved the heel of weight it was never intended to carry, 
 the mainspring or tendon which is placed all along the 
 
 IS
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 waist of the foot and works in connection with the tendon 
 Achilles, becomes strongly elastic, and the heel itself 
 becomes much smaller, the tendon Achilles finer, and 
 more nervous, and all the thickening and swelling of this 
 tendon, which is usual under modern conditions, disappear, 
 and it is possible in many cases for the foot to become a 
 thing of beauty, even after having lived many years in 
 a distorted condition. 
 
 I have gone into this subject of the foot at such length 
 on account of its enormous importance in all that has to 
 do with the highest development of balance. The more 
 perfect the development of the human being becomes, the 
 more rudimentary will become the little toe, which is only 
 needed in a condition of uncertain balance. The gradual 
 development of the ape is sufficient proof of this. In the 
 period when he used all four limbs alike, for climbing and 
 scrambling, the uniform formation of all four extremities 
 was that of a hand — he was literally quadrumanous. 
 Gradually, he became more frequently erect, and the 
 unaccustomed strain of a heavy body on only two of the 
 limbs forced the knees outward and gave him his bandy 
 legs. His weight was thus thrown on the outer edge of 
 the foot, the little toe and its neighbour were specially 
 developed, with the result that as the ape exists at present, 
 his feet are wide at the toes. But his toes are gradually 
 shortening, and although the knees are still bent, he is 
 quite sure of himself on two legs. In all primitive tribes, 
 this widening of the toes will be noticed, together with the 
 projecting heel, both being the result of the outward bend 
 i6
 
 TRAINING OF THE FOOT AS BASE 
 
 of the knee, to a greater or lesser extent according to the 
 different races. And as the feet are the last to change, in 
 many cases the knees are already finely developed while the 
 toes remain spread, as, for example, with that magnificent 
 tribe the Zulus, although even there the majority have still 
 the outward curve at the knee. The large projecting heel 
 is also a result of the effort required to preserve an uncertain 
 balance, and this, like the little toe, becomes less than half 
 its original size when a perfect balance transfers the weight- 
 centre to the ball of the foot. 
 
 To this gradual straightening into an erect position may 
 be ascribed another extraordinary result, the importance of 
 which cannot be exaggerated. The ape is becoming more 
 intelligent; he is developing into a reasoning animal, and 
 quite lately he has begun to throw stones 1 I suggest that 
 this awakening of the intelligence may be attributed to the 
 altered position of the diaphragm, which in the human being 
 is the radiating centre of all power and control through the 
 medium of tension, and would appear to have become so 
 through the influence of some unknown force operating 
 through the vertical only. 
 
 To return to facts, what I wish to make clear at this point 
 is the connection between the widening foot and the outward 
 bend of the knees produced by uncertain balance. When 
 that becomes true and secure, the knees become gradually 
 straighter, and the weight-centre is brought into so direct a 
 line over its base that a very much narrower one suffices, and 
 finally the straightened main bones of the leg and instep which 
 end at the big toe are the only ones required for balance. 
 
 17
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The result, then, of a perfect poise, is the narrowing of 
 the toes, with a concentration of the movement upon the 
 three longest, and a corresponding diminution in the size of 
 the heel. All sensation of balance has to be transmitted 
 through the feet, which constitute the only normal point of 
 contact with the earth for the erect human being. 
 
 The feet, then, are the first to register any alteration in 
 the balance, and should for that reason be the first to receive 
 a care and a training that will enable them to respond 
 unerringly to a rapidly-changing centre of gravity. 
 
 It seems hardly necessary to point out that this training 
 involves the complete renunciation of the high heel, which 
 in itself means an entire readjustment of the weight of the 
 body, and at first it feels strangely unbalanced ; but when 
 the springs reassert themselves, as they surely will, one 
 awakens to a new world, to a consciousness that the familiar 
 metaphor of "walking on air" has become a reality, when 
 every touch of the feet to the ground sends a thrill of 
 elasticity ringing through one's nerves. 
 
 It may be argued that the use of the high heel has the 
 effect of throwing the weight forward on to the toes. This 
 is quite true, but it must be remembered that the toes in 
 this position are rigid, and the angle at which the foot 
 is unavoidably placed on the ground takes away all elasticity 
 of the tendon which forms the mainspring of the foot, so 
 that it becomes powerless from being constantly at full 
 stretch. The whole foot having been made rigid under 
 these conditions, the weight of the body, if held erect, 
 would naturally pitch forward upon the toes ; but as these 
 i8
 
 TRAINING OF THE FOOT AS BASE 
 
 are unable to make any independent movement of adjust- 
 ment, the balance has to be saved by the knees, which 
 become bent to prevent the fall forward of the body. Thus, 
 while the springs of the instep are strained to breaking- 
 point, those of the knees never reach their full stretch, and 
 eventually become contracted. The actual weight of the 
 body under these conditions is thrown back upon the heel, 
 although the toes actually touch the ground first. 
 
 People often object on the score of ugliness to the 
 abolition of the heel and the alteration of the ordinary 
 pointed toe of the modern shoe, and I confess that 
 everything I have ever seen which claimed to be a 
 "naturally" shaped or "hygienic" shoe has been of a 
 form that would have made me willingly wear a dis- 
 tortion forever rather than see my foot in one of these 
 exaggerations. Some people may have square feet, but 
 on the other hand many of us have not, and as no 
 amount of assurance as to the beauty of the straight 
 inside line will carry conviction, I have thought it best 
 to give a photograph of my actual shoes. 
 
 Plate X. shows a pair of walking-shoes with a 
 small three-quarter inch heel, which are identical with 
 those of the indoor shoes, but with the small heel added 
 for protection against street mud. 
 
 Personally, I would recommend that all shoes should 
 have equally thin pliable soles, to enable the springs of 
 the foot to work freely; the movement thus promoted, 
 together with a soft felt inside sole for cold weather, 
 ensures more warmth than a thick hard sole can ever do. 
 
 19
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 It may be questioned why the professional dancer, 
 when not actually pirouetting on the extreme point of 
 the toe, walks with the natural heel very obviously 
 touching the ground first, although there is no artificial 
 heel on the professional dancing sandal. The explanation 
 is that all professional dancing has been acquired at the 
 cost of contortion of the toes, and of all the muscles 
 over the instep, even in the case of the finest modern 
 dancing as shown by the Russians. 
 
 This contortion makes possible for quite long periods 
 the performance of marvellous feats of balance on the 
 extreme point of the big toe, but when it is not possible 
 to continue these movements any longer, the weight of 
 the body falls back inevitably upon the heel to relieve 
 the overstrained toes. For this reason no dancer, how- 
 ever wonderful on the stage, will be found to have 
 beautiful movements in walking, stage perfection, however 
 marvellous, being the result of trick work, possible only 
 to acrobats, and resulting inevitably in the abnormal 
 development of certain muscles together with a stupendous 
 overstrain of all the vital organs. This it is that makes 
 the life of the professional dancers such a short one, and 
 in Russia they are not allowed to appear on the stage 
 after reaching the age of twenty-five, being considered 
 by then quite finished I 
 
 20
 
 X 
 
 w 
 h
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 DEFINITION OF TENSION 
 
 AT THE beginning of the last chapter, I said that 
 the first thing the Greek child learned when it 
 went to the Palaestra was, how to attain in its 
 muscles a condition that rendered the whole body master of 
 itself on the instant. 
 
 This condition was one of complete Tension. 
 
 The meaning of this word ** Tension " has become 
 so distorted that, being confused with rigidity, the stiffness 
 and strain of unnecessary force, it is generally considered 
 as a condition to be avoided. 
 
 The true definition of Tension is " Elasticity." 
 
 That which is given in the "Elements of Dynamics"^ 
 is as follows : " Tension is the stress when two bodies are 
 connected by a string, and the force exerted on either is 
 directed towards the other. Thus, when a mass is suspended 
 by a string from a fixed support, the force which keeps the 
 body in its place is directed upwards, the force which is 
 exerted on the point of support is directed downwards." 
 
 This definition is rather difficult to understand at first, 
 by reason of the statement that " the force exerted on either 
 is directed towards the other," which appears contradictory 
 but, with a little thinking, becomes quite clear. 
 
 Tension is obviously stretch, or, to use the technical 
 term, stress, which condition becomes one of elasticity 
 
 ^ Rev. J. L. Robinson, M.A. 
 
 21
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 to a greater or lesser degree according to the material 
 subjected to it. This condition of stretch was the 
 preliminary essential for the muscles in all exercises of 
 training performed by the Greeks/ 
 
 Up to the present time no study whatever has been 
 made of this essential condition, nor has any emphasis 
 been laid upon the fact that no precision of movement 
 can be acquired without it. Yet it is only when there 
 is complete connection, through stretch, of all the 
 muscles with the centre of gravity, that any movement 
 can be said to be executed without strain. Relaxation 
 of this stretch means disconnection of one set of muscles 
 with another, involving independent movements, inde- 
 pendent reactions, and proportionate loss of combined 
 force; while the maintenance of this connection through 
 stretch, means a condition in which every muscle has 
 
 * In Professor Marey's book on Movement the following passages 
 occur: 
 
 ". . . Is (the) elastic force of rebound due to a physical property of 
 the muscles, or is it due to an additional expenditure of energy? Weber 
 demonstrated that a muscle when in action acquired, by some intimate change 
 within its fibres, a greater elastic force, and that it was this force which 
 produced movement. The same thing happens, then, in a living tissue as in 
 a steam-engine, in which the elastic force of a gas is converted into work. . . . 
 
 " Veterinary experts have made a special study of the energy lost by the 
 hoofs striking the ground when a horse is travelling at a rapid pace. They 
 maintain that the flexor of the solitary toe, which constitutes the foot of a 
 horse, is made to a great extent of elastic tissue. It possesses in consequence 
 a physical property by means of which a more or less important part of the 
 vital energy lost in falling on the feet is to some extent returned in the form 
 of energy. 
 
 " This subject deserves re-investigation. It would be interesting to 
 discover whether tendons in man possess this valuable property to any 
 noticeable degree, and, if so, whether it is retained through life." 
 
 The theory contained in the following chapters may suggest an answer 
 to Professor Marey's query. 
 22
 
 DEFINITION OF TENSION 
 
 been called upon to share in the work required, having 
 been linked with others which in their turn come directly 
 in touch with the weight to be moved, or held still, as 
 the case may be. 
 
 Tension, then, is a connecting of the farthest outposts 
 with headquarters ; headquarters meaning in this case the 
 centre of gravity, the centre of the main weight. This 
 linking together of every muscle produces the maximum 
 of power with the minimum of effort, resulting in move- 
 ment all in one piece, as it were. 
 
 If the connection of the muscles be not complete, if 
 any part of the body is slack, it means just so much dead 
 weight to be carried, and just by so much drag upon the 
 movement will the rhythm be dislocated. Dislocation 
 means strain and fatigue owing to the disturbance of 
 proportion of the forces in activity. 
 
 Imagine a sailing vessel in full sail with the foresail or 
 mizzen flapping against the mast I You can't expect the 
 mainsail alone to carry the vessel along smoothly, with a 
 dead weight of canvas swinging her out of stride. But haul 
 in the ropes, and stretch every inch of canvas taut and tense, 
 and then see the rhythm and harmony that wake into life I 
 
 The modern human being has lost sight of the fact 
 that the skeleton was not made to support, alone, the 
 whole weight of the body, but to facilitate exactitude of 
 movement by its system of leverage. The muscles are the 
 principal weight-carriers, and able, when in a perfect 
 condition of tension, so to disperse the weight along their 
 constantly-moving cords of elasticity that no aggregate of 
 
 23
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 weight is ever felt at any one point, and therefore no dead 
 
 weight of fatigue is possible. It is at the waist that the 
 
 lack of tension in the modern human being is most 
 
 apparent, there being nothing but the spine as bone 
 
 support for all that part of the body which extends from 
 
 the lower ribs to the hips. But in reality there is the 
 
 muscle of the diaphragm going through the centre and 
 
 those of the abdomen in front, while at the back are those 
 
 forming a thick band on each side of the spine and 
 
 spreading up and around the sides as the latissimus dorsi. 
 
 These central muscles of the diaphragm, abdomen, and 
 
 back are practically powerless in the average modern 
 
 human being — in the case of women, on account of 
 
 strongly-boned corsets which preclude all free movement 
 
 of this part of the body; and in the case of men, from a 
 
 general slackness, perhaps a reaction from an earlier period 
 
 of exaggerated stiffness. The result of chronic slackness 
 
 in these muscles is the crumpling-up of the waist and the 
 
 setthng down of the body into the hips, very much like an 
 
 egg in an egg-cup. The constant pressure and dead weight 
 
 of all the upper part of the body on the hips puts the whole 
 
 strain on the hip muscles, which become exaggeratedly 
 
 developed, while those of the abdomen and the cuirass 
 
 muscles on each side of it are practically non-existent. 
 
 The most noticeable result of the condition of tension 
 in the Greeks was the invariable slimness of hip, not only 
 in the men but in the women also. This was due to the 
 proper development of the waist muscles and those of 
 the back, which was sufficient to keep the upper part of 
 24
 
 X 
 
 w 
 h 
 <
 
 DEFINITION OF TENSION 
 
 the body lifted from the socket of the pelvis and allow 
 of an infinitely freer movement of the hips. This in itself 
 was sufficient to keep the hips fine and slim/ 
 
 The new-born infant begins life with a very strong, 
 little diaphragm, and all movement for the first weeks of 
 its life is centred there. Later on, it discovers that it has 
 limbs, and as it grows older the discoveries extend to hands 
 and feet and finally fingers and toes, while the nervous 
 muscular centre of the diaphragm becomes forgotten by 
 the child and neglected in its later training. But here, in 
 the very centre of what seems to be the softest part of the 
 body, lies hidden the dynamo of the magic current of 
 tension, which can be turned on at will and sent racing 
 through muscles prepared to receive it, flooding them with 
 force and with fire, transforming them into living, vibrating 
 cords, responsive to every command of the will, so that 
 motion becomes, in fact, will-power made visible. 
 
 It is not too much to assert that all the evils of 
 mal-development come from the neglect of this part of 
 the body, and all beauty and strength and perfect balance 
 from the care of it. I have pointed out that the increasing 
 intelligence of the ape may reasonably be ascribed to 
 
 ^ One of my pupils discovered not long ago, in the British Museum, the 
 vase-picture represented on Plate XI., and, struck by the similarity in the 
 teaching of the Greek master to those principles emphasised by myself, had 
 the picture photographed and I reproduce it here. Note the position of the 
 pupil in which every muscle is slack, how the air of depression is increased 
 Ijy the design above his head which the artist has made with an intentional 
 overshadowing bend, that he might emphasise to the utmost the slackness and 
 weighed-down appearance of the pupil. Then look at the Master, and note 
 the strength and uplift of his poise, which again is emphasised by the direc- 
 tion of the design. Surely a fine object-lesson this, in the art of Tension! 
 
 25
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the development of the diaphragm resulting from the 
 gradually - increasing erectness of carriage. With the 
 straightening of the spine, the expansion of the lungs, and 
 the lifted poise of the head, the diaphragm develops a new 
 power, and becomes henceforth the generator of a different 
 order of activity, the centre of a perfected balance, and the 
 medium of a higher control. 
 
 It is interesting to note that experiments are being 
 carried on in America in connection with the walk of low- 
 class criminals. It has been found that they habitually 
 drag their feet along the ground instead of raising them. 
 One of the experiments consists in making them walk over 
 blocks of wood in the exercise-yard. This has necessitated 
 a greater effort of balance and consequently a straighter 
 back ; and even this simple experiment has been found to 
 ameliorate very definitely the mental condition. 
 
 Looking at an ordinary class-room of boys or girls, or 
 a lecture-room full of men and women, the first thing that 
 strikes one is the prevalence of the so-called " round- 
 shouldered " position. And yet none of them are really 
 round-shouldered. It is a very difficult thing to change 
 the position of the shoulders. To bring them forward, and 
 keep them so for more than a moment, is extremely tiring, 
 and the modern human being is not keen on unnecessary 
 effort. What one really sees in these lecture-rooms is not 
 round shoulders but slack diaphragms, a much greater evil, 
 and the cause of all the fidgety unrest that takes hold of 
 audiences when obliged to sit still for more than half an 
 hour. A very simple experiment will prove the fallacy of 
 26
 
 DEFINITION OF TENSION 
 
 the " round shoulder." If one sits in an ordinary straight- 
 backed chair, at right angles to a mirror, in the so-called 
 round-shouldered way, it will be noticed that, while the 
 shoulders themselves lean against the back of the chair, the 
 base of the spine will be several inches in front of it. Thus 
 the whole strain falls upon the small of the back, which at 
 once gives way and curves outward, while the waist 
 collapses in front and curves inward, giving the effect of a 
 huddled-up, round-shouldered position. The reversal of 
 these curves is produced by sitting farther back, so that 
 the base of the spine touches the back of the chair. This 
 pushes out the diaphragm in front, which movement places 
 the upper part of the body in a correctly-balanced position, 
 which, so long as the diaphragm remains firm, may be 
 maintained for long periods without the slightest effort, the 
 centre of gravity being exactly over its support, which in 
 sitting should be the base of the spine. This position 
 reduces to a minimum the ache of a long day's motoring, 
 and the discomfort of lecture-room chairs, while it entirely 
 does away with all appearance of round shoulders. And 
 the alteration in appearance and comfort has been made by 
 the movement of the waist alone, by the raising and stretch- 
 ing of the diaphragm from its ordinary crumpled-up, con- 
 tracted condition. This stretching of the diaphragm, 
 involving as it does a straightening of the spine, has also a 
 definite effect upon the power of concentrating the mind 
 on any particular subject. Look at the poise of the seated 
 Buddhas in India, China, and Japan; note the vertical spine, 
 the perfect poise of the head, and the gracious attitude of 
 
 27
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the shoulders. They knew the importance of the correct 
 sitting posture as an aid to deep thought. 
 
 To return, then, the preliminary essential condition for 
 all perfectly-balanced movement is that of full stretch. 
 Henceforth, this stretching into Tension of the whole 
 body will be termed the Preliminary Position, and it must 
 be clearly understood from the first that any exercising 
 apart from this condition is practically useless where fine 
 balance and precision of movement are aimed at. 
 
 This preliminary stretching may appear quite an easy 
 performance, but in reality it is the most complicated of 
 all, and when this becomes easy of accomplishment, all 
 difficulty of balance will have disappeared, and the student 
 will have a clear road before him, with the certainty of 
 being able to perform the most intricate changes of move- 
 ment with the greatest ease. 
 
 Here, then, are the detailed instructions for obtaining 
 this Preliminary Position: 
 
 Begin by placing the feet close together, so that the 
 heels and the whole of the inside Hne of the feet are 
 touching, the weight of the body well forward over the 
 ball of the foot. Although the heels may just touch 
 the ground, there must be no weight on them. The 
 arms should be drawn down to their full length at the 
 sides, with fingers pressed together but fully extended. 
 Now, lift the chin (but without pushing the neck too far 
 back on the spine), and raise the head well up from 
 the shoulders by drawing the neck muscles up to 
 their full stretch. This movement is followed by the 
 28
 
 DEFINITION OF TENSION 
 
 pulling up of the waist muscles with a simultaneous down- 
 ward stretch of the arms to prevent hunching up the 
 shoulders. Great care must be taken not to contract the 
 diaphragm unnaturally by holding the breath while stretch- 
 ing it. Any check on the breathing produces rigidity, and 
 therefore the stretching of all muscles into this condition 
 of Tension must be done in such a way as not to interfere 
 with the free movement of the lungs or joints. The 
 pulling up of the waist muscles really constitutes a drawing 
 up of the body away from the legs, as it were, which should 
 make the counter stretch downwards. 
 
 On the accurate performance of this movement of the 
 diaphragm depends the perfect balance of the whole body 
 when completely tensed. When any loss of balance takes 
 place, it is invariably at the waist, and the appearance of 
 the average modern human being when making the least 
 effort at special balance is that of having a great deal too 
 much "top hamper," which graphic expression best conveys 
 my meaning. Here, as I said before — in the middle of 
 the diaphragm— is placed the dynamo which sends out the 
 current of Tension the moment the muscles are stretched 
 enough to receive it. Here also lies the centre of gravity, 
 the immovable point from which all movement should 
 radiate. It is interesting to notice that when this part of 
 the body is under perfect control, movement in water 
 becomes a thing of extraordinary beauty and ease, depending 
 as it does almost entirely on the muscles of the diaphragm 
 — a little twist, a bend, a straightening of the waist, and 
 the rapid gliding turn of a fish is the result. 
 
 29
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 In walking, the complete immobility of the diaphragm 
 is required owing to the fact that the support for the whole 
 body, during movement, is the foot; in the water, on the 
 other hand, the weight is distributed equally over the whole 
 surface of the body, and the centre of gravity is free to 
 radiate movement in all directions, having no longer any 
 weight to be controlled on one point as base. 
 
 The next movement which follows the upward stretch 
 of neck and waist, and the forcing downwards of the arms, 
 is the bracing of the knee muscles. This should be 
 effected by a definite movement of pushing the knee-cap 
 back as far as possible. This draws up the muscles directly 
 behind the knee to their full stretch from the heel. The foot 
 muscles are now the only ones remaining unstretched, and 
 this should be done by rising well up on to the ball of the 
 toes, so that the whole strain of the tensed body comes on 
 the spring underneath the instep, which should be raised 
 so as to form an acute angle with the ground. On this 
 acute angle spring the whole weight of the balancing body 
 should play when in complete Tension. The correctness 
 of the position when all these movements have been com- 
 pleted may be tested by standing in profile before a mirror. 
 If the balance is perfect, it will be possible to draw an 
 imaginary line from behind the ear, passing through the 
 shoulder, hip and the knee, and ending at the ball of 
 the foot just behind the toes. Plate XII. will, I hope, 
 render the explanation perfectly clear. In the profile 
 photograph, the vertical line test may be applied, when it 
 will be found that it passes through all the points named. 
 30
 
 X 
 
 w 
 H 
 <
 
 DEFINITION OF TENSION 
 
 Plates XII/ and XII.^ show an alternative method of 
 arriving at the full-waist stretch for those who find the 
 method already explained too difficult. The effort of trying 
 to reach at something high above the head is in many 
 cases a help ; and, after having stretched the waist as much 
 as possible by these means, the arms should be lowered to a 
 horizontal position, for an instant, and finally brought down 
 to the sides, great care being taken not to let the muscles 
 of the waist collapse with the lowering of the arms. 
 Plate XII. ^ is the completed position taken full face, Plate 
 XII. ^ is the same in profile, and is the best for careful 
 study of detail. 
 
 After what I said about heels in the first chapter, it 
 seems hardly necessary to repeat that during the perform- 
 ance of all exercises, either very thin-soled dancing sandals 
 should be worn, or no shoes at all. 
 
 An effort should be made, when in this Preliminary 
 Position, to rise several times on the toes, great care being 
 taken to keep the rest of the body absolutely immobile, 
 so that the rise and fall may be in a strictly vertical line, 
 the movement being made by the acute angle spring of 
 the instep. 
 
 31
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MOVEMENT 
 
 HAVING placed the body in the right condition 
 for definite exercise, I shall now explain the 
 principle on which the movements are based, a 
 principle so purely mathematical that it applies not only 
 to the special set of what I shall term basic exercises, but 
 to all movement, however simple. It will therefore be 
 necessary, before giving a detailed explanation of these ex- 
 ercises, to make a short analysis of movement in general. 
 Roughly speaking, one may divide movement into two 
 distinct types, which I shall call disconnected and sequential 
 respectively. These different types of movement produce 
 entirely different results both physically and psychologi- 
 cally. It is with sequential movement alone that the 
 exercises which follow are concerned ; but in order that the 
 point of contrast between the two may be defined, I shall 
 first explain what I mean by disconnected movement. This 
 may be formed of a series of different positions with pauses 
 between them. The pauses need not necessarily disorganise 
 the series, but the fact of being able to stop between the 
 successive positions allows their performance to become 
 purely mechanical when once they have been practised 
 separately and become easy of execution. Such move- 
 ments consist almost invariably of the flexion and extension 
 of the muscles of different parts of the body in turn, and 
 
 32
 
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MOVEMENT 
 
 are necessarily very limited. The check between each 
 position, whether for a long or short interval, produces a 
 corresponding break in the attention, during which it is 
 possible to think of other things. This is the result of 
 all movement which, with a Httle practice, may become 
 mechanical. 
 
 Sequential movement, on the other hand, presupposes 
 a following-on, an uninterrupted continuity. If this is 
 broken in any way the sequence is destroyed and a recom- 
 mencement from the beginning is necessitated. It is 
 impossible for sequential movement to become mechanical, 
 on account of the extraordinary type of concentration 
 needed to perform a number of varied movements with 
 unbroken continuity — a concentration that obliges the 
 mind to pass rapidly from one point to another with 
 unhesitating certainty, while yet retaining a clear idea of 
 the sequence as a whole. In these two types of move- 
 ment — disconnected and sequential — we get the physio- 
 logical analogy of habit and interest ; habit being repre- 
 sented by all that may become mechanical, and interest 
 by all that involves thought-initiative. And in habit and 
 interest are found what Professor Baldwin so aptly describes 
 as the " psychological poles, corresponding to the lowest 
 and highest in the activities of the nervous system." 
 Sequential movement involves a smooth, unchecked 
 following-on of many changes of position, regulated by a 
 balance perfect enough to produce definite rhythm, and 
 these changes of position are not arbitrary, but are 
 necessarily related, and involve a tense connection with 
 
 33
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the centre of gravity, without which there must always be 
 a great waste of force through confHcting strains. 
 
 On accurate balance, then, depends the economy of 
 force which, in movement, expresses the greatest beauty, 
 giving as it does an appearance of ease and lightness 
 obtained by the equal distribution of weight over perfectly- 
 tensed muscles, so that the centre of gravity is exactly 
 over its base. It is comparatively easy to keep the centre 
 of gravity over its base when the body is stationary. The 
 difficulty arises when the weight begins to move, and the 
 base has to be constantly changed. 
 
 Take, for example, the simplest of all sequential move- 
 ments—walking. The act of passing the weight from 
 one foot to another results as a rule in an effort to feel 
 forward for a new base before allowing the main weight of 
 the body to trust to it, thus producing the jerky movement 
 that gives the impression of a leg at each corner, so to 
 speak. The way to avoid this jerky movement in walking 
 is to carry the whole weight forward at the same time as 
 the advancing foot, which can only be done if the whole 
 body is in the condition of elastic tension already 
 described. The law of rhythmical movement which gives 
 the ideal poise requires that the centre of gravity of a 
 moving weight should be kept constant over its base. 
 Hence the enormous importance of a reliable base and 
 the care required to avoid distortion of the feet. The 
 observance of this law reduces to about half, the effort 
 necessary in walking, while it increases to nearly double, 
 the pace at which the ground is covered. This accelera- 
 
 34
 
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MOVEMENT 
 
 tion, under conditions of perfect balance, forms the strong 
 point of contrast between sequential and disconnected 
 movement. All disconnection means angles ; angles imply 
 resistance ; and resistance involves reaction, which results 
 in the loss of exactly half the force, according to the 
 dynamic law that action and reaction are equal and 
 opposite. Disconnection, therefore, expresses the Finite 
 thing. Continuity can only be expressed by curves. 
 Sequential movement, by being circular, is capable of 
 extraordinary acceleration by reason of its non-resistance, 
 and thus represents the maximum force. Sequential 
 movement, therefore, expresses the thing that is Infinite. 
 Perfect sequential movement — by which I mean that 
 which maintains a perfect equilibrium throughout — can 
 only be performed in the condition of complete Tension 
 already described. This, it will be remembered, involves 
 the linking together of all the muscles at full stretch. 
 The more complete this linking together, the less visible 
 becomes the effort, so that the highest degree of Tension, 
 although representing the most complicated vibratory 
 movement of all the muscles, is the only condition in 
 which perfect stillness can be maintained. The fact of 
 having reached the climax of the combination of many 
 positives results in the stillness of apparent negation; as, for 
 example, the vibratory combination of many coloured rays 
 produces light, which is colourless. 
 
 In connection with this idea of movement becoming 
 invisible when it is the result of combined and perfectly- 
 balanced effort, the late Edouard Rod once wrote a 
 
 35
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 description in the Figaro of the Temple of Neptune at 
 Paestum, in which he expresses very beautifully in its 
 application to architecture the idea of movement becoming 
 invisible when it is the result of combined and perfectly- 
 balanced effort : 
 
 ** II est trds fort, mais d'une force assez sQre d'elle- 
 mfeme pour s'apaiser, et pour arriver ^ la grace, la vraie 
 grace, qui n'a rien k faire avec la ddbilite ... II 
 n'est que de la force amincie, encore plus acquise et plus 
 intrinseque puisqu'elle devient moins visible." . . 
 More inherent, more real, as the effort becomes less 
 visible. This is the ideal strength; and the basic 
 principles of the finest architecture are the same as those 
 which govern human movement, viz., the power of lift 
 and expansion on a reliable base.^ 
 
 When once these principles are clearly understood, 
 they may be applied, not only to definite exercises, but 
 to all sports, as also to the unconscious everyday move- 
 ment of life, with the certainty of finding a more 
 complete order of activity, a stronger current of force, 
 a new power of control. 
 
 In selecting and systematising different series of 
 sequential movements which shall be perfectly natural, 
 one turns instinctively to those needed in imaginary 
 attack and defence, not only on account of the great 
 variety of these positions, but because of the rapidity with 
 which they must be performed. The origin, then, of all 
 
 1 Michael Angelo maintained that, to an architect, a knowledge of anat- 
 omy is essential. 
 
 36
 
 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MOVEMENT 
 
 physical training is war. Among primitive peoples, 
 it was necessary to be always on guard against sudden 
 attacks. For this reason, during times of peace, they 
 practised at first a sort of mimic war, which gradually 
 developed into a sport. The Greeks ascribed the invention 
 of wrestling to mythical persons such as Palaestra, the 
 daughter of Hermes, and to Theseus is given the honour 
 of having been the first to reduce the sport to a game, 
 with well-defined rules, and thus to have made an art of 
 wrestling ; whereas before his time it consisted of the 
 most brutal fighting, in which the strength and weight 
 of the adversary alone decided the victory. 
 
 In the mimic battles of the Spartans, they frequently 
 lost eyes and ears, which tortures they accepted as the 
 necessary sacrifice in return for the indomitable fortitude 
 which they acquired. 
 
 At a later date, the system adopted by the Athenians 
 had for aim beauty of form and line, and grace of move- 
 ment, and no competitor was awarded a prize unless his 
 performance had been gracefully as well as effectively 
 achieved. Contest by wrestling was divided into two 
 branches by the ancient Greeks. The first was the " Pale 
 Orthe," the upright wrestling. The second was called 
 " Halendesis " or " Kylisis," in which the athlete wrestled 
 with his adversary on the ground. The "Pale Orthe" 
 was the only kind of wrestling practised in Homeric times, 
 and also later on in the National Games of the Greeks. 
 The rules provided that on the fall of an athlete his 
 adversary should allow him to rise and resume the contest 
 
 37
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 if he wished, but if he fell three times, the victory was 
 decided in favour of the other. There were also prepara- 
 tory exercises called " Analeinemata," exercises which 
 were looked upon as of the greatest importance, since 
 through them alone could the athlete acquire that tense 
 elasticity of muscle necessary for the extreme rapidity 
 required in actual wrestling. 
 
 It is, then, natural to suppose that the preparatory 
 movements represented as nearly as possible the actual 
 positions taken in wrestling, so that by continued practice 
 the pupil might arrive at the unhesitating certainty and 
 precision needed in the varied changes of position of real 
 contest. 
 
 Antique Art gives many examples of this extraordinarily 
 rapid form of wrestHng by tripping. It appeared many 
 centuries later among the Chinese, brought back probably 
 through their intercourse with the Persians. The form 
 of wrestling called Jujutsu, practised by the Japanese of 
 the present day, is, I am convinced, a survival of the 
 " Pale Orthe " of the Greeks. The collection of tracings 
 on page 39, taken from Professor Krause's book 
 " Hellenika Gymnastik und Agonistik, " show the close 
 resemblance of some of the Japanese throws used in 
 Jujutsu, to those of the Greeks. No. 1, especially, is 
 identical with the Koshinage shoulder throw, in which 
 the thrower drops on his knees after having hoisted 
 his opponent upon his shoulder. This throw can be 
 given standing or kneeling, but the latter position is much 
 more disastrous to the victim. No. 2 is obviously the 
 38
 
 ^FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MOVEMENT 
 
 Koshinage hip-throw, as used in Jujutsu at the present 
 day, and No. 4 has a very close resemblance to the 
 Japanese " Shimoku," the position of the attacker's left 
 hand being the only essential difference, while he is 
 practically erect, instead of crouching on bent knees. 
 
 Fig I. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Fig. 3- 
 
 Fig. 4- 
 
 The " Pale Orthe " was introduced into Japan by a China- 
 man about the third or fourth century, under the name of 
 " Jujutsu," and rem.ained a jealously-guarded secret known 
 to and practised by the Samurai nobles alone, until com- 
 paratively a few years ago— in 1860, I think— when the 
 general public were allowed to learn. With the strange 
 
 39
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 liking of the Chinese for all that represents the grotesque 
 in movement, they neglected, and eventually completely 
 lost, all the grace and beauty esteemed by the Greeks 
 as indispensable, and retained only the dramatic and 
 practical sides of wrestling, the genuine self-defence, 
 which, among the Greeks, was subordinated to beauty. 
 
 It is, then, upon the preparatory movements that I 
 place such immense importance, and it was during the 
 study of all the rapid changes of position in this " Pale 
 Orthe," which demand such exquisite balance, that I found 
 for myself the Law of Balance in movement, the 
 application of which allows of the greatest rapidity and 
 force with the least expenditure of energy. This law, 
 as I have said, requires the centre of gravity of a moving 
 body to be kept exactly and continuously over its base, 
 an impossible achievement except under the condition 
 of Tension already described. 
 
 40
 
 CHAPTER V^ 
 
 THE APPLICATION OF MATHEMATICS TO 
 HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 IN the last chapter I spoke of the different movements 
 of the exercises as being necessarily related to one 
 another, bound by certain laws which allow of no 
 arbitrary change. 
 
 Movement which is bound by law becomes geo- 
 metrical, and geometrical law makes it impossible to vary 
 the formation of a curve beyond the limits of difference in 
 size according as the relation between the curve and its 
 pivot is altered. 
 
 The centre of gravity of the combined curves produced 
 by the movements of human limbs in space is the same as 
 that for each individual curve, for the reason that the 
 connection of each limb takes place at the same spot, 
 viz., the centre of gravity of the main weight through 
 which passes the axis of balance. When this vertical axis 
 is in perfect equilibrium the limbs form the varying radii 
 of a common axis, and the law which governs the mass 
 governs each part ; therefore the centre of gravity of the 
 combined mass of curves is the same as for each individual 
 curve, and is found in the vertical axis through the pivot. 
 As long as this remains stable, the curves described by the 
 
 ^ In connection with this chapter, I would like to state beforehand what 
 will doubtless be apparent, that I have never been taught mathematics. It is 
 written for the average reader, for whom I hope it will present no difficulty 
 or ambiguity. 
 
 41
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 moving limbs are true, that is to say, they submit to 
 geometrical analysis. I conceive a true curve to be one 
 which is projected in regular and proportional sequence 
 with relation to its centre. The radii of a circle are equal 
 in length, and it is a true curve. A true curve may also 
 be one whose radii vary in length with regular sequence. 
 A false curve, to me, would be one whose radii have been 
 subjected to irregular variation. 
 
 In preference to the word "pivot" I would like to use 
 the expression "axis of balance," as giving a fuller concep- 
 tion of centre of gravity in space than is represented by a 
 pivot on a plane surface. 
 
 The axis of balance is the vertical line through the 
 pivot about which the object turns, so in the case of the 
 human being we will assume that it is the vertical line 
 already mentioned from the centre of gravity of the main 
 weight both upwards and downwards to its base, which 
 latter constitutes the pivot, viz., the only point of 
 weight contact on the horizontal plane. I specially use the 
 word "weight-contact," because, although curves formed 
 by the changes of movement of a human being come into 
 occasional contact with the ground, there is no moment 
 when any of the weight suspended over the pivot is trans- 
 ferred to the moving limb, which merely touches the 
 ground from time to time to mark the points of angles 
 formed in the course of changing direction. 
 
 The position of the pivot itself can be altered from 
 time to time, thus varying the direction of the curves, but 
 this variation of direction in no way falsifies the curves 
 42
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 themselves, which are dependent only on their axis. Only 
 when the axis itself vacillates do the curves become untrue; 
 that is to say, when it has lost tense connection with its 
 curve-making limb through the strain necessitated by the 
 maintenance of balance under a false equilibrium. 
 
 Given this connection under inalterable conditions, the 
 pivot itself may describe continuous and independent 
 curves simultaneously with the moving arm and still 
 govern those arm curves, provided the connection between 
 the two is allowed freedom of movement. 
 
 Some intensely interesting discoveries were made in 
 this subject a few years ago by Colonel Hippisley, R. E., 
 who gave a lecture at the Royal Society in 1904, at which 
 he showed numerous complicated designs illustrating the 
 extraordinary unexpected figures produced by a moving 
 arm whose pivot was itself travelling round an ellipse 
 continuously.^ 
 
 He constructed an instrument in which one small 
 wheel was fixed to a horizontal bar, which at one end 
 held the point or pivot which was made to describe an 
 ellipse. The movement of the vertical pivot point was 
 continuous, and the movement of the following wheel 
 at the end of the bar was free as far as lateral play on its 
 guiding pivot was concerned; but according as the bar 
 itself was lengthened or shortened, so did the curves of 
 the following wheel vary, and the designs formed become 
 more or less complicated. 
 
 * I am indebted to Colonel Hippisley for the privilege of being allowed 
 to reproduce for the first time three of his designs. 
 
 43
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 Colonel Hippisley eventually discovered a certain ratio 
 between the wheel and its pivot which produced curves 
 that ultimately repeated themselves over exactly the same 
 lines, so that they became changeless and endless. 
 
 The variation of a hair's breadth in the length of the 
 bar produced completely different curves; and in all 
 designs except this particular one of the repeating curves, 
 the wheel eventually ran out of the figure altogether. 
 
 Colonel Hippisley has most kindly allowed me to 
 reproduce three of these geometrical figures. Plate XIII. 
 shows the one in which the curves become changeless 
 and endless. Plates XIV. and XV. show the result of 
 alterations in the length of the bar, where the following 
 wheel, after numerous complicated gyrations forced upon 
 it by the track of the guiding pivot round the ellipse, runs 
 out of the figure at a tangent. As regards the solution 
 of the problems which his own genius has discovered, he 
 says that mathematical difficulties prevented the complete 
 analysis of the curves from being set out. 
 
 And so these wonderful and exquisite designs remain 
 in a drawer for some future Euclid to elucidate. There 
 seems some possibility that the elucidation might be of 
 service in astronomical calculations, where the ellipse 
 would appear the most frequent form of planetary move- 
 ment; and the idea presents itself of some unknown 
 centre of gravity operating on an immense scale upon 
 the whole system of worlds, forcing upon each, according 
 to its distance from that centre, gyrations from which it 
 cannot escape any more than can the following wheel 
 
 44
 
 PLATE XIII. 
 
 Curves which ultimately become changeless and endless. 
 
 45
 
 PLATE XIV. 
 
 jg Diagram showing lines of entrance and exit.
 
 PLATE XV. 
 
 A complicated puzzle. 
 
 47
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 of Colonel Hippisley's little instrument from its guiding 
 pivot. It may be wondered why I have mentioned this 
 discovery of Colonel Hippisley's in connection with my 
 own geometrical movements, and the general opinion 
 will be that it has no bearing whatever on my subject. 
 Colonel Hippisley himself writes to me as follows : 
 
 " So far as I am aware, the centre of gravity of the 
 curve does not exercise any role in the theory, as it 
 does in yours. I mention this lest you should be led 
 to assert some such connection in your book. If you 
 remember, what interested you in my curves was the 
 psychological fact that the nearer the follower was to its 
 guiding star, the more closely it followed in its footsteps, 
 which is a little parable from Nature. Or, rather, a parable 
 from a much dryer subject, to wit. Mathematics." 
 
 In connection with the last paragraph, I would class 
 all parables from Nature as one with those found in 
 mathematics, since all Nature's laws are based on the same 
 principles, and all her different manifestations are merely 
 varying expressions of these same fundamental laws. If 
 I say that the force which governs my geometrical 
 movements is that which makes the trees grow upwards, 
 and which holds the stars in the firmament, I shall be 
 accused of talking nonsense. It is, nevertheless, true ; 
 only, instead of making the statement to start with, I am 
 endeavouring to show that by placing the human being in 
 a condition whereby he is brought into stride, as it were, 
 with the universal law of rhythm and harmony, through 
 equilibrium, he is enabled through his finer and more 
 48
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 sensitive physical development (which comes as a natural 
 result of obedience to essential law) to come into direct 
 connection with vital force itself, and share in far-reaching 
 reactions which find no limit in the physical world; 
 while at the same time the physical expression of this 
 vital force is made visible through movement, which is 
 able to demonstrate the immediate relation between the 
 two, and which, so far as I have been able to prove, 
 operates solely in the vertical plane. 
 
 All movement, then, which is geometrical, is bound 
 by mathematical law. The difference between neces- 
 sarily related and arbitrary changes of movement is, 
 that the first are inevitable and interdependent, while 
 the second are the expression of an individual will, 
 subjected to alteration at random. The two types of 
 movement may be compared in the case of arbitrary 
 change to freehand drawing, while that bound by 
 mathematical law represents geometry, which, when 
 repeated time after time, under the same conditions, shows 
 barely a hair's breadth of variation. I do not wish to imply 
 that arbitrary changes may not be both pleasing and 
 interesting, but only that as curves they cannot be true, 
 performed as they must be without a controlling principle. 
 In the extraordinary precision of law-governed movement 
 lies its beauty ; in its economy, not only of force but of 
 elaboration. Com.plexity there may be, but of an order 
 so defined that the mind is able to visualise design in 
 clear-cut perfection, free from all that is superfluous or 
 inessential. 
 
 49
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 This definition gives even to the most complex 
 movements an appearance of great simpHcity and ease : 
 simpHcity, because each movement is so right and true 
 that it is a complete thing in itself, while yet it is an 
 indispensable part of the vt^hole, and the mind is left 
 undisturbed by any feeling of uncertainty : ease, because 
 through this precision the fatigue of vacillation is absent ; 
 there is no expenditure of force on the superfluous, 
 because the superfluous no longer exists. 
 
 Physical force, as generally recognisable, seems held 
 in abeyance, while that which becomes visible is the 
 energising will which enforces the calm certainty of every 
 detail. The whole value of geometrical design as repre- 
 sented by the movement of these basic exercises lies in the 
 proof it affords of the truth of the fundamental principle 
 which governs them. They represent a highly complicated 
 system controlled by a single principle, yet capable of 
 manifold application. 
 
 My first attempt to render in design the movements of 
 each exercise proved sufficiently interesting to make it 
 worth while to obtain some proof which should be incon- 
 trovertible, for although the freehand drawings I first made 
 were actually accurate as to design, they could only be 
 proved so by one who knew the movements as well as 
 myself. The only definite proof then was photography, 
 and it is once more to the Institut Marey, to the generous 
 help of Professor Richet, and to the untiring genius of 
 Mons. Lucien Bull that I owe the proof I was eventually 
 able to produce. 
 50
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 What I wanted was the effect of white Hnes on a black 
 ground, and how to get them was the problem. It was 
 eventually solved by taking photographs at night, with tiny 
 electric bulbs attached to each foot.' The first attempts 
 were made with lights on the arms and head, as well as on 
 the feet, but the complication of movement in the two planes 
 made the curves so intricate that eventually all lights were 
 eliminated except those on each foot. The designs there- 
 fore represent the leg movement only, on the horizontal 
 plane, and some idea may be formed of the intricacy of 
 the complete movement when that of the arms is added, 
 which latter is almost invariably on the vertical plane. 
 Not only this ; the camera being about thirty feet in a 
 vertical line above my head, rendered all curves in that 
 plane either distorted, or represented as straight lines 
 merely. Two prints of each negative are given. The 
 first, marked A, is the untouched print, as it comes from 
 the clichd, in which most of the curves are broken at 
 some point or other. This is due to the passing of the 
 foot so closely under the body that its light is obscured 
 from above. This was, of course, impossible to avoid, but 
 as it renders the definition of the design in some cases 
 
 ^ As no photographs of the kind have ever been taken in the horizontal 
 plane, we were much puzzled as to what name to give the " procede." 
 
 Professor Marey, in his experiments with " points brillants " in the 
 vertical plane, calls the method " La chronophotographie geometrique " or 
 "La procede des points brillants." 
 
 Mons. Lucien Bull, however, suggests what seems a more correct and 
 simpler description of the method. " Enregistrement optique " — or, in 
 English, optical registration — conveys a very clear idea of the particular 
 photography, which gives geometrical proof of my theory, and therefore I 
 shall appropriate this definition for the special process we adopted. 
 
 51
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 somewhat difficult to follow for everyone except myself, I 
 have in each case shown a second print in which all the 
 curves have been completed, as also the straight lines. 
 This second print is marked B. The curves represent the 
 dynamic action of the moving foot; the straight lines show 
 the alteration in direction of the pivot foot on which the 
 whole weight of the body is maintained. The white spots 
 indicate the pauses between two movements, where the toe 
 touches the ground for an instant, marking the accentuation 
 of the varying angles, but the curves themselves are, without 
 exception, described in space. Besides the two photo- 
 graphic prints, I have drawn a corrected geometrical version 
 of each one of the series, for the purpose of rendering the 
 design more clearly as pattern, and in giving the key to 
 the movement of each design, the geometrical version 
 should be followed, as on these will be found the little 
 arrows and lettering which indicate the movement of one 
 sequence of a series, and the comparison with the original 
 prints will render these perfectly clear. The geometrical 
 version of these prints demonstrates in a very striking 
 manner their resemblance to some of the oldest known 
 designs, which for thousands of years have been associated 
 with mystic interpretation. Take, for instance, Plate 
 XVI. This is the design represented by Exercise IV. ,^ 
 and is none other than that used by the Chinese, Hin- 
 dus, and Egyptians thousands ^of years ago to represent 
 Eternity — the thing that is Infinite. In the actual photo- 
 
 * A detailed description of all the exercises will be found in a Supple- 
 ment at the end of the book. 
 
 52
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 graph of this design, Print A, it will be noticed that the 
 two large outer curves do not come back into each other's 
 orbit. This was a fault in my movement which however 
 I have left, as an illustration is often clearer through its 
 faults than its perfections. If you will turn to the 
 description of Exercise IV., you will probably see at once 
 what went wrong in the movement of an otherwise very 
 fine curve. 
 
 In the outward swing of the moving leg, the foot came 
 to the ground before it had been placed exactly under 
 the centre of gravity of the body. Had it been brought 
 in a few inches farther before being placed as base, it would 
 have made a curve that would have merged into the orbit 
 of the other leg movement when the exercise was repeated 
 on the opposite side. I have rectified this in the geomet- 
 rical version, showing the completed and corrected curve. 
 
 At a lecture in Paris where I showed these designs for 
 the first time in January 1911, they created some little 
 sensation among those of my audience interested in occult 
 science, as having a probable connection with those of the 
 Rosicrucian Mysteries, and also with other symbols of far 
 older origin. It is both interesting and curious that any 
 complete exercise should represent so exactly the ancient 
 symbol of eternity, except that both the small thing and 
 the great thing are governed by the same principle, and 
 it may be that the infinitesimal example of what may be 
 demonstrated by human movement is one of the manifold 
 applications of the fundamental principles of which I 
 spoke. The elaboration of design, conceived from human 
 
 S3
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 movement in a perfect condition of equilibrium, would 
 undoubtedly form a reliable basis for that used in archi- 
 tecture, in which lift and expansion on a firm base give 
 to the curves of a Gothic arch the actual appearance of 
 harmonised movement ; so much so that one lifts to the 
 sight of them, while the lungs expand in deep spontaneous 
 breaths. I use the word ** harmonised " movement here, 
 in its original Greek sense, meaning balanced ; harmony 
 representing originally a fastening, a key-stone. Homer 
 used the word by its different meanings. "It is by the 
 aid of wedges and * harmonies ' of some sort that Odysseus 
 joins his twenty trees together to form the raft whereon he 
 sails away from Calypso's Isle." It also came to mean 
 a mental union, or joining together, and later on an 
 expression of Law and Order. Finally, it is used in music 
 to represent the " linked sweetness " of sound joining 
 sound.' It is in this sense that Homer uses " melody," 
 as representing duration of sound, regulated by perfectly 
 balanced rhythm. 
 
 By reducing the whole series of basic exercises to 
 geometrical demonstration, it has been possible to prove 
 the truth of their underlying principle. The combination 
 of force, equilibrium, and beauty is the result of that 
 principle ; beauty in movement being the outcome of the 
 economy of force which is the direct result of a perfect 
 equilibrium. Control over the expenditure of effort ; 
 reserve of expression ; these are only possible under a 
 condition of perfect balance. 
 
 1 " Makers of Hellas." E. E. G., p. 103. 
 54
 
 PLATE XVI. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Optical Registration of Exercise I\'
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 Looking again at Plate XVI., it will be seen that 
 the two central curves are not vertical to each other 
 as they should be ; that is to say, the upper one is 
 on the slant, although the curve itself is quite true. This 
 was the heel movement in the second exercise, viz., the 
 repetition, and it will be seen that on the return journey I 
 did not land quite in the right spot, judging from a 
 vertical bisecting line, although the horizontal is correct. 
 The photographs of the whole series are the first and only 
 ones which have been taken, and many faults are apparent ; 
 but as these in no way detract from their value as 
 demonstrations, but, on the contrary, make it rather 
 easier to explain their meaning, I have left them untouched. 
 Later on, I hope to make another series, in which most 
 of the faults apparent in the first examples will have 
 disappeared. The key to the movement of Plate XIX. 
 is given on Plate XVII., the geometrical version, and 
 is as follows : 
 
 A is the starting-point of both feet, from which the 
 right foot takes a step back until the heel is on the 
 spot on the line between B and C, and is marked " heel 
 pivot." The toe of the right foot should be touching B. 
 The small curve from 5 to C is that formed by the 
 toe-light of the right foot, while pivoting on the heel, 
 and is marked with arrows to show direction. The 
 large curve from A to D, also marked with arrows, 
 is that produced by the left leg movement as it swings out 
 wide from the hip, carrying the whole body round on its 
 pivot heel. The dotted lline from D to C represents 
 
 55
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the line of recovery of the left foot during the spring back 
 to an erect position close to the right foot, but had the 
 curves been quite correct this would not have shown. 
 As it is, it elucidates the movement admirably. 
 
 It will be remembered that two repetitions of this 
 exercise are needed to form the design, as each one 
 completes a half-circle, and it will therefore be simpler to 
 reverse the diagram when following out the movement 
 of the repetition, which, it must be remembered, begins 
 with a step back of the left foot. 
 
 Now look at the little constellation formed by 
 Exercise III., shown on Plate XVIII., A and B. How 
 organic are the curves — they might be a chart of Jupiter 
 and his moons showing their separate orbits! 
 
 These curves are all archimedean in form, though the 
 whole constellation gives the impression of circles. And, 
 indeed, the group forms, with its outer curves and spots, 
 both a perfect circle and a perfect square, while an equally 
 perfect square and tiny circle are formed in the centre. 
 It will be noticed that there are four prints on this plate. 
 C and D are two prints from a different negative, in which 
 one movement was eliminated for the purpose of leaving 
 the centre clear and thus affording a clearer definition of 
 the curves. This will be described later on. 
 
 Refer now to the geometrical version on Plate XIX., 
 and, bearing in mind the exercise itself, take A as the 
 starting-point of both feet. From A to X m the centre 
 represents the first lunge of the left foot, which stays at 
 point X with the whole weight upon it, and with well-bent 
 56
 
 PLATE XVII. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Geometrical Version of Plate X\'I.
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 knee, a position important to remember as it causes the 
 special formation of the curves. The wide, sweeping 
 curve of the right foot as it comes round on the gradually 
 straightening left knee, is represented by arrows going 
 towards, and stopping at, point B. It will now be seen 
 that the upward rise of the left knee transforms what would 
 have formed an arc of a circle into an archimedean curve, 
 and as, in its narrowing circle, it passes in front of the 
 body, turning it into a right angle to the first position, the 
 tip of the toe comes to the ground at point B and the curve 
 is finished. The movement now becomes a backward 
 curve of the right foot, performed in exactly the same 
 manner as the first, and represented by arrows going 
 towards and stopping at point C. But this time the curve 
 is performed on a downward bend of the left knee, so that 
 the descending curve widens as it progresses, and finally 
 arrives at point C, where it forms the inward curve of the 
 next angle, and so on through the four repetitions. The 
 four lines radiating from the centre show the lunge and 
 recovery of the left foot; forwards and backwards each 
 time as the exercise is repeated at the four angles, and 
 it will be noticed how accurately the dots are placed 
 denoting the pauses at the culmination of each upward 
 curve, considering the complication of the repetitions. 
 They are almost exactly mid-distance between each pair of 
 straight lines. The little circle of dots in the centre, 
 which is complete except for the eighth dot, forms an 
 infinitesimal octagon, outlined by the movement of the 
 ball of the left foot, which, to each right-angle turn 
 
 S7
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 of the body, makes two acute-angle movements. The 
 two prints C and D are those of the same exercise, but 
 with the recovery movement left out. This makes 
 the whole exercise a series of curves on a rising and falling 
 centre line, the base, viz., the left foot, being immovable 
 except for the acute-angle turn, as each sweeping curve of 
 the right leg brings the body round to a right angle. The 
 small octagon formed by these acute-angle turns is barely 
 shown, however, in these two prints, as the body remains 
 almost entirely over the foot, there being no spring back 
 of the recovery to disclose the left foot light, which is here 
 shown only three times by accident. This exercise, in 
 which the recovery movement is eliminated, forms a 
 wonderful test for the tendon Achilles, which has to bear 
 the greatest strain; for, after each swing back of the right 
 leg, it misses the relief of the recovery movement, and is 
 obliged to start immediately on the upward spring for the 
 next rising curve. As in the case of A and By four 
 repetitions are needed to complete the figure. 
 
 The next photographs are those of a combination of 
 Exercises VIII. and IV. ,^ and are shown on Plate XX. 
 I leave it as a puzzle for those keen enough to 
 decipher its curves. A correct solution is quite possible 
 by the aid of Plate XXL, where the lettering and 
 arrows will elucidate the first sequence of the series. 
 It must be remembered that from A to B the step is 
 taken backwards, followed by a left right-angle turn of 
 the body, and a curved step with the right foot back 
 
 ^ For explanation, see p. 178. 
 58
 
 PLATE XVIII. 
 
 Copyright'] 
 
 Optical Registration of Exercise III.
 
 PLATE XIX. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Geometrical \'crsion of Plate XV'III.
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 to C. These two movements give the initial steps of 
 Exercise VIII. The combination comes on the upward 
 swing of the left leg, which, instead of returning to the 
 right with a straightening up of the right knee, swings back 
 in the long curve from X to D. I have marked the apex 
 of the curve as X, as there is no pause at this point, 
 and the leg comes back immediately in the long curve 
 to D, while the right knee bends another two inches 
 lower, as the arms swing round to the right. The recovery 
 is, of course, to D, by bringing the right foot, which is 
 at point C, back to an erect position at D, the body facing 
 at a right angle to the first position. Three photographs 
 of this exercise are given. The first two prints, A and B, 
 are, as usual, two prints from the same negative, the one 
 with corrected and completed curves. 6" is a print from 
 another negative, taken shortly after A, and is shown here 
 for the purpose of illustrating the extraordinary precision 
 with which these movements are repeated. It will be 
 noticed how infinitesimal are the differences between the 
 two negatives B and C, even the wavering in certain parts 
 of the curves being reproduced almost exactly, and were 
 I to give a dozen different negatives of the same exercise 
 they would show no more difference than these two. 
 
 It is interesting to note that a perfect circle is formed 
 by the large outer curves as well as by those which seem 
 to radiate from the centre. The large outer circle is 
 more correctly traced in print C of this set. The 
 geometrical drawing of this design makes a very good key 
 to its solution. It must be remembered always that the 
 
 59
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 straight lines indicate the changing direction of the body, 
 while the direction of the arrows from point A shows 
 whether the first step is backwards or forwards. 
 
 The next photograph, although a much more com- 
 plicated design than the last, is Exercise VIII. by itself, 
 and is shown on Plate XXII. The greater intricacy of 
 design is caused by the repetition eight times of each 
 sequence, which ends at an acute angle, whereas the 
 combination of the two finished at a right angle. As the 
 full description of this exercise is given in the Supplement, 
 it is only necessary to refer to its geometrical counterpart 
 on Plate XXIII., in which the first sequence is traced 
 by arrows and lettering. What a beautiful design for a 
 rose window this exercise would make I 
 
 The next design is that formed by Exercise VII., and 
 is shown on Plate XXIV., an extremely simple little 
 pattern, but one that may be frequently seen in antique 
 architecture. 
 
 It must be remembered, in working out this design in 
 movement by aid of Plate XXV., that the start from 
 point A is made with the back to the centre, and that as 
 the left foot lunges backward, it is placed at an obtuse 
 angle to the start, which leaves the body itself at a right 
 angle to the first position. Remembering this, it is easy 
 to trace the movement of the right foot by the arrows. 
 Tested by the compass, the square formed by the points 
 of contact with the ground will be found perfect. The 
 curves also are correct, and form perfect arcs of a circle, 
 although they are not complete half-circles, for the reason 
 60
 
 PLATE XX. 
 
 Copyright.] {Different negative.) 
 Optical Registration of the Combination of Exercises \'I1I. and I\'.
 
 PLATE XXI. 
 
 Geometrical \'ersion of Plate XX.
 
 PLATE XXII. 
 
 Cofiyriglit.] 
 
 Optical Registration of Exercise VIII.
 
 PLATE XXIII. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Geometrical Version of Exercise VIII.
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 that the left foot occupies the centre. The right foot is 
 therefore obHged to make its curve at a Httle distance from 
 the pivot; but, as the centre of gravity remains here, it is 
 impossible for the foot to reach far enough to make the 
 complete half-circle. 
 
 The design formed by Exercise V. as shown on 
 Plate XXVI. is, from the point of view of pattern, by 
 far the most beautiful. Look at its geometrical rendering 
 on Plate XXVII. Another rose window, with its charm- 
 ing effect of a revolving star by reason of the outer points 
 of its eight scalene triangles. Four prints of this design 
 are given, the result of two different negatives. Prints A and 
 B are in all respects the better negative, owing to the better 
 definition of the angles, together with its extraordinarily 
 perfect curves, while the octagon formed by the two basic 
 points of the triangle is as good as that formed by the 
 extreme outside points. If a diagram is made of this design, 
 with all its points connected, and arcs completed, it forms 
 an extremely interesting and beautiful geometrical figure. 
 By aid of the detailed explanation, together with the 
 lettering on Plate XXVII., the track from point A 
 right through to £ may be easily followed. When I say 
 easily, I am thinking of those who have mastered the 
 exercises by careful study with the photographs and Cinema 
 details. Any attempt to work them out from the 
 geometrical designs would be worse than hopeless. 
 
 The knowledge of angles formed by movement, and 
 the power to connect them by perfect curves, must come 
 from actual experience, and that experience will be the 
 
 6i
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 result of an increased sense-activity whose dynamic action 
 has been trained and developed in the understanding of 
 essential principles. But until the fundamental law of 
 equilibrium is thoroughly understood and its principles are 
 easy of practice, the designs will be about as much use 
 towards acquiring a knowledge of balance as a geometrical 
 theorem would be without a compass with which to work 
 it out. The sole value I place upon them myself is the 
 indisputable proof they afford of the correctness of 
 the principle on which the exercises are based. What 
 their connection may be with the secret symbols of 
 antiquity would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, 
 to prove, as no authentic description of the ceremonies 
 through which the initiated had to pass has ever escaped 
 the rigid secrecy in which they were bound. It would, 
 however, seem not unlikely that at these ceremonies of 
 initiation the novice would go through certain movements, 
 and it is possible that these movements were afterwards 
 represented by pattern, as being the best way to hide their 
 real meaning. Just as, in the same way, the alchemists 
 had a sort of code of secret signs to indicate the process 
 by which the precious metals were mixed, together with 
 the exact quantities required, and other details known 
 only to themselves, and jealously guarded. But it is 
 doubtful whether it has ever been realised that the human 
 being, trained to the knowledge and practice of perfect 
 balance in movement, may himself become the most 
 accurate mathematical instrument ! Otherwise a knowledge 
 of the law needed as a means to this end would have made 
 62
 
 PLATE XXIV. 
 
 Copyright.] ^Different negative.) 
 
 Optical Registration of Exercise \II.
 
 PLATE XXV. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Geometrical Version of Plate XXI\
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 itself apparent in all the different systems of physical 
 training ; whereas it appears in none, since the days of 
 the Greeks at their zenith. 
 
 The last of the designs is shown as a geometrical 
 diagram only, and is given on Plate XXVIII. It illustrates 
 Exercise II., but as the most important curve takes place 
 chiefly in the vertical plane, a photograph in the 
 horizontal plane gives no adequate representation of the 
 movement. From ^ to X is the first step back with the 
 left foot, the right leg following on with the long curve A 
 to B. That part of the curve from A X.o B which appears 
 to be a straight line is not really so, for, from the point of 
 contact on the square about half-way between A and B, 
 the curve is continued in the vertical plane in the manner 
 indicated by the dotted line from the right angle to B. 
 The pull round of the left arm at the moment of the 
 backward swing of the right leg is indicated by the 
 three-quarter circle C to D, which movement brings the 
 body round to a right angle, after which the exercise is 
 repeated. When the exercise has become quite familiar, it 
 will be easy to follow this design in movement. I have 
 given a diagram of this one, in spite of having no 
 photographic original, for the reason that, curiously 
 enough, its occult interpretation has been described as 
 remarkable. Personally I know nothing of the science, 
 but according to Yogi translation it expresses all the 
 symbols of Hfe — the z^^, the triangle, the circle, the square, 
 and the star, and in these forms much mystic value seems 
 to exist. I mention this for the simple reason that this is 
 
 63
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the only design in which all these forms are combined. It 
 will be noticed that in almost all of the geometrical drawings 
 the arcs of actual movement have been rendered circles 
 by the addition of dotted lines. This plan was adopted 
 for the clearer rendering of the design as pattern, the actual 
 movement being sufficiently obvious in the thicker lines. 
 But the dotted lines have only been added where it would 
 have been actually possible to render them in leg move- 
 ment, so that where they do not exist, only those curves 
 that are shown could be demonstrated physically. From 
 the point of view of pattern, it would, of course, be quite 
 easy to complete them, and thus complicate the design. 
 
 So far, the only experiments in photography repre- 
 senting movement in detail have been those of the late 
 Professor Marey, of Professor Charles Richet (his suc- 
 cessor, as President of the Institut Marey), and of Pro- 
 fessor Pettigrew, who wrote an important work dealing with 
 the discoveries made at the Institut Marey, and adding 
 some of his own in connection with human and animal 
 movement. But nothing more complicated than what 
 Professor Pettigrew called "the figure of eight '** was 
 brought to light. This " figure of eight " was formed by 
 the alternating of the feet in walking, both by human 
 beings and animals. The experiments were most in- 
 teresting, but seem to have been made in connection with 
 unconscious and spontaneous movement only, so that 
 in making a distinction between my own and theirs, I 
 would point out that the designs formed by the exercises 
 already explained represent consciously-reasoned move- 
 64
 
 PLATE XXVI. 
 
 Copyright. (Different negative.} 
 
 Optical Registration of Exercise V.
 
 PLATE XXVII. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Geometrical \'ersion of Exercise V.
 
 PLATE XXVIII. 
 
 Copyright. 
 
 Geometrical Version of Exercise II.
 
 MATHEMATICS AND HUMAN MOVEMENT 
 
 ment subject to law, as opposed to unconscious and 
 spontaneous movements of habit. This does not imply 
 that unconscious spontaneous movements may not also be 
 governed by law. As a rule, the more unconscious and 
 spontaneous a movement is, the more graceful it becomes, 
 and the graceful, beautiful thing is the thing that is right 
 and true. But modern conditions make almost impossible 
 the free expression of the law which governs the uncon- 
 sciously beautiful thing. It is true that Nature reasserts 
 herself the moment she is allowed her liberty, but it 
 is rare that any but primitive races show any of the 
 unconscious beauty of movement, and as soon as these 
 races come in touch with civilisation, the fetters of a 
 misguided progress rob them of all their dignified bearing 
 and elasticity of tread. Under natural conditions, the 
 law of balance is able to assert itself without its being 
 known or understood by the object expressing it. Under 
 modern conditions, it must be studied as the alphabet of 
 all physical training, carefully practised, rigidly adhered 
 to, if any check is to be given to the hideous inroads 
 upon fine development made by heels, hobbles, and similar 
 atrocities. For the modern human being, familiar with 
 all the latest developments of Science, there will be no 
 difficulty in recognising as an axiom that only under the 
 control of fundamental law can freedom find its fullest 
 expression. 
 
 Do you remember the description of Camilla, of the 
 Volscians, when she went out at the head of her regiment 
 to fight against Aeneas? "Therewith came Camilla, the 
 
 6S
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 Volscian, leading a train of cavalry, squadrons splendid 
 with brass: a virgin w^arrior ... a maiden hard to 
 endure the battle shock and outstrip the winds with racing 
 feet. She might have flown across the topmost blades of 
 corn and left the tender ears unhurt as she ran, or sped 
 her way over mid sea upborne by the swelling flood, nor 
 dipt her swift feet in the water." ^ 
 
 Where is the modern Camilla whose feet can show the 
 spring and glory of a free and natural development? 
 
 ^ The Aeneid of Virgil. J. W. Mackail. 
 
 66
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE INTERPRETATION OF SCULPTURE BY THE 
 LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 THE necessity for mathematical accuracy in physical 
 training, on which I place such immense impor- 
 tance, does not imply that all movement based on 
 this principle must be obviously geometrical. On the 
 contrary, the more accurate, the more perfectly balanced, 
 movement becomes, the less visible will be the means by 
 which it is produced. Only the most perfect mathematical 
 accuracy in training can produce the finest '' techne." This 
 applies to all the Arts, especially to painting, where the 
 disguised simplicity in the work of Leonardo da Vinci, of 
 Titian, and, in our times, of Sargent, owes its fauldess 
 perfection to the infinitesimal details of perspective and 
 form, which are responsible for the balanced harmony of 
 the whole effect, and which were minutely blocked out on 
 the canvases before even the lightest touch of the brush 
 was attempted. Freedom of expression came afterwards, 
 when the thing to be expressed was clear and definite in 
 form and accurate in perspective. 
 
 In the case of human movement, the careful adherence 
 to the most accurate form of geometrical exercise for the 
 purpose of actual training allows of a far greater subse- 
 quent freedom of expression, when it comes to sports in 
 general, and dancing in particular. 
 
 67
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The controlled human being is the free human being. 
 With muscles trained to respond to the finest variations of 
 balance, he can allow himself far greater liberty than one 
 unaccustomed to movements of extreme precision and 
 difficult balance. 
 
 This principle of balance in movement is of the 
 greatest importance in the study of antique sculpture, 
 where in many cases so little is left to indicate what the 
 statues were really doing. Although dogmatic assertions 
 respecting them are no doubt dangerous, it is at any rate 
 obvious— in many cases painfully obvious in the light 
 of modern restorations — what they were not doing. Take, 
 for example, the Discobolus of the Vatican in the Sala 
 della Biga. If the man who placed the head of the Dis- 
 cobolus looking forward, with the neck muscles twisted 
 and strained, had practised the throwing of the discus, 
 such a mistake would have been impossible. Had he 
 been an athlete, the swing back of the discus arm would 
 have shown him the necessity of freeing the neck muscles 
 to their utmost to prevent strain, and consequent check, 
 on the forward swing of the arm. But it is impossible to 
 reconstruct the movement of a perfect Greek athlete, 
 unless one feels the thing he was doing ; unless one's own 
 muscles respond to the life and spring that the Greek 
 sculptors were able to chisel into their marble. 
 
 How is it possible to realise all they mean unless one 
 can go straightway and do likewise ! 
 
 The revelation of what Myron's Discobolus meant in 
 movement was, I remember, a great joy ; the changes of 
 68
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 position from start to finish are so varied ; one or two, 
 particularly that of the finish, quite as beautiful as the 
 central poise. 
 
 There were evidently several ways of throwing the 
 discus. It might be done standing, in which case the 
 arm began its forward swing from well above the head; 
 whereas in taking the run forward the arm swings very 
 little above the horizontal before descending for the 
 throw. 
 
 There is an example of the standing position in the 
 Uffizi Gallery at Florence, supposed to be a copy of one 
 by Myron, but a very poor specimen in every way, and not 
 worth reproducing here. 
 
 The Archer of the Aegina Pediment was, as I said in 
 the first chapter, the first statue that I brought back to 
 life; and I shall never forget the joy and excitement of 
 the moment when I became Herakles ! — when I found 
 how quickly and silently he dropped into ambush with 
 that wonderful poise on the right toes, and, without 
 another movement, let fly his arrow. With him I 
 sprang up to see whether I had got my man. Yes ! 
 There was a neat little round hole in the screen at the 
 far end of my room. There were many more before I 
 had finished ; the exhilaration of the two perfectly- 
 balanced movements, the drop and the upward spring, 
 was worth more to me than the screen. 
 
 The statue is smiling ; a little proud, half-contemptuous 
 smile, for not very far off is Paris, also shooting ; very 
 correctly and immaculately turned out, but with 07ie knee 
 
 69
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 on the ground. He couldn't balance on his toes, and so 
 Herakles sits there with a little confident smile, poised on 
 his toes, as other men use their knees, and quite as firmly. 
 
 I think I am right in saying that no one has ever 
 before given an explanation of the movement of this 
 marvellous archer figure. His dress and helmet and 
 expression have all been carefully described^ — but his 
 movement, his poise? Well, he was placed in the 
 narrowing angle of the Pediment, and it was necessary to 
 make him crouching or he would not have fitted in! 
 
 After the Archer and the Discobolus, I next turned 
 my attention to the Charioteer of the Capitol in Rome. 
 In this case, both arms, and the whole of the left leg, are 
 missing, but the position of the right leg gives clear indi- 
 cation of what he is doing. Plate XXIX. is the only 
 photograph there is of this statue, although the profile is 
 a much finer view. He is leaping into his chariot; the 
 signal has dropped for the start of the race, and, with arms 
 fully outstretched against the strain of eager horses, he is 
 taking what in Greek would be described as the ** leap 
 that is flying." 
 
 The movement of this charioteer proved intensely 
 interesting. Professor Loewy describes him as follows : 
 
 "C'est un jeune homme dans I'attitude de quelqu'un 
 qui se dispose a monter— peut-etre sur un char. Mais dans 
 une telle position aura-t-on I'idde de se forcer a tenir le 
 buste si raide ? " ^ 
 
 ^ See " Histoire de la Sculpture grecque," p. 265. M. Colignon. 
 -From a letter. See also "Die griechische Plaslik," pp. 109, iio. 
 Loewy. 
 
 70
 
 PLATE XXIX. 
 
 Photo Alinari.] 
 
 The Charioteer of the Capitol, Rome.
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 The " idea " would only occur to one whose muscles 
 were in perfect condition ; to one whose training had 
 taught him the best way to carry a well-balanced body on 
 reliable springs; but that is exactly what the charioteer 
 did know, and that is why he looks so calm and confident, 
 as though he were doing nothing at all. 
 
 Out in the grounds of the Institut Marey I tried the 
 " leap that is flying," while the cinematograph kept its eye 
 upon me to register what happened to my back. No 
 chariot was there, but we turned a large case upside down, 
 and a good deal higher it must have been than an ordinary 
 chariot, although the charioteer had a high one too, 
 or his right thigh would not have been horizontal. 
 On Cinema Series No. 4 is an enlargement of two 
 of the positions ; that marked A giving the identical 
 position of the torso and leg of the Charioteer. B was 
 such a fine poise that I thought it deserved clearer 
 detail than is possible in the smaller prints. This 
 series forms, I think, one of the most interesting 
 demonstrations of movement one could find, and on 
 careful examination it will be noticed that the spine 
 remains vertical throughout. The fact that there were 
 no reins to hold on to made the balance needed for 
 the leap far more difficult, but the springs of the feet 
 were more than up to their work, as will be seen by 
 the rise on to the toes of one foot when on top of 
 the case. 
 
 But it may be asked, Why did I rise on to my toes, 
 —surely that was hardly necessary ? 
 
 71
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 That is quite true, but I did it for two reasons : firstly, 
 to illustrate that the whole movement is performed by the 
 foot and knee, more especially the foot ; and secondly, 
 as an example of what comes quite naturally into the 
 movement of perfectly trained elastic muscles. I know 
 that, were it possible to drive a Greek chariot, I should 
 always fly into it in the same way, out of sheer joy in the 
 spring. And yet, had that poise been shown in sculpture, 
 it would probably have been criticised as a preposterous 
 "idea." 
 
 Professor Loewy, who saw me give an actual demon- 
 stration of the movement in Rome, was kind enough to 
 say that he thought the reconstruction of the leap of the 
 Charioteer "very beautiful," but thought it could hardly 
 be called " natural," for the simple reason that no one 
 but myself would trouble to keep the back straight when 
 " mounting a chair or any other object of the same height." 
 
 I acknowledged that the movement performed under 
 a condition of perfect balance was not habitual, and would 
 probably be impossible for nearly everyone ,* but the reason 
 for this lies in the fact that the modern human being has 
 wandered so far from the thing that is finest in Nature, 
 that he is unable to realise that the habitual movements 
 are really those which are wwnatural. 
 
 And now, what are, to me, the two most interesting 
 positions of the whole series, are shown as enlargements 
 on the second page of Cinema Series No. 4. 
 
 They are interesting from the point of view of having 
 been absolutely unconscious, for in the last one of all I 
 72
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 4. 
 
 Copyiighl.] 
 
 Movement ot the Leap of the Charioteer.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 4. (continued). 
 
 Copyright.l 
 
 Continuation ot" the Movement of the Leap, showing Descent from the Chariot.
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 was unaware of being still under the eye of the cinemato- 
 graph. When I saw the whole series shown on the screen 
 at the Institut Marey, I was pleased to find the relative 
 positions of the spine and the bending springs had been 
 maintained throughout. Then, one day, at the Louvre, 
 while hunting about for odd pieces of sculpture represent- 
 ing movement, I came across the identical position of my 
 descent from the case in a glorious bit of frieze representing 
 the Apotheosis of Herakles, found at Delphi, shown on 
 Plate XXX. 
 
 The chariot is there waiting to convey Herakles to 
 Olympus, and Pallas Athena is alighting from it, with the 
 straight back and the extreme bend of knee and foot 
 which indicate the possession of perfect springs. Compare 
 her with figure D of Cinema Series No. 4, and the striking 
 resemblance will at once be noticed. 
 
 It is interesting to note the curious explanations 
 given for certain positions in sculpture, for the simple 
 reason that it has either not occurred to, or not been 
 possible for, the critic to test the truth of the explanation 
 on his own muscles. 
 
 One of the most striking examples of this is in 
 connection with the statue called the " Heros Combattant " 
 at the Louvre. 
 
 In a detailed and very fine general description of the 
 statue. Professor Coligonon states that the position of 
 the left foot, which is turned out at right angles to that 
 of the right, is for the purpose of widening the base. 
 
 If Plate XXXI.'^ is studied carefully, it will be seen 
 
 73
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 that the whole weight of the body is forward over the 
 right foot. The right foot, therefore, constitutes the base, 
 and the left has nothing to do with it and is merely 
 touching the ground with the toes, which have absolutely 
 no weight over them. Why, then, is the foot turned 
 outwards when, if another lunge is made, it in turn will 
 be brought forward and presumably placed upon the 
 ground as straight as the right now stands ? For this 
 reason, the pause is a momentary one, in what has been a 
 furious rush forward. There are attacks to be parried on 
 every side, and the shield arm is raised, while the sword 
 arm is ready for the counter thrust. It might be Hector 
 cutting his way through the raging battle around him in 
 the effort to rescue the body of Sarpedon : — 
 
 " And in rushed Hector, fierce and grim as any stormy night, 
 His brass arms round about his breast, reflected terrible Hght . . . 
 None but the Gods might check his way, his eyes were furnaces . . , 
 
 Every muscle in the body is in the utmost tension, all 
 are bound together as one connected spring, and the 
 position of the left foot is for the sole purpose of 
 preserving tense connection at the left hip, so that no 
 extra weight of a disconnected limb should overbalance 
 the body, poised as it is on the right foot. Note the 
 hollow formed by the tense muscle where the thigh bone 
 is turned right back into the socket of the hip. 
 
 The secret of the out-turned foot lies there, for it is 
 only by turning out the foot of that tense, vibrating leg 
 that it can be held locked in the hip, part of the spine, 
 one with the whole weight of the body. If, when the leg 
 
 74
 
 X 
 X 
 X 
 
 w 
 < 
 
 Ph
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 is tense and locked, the foot is lifted from the ground, it 
 will be found that the movement in no way affects the 
 poise ; but if, on the contrary, the toes are turned in 
 towards the front, the balance will collapse at once over 
 the left side, and any attempt to lift the foot clear of the 
 ground will prove impossible. 
 
 It is quite easy to test this by taking as nearly as 
 possible the position of the warrior, keeping the weight 
 entirely over the right foot, and holding the left leg as 
 tense as possible. Now, try turning the left toes in 
 towards the front, and follow carefully what happens to 
 the leg at the hip. It immediately becomes unlocked, 
 and as a result the extra weight drags the body down over 
 the left in a way that makes it impossible to keep the 
 balance an instant, especially if the position is tried with 
 the extra weight of a shield on the left arm ; though, if 
 the test be made with this additional weight on the left, 
 the sword must be held in the right or the test will not be 
 accurate. 
 
 There are so many examples of this position in antique 
 sculpture that it seems strange that the reason for the 
 invariable position of the left foot should not have been 
 given before. One of the finest is that of the bronze 
 figure of the Fighting Theseus, at the Bibliotheque 
 Nationale in Paris, a photograph of which is given on 
 Plate XXXI." In this case, it will be seen that the left 
 foot is barely touching the ground, and the whole poise is 
 beautifully accurate on the right foot. When this left 
 foot is turned in, that is to say, when the toes, bent or 
 
 75
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 otherwise, are in line with the heel, the weight of the 
 body becomes divided between the two feet, and when 
 this happens in a lunging position, the left knee bends 
 under a strain almost impossible to bear, and must soon 
 come to the ground as base for the whole weight ; 
 whereas, if the left foot is turned out, even with the 
 knee bent to the utmost, the weight of the body can 
 quite easily be kept off the ground. This fact is 
 very finely demonstrated in the beautiful marble statue 
 ascribed to Myron, which is in the Terme Museum 
 in Rome, and is known as the Youth of Subiaco, shown 
 on Plate XXXII/ The impression one receives from 
 the position is that of exhaustion, collapse, as though he 
 were making a last desperate defence against an attack 
 from above, in which case he is most probably meant to 
 represent Ganymede defending himself against the eagle. 
 The base is obviously the left knee, which in another 
 moment will be on the ground. An interesting fact to be 
 noticed is, that had the position been intended to represent 
 anything else than collapse, the left foot would have been 
 placed lying over on the inside line with the ankle on the 
 ground, for in this position the knee is locked into its 
 hold and the side muscles then form so strong a spring 
 that the weight of the body can be transferred with equal 
 ease on to either one foot or the other. This alternative 
 position is represented on Plate XXXII. ^, in which it will 
 be seen that the poise gives no impression of exhaustion, 
 but rather that of a spring held in abeyance, and the 
 change has been made by the position of the left foot 
 76
 
 X 
 X 
 X 
 
 o 
 
 w 
 
 <
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 alone. Compare the two lines from the left shoulder to 
 the left foot in the photograph of the statue and that of 
 myself. In my own it is unbroken, and the eye travels 
 unchecked from one to the other. But take that of the 
 statue, and it will be found that the eye is forced to stop 
 at the knee, the whole drag is there, and one feels 
 relieved to see the little support under it, in spite of the 
 fact that it is not supposed to be there, being merely a 
 sculptural necessity. The whole of this difference in line 
 and in the impression it produces is due to the angle 
 of the left foot alone ; but this one detail means everything 
 to the balance of the body. 
 
 The next statue, the position of which interested me 
 very much, was the wounded Amazon of the Vatican, 
 shown on Plate XXXIIL She is very beautiful; but as 
 to whether she is a true Pheidias or not, I would not venture 
 an opinion ; or even as to whether she has been given the 
 right head, although this I should think doubtful, judging 
 from the abrupt angle at which it springs from the 
 shoulders. The interest for me lies in the way in which 
 her arms have been restored, for both were lost; but 
 there was sufficient indication to make it obvious that the 
 right arm was raised. It has been restored bent right 
 back in a horizontal line across the top of her head, and 
 although it looks rather aimless to be bending a bow 
 in such a strained position while gazing sadly on the 
 ground with averted face, yet there appears to be no 
 reason why the position should be impossible ; that is to 
 say, no reason appears when studying her from the front, 
 
 77
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 and this seems to be the only point of view taken into 
 consideration by her restorer. 
 
 By great good fortune, I had the opportunity recently 
 of studying a cast of this statue, with permission to perform 
 upon her any surgical operation I pleased, so I promptly 
 cut off her arms to the line of the original break, and she 
 stood revealed— for there is nothing so baffling as a wrong 
 restoration. Plate XXXIV.^ shows my version of her 
 position. The work of restoration must, of course, not be 
 criticised, it is purely amateur, but, in spite of this, the 
 position of the arms is as I wished to represent them.' 
 
 Looking at these two photographs, both taken from 
 the same point of view, one sees nothing to justify my 
 assertion that the position of the right arm in the original 
 restoration makes it quite impossible for her to stand 
 for an instant. It is not till we look at the figure from 
 other angles that such an excessive lean forward is 
 apparent, that nothing but the great weight of the base 
 (extraneous to the figure) could keep the statue from 
 toppling over. This can already be seen from a three- 
 quarter view of the left side of the statue, and 
 Plate XXXIV. ^ shows this position, where, if a vertical line 
 is drawn from the centre of gravity just under the right 
 breast, it will reach the ground about two inches in front 
 of the base of the cast, and about five or six inches in 
 front of the right foot, on which, it can be seen at a 
 glance, she is leaning very heavily. There is absolutely 
 
 ^ The photographs of the altered cast were taken by myself and appear 
 for the first time here. 
 
 78
 
 X 
 X 
 
 X 

 
 PLATE XXXIII. 
 
 Photo Alinari.] 
 
 Tlic Amazon of the Vatican.
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 no weight on the left foot ; she is saving it all she can, for 
 it is obviously wounded, and I picture her leaning on her 
 lance, for she is in pain. 
 
 Now look at Plate XXXIV.*^, and try blocking out the 
 restored right arm as well as the lance, and see how 
 uncomfortable it is to look at such an overbalancing 
 weight. I believe the usual contention is that statues were 
 made to be looked at from the front, but no sculptor 
 of repute, much less Pheidias himself, would have com- 
 mitted the crime of placing her in an untenable position, 
 for the reason that it would not be noticed from the 
 front; and surely the profile shown on Plate XXXI V.^ is 
 sufficient proof that she must have had a support of some 
 kind, for she could not possibly have stood where she was 
 for an instant without one. I believe it is asserted that 
 Pheidias never added accessories ; but it would not have 
 been necessary for him actually to add the lance. A 
 people so familiar as the Greeks with the laws of balance, 
 which they practised every day at the Palaestra, would 
 have grasped his meaning from the mere position of the 
 hand, or from the addition of a lance-head alone. The 
 fact that she is not walking, but is in repose, makes her 
 position still more impossible without support. 
 
 Two photographs of my own representation of the 
 position are shown in Plates XXXV. and XXXVL, but unfor- 
 tunately my lance was too short to enable me to give the 
 lift of the right arm accurately, and it will be seen at 
 once that the arm is more bent, and the shoulder lower. 
 But even so, it was impossible for me to hold the position 
 
 79
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 without leaning heavily on my lance, as everyone will find 
 who cares to try the experiment for himself, taking care that 
 the line of the chest at the thorax is six or eight inches 
 in front of the right foot. 
 
 The theory that nearly all antique sculpture was 
 meant to be viewed from the front may be carried too 
 far when movements of the body which might be ascribed 
 to quite other causes are explained as having been chosen 
 by the sculptor for the purpose of representing as much 
 as possible of two planes, irrespective of the anatomical 
 possibility of the position. A typical example of what I 
 mean will be found in the Pallas Athena of the Aeginetan 
 Pediment, shown on Plate XXXVII. Her face and shoulders 
 are square to the spectator, while her feet are turning 
 away to the left at considerably more than an acute angle, 
 and she stands with lifted spear and shield. Whoever 
 chiselled this splendid goddess of the strong brow and 
 far-seeing eyes cared little for the showing of her front 
 view simply as front view. Look at the feet; on^e again 
 they indicate, as always, the movement that is to come. 
 Had they been facing the front with the rest of the body, 
 Pallas Athena would have been brooding, dreaming, 
 making fresh plans for the protection of her favourites 
 or the overthrow of their enemies. But her feet are 
 moving already, she is in the midst of her beloved Greeks, 
 inciting, encouraging, leading, and always with the calm 
 and reassuring smile that knows its own power. She is 
 facing round for an instant to give some advice or en- 
 couragement; the next moment may see her spear arm 
 80
 
 X 
 X 
 X 
 
 w 
 
 <
 
 PLATE XXXV. 
 
 Copyright.'^ 
 
 Full \'ic\v Representation of the Amazon.
 
 PLATE XXXVI. 
 
 Copy'rigln.] 
 
 Profile of the Representation of the Amazon.
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 aloft, her body swung to the other side, with the position 
 of her feet barely changed. 
 
 These gods and goddesses of splendid build and 
 perfect aliveness needed no clumsy change of feet to 
 enable them to turn round and see what was happening 
 behind them. Those lithe tense bodies could twist as 
 they pleased. A goddess who could not command three 
 points of the horizon without having to turn her feet 
 was no true goddess ; and as a sculptor's conception of 
 a god or goddess was based on the movements of the 
 finest men and women around him, he must often have 
 seen examples of this movement. 
 
 Look, too, at the little figure of the Athena in 
 Plate XXX., as she dismounts from the chariot in 
 which Herakles is to be carried to Olympus. She serves 
 to illustrate two points. I have already drawn attention to 
 her beautiful little straight back ; now, look at the way 
 she is turning completely round from the waist, her right 
 hand still holding the reins perfectly taut until she is 
 actually on the ground ; all the lower part of her body 
 is stepping out from the back of the chariot, while her 
 head and shoulders are still facing the horses. 
 
 There are numerous other examples of this position in 
 vase-paintings, all of them vibrating with the full and 
 perfected activity that made these movements natural as 
 well as habitual ; and therefore it is impossible to conceive 
 either painters or sculptors as men unable to get beyond 
 the representation of two planes. Look at them now in 
 the new Hght of a far different activity from that which 
 
 8i
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 is expressed by the movement of a modern human being, 
 and the two-plane theory disappears. 
 
 Three photographs are shown on Plates XXXVIII., 
 XXXIX. and XL., in which the body has taken three 
 different positions without any movement of the feet 
 except a slight pivoting. All three positions will be 
 found on vase-paintings. Personally, I find it quite easy 
 to throw a lance to all four points of the compass without 
 moving the feet at all. I should begin in the position 
 represented on Plate XXXIX., but with the head and 
 shoulders turned away, facing the direction of the right 
 arm. This would command my eastern side, supposing 
 I am facing north. Then, of course, would follow 
 the turn of the whole body for the command of the 
 northern section.- For that of the western I should merely 
 turn the waist to the left, bringing my shoulders into a 
 parallel line with my feet ; while for the last position 
 I should turn it farther still into an obtuse angle by 
 lifting the left foot on to the extreme point of the big 
 toe, though without altering the direction of the foot in the 
 least. This lifting of the foot gives greater length to the 
 muscles of the left side, and enables the waist to turn 
 easily into the obtuse angle, and thus command the whole 
 of the southern section. During all these movements of 
 the shoulders, the feet will have remained pointing to the 
 north. For perfectly-trained, elastic muscles, this is quite 
 easy, and I only cite it here as the more likely reason for 
 the representation of a very favourite position in antique 
 sculpture. 
 82
 
 PLATE XXXVII. 
 
 Photo Giraudon.] 
 
 The Athena ot the Acglnetan Pediment.
 
 PLATE XXXVIII. 
 
 Copynglit.] 
 
 Rcprcscinatlon ot a X'asc Painting ot the Athena.
 
 PLATE XXXIX. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 A complete \'oltc Face withoiu litiing the Fi
 
 PLATE XL. 
 
 Copyrii;!/!.] 
 
 Anolhcr Change ot' Position uiih Kcct still unchanged.
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 The last statue I have chosen to represent here is that 
 of the little goddess Fortuna, shown on Plate XLL, an 
 exquisite little bronze statue in the Naples Museum. Some 
 archaeologists say she was meant to be flying and that 
 parts of the wings are left, also that the globe does not 
 belong to the statue, being of a much later period. This 
 is all possible, and yet, who, looking at her as she stands 
 serenely poised, can deny that the man who restored her 
 thus was inspired? Silent and immovable she stands, on a 
 bronze globe garlanded with spring flowers, to represent 
 the Earth. Drawn up on to the extreme point of her toes, 
 she looks as though hovering over the world, light as 
 thistledown, and yet, in her tense, vibrating immobility, 
 she is the very essence of Force, an expression of the 
 controlled Will Power which dominates, while yet able to 
 rise above things earthly. Plate XLIL is my reproduc- 
 tion of this statue as an example of pure poise. I have 
 shown it in profile so that the position of the feet may be 
 more clearly seen, and also to prove that the balance is 
 maintained solely by the tremendous grip of the toes, 
 the ball of the foot being raised some distance above 
 them. This photograph forms also a good illustration 
 of the possibility, under a special condition of Tension, 
 of standing on a smooth sphere without any artificial 
 aid, drawn up on to the first phalanx of the toes, and 
 maintaining the position for nearly two minutes. 
 
 The remaining photographs in this chapter illustrate 
 different positions in my interpretation of a Greek dance. 
 They were all taken in actual movement, and are interesting 
 
 83
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 from the point of view of balance, for the reason that the 
 vertical line from the centre of gravity to its base remains 
 in every case unbroken. The base is invariably the ball 
 of either the right or left foot. 
 
 Plate XLIII. is an almost identical reproduction of the 
 position of the Aphrodite in the painting found at the 
 Villa Item, in which she is teaching the infant Dionysus 
 to dance on his little toes. Plate XLIV. is a good example 
 of the lightness of touch upon the ground resulting from 
 extreme Tension. Plate XLV. is a very good instantaneous 
 photograph of the movement which constitutes the 
 recurring motif of the dance, viz., that of the Greek 
 Dancing Boy, one of the finest of the vase-paintings, and 
 shown in diagram. It was a great puzzle to know how 
 he arrived at such a position as the result of a harmonious 
 and rhythmical change, because the mere lifting back of 
 one foot at intervals would have been anything but a 
 beautiful movement. Eventually, I found what he was 
 doing, and reconstructed the beautiful curves which led up 
 to his poise. I also found that it was impossible to arrive 
 at it except on the ball of the toes. Plates XL VI. and 
 XLVII. show two more positions in the dance. 
 
 With these last photographs I close the first part 
 of the book, for with this chapter ends all that is 
 demonstrable by photograph or design. 
 
 Three aspects of a training in balance under Tension 
 
 have been studied : that in relation to physical development, 
 
 that connected with mathematics, and finally that which 
 
 applies to sculpture. There are still two more phases to 
 
 84
 
 PLATE XLI. 
 
 I'lwto .■lliiiaii.\ 
 
 The Goddess I'ortuna (Naples Museum).
 
 PLATE XLII. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Poise of the Forcuna in Profile.
 
 PLATE XLIII. 
 
 Copynght.l 
 
 Tosition of" the Apl.r.)diic at tlic \'ilhi hem.
 
 PLATE XLIV. 
 
 Copyti^ht.
 
 PLATE XLV. 
 
 Ci/>vr.'A'A/.] 
 
 Position ot the Greek Dancing Boy.
 
 PLATE XLVI. 
 
 
 Copyri'jhl.
 
 PLATE XLVII. 
 
 Copyyighl.
 
 SCULPTURE AND LAWS OF BALANCE 
 
 be examined, but what follows can be shown by no 
 photographs, proved by no designs. 
 
 So far, I have dealt with actions, definite and visible. 
 Henceforth reactions take their place, just as definite, just 
 as visible, but on a different plane, and in the end of far 
 more intrinsic value. 
 
 85
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 " The laws of moral nature answer to those of matter as face to face 
 in a glass . . . 
 
 " The axioms of physics translate the laws of ethics. Thus: Reaction 
 is equal to action." 
 
 Emerson. 
 
 IN the formulation of a new theory, child of one's own 
 brain, one is confronted with many difficulties, not the 
 least among them being that of making intelligible the 
 language with which it has spoken at birth ; a language 
 quite clear to its parent, rendered so by the absence of any 
 necessity for actual utterance, and above all for the reason 
 that one has lived with it from its birth and become 
 familiar with its every expression. 
 
 The theory enunciated in the following chapters is the 
 result of five years* work, during which every step was 
 proved, not only in my own experience, but in that of 
 many others. It is offered because it is a conviction- 
 drawn from ideas, practice, experience and realisation. 
 
 The reflex action of physical movement upon the brain 
 is not yet generally recognised, although the admitted 
 relation between muscle and mind has been proved by 
 the latest method of training a mentally deficient child 
 through motor culture to intellectual. But I have gone 
 86
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 farther, by proving that the principle may be applied in 
 more elaborate form to the normal child, also to the adult, 
 with the certainty of being able to produce a higher stage 
 of mental development. 
 
 The individual powers are increased to their maximum, 
 and great change in degree may become change in kind. 
 
 The link between the two organisations is Tension, 
 which, while connecting the chain of physical processes 
 with that of the mental, is allied to both. This merging 
 of the organisations is only possible when the degree of 
 sensitiveness to which the nervous and muscular tissues 
 have been brought has reached the culminating point of 
 development. The physical activities are then hardly 
 distinguishable from those usually regarded as purely 
 mental, and this fusion of the two forces doubles the 
 intensity of both : that of the physical, by contributing 
 a perfected system of transmission for the will without 
 obstacle or resistance ; that of the mental, by reason of 
 its liberated power of expression, which makes possible 
 a stronger and more varied current of ideas, and removes 
 farther and farther the limitation of physical disability. 
 
 Let us now examine more closely the definite reactions 
 set up in the machinery of the brain by this process of 
 keying up the muscular and nervous tissues of the body 
 through Tension. This process of keying up produces a 
 very highly developed degree of sense activity, which may 
 best be described as the full consciousness of every muscle, 
 a condition which allows of the instant transmission of 
 messages from the brain. 
 
 87
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The road along which we are now travelling needs 
 very careful clearing, otherwise the use of certain ex- 
 pressions may prove misleading. I will first therefore 
 define my meaning of the phrase " full consciousness of 
 every muscle." 
 
 This involves no actual anatomical knowledge ; scien- 
 tific knowledge of this sort in no way furthers a perfect 
 physical training. On the contrary, I should regard it as 
 a drawback, in the same way that a very detailed physio- 
 logical knowledge, under certain conditions, is conducive 
 to exaggerated care, or even nervous apprehension. 
 Therefore, the full consciousness of every muscle in no 
 way necessitates a knowledge of their names, nor even 
 scientific understanding of their functions. The con- 
 sciousness of which I speak is the result of an increased 
 sense activity, which forms the soundest basis for all 
 experimental reasoning, the only reasoning on which one 
 may theorise with certainty. Hypothesis and synthesis 
 then become merely different stages in one experiment on 
 a complete organisation, and not, as is usually the case, 
 the result of a theory evolved by one person and tested on 
 another, from which the conclusions drawn do not result 
 in absolute certainty. 
 
 The fullest consciousness, as also the truest knowl- 
 edge, come through increased sensitiveness, both physical 
 and mental, and are independent of all scientific educa- 
 tion, while forming an indispensable attribute to it. 
 
 In reply to the question that may be raised as to 
 whether this full consciousness is likely to destroy 
 88
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 spontaneity, it must be remembered that there is a 
 significant difference between consciousness and self- 
 consciousness. The more consciously one controls 
 action of any kind, the more one concentrates upon the 
 thing one is doing and the less upon the self that is 
 doing it. 
 
 Self-consciousness implies a wandering notice of how 
 others may regard one's action, while full consciousness 
 involves a power of concentration on the action performed, 
 to the entire elimination of self as the performer, and 
 therefore becomes true spontaneity, which means purely 
 internal suggestion independent of all stimulus from 
 without, with complete indifference to and independence 
 of external interference or constraint. 
 
 Let us return then to the most important function of 
 this full consciousness, the power of instant transmission of 
 messages from the brain. 
 
 To be able to operate in this way, the brain must be 
 in perfect working order, constantly alert, for in a series 
 of rapidly changing movements, messages have to be sent 
 without hesitation and in their right order, otherwise a 
 block occurs. 
 
 Roughly speaking, the activities of the brain may be 
 classified into three departments. The first receives im- 
 pressions ; the second forms ideas from those impressions ; 
 the third expresses those ideas in action. 
 
 We will suppose that the first department receives an 
 impression ; it then passes it on to the creative department 
 to be registered as a definite idea, after which it passes to 
 
 89
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the third department to be expressed in action — or not, as 
 the case may be. 
 
 In any case, the impression has passed through each 
 department and left the road clear for the next. This 
 process is quite simple while impressions are being 
 received slowly; the difficulty arises when the impressions 
 follow each other very rapidly, for unless all three depart- 
 ments are in perfect working order, the result is a clogging 
 of the second or registering department, which is unable to 
 check off the impressions as they are received, so they lie 
 piled up, as it were, in a blur of unconsciousness, which 
 may or may not result in action, but which could never 
 result in consciously controlled action. 
 
 The expression " blur of unconsciousness " is perhaps 
 better defined as a substratum of impressions which have 
 never been consciously registered, and which form a sort 
 of sediment of thought liable to rise and obscure the 
 clearer ideas. 
 
 It is here that I venture to estabHsh a connection 
 between my own theory of altered mental activity, 
 and one put forward by the late William James in 
 his lecture on " Human Immortality." He suggests 
 that the brain is not a producer, but a transmitter, of 
 thought : 
 
 "According to the state in which the brain finds 
 itself, the barrier of obstructiveness may be supposed to 
 rise and fall. It sinks so low when the brain is in full 
 activity that a comparative flood of spiritual energy pours 
 over. At other times, only such occasional waves of 
 90
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 thought as heavy sleep permits get by. The brain, under 
 these circumstances, would be the independent variable, 
 but the mind would vary dependently on it." 
 
 In connection with this idea I am able to state as fact 
 that it is possible to reduce to a minimum this " barrier of 
 obstructiveness " by the practice of perfectly balanced 
 sequential movement. It takes a long while to accom- 
 plish, but it can be done. 
 
 One begins with a brain which may be compared to a 
 clumsy instrument, which only allows at first the passing 
 of incomplete ideas. 
 
 With practice, the clumsy instrument makes for itself 
 something finer and more complex; that is to say, it 
 brings into use the more sensitive portions of its mechan- 
 ism, until finally it arrives at the power to make a sort of 
 mental fine adjustment wheel which is able to register 
 hair's breadth differences and flashes, which before were 
 impossible to the less perfect instrument. 
 
 It is the possession of this mental fine adjustment 
 wheel which gives the perception of things through their 
 essence, through the knowledge of their proximate cause, 
 instead of by their result, and enables the judgment to 
 subordinate the importance of action to that of motive 
 and incentive. 
 
 The immediate transmission of messages from the 
 brain, together with their instant transformation into 
 action, constitutes the very highest realisation of Will 
 Power, and on Will Power depends the amount of control 
 possible to a human being. 
 
 91
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The chain of mental processes may thus be formed 
 in the following way : 
 
 Consciousness pure and simple may be defined as the 
 awareness of force, and the fuller or more awakened this 
 consciousness becomes, the greater will be the power of its 
 activity, force itself being consciousness rendered active. 
 
 The maximum activity can only be reached through 
 Tension, therefore the particular degree of awakened 
 consciousness which may be acquired depends on the 
 amount of Tension applied to the muscular tissues. 
 
 The amount of Tension is governed by the degree to 
 which control may be exercised, and control depends 
 entirely upon Will Power. 
 
 Therefore, as Will Power is the medium of expression 
 of conscious force, it forms the last link in this deductive 
 chain, and comes in touch with the first, which was 
 passive consciousness. 
 
 The most important result, then, of these mental 
 processes is the acquisition of an enormously strength- 
 ened Will Power, the secret of concentration. 
 
 In the performance of the sequential exercises, the 
 first call that is made upon the brain is for concentration — 
 a concentration, moreover, of a very peculiar type, and 
 entirely contrary to the usual fixed attention required in 
 the study of problematical subjects or in the effort to 
 commit long passages to memory. In these latter cases 
 the brain works upon itself, so to speak, a process resulting 
 in a degree of fatigue which finally makes concentration 
 impossible. 
 92
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 The sort of concentration needed in sequential move- 
 ment requires that the effort made should be, not upon 
 the brain itself, but upon the dynamic expression of its 
 ideas, and as this dynamic expression demands extremely 
 rapid execution, it stands to reason that the brain move- 
 ment, or thought registration, must unfailingly precede 
 the physical movement. 
 
 This results in the development of an elastic and 
 widely comprehensive form of concentration, one that is able 
 to pass rapidly from one point to another, while yet retaining 
 a clear and definite idea of the sequence as a whole. 
 
 While the ordinary type of fixed concentration is 
 unable to perform movements of rapid mental registration, 
 that of elastic concentration includes the power of fixing 
 on any particular point or subject with much greater clear- 
 ness of perception than would otherwise be possible. 
 
 In his "Text-Book of Psychology" William James 
 says : 
 
 " The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering 
 attention over and over again is the very root of judgment, 
 character, and will ; no one is compos sui if he have it not. 
 An education which should improve this faculty would be 
 the education par excellence. But it is easier to define 
 this ideal than to give practical directions for bringing 
 it about." 
 
 Another and greater philosopher — Socrates — once said 
 to his pupils : 
 
 " Self-control is an exact science, and when discovered 
 the whole world may become virtuous." 
 
 93
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The basis of this science lies in a perfect physical 
 development : on that alone depends the mighty structure 
 of an awakened consciousness, and, as " the laws of moral 
 nature answer to those of matter as face to face in a glass," 
 the evolution of a perfected mental organisation is, I am 
 convinced, governed by the same laws as that of physical 
 development. A completely altered condition of mental 
 activity is made possible by rendering the machinery of 
 the brain in perfect working order through the reacting 
 influence of the practice of sequential movement under 
 Tension, compHcated by extremely difficult conditions of 
 balance. 
 
 In the physical world, the fatigue caused by the 
 vacillating movements of an unbalanced body corresponds 
 to that caused in the brain by the friction of indecision. 
 
 A sure knowledge of the individual power of each 
 muscle with an absolute reliance on their being able to 
 respond instantly to any call that is made upon them, 
 finds its mental reaction in what Browning called " the 
 eventual element of calm," that indispensable basis of 
 judgment, a condition of mental equipoise which makes 
 possible the control of all thought-movement. 
 
 Here it may be advisable to define what I mean by 
 control, for it does not necessarily mean restraint or 
 checking or holding back, but may equally represent 
 stimulative as well as repressive power. 
 
 " Self-mastery " is the more complete rendering of the 
 idea ; the abiHty to let oneself go, being sure of one's hold 
 on the reins; not the license of unrestraint, but the Power 
 
 94
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 of Freedom. Epictetus said : " He only is free who can 
 control himself." 
 
 Before dealing with further reactions, there are two 
 points I wish to take up in detail, although both of them 
 are merely side issues, and have no immediate connection 
 with the main theory. 
 
 The first is in connection with the substratum of 
 impressions which are formed by the clogging of the 
 registering department of the brain when unable to keep 
 pace with the work required of it. 
 
 I venture to offer the conjecture that this substratum 
 of unregistered impressions constitutes the subconscious 
 self, and that is a condition arising from habitual neglect 
 of the training necessary for the perfect working of the 
 mental machinery — a neglect not of the individual only, 
 but of the race, and which may become quite as much an 
 hereditary weakness as any of the more definite physical 
 diseases. Although I speak of a condition in which sub- 
 consciousness predominates as one of weakness, it does not 
 necessarily imply that all action directed by the sub- 
 conscious self must invariably be bad. That will depend 
 upon hereditary tendencies and traditional influences ; but 
 habitually controlled action can only be the result of a 
 continuous motor existence, the outcome of a brain that is 
 always alert, where every moment of the waking hours is 
 fully conscious, where every thought and movement has 
 its justification and nothing comes at random. 
 
 In each human being will be found unplumbed depths, 
 to a greater or lesser degree, according to the type of his 
 
 95
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 antecedents, depths which it rests with each one to 
 attempt at any rate to fathom. 
 
 The transmission of hereditary weakness becomes the 
 key to the solution of another problem, viz., the 
 transmission of consciously determined qualities. Heredity 
 becomes a science in which the Will Power of the mother 
 on the unborn child becomes the chief factor. When 
 this science is knowingly neglected, the responsibility 
 for the sins of the children rests largely upon the heads 
 of the parents, more especially upon that of the mother, 
 who, if she understand aright the determinate quality 
 of trained Will Power, will be able to form the character 
 of the child before ever the light dawns upon its earthly 
 awakening. 
 
 No more important branch exists in the study of 
 Eugenics than this, which deals with the definite training 
 of the unborn mentality by the will of the mother. 
 
 ** Man is a god in ruins," says Emerson, "he is the 
 dwarf of himself. At present man applies to Nature but 
 half his force. ... In the end, we shall come to look 
 at the world with new eyes ... by yielding ourselves 
 passive to the Educated Will." 
 
 The second point which needs further elucidation is in 
 connection with the enormously increased power of active 
 will made possible by Tension. 
 
 Will Power may be divided into two kinds, that which 
 expresses itself in a force which is the result of instinctive 
 desire or fear, and that which represents the force which is 
 trained and controlled by reason. 
 96
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 The first permeates the whole of Nature, animate and 
 inanimate, and acts without conscious control. The second 
 is that possessed by the human being alone, who is able to 
 direct it by self-recognised reasoning power. 
 
 I have been asked whether this Will Power or active 
 force which becomes generated and enormously strengthened 
 under a condition of highly developed Tension is the same 
 as that of a panther just about to spring at its prey ; as that 
 which gives to a hunted stag the power to leap a chasm it 
 would never have attempted without a pursuer at its heels ; 
 whether it is this which enables a weak woman to perform 
 prodigies of strength to save her child from danger, or that 
 has taken most of us over big fences out hunting that 
 we should never have attempted in cold blood. " Cold 
 blood 1 " that zero point of our Will Power which is 
 thought sufficient for everyday use. 
 
 In all these instances, the resultant force is the same, 
 and the condition of Tension must have existed as an 
 inseparable medium of expression for that force. But the 
 incentive causes are different. In the case of the wild 
 animals, instinct guided their movements, hunger and fear 
 the two strongest, while in the case of most human beings, 
 some special emergency has been needed to awaken it, 
 either danger or unusual excitement. After these spasmodic 
 efforts the result is collapse or overstrain to a greater or 
 lesser degree, according to the stimulating agent. This use 
 of Will Power as the result of accident or special excitement 
 may be classed with all instinctive or uncontrolled expression. 
 
 The Will Power that is possible to acquire through a 
 
 97
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL , 
 
 systematic training in Tension, is of a nature that forms the 
 basis of all action, however simple ; an alert control which 
 becomes the rule instead of the exception, so that whatever 
 call is made upon it, the answer comes at once, and without 
 effort, leaving no penalty of overstrain, a condition in 
 which catastrophe or mere incident receive an equally ready 
 response. 
 
 The power to place oneself at will in a condition of 
 Tension in which force may be expressed at its maximum 
 constitutes practically another sense. It is extremely 
 difficult to define in words what this sense means to the 
 one who is able to acquire it. Completely altered vibration, 
 producing a feeling of continuity of movement ; a conscious 
 physical connection with some essential force of the 
 Universe, together with the ability to make use of it — such 
 a description may raise a smile of incredulity, but this is 
 the result when the highest degree of Tension has been 
 attained ; at this culminating point, a human being becomes 
 able to comprehend and assimilate Cosmic Force as an 
 almost tangible thing. 
 
 This highly developed sense of movement thus becomes 
 a perfected sense of touch to the degree of being able to 
 feel the movement of vibrations to which less sensitively 
 developed organisations are dead. 
 
 Aristotle ranked the sense of touch as the first and 
 most important. " First the natural, then the spiritual. 
 The sense of touch, of feeling, is the basis on which the 
 other and higher senses rest." 
 
 The link which brings the trained human being into 
 98
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 conscious connection with things Infinite is altered vibration. 
 It is possible for a human being to become keyed up, as it 
 were, to a pitch of sensitive receptivity, which makes 
 possible this assimilation by the physical organisation of 
 some force, from which it must be separated so long as it 
 cannot respond to that particular standard of vibration. 
 
 The analogy is obviously that of the instruments used 
 for wireless telegraphy, which have to be keyed up to a 
 certain pitch of sensitiveness before being able to receive 
 and respond to the Hertzian wave. 
 
 Increased rapidity of vibration through Tension is 
 productive of two apparently contradictory results. The 
 first, as I have pointed out, is that of a highly sensitive 
 receptive condition. The second is a maximum resistant 
 power to other forces. 
 
 The analogy for this second condition is a spinning 
 gyroscope, which generates a force strong enough to resist 
 to an extraordinary degree any effort towards deviation of 
 direction. 
 
 It is even possible for a human being in the highest 
 state of Tension to lose all consciousness of bodily weight, 
 having, as it were, come in touch with some other force, 
 and become part of it, to the extent of being able to make 
 use of its power. 
 
 My own theory on the subject is that, while the body 
 is in this condition of tense, alert, muscular control, it 
 becomes a conductor of the unknown force of which I 
 spoke, and that the actual weight of atmospheric pressure, 
 together with the pull of gravitation, which give to a 
 
 99
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 body in slack condition the feeling of downward drag, are 
 no longer felt, being enabled to pass through tense matter, 
 leaving it with barely the sense of touch upon the ground ; 
 while the same body, left limp and slack, would become 
 non-conducting, and, so to speak, earth the force, in the 
 same way that damp wood "earths" or "grounds" an electric 
 current. It would then make felt every pound of its pres- 
 sure, and as weight, according to dynamic law, is reckoned 
 as force, the pull downwards of gravitation which we regard 
 as weight may be nullified by the stretch and upward lift 
 of Tension, which thus becomes a counteracting force. 
 
 This resistant power of Tension is well illustrated in 
 the case of a cat falling, and Plate XLVIII. is an extraordi- 
 nary example of the instinctive Tension in animals.* The 
 middle photograph in the bottom row shows the moment 
 of actual contact, when the cat's legs appear stretched to 
 three times their normal length, while its tail is reared up 
 in a vertical line above its back like a steel rod. 
 
 It is practically impossible for the average spectator to 
 register this position, and one has the impression that the 
 cat comes to the ground in the condition of slack elastic, 
 as shown in the last photograph. 
 
 A little while ago I said that the power to place 
 oneself at will in a condition of Tension constitutes 
 practically another sense. Looking first at the simplest 
 result of Tension as a trained condition, it will be found 
 
 ^ This selection from a series of cinematographic photographs illustrat- 
 ing the rapidity of the cat's turn in the air has been kindly lent to me by the 
 Institut Marey. 
 
 lOO
 
 u 
 
 <: 
 
 u 
 
 H
 
 MENTAL REACTIONS 
 
 that movement as ordinarily understood is as different from 
 the sense of movement as strokes from finished writing. 
 
 In its highest form of development it becomes a thing 
 almost supernatural. 
 
 A sense which has never been developed or which has 
 been atrophied or destroyed becomes practically non- 
 existent. Sound means nothing to the man deaf from 
 birth, but Sound is there, although invisible to him, while 
 to the blind man sensitiveness to sound is developed to 
 such an abnormal degree that he is able to sense movement 
 in a way that appears nothing short of miraculous to the 
 ordinarily endowed human being. A blind man may 
 even discern differences of colour through their varying 
 vibrations. When this sensitiveness to vibratory move- 
 ment is developed to such an abnormal degree, it resembles 
 that possessed by the bat, which enables it to avoid during 
 rapid flight any object with which it might come in 
 contact, and which may be defined as a sense of approach 
 through vibration. 
 
 Science has been able to apply the principle of the 
 bat's little organ to an instrument which is now being fitted 
 to ocean liners. This instrument is able to register the 
 distance of an approaching object, either vessel or iceberg, 
 in time to avoid collision. 
 
 All these analogies go to prove that what is possible to 
 perfected mechanics is also possible to a perfected mental 
 organisation, but to a much greater degree. 
 
 So long as one keeps unsevered the connecting link 
 between the mind and its physical means of expression, 
 
 lOI
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 one may advance without fear into the region of psycho- 
 logical experiment in the effort to attune one's nature to the 
 highest sensitiveness attainable. But this result must be 
 achieved by keeping in touch with a controlled physical 
 consciousness, that one's visions into a world of transcen- 
 dentalism may have their hold on the solid ground of reason 
 and fact. 
 
 In this way it is possible, through increased sense 
 activity, to realise life at its maximum, to gain an insight 
 into the almost limitless possibilities of a perfectly trained 
 Will Power, and to visualise the result of a brain mechanism 
 so perfect structurally, that it neither distorts nor obstructs 
 the stream of consciousness which flows through each 
 human mind from the ** Mother Sea." 
 
 I02
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SPIRITUAL REACTIONS 
 
 " The principal contrast under which effort is viewed by Aristotle 
 is that of mere existence on the one hand, and a complete activity on the 
 other, of empty unsatisfied life, which ever looks vaguely beyond, and of 
 life which realises its end and finds satisfaction in itself, of the being 
 given by Nature and that well-being which is achieved by one's own 
 acts. . . . Aristotle, in fact, is profoundly convinced that complete 
 activity, with its transformation of the whole being into living reality, 
 yields at the same time the full sense of happiness. 
 
 "Hence happiness is principally our own creation, it cannot be 
 communicated from without nor put on like an ornament; rather it is 
 proportional to rational activity, and increases with it. 
 
 "Hence only when activity attains complete substantial efficiency^ 
 does it lift human existence up to happiness.'" ^ 
 
 SO they knew— those Greeks of old— the intimate con- 
 nection between a perfect physical development and 
 its moral sense of well-being, and it would seem 
 probable for this reason, that a training which could so 
 influence the moral side of human nature becomes in the 
 end a religion in itself, seeing that in a condition of 
 perfectly balanced physical strength and well-being the 
 mind and soul respond more fully. 
 
 The word ** hieros," " sacred," originally meant 
 "strong," "fresh," "vigorous." Dr. Schroeder considers 
 that it was eventually restricted to religion, from the 
 1 " The Problem of Life." Rudolf Eucken. 
 
 103
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 "uplifted feeling of the worshipper— the sense of strength 
 which his religion brought him."^ 
 
 Surely a reversal, this, of the order of cause and 
 effect 1 More probably the discovery that complete 
 happiness could only be reached through complete 
 physical activity, induced them to connect with religion 
 the thing they most valued, and led them to adopt the 
 word " sacred " in connection with the worship of their 
 deities, for only with the best would they approach the 
 altars of their gods. 
 
 That the Greeks knew the intimate connection between 
 the diaphragm and the mind can hardly be doubted, for 
 their word "phren" means spirit or mind, and the "phren" 
 (or, as it was generally used in the plural — phrenes) 
 actually denoted the diaphragm, " the muscle that separates 
 the heart and lungs from the lower organs." 
 
 " Within the phrenes, the Greeks placed not only 
 all such feelings as we now connect with the hearts 
 love, hatred, grief, anger ; but also the faculties now 
 attached to the brain — intelligence, thinking - power, 
 memory, will." ^ 
 
 They divided man into three parts: (1) "Soma," 
 the body or covering; (2) "Psyche," the soul; and 
 (3) " Phrenes," the seat of mental and spiritual life, this 
 last being by far the most important of the three, and 
 considered the " noblest part of the man." 
 
 Haemon tells his father, Kreon, that the " gods have 
 
 1 " Makers of Hellas," p. 224. 
 * Ibid., p. 293. 
 
 104
 
 SPIRITUAL REACTIONS 
 
 implanted in men (human beings generally) the phrenes 
 (feeling, mind, will, thinking faculty) of all possessions the 
 highest . . . the power, namely, of forming a moral 
 judgment, of distinguishing right from wrong, justice from 
 injustice." 
 
 The conception of spirit was totally apart from any 
 idea of religion as expressed in worship. To the Greeks, 
 it meant the fine fleur of moral courage and energy, and 
 was the glory of their Paganism, as indeed it may be 
 the glory of every creed, being independent of though 
 common to all. The striking examples of religious fervour, 
 whether Catholic or Protestant, Pagan or Puritan, which 
 stand out in the world's history, have been due to this same 
 spirit which inspired the leaders of religious movements. 
 It was not the particular creed that made the man, but the 
 spirit of the man which was able to glorify his creed. 
 
 The training, then, of that particular muscle which 
 was " of all possessions the highest," formed the secret 
 of the marvellous unity of their development. Each step 
 they took in advance was a complete one, for they re- 
 garded each side of their nature as inseparable from the 
 other. 
 
 " Whereas some thinkers— St. Paul, Pascal, Byron- 
 have seen in man a two-fold nature . . . God and beast 
 . . . the Greek was not conscious of such a distinction; 
 he only saw a unity, ' glorious in its action and itself,' in 
 which humanity was not distinct from divinity, nor body 
 from soul."^ 
 
 ^ " The Greek Genius and its Meaning to Us." Livingstone. 
 
 lOS
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The definite reaction of the diaphragm upon the 
 spirit is proved in moments of joy when one takes 
 deep, expanding breaths which Hft one up ; while in 
 depression one's head falls forward, one's " heart sinks," as 
 the saying is, and there is a general feeling of collapse. 
 
 Now the converse of this is also true ; that is to say, 
 by the practice of tense uplifting movements, you may 
 induce its corresponding state of mind. It is this which 
 explains how the basic principles of aesthetic law are 
 indissolubly connected with dynamic instinct, for in finely- 
 balanced, tense movement lies the solution of the problem 
 of this law, and a clear answer is given to the reason 
 "why" of our perception of beauty in whatever form it 
 may be expressed, either through music or painting or 
 sculpture. 
 
 This answer is the power of lift, physical and mental, 
 and, rightly understood, the exhortation of the Psalmist in 
 the words, ** Lift up your hearts," comes to have a literal 
 far more than a figurative meaning. 
 
 On the strength of the diaphragm depends the strength 
 of the spirit, that unquenchable flame of conscious Will 
 Power, the energising fire that Aristotle called ** the reality, 
 energeia" in contradistinction to the temporahty of mere 
 brain mechanism. 
 
 There are many allusions in the Iliad to this ener- 
 gising Will Power, with which Homer endowed the 
 Greeks and Trojans alike— a Will Power that was able 
 to restore on the instant exhausted faculties, physical and 
 mental. 
 1 06
 
 SPIRITUAL REACTIONS 
 
 This, I am convinced, was achieved through definite 
 movement of the diaphragm, a bracing into tension which 
 results in an immediate mental and spiritual reaction. That 
 is to say, this is the result when the whole organisation is 
 already in a perfectly trained condition. 
 
 I believe it is considered by some translators that 
 Chapman allowed himself too much Hcence in the trans- 
 lation of many passages of the Iliad, but filled as he was 
 with the Greek spirit, his interpretation of these passages 
 seems to render in more vivid form the energising fire with 
 which the Greeks were so deeply imbued. 
 
 In the Fifth Book, Atrides reviews his troops, and 
 encourages them with the words : 
 
 "O friends," said he, ''hold up your minds ; strength 
 is but strength of will." 
 
 Why did he say that ? Had the Greeks been in the 
 habit of locating the mind in the head, he would not have 
 spoken thus to his men. But he knew, as they did, that 
 all that meant spiritual and mental strength was in the 
 diaphragm, and he was simply teUing them to brace their 
 bodies into tension that the will might have unhindered 
 command of their whole natures. 
 
 In the Twelfth Book occurs this passage : 
 
 " The Trojans fought not of themselves, a fire from heaven was thrown 
 That ran amongst them, through the wall, mere added to their own. 
 The Greeks held not their own; weak Grief went with her wither'd hand, 
 And dip't it deeply in their spirits, since they could not command their forces to 
 abide the field." 
 
 Meaning here that had their physical control been 
 stronger, the will would have been able to operate 
 
 107
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 effectively, enabling them to hold their ground and to 
 keep the fire of their spirit undimmed. 
 
 Again, in the Eighteenth Book, the Trojans reach a 
 point when retreat for a time becomes the wiser course, 
 and Polydamus urges them not to put too great a strain 
 on the mental strength, although he recognises that it is 
 capable of carrying them on even when all the physical 
 force is exhausted. 
 
 . . . . "If ye yield, though wearied with a fight 
 So late and long, we shall have strength in council and the night. 
 And (where we here have no more force than need will force us to, 
 And which must rise out of our nerves) high ports, tow'rs, walls will do 
 What wants in us." 
 
 And so on, all through the Iliad, runs the spirit of a 
 force born of the will alone, which could be reUed upon 
 to the very last. 
 
 Chapman himself reaHsed that he would be criticised 
 for his interpretation of many passages, and he answers his 
 " Commentors " in his " Commentarius " at the end of the 
 Seventeenth Book by a vindication of the rendering of 
 a certain passage in these words : 
 
 ' It is something probable that their oversight [meaning 
 the Commentors], in this trifle is accompanied with a 
 thousand other errors in matter of our divine Homer's 
 depth and gravity, which will not open itself to the 
 curious austerity of belabouring art, but only to the natural 
 and most ingenuous soul of our thrice sacred poesy." 
 
 In the examination of all new theory, the search- 
 light of austere and sincere criticism is the only means 
 io8
 
 SPIRITUAL REACTIONS 
 
 by which complete analysis of construction may be 
 determined. 
 
 To " the natural and most ingenuous soul " will be 
 revealed the inspiring flame which escapes analysis, eludes 
 even definition, but which illumines, with a clear radiance, 
 the understanding in which one spark exists as touch- 
 stone. 
 
 The knowledge must be there. It only remains to 
 know that we know ; and herein lies the secret of all 
 discovery of truth. The discovery consists in telling 
 others what they know already, while yet unaware of that 
 knowledge. 
 
 Truth, in whatever form it may be expressed, is so 
 simple that when revealed, all normal human beings 
 recognise it instantly, and the telling of it consists in 
 arranging the mosaic of facts in a pattern which appears 
 most clear to the one who has been puzzling over its 
 different colours with a view to evolving a clear and 
 definite design. 
 
 To all my assertions will come the question of the 
 sceptic: "How do you know? What proof can you 
 offer?" 
 
 To this the only answer is that given by the 
 mathematician Euler when questioned as to the correctness 
 of his famous law of arches : " This will be found contrary 
 to all experience, yet it is true.'^ 
 
 A thing is only impossible when it implies a con- 
 tradiction, but a law which has been found contrary to all 
 experience need not necessarily involve this contradiction. 
 
 109
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 The theory which I offer is in accordance with 
 Nature's highest laws of development, and in no way 
 against them. 
 
 It may be argued, that complete control over one's 
 nature is impossible under existing human limitations, but 
 I recognise no limitations. All life is movement, and the 
 finest life must take its impress from the finest movement, 
 the finest spirit from the finest activity. 
 
 There are no real statics in the realm of expression; 
 each entity has a story, and life is its telling. The symbol 
 on paper is not the whole of language. 
 
 The knowledge that there are no limits to the heights 
 is the incentive for the soul. The work of striving becomes 
 the joy of accompHshment, and the goal is beyond the 
 stars. 
 
 If the future were known, existence would lose its 
 charm, so may we revel in the Infinite, realising that there 
 is nothing perfect save law, and that to reach perfection 
 would be to lose it. 
 
 To realise the energising fire of an awakened con- 
 sciousness is an approximation of the ideal. 
 
 An awakened consciousness is a mighty thing I 
 Through this, life appears on a much bigger scale; it is 
 the science of Hving, the verb "to Hve," made into 
 something real and vital through the completeness of 
 every expression of life. 
 
 And the glory of it all lies in the fact that the power 
 to achieve this ideal is latent in each human being. Each 
 may find for himself the master-key which will open 
 no
 
 SPIRITUAL REACTIONS 
 
 wide the doors of a new world, if willing to pay the 
 price ; it depends only on this. 
 
 In this new world may a man find his soul, and enter 
 into his full heritage. 
 
 Before the harp can yield the glory of its music, its 
 strings have to be stretched and keyed up to the power of 
 response. 
 
 The power to respond is the highest desire of the 
 human being Without it, man is lost ; with this power 
 developed to its utmost limits, the road is clear, and 
 nothing can obstruct or discourage. 
 
 To the human being whose organism has been trained 
 to recognise and respond to the highest laws comes reward 
 in the shape of a power to discern and accept the inevitable 
 without wasting strength and energy in useless combat, 
 at the same time realising how few — how very few — 
 conditions are inevitable with a will strong enough to 
 overcome and dominate circumstance rather than be 
 moulded by it. 
 
 This is the culminating point of achievement in moral 
 reaction, and is the direct outcome of that conservation of 
 energy, both physical and mental, which gives to life in 
 its whole expression the clear-cut movement and definition 
 of action, the unity of perfectly balanced forces working 
 together with the minimum of strain, and thus achieving 
 the maximum result. 
 
 And this result, once achieved, is there forever; there 
 is no slipping back, no growing stiffness of knee joints to 
 be remedied, no slackening muscles to be worked up, no 
 
 III
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 aching spine that demands longer hours of couch repose 
 each month or year, no nervous strain or irritabihty or 
 uncertainty, only calm confidence in the power to envisage, 
 unshaken, every eventuality. 
 
 Everything works in harmony, and the physical dis- 
 integration, inevitable under the law, becomes almost 
 imperceptible from its unity of change. 
 
 Under normal conditions, it would become possible 
 eventually so to conserve the energies until the end, that 
 no one particular part of the physical organisation would 
 have greater demands made upon it than another, the 
 habit of a perfectly-balanced life resulting in the gradual 
 — very gradual — lowering of the flame ; and as flame 
 expires while yet rising, so will that energising fire, the 
 flame of man's spirit, remain clear and strong to the last, 
 lifted and inspired by the knowledge that it is possible for 
 human nature to achieve its highest end on earth. 
 
 Having reached this condition, the concept of time 
 becomes one, not of duration but of degree of attain- 
 ment, independent of all circumstance, and the answer to 
 the eternal question of the pessimist, "^ quoi bonf" rings 
 out clear and true. 
 
 A clear vision ; the realisation, if only for one day, of 
 all the possibilities of Hfe at its maximum activity, these 
 are ample reward for all its pain, for all the wounds that 
 come to those who fight, and the attainment of this ideal 
 must be a preparation for all eventualities. 
 
 If the flame dies for ever, then the top note of achieve- 
 ment has been reached here. If it is to wake again into a 
 
 112
 
 SPIRITUAL REACTIONS 
 
 life fuller and more perfect than yet dreamed of on this 
 plane, then no effort has been lost, and the fresh start will 
 be made from a higher standpoint than would otherwise 
 have been attained. 
 
 But on whatever plane the spirit of man finally arrives, 
 the words that Keats placed in the mouth of the Greek 
 god of old will for ever remain true in their representation 
 of the ideal achievement in Hfe: 
 
 "To bear all naked truths, 
 And to envisage circumstance, all calm, 
 That is the top of sovereignty." 
 
 "3
 
 DETAILED EXPLANATION 
 
 OF THE 
 TWELVE BASIC EXERCISES 
 
 "5
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 The clear explanation in writing of a variety of 
 complicated movements is extremely difficult. I have, 
 therefore, supplemented the instructions with as many 
 photographs as possible, the most important positions 
 being shown in full-page plates, while intermediate 
 changes of position are shown by pages of cinemato- 
 graphic detail, which render the analysis of every 
 changing movement an easy task. Each exercise, with 
 two or three exceptions, has its own series of large 
 photographs, together with the cinematographic expla- 
 nation of balance, thus forming a complete study in 
 itself. It is recommended that the first two exercises 
 should be taken as a commencing lesson, and that, as 
 the movements become more familiar, gradually other 
 exercises may be added, one at a time. Eventually, 
 when the whole series has been learned, each practice 
 should be confined to four or five different exercises, a 
 different set being chosen for the following practice. 
 The only approach to definite routine that I strongly 
 recommend is that of beginning all practice with 
 Exercise /., however much the others may be 
 varied. This first exercise has proved itself the most 
 useful for the initial suppling of the muscles, after the 
 body has been drawn up into the Preliminary Position. 
 
 "7
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 Half-an-hour's practice will be found enough for the 
 first few lessons, but later on, when muscles and joints 
 begin to get more accustomed to the movements, an hour 
 will seem very short. This, however, should be the limit 
 for any practice, however perfect the student may become. 
 Each exercise must be done the same number of times on 
 each side, the instructions being reversed from right to 
 left, and great care taken to omit no detail of this 
 reversal. 
 
 ii8
 
 EXERCISE I 
 
 FROM the Preliminary Position, raise the arms in 
 front until the elbows (very sHghtly bent) are 
 on a level with the breast-line, the hands tightly 
 clenched and about a foot apart. Now take a step back 
 with the right foot, carrying the body with it at exactly the 
 same moment, and taking care to keep the torso — viz., that 
 part of the body from shoulder to hip — absolutely verti- 
 cal, by bracing the muscles of the waist to their utmost 
 tension. The moment the right foot touches the ground, 
 let the knee bend as much as will lower the body about 
 four or five inches. During this backward step the left 
 leg remains perfectly still and tense, straight as a rod of 
 steel, with only the extreme point of the toe touching 
 the ground, the heel well raised, the upper line of the 
 instep curved outwards. In this position the whole of 
 the weight is on the right foot, so that the left might 
 be raised up and down without disturbing the vertical 
 line of the body. 
 
 Plate XLIX.'^ shows the position as seen from the 
 front; Plate XLIX.*^ gives it more clearly in profile, 
 and an imaginary vertical line should pass through 
 the ear, shoulder, hip, and ball of the foot, while the 
 knee has left it without in any way disturbing the rest of 
 
 119
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the line.' From this position, swing the left leg up and 
 across the line of the right, straight and tense, until it 
 reaches the horizontal, at which point it should form an 
 acute angle with the right leg, that is to say, it passes in 
 front of the right leg to the extent of an acute angle. 
 During this movement, the right knee remains bent, but 
 the right foot is pushed forward on to the ball of the 
 toes, which allows the torso to remain vertical and the left 
 leg to swing freely. It will be found that if an attempt 
 is made to swing up the left leg while the right heel is on 
 the ground, not only will the leg not be able to reach the 
 horizontal, but the knee (that is to say, the left knee) 
 will bend, and the shoulders will come forward, destroying 
 any attempt at poise. This apparently easy movement of 
 raising the right foot on to the toes while the knee is still 
 bent, is one of the most difficult, and it is only after long 
 practice that it can be done without moving the body 
 itself. This upward swing of the left leg is accompanied 
 by the simultaneous downward swing of both arms well 
 to the left, to balance the movement of the leg to the 
 right. The arms should, at the finish of their swing, 
 form an obtuse angle to their first position, and thus 
 make a complete diagonal line with the left leg across 
 the direction in which the body faces. Care should be 
 taken in swinging them down not to alter their relative 
 position, but to keep them always about a foot apart, the 
 
 ^ In the case of Plate XLIX.° the position was photographed before the 
 full bend of the knee was accomplished, which when completed would have 
 brought the ear, shoulder, and hip slightly more forward until all were verti- 
 cal over the toes. 
 
 1 20
 
 X 
 
 X 
 w 
 < 
 
 {
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 5. 
 
 m 
 
 TaMifci iipin I 
 
 m 
 
 Copyright. 
 
 Kxcruisc 1. in Dc!,i
 
 EXERCISE I 
 
 elbows slightly bent, as at start, although the arm that 
 passes in front of the body will necessarily have a more 
 decided bend than the other. 
 
 Plate XLIX.^ shows very clearly this poise, in which the 
 position of the right foot should be carefully noted, as 
 this is the movement so difficult to perform. The angles 
 formed by the left leg and the arms in relation to the 
 direction of the body can be very easily seen from this 
 photograph. There should be no pause when the left 
 leg reaches the horizontal line, but, like a pendulum, it 
 swings down again instantly, while simultaneously with 
 this downward movement must come the upward return 
 of the arms to their first position, and the straightening 
 up of the right knee to allow both feet to come 
 together for the final poise well up on the toes, which 
 is the same, of course, as that shown in Plate XII. ° 
 During the lowering and raising of the body, with its 
 counteracting movements to right and left, the torso 
 should remain tense and vertical, particular care being 
 taken not to twist the waist while swinging down the 
 arms, but to carry them only just so far as will balance 
 the movement of the left leg. Intermediate positions 
 are clearly shown in Cinema Series No. 5. 
 
 From the final poise on the toes, the exercise should 
 be recommenced, and only on the initial step backwards 
 of each repetition should the right heel touch the ground, 
 after which all other movements must be performed poised 
 on the ball of the foot. 
 
 These instructions constitute a counsel of perfection, 
 
 121
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 and it must not be expected that this nicety of balance 
 can be acquired in a week or a month. Many things go 
 to make up such a condition of equiHbrium, which can 
 only be acquired gradually, as the mind becomes better 
 able to control the physical movement. 
 
 For practice on the left side, these movements should 
 be reversed. The exercise should be repeated five or six 
 times on each side, going back in a straight line and the 
 poise on the toes being carefully maintained for several 
 seconds after each repetition, though this again will be 
 impossible for a beginner, who will be forced to place 
 the heels on the ground at first to avoid falling over 
 altogether. 
 
 122
 
 EXERCISE II 
 
 FROM the Preliminary Position, raise the right hand to 
 the shoulder, with clenched fist, twisted as far as 
 possible to the left, the elbow bent and kept as 
 closely to the waist as will allow the forearm to remain verti- 
 cal. Simultaneously with this movement, the left forearm 
 is brought across the waist in a horizontal Hne, the hand 
 also clenched. 
 
 As the arms are being brought into position, take a 
 short step back with the left foot, carrying the body with 
 it, so that the whole weight is over the left, while the 
 right foot remains barely touching the ground with the 
 extreme point of the toe, the heel well raised and the 
 upper line of the instep curved outward. Plate L.*^ gives 
 this position. During the whole of this exercise, the 
 knees remain absolutely straight and tense. Care should 
 be taken to avoid the least movement of the waist while 
 stepping back, for, unless perfectly tense, it has a tendency 
 to twist and relax, altering the level of the two hips, which 
 at once destroys the balance. The two definite move- 
 ments which prevent this alteration in the hips are the 
 conscious drawing up of the waist muscles, and the raising 
 of the right heel to lengthen the line of the right leg, 
 so as to allow the body to go back far enough to form 
 a vertical line over the left foot.' From this position, the 
 
 ' To test the difference in length made by raising the heel, place it on 
 the ground again, and note the pull forward. 
 
 123
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 body must be spun round on the ball of the left foot in a 
 right angle turn to the left, the right leg swinging back 
 and up at the same moment. This is a much more 
 complicated movement than at first appears, for, as soon 
 as the backward swing brings the leg to a lock against the 
 right hip, the movement is carried on by bending forward 
 on the left hip, while the right leg and spine form one 
 continuous line, which should work in unbroken connec- 
 tion, the leg rising while the spine is being lowered, until 
 the two form a horizontal line, when, if possible, the poise 
 should be maintained on the ball of the left foot for a few 
 seconds. The spin round into this position is aided by a 
 rapid pull round of the left arm, made by drawing the fist 
 in a semi-circle from its first position at the waist to a 
 point on a level with the left shoulder, the elbow bent 
 to its utmost limit, so that both arms are now in the 
 same position, the right arm having remained unaltered. 
 The hands should be pulled well back in a conscious 
 effort to expand the chest ; the head thrown back so 
 that even when the full bend of the body has been 
 reached, in a horizontal line, the face and head remain 
 vertical as though standing. This is a most important 
 detail, as any alteration in the position of the head at 
 once upsets the poise, which is one of the most difficult to 
 maintain. Plate L.^ illustrates this poise, which is extremely 
 interesting from the point of view of the different angles 
 formed by the varying weights of torso and leg, and the 
 precision needed in their combined movement to enable 
 the centre of gravity to remain over its base. 
 124
 
 w 
 < 
 
 Oh
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 6. 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Exercise II. in Detail.
 
 EXERCISE II 
 
 If an imaginary horizontal line is drawn on the photo- 
 graph, the forehead and toe will be found to be the 
 extreme points, while the vertical line, starting upwards 
 from a little behind the ball of the left foot, will pass 
 through the knee and the left hip. The angles formed by 
 the two lines, first from the head to the left foot, where it 
 
 (toe) D 
 
 (K«i) 
 
 A (foot; 
 
 touches the ground, and again from the right foot to the 
 left, together with the connecting horizontal of the line 
 from the right toe to the head, constitute an example of 
 the triangle of forces resulting from the difference in 
 weight of the torso and leg. I have given a diagram illus- 
 trating, with exact measurements taken from Plate L.^, 
 the triangles formed by this poise. By lowering the 
 
 125
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 horizontal line until G and D are level with B, that is to 
 say, by straightening out the extended leg and torso, the 
 angles DBA and C B A become right-angle triangles of 
 different size. It will be seen at once that there must be 
 considerably more weight in the angle C B A to enable it 
 to poise on the same base as the larger angle DBA. 
 This is why it is so important not to add to the length of 
 the body-line by lowering the head, as it then becomes 
 impossible for the leg to counterbalance the extra weight, 
 having already reached its utmost length, and Hke a see- 
 saw badly balanced, one end goes up while the other 
 comes to the ground. This is certainly the most fasci- 
 nating poise to attempt, albeit the most difficult to achieve ; 
 and it may be wondered why it should have been selected 
 as the second exercise. The reason is that, although the 
 movement itself is one of the most difficult, the exercise 
 may be classified among those which do not involve such 
 complicated mental direction as most of the others. As 
 this mental control constitutes the greatest difficulty in 
 connection with these exercises, they have been arranged 
 with a view to facilitate a gradual increase in the power of 
 concentration needed, that special concentration of which 
 I spoke in Chapter VII., which enables the mind to 
 pass rapidly from one point to another with unhesitating 
 certainty, and always just ahead of the physical movement. 
 The recovery from this poise is made by a reversal of 
 the movement of the horizontal line, the start being given 
 by the tense muscles of the waist, which are able to raise 
 the body and lower the right leg simultaneously without 
 126
 
 EXERCISE II 
 
 in any way disturbing the rigidity of the line. The 
 whole body, therefore, returns to its vertical position the 
 moment the right foot comes to the ground, and the final 
 poise should be maintained well up on the toes with the 
 feet pressed close together. Plate L."^ shows the final 
 position of recovery, and Cinema Series No. 6, giving 
 the details of this exercise, is one of the best of all the 
 Series, the apex poise, viz., No. 9 (the first poise of the 
 third row reading from left to right), being so fine that 
 it was worth an enlargement for the better definition of 
 detail. I am afraid a little spirit of bravado induced me 
 to show this poise on a pedestal I For, already an 
 extremely difficult balance on solid ground, it is quite 
 an achievement on a raised and none too certain base. 
 
 It will be some time before the pupil will be able to 
 achieve this recovery from the horizontal poise. Time 
 after time the exercise will be cut in half by the uncon- 
 trollable pitch forward of the body. But patience, and 
 a right leg as tense as a steel rod to the tip of the toes, 
 will eventually be rewarded with a momentary poise which 
 brings a quite unusual exhilaration of its own, and is the 
 best possible incentive to renewed effort. 
 
 Later still, when an occasional recovery has been 
 achieved, the repetition of the exercise should be begun 
 where the first finished, viz., at a right angle to the 
 starting-point. 
 
 Four of these repetitions will therefore bring the feet 
 to the exact spot at which the start was made, thus com- 
 pleting a geometrical series. It should, however, be some 
 
 127
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 time before these completed series are attempted, as the 
 details of one exercise must be thoroughly mastered 
 before complicating the mental movement by further 
 combinations. 
 
 128
 
 EXERCISE III 
 
 STARTING from the Preliminary Position, take a 
 lunge forward with the left foot, carrying the whole 
 weight of the body forward at the same moment 
 as the advancing foot, bending the knee as the foot touches 
 the ground, sufficiently to force up the heel about an inch, 
 leaving the weight poised on the ball of the foot. The right 
 leg should remain tense and unbending during the whole 
 of the exercise on this side, and as the body is carried 
 forward on the lunge, it leaves the right foot relieved 
 of all weight, so that only the extreme tip of the big toe 
 touches the ground, while the foot itself should be 
 turned well outwards and form a right angle with the 
 line of the left foot. Simultaneously with the lunge, raise 
 the left arm in a parrying movement, so that the 
 forearm passes in front of the forehead about four inches 
 distant, horizontal from the elbow, and tense to the tip 
 of the outstretched fingers ; the palm of the hand facing 
 outwards. Plate LI.'^ shows this position, and an 
 imaginary line should pass through the left ear, shoulder, 
 hip, and ball of foot, while the knee will be well in front 
 of this line. The photograph of this position is a little 
 off the profile, which gives the impression that the line 
 would end in front of the foot instead of at the ball, 
 
 129
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 but this is not really the case. The exact height of the 
 left heel from the ground is controlled by the bend of the 
 knee, and when it becomes impossible to get nearer than 
 one inch to the ground with the heel, the knee bend will 
 have reached its limit. 
 
 From this lunge the second position is reached by 
 straightening the left knee, and thus raising the body 
 four or five inches ; which movement necessitates the 
 lowering of the left heel to the ground for an instant, 
 although no weight should be placed on it. Simul- 
 taneously with the straightening of the left leg, the 
 right rises from the ground still stretched out behind 
 at the same angle, and finally raised four or five inches 
 from the ground. There must be no pause, however, 
 on this second position, and the moment the left leg 
 is quite straight, the right leg should be swung round 
 in a wide semicircle in which the hip constitutes the 
 rotary axis. This movement carries the body round with 
 it in a right-angle turn to the left, which must be made 
 on the ball of the left foot. The curve is stopped 
 as soon as the right-angle is reached, by bringing the 
 extreme point of the right toe to the ground, a littk 
 in front, and to the left of the left foot, so that the knees 
 are crossed, the under part of the right knee touching 
 the knee-cap of the left. The two feet should be turned 
 in opposite directions, the left, on which the turn has 
 been made, pointing slightly to the right, and the right 
 turned across to the left, each in acute angle to the 
 direction in which the body faces. Plate LI.^ shows 
 130
 
 < 
 
 ■O. 
 
 U
 
 EXERCISE III 
 
 this position so accurately that it will be at once under- 
 stood. Again, the test of the vertical Hne will prove 
 the balance correct, and will be found to pass from 
 the nose, down through the centre of the body, directly 
 to the ball of the left foot. This extremely difficult 
 movement is only possible by keeping the body in a 
 tense vertical Hne over the left foot the whole time. 
 The left leg represents the pivot arm of a compass, 
 while the right leg swings round tense as to muscle, 
 but quite loose at the hip-joint, in the same way as 
 the moving arm of a compass. Great care must be 
 taken to put no force into the movement, which would 
 at once disturb the vertical pivoting line and upset the 
 balance. It will be found that the weight of the right 
 leg is sufficient to carry on the momentum when once 
 started on the curve. Above all, it must be remembered 
 that this right leg must be like a rod of steel with Tension, 
 so that no disconnection occurs when it meets with 
 resistance at the hip-joint. This happens when half-way 
 through the curve, and it is this resistance which is 
 needed to bring the vertical line of the body and left 
 leg into the movement, into which they will be swept 
 without the least break or check, provided the Tension is 
 unbroken and the weight poised well up on the ball 
 of the left foot, which, as pivot, must cover the least 
 possible surface. The great difficulty will be to keep 
 from bending at the waist, and care must be taken 
 not to invite this by leaning forward with the head to 
 see what the feet are doing; for what the neck does 
 
 131
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the waist copies unconsciously. Any lean forward of 
 the head means collapse of the poise, which should be 
 so exact that the right leg may, by way of test, be 
 lifted well up from the ground without disturbing the 
 vertical line of the body, poised as it should be full 
 on the left toes, to which the instep should be almost 
 perpendicular. 
 
 I have purposely left the arm movement to the last, so 
 as to avoid undue complication, but it must be remem- 
 bered that it is performed simultaneously with the leg 
 curve. As soon as this begins, the left arm should be 
 brought down from the position of parry in a semi-circular 
 movement, to a point level with the left side of the 
 waist, and about two inches distant, the fist clenched, the 
 elbow well bent, pointing outwards and slightly backwards 
 from the side. The right arm must be brought up by 
 bending the elbow, until the hand, with open palm 
 turned outwards, is on a level with the right shoulder, 
 and distant about five or six inches. This finishes every 
 detail of Plate LI.'' It should be possible to remain 
 erect and still in this position, poised on the left toes, 
 with no weight on the right foot, which, as I said before, 
 may be lifted a few inches from the ground merely as 
 a test of the perfect balance on the left. From this 
 position the right leg is swung backwards in a wide 
 semicircle, tense and unbending as always, while yet 
 loose and free at the hip-joint. This movement is 
 accompanied by the simultaneous bend of the left knee, 
 so that the body is again lowered four or five inches, and 
 132
 
 EXERCISE III 
 
 is once more in the lunge position, the right foot almost 
 in line with the left, and turned out as before at right 
 angles to the left. The hands should be swung down to 
 the left simultaneously with the leg movement, the elbows 
 slightly bent, the fingers outstretched and tense. In 
 Plate LI.*^ all the details of this position are clearly 
 shown. Care should be taken that the arm-swing does 
 not alter the position of the hips although the waist 
 itself makes a slight turn to the left. The final recovery, 
 which is made by springing backwards and upwards, from 
 the left toes, finally bringing them close to the right, 
 is shown on Plate LI."^ This spring back is performed 
 entirely by the ball of the left foot, carried on by that 
 of the right, which receives the weight, these movements 
 being aided by the Tension in the right leg, which three 
 factors combined draw the body up once more into a 
 vertical line, both knees straight, the right arm having 
 swung round in a semicircle to the right side during the 
 spring, the whole weight finally poised as high up on 
 the toes as possible, the feet pressed close together. This 
 finish leaves the body at a right angle to the start ; and, 
 as in the case of the other exercises, the next one should 
 be commenced from the finishing angle, so that the 
 series of four may be completed by a return to the 
 starting-point. But, again, this should only be attempted 
 when the single exercise has become familiar, as the effort 
 to complete a series invariably destroys the perfection 
 of detail until it has become definitely mastered. This is 
 due to the alteration of angle, which is unexpectedly 
 
 133
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 disconcerting at first. It is wiser, therefore, to practise 
 for some time the two different sides only, recommencing 
 at the same starting point. Eventually, two series of 
 four exercises on the right and the same on the left 
 are, as a rule, enough of this particular exercise. 
 
 Cinema Series No. 7 will render clear whatever has 
 been difficult to explain in this exercise. Several faults are 
 apparent : notably in the fifth of the first row, where it 
 will be seen that the right knee is bending as the leg 
 begins to swing round. There was some excuse for this 
 in the torture of spinning round with bare feet on a 
 piece of linoleum which had become scorchingly hot in 
 the blaze of a July sun; a rather severe test on one's 
 powers of concentration. There is, however, a very fine 
 climax of poise in the second of the third row, and, if 
 looked at with a magnifying glass, the extreme tension of 
 the leg muscles and especially those of the foot will be 
 clearly seen. 
 
 134
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 7. 
 
 Copynght.] 
 
 Exercise III. in Detail
 
 EXERCISE IV 
 
 STARTING from the Preliminary Position, take a very 
 short step backwards with the right foot, carrying 
 the body well back so that all the weight is over 
 the right heel, leaving the left foot with only the extreme 
 tip of the toe touching the ground, the heel well raised, 
 and the upper line of the instep curved outwards. (See 
 Plate LII/) The arms remain throughout this exercise 
 the same as in the Preliminary Position, viz., drawn down 
 to their full length at the sides, and tense to the finger- 
 tips. The body also and poise of the head should remain 
 absolutely unchanged, the whole movement being confined 
 to the left leg, which is to perform a wide three-quarter 
 circle on the principle of the moving arm of a compass; 
 the pivot arm being represented by the immovable line of 
 the body and right leg, revolving on the heel, and actuated 
 by the motor incentive of the left leg alone, without any 
 independent movement. Having taken the step back, 
 brace both knees to their utmost Tension, remembering 
 that the whole body must remain in a tense vertical line 
 over the right heel, which will form the pivot. The start 
 for the pivoting movement is given by the left leg, which 
 should swing straight from the hip in a wide, gradually- 
 rising, backward semicircle, straight and tense, with the 
 
 135
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 toe still pointing towards the ground. Plate LII.° shows 
 the starting movement of the left leg, and is a very 
 good photograph of this position. There should be no 
 sense of effort in effecting this turn. None whatever is 
 needed ; the turn of the body being effected by the 
 resistance of the leg against the hip at a certain point, 
 which resistance is amply sufficient to bring the body 
 itself into the sweep of the curve, provided always (and 
 this is the whole difficulty) that it is able to maintain the 
 unbroken vertical Hne through Tension, so that a pull at 
 any point of this vertical Hne will act on the whole line 
 at its pivot only, viz., the heel. The resistance at the hip 
 occurs when the left leg has reached a right angle to its 
 start, and at this moment the left toes should be slightly 
 raised so that the heel may revolve quite freely. The 
 pivot foot makes a revolution of a half-circle ; the body 
 the same, so that when the curve ceases the student should 
 be facing exactly the opposite direction to the start. To 
 arrive at this, the left leg must make three-quarters of a 
 circle, at which point the left foot comes to the ground, 
 on the ball of the toes, while the left knee bends instantly 
 to allow the weight of the body to be transferred to the 
 left side in a vertical Hne over the ball of the left foot, 
 resulting in a side-lunge as the final position. At the same 
 moment that the left foot touches the ground the right 
 will have finished the pivoting movement on the heel, and 
 without a pause this heel should be raised so as to leave 
 only the extreme point of the toe touching the ground ; 
 the right leg remaining throughout Hke a rod of steel, 
 136
 
 F 
 
 <
 
 EXERCISE IV 
 
 straight and tense ; the body, arms, and head in exactly the 
 same relative position as at the start. 
 
 Plate LII.*^ is a fine photograph of this position; 
 it should be noted carefully how the left heel is raised 
 from the ground, and how a line drawn from the middle 
 of the back ends in the ball of the left foot ; the Tension 
 of the back muscles may also be seen clearly through the 
 jersey. In this exercise, the whole difficulty will be found 
 in the effort to keep the waist muscles tense. At the 
 start they will bend backwards, so that the sensation of 
 falling back will naturally upset the balance. If by chance 
 the student gets round somehow, he will find, on landing 
 with the left foot on the ground, that these same muscles 
 give way forwards, and that he is unable to prevent a pitch 
 forward. This difficulty constitutes the main interest of 
 this apparently simple exercise; there seems at first sight 
 less movement than in any of the others, only one leg to 
 swing round — and it can't be done ! In reality, the 
 difficulty is purely mental, and lies in the impossibility to 
 the beginner of localising movement, of keeping practically 
 the whole body immobile, and concentrating all action on 
 one particular joint. For this reason, this exercise demands 
 a more intense concentration and a far higher vibratory 
 Tension — that is to say, a more absolutely unbroken 
 connection — than any other ; and this maximum velocity 
 of vibration is only arrived at through exceptional power 
 in the diaphragm, enabling it to radiate at maximum speed. 
 
 Confining myself solely to the physical means by 
 which this condition may be acquired, the effort to keep 
 
 137
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the waist fully stretched will lighten the difficulties to 
 some extent, and as there is very little physical fatigue 
 connected with this exercise, it may be repeated until the 
 student gets either tired or angry, when it will be wiser to 
 leave it for another practice and come to it again fresh. 
 
 The recovery from the side lunge is made by a spring 
 from the ball of the left foot, upwards and sideways, until 
 the body comes once more into an erect vertical line, with 
 both feet pressed close together, well up on the toes. The 
 exercise should be repeated six or eight times on each side, 
 the start being made each time from the finishing position ; 
 but this repetition should not be attempted until some sort 
 of mastery has been gained over this very fascinating but 
 inexplicably difficult exercise. 
 
 The maximum height reached by the rising curve of 
 the swinging leg should be about twelve inches. A great 
 effort will be needed to avoid bending the knee of the 
 pivot leg, which must be like a steel rod the whole time. 
 Cinema Series No. 8 gives the details of this exercise; it 
 is an exceptionally good one, and in the first three rows 
 there will not be discovered the sHghtest wavering from the 
 vertical Hne. I myself was astonished when I saw the 
 photographs, for, on careful examination, there will be seen 
 on the background a faint line, which comes by chance 
 immediately above my head, and this will be found in 
 exactly the same place until the last row, when the side 
 lunge naturally carries the whole body over to the left. 
 
 138
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 8, 
 
 Copyright.} 
 
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 Exercise I\'. in Detail.
 
 EXERCISE V 
 
 FROM the Preliminary Position, take a step forward 
 on to the toes of the left foot, bringing up the right, 
 also on the toes, very swiftly close to the left, press- 
 ing the two feet together, with raised heels touching. Both 
 these steps should be taken with absolutely straight 
 knees. Simultaneously with this step forward, bring the 
 hands together in front as low down as possible, the left 
 hand nearer the body, though not touching it, the palm 
 of the right hand lying along the back of the left; both 
 hands fully stretched to the finger-tips, and forming almost 
 a right angle with the arms. The thumbs should be held 
 erect and tense at right angles to the rest of the hand, a 
 detail which must be carefully noted, in view of the 
 clasping of the hands which follows. (See Plate LIII.'^) 
 Now comes a swift drop of the body, some five or six 
 inches by bending the right knee and letting the left foot 
 drop well to one side of, and a Httle behind the right foot, 
 the left knee also bent, but without altering the position of 
 the thigh. These movements should leave the weight 
 poised entirely on the ball of the right foot ; the spine 
 remaining vertical as at the start; the left leg held 
 absolutely loose with no weight upon it. The sudden 
 drop of the body is accompanied by as sudden an up- 
 
 139
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 lifting of both arms with hands now clasped (the right 
 over the left) and about five or six inches above the head. 
 The details of this position are more readily grasped 
 by photograph than by any amount of description, and 
 Plate LIII.^ shows them quite clearly. From this posi- 
 tion the whole body must be turned completely round in a 
 half-circle, so as to face the opposite direction, but without 
 disturbing the relative positions in any way, and the spin 
 round is executed in the following way : 
 
 With the right knee still bent, the body still vertical, 
 the weight still on the ball of the right foot, bring the 
 hands down, tightly clasped, in a rapid semicircular 
 sweep to the right, taking the waist-line as the 
 limit of the curve, keeping the hands close to the body 
 and bringing them again to the same height above the 
 head. If the whole of the body is kept tense and 
 immobile when this swing is commenced, it will be found 
 that as soon as the arms meet with resistance at the 
 shoulders in their swing to the right, this resistance will 
 be enough to start the whole body pivoting round with 
 the greatest ease, as one immovable mass, on the ball of 
 the right foot ; and the spin round into the opposite 
 direction will have taken place apparently by itself. 
 This is practically what will happen, provided the 
 unbroken tension has been maintained, which keeps the 
 perfect vertical line of the whole weight over its pivot. 
 What actually happens with the novice at first, unfortu- 
 nately, is a complete inability to get round at all. The 
 foot seems glued to the ground, while the waist endeavours 
 140
 
 <
 
 w 
 < 
 
 isacisii 
 
 o
 
 EXERCISE V 
 
 to twist independently, in the hope of dragging the body 
 after it, a movement which results in the complete upset 
 of the balance and a fall forward. 
 
 The movement is most beautiful when correctly per- 
 formed : a vertical line, turned completely round on its 
 pivot, by the action of a vertical curve working on a 
 horizontal bar, whose point of connection is at the top 
 of the Hne, the bar being represented by the horizontal 
 line of the shoulders. The arms, working from beautifully 
 loose ball-and-socket shoulder-joints, are able to describe 
 a great part of their curve before encountering the 
 resistance which sets in motion the horizontal bar of 
 the shoulders, and eventually draws into the movement 
 the whole vertical axis of the body, rigid in its con- 
 nection with the horizontal bar. The great difficulty 
 in this pivoting movement, apart from that of keeping 
 the waist tense, is to prevent the left leg from taking 
 any active part in it, as also to eliminate all needless 
 strength in the arm movement. The left foot should only 
 just be lifted off the ground while the turn is being 
 made ; a slight movement of the ankle is sufficient, the 
 position of the leg itself should remain unchanged. But 
 we will now suppose the turn has been made, position 
 No. 3 being merely No. 2 facing in the opposite direction. 
 This position is followed by a lunge backwards with the 
 left foot, a movement that demands a gradual sinking 
 back without looking round, or indeed making any other 
 movement, except that of lifting the left foot just clear of 
 the ground. This sinking back involves, of course, the 
 
 141
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 gradual straightening of the right knee. Just before this 
 is completed, the arms are brought swiftly down in a 
 full-length swinging curve, past the left side, and up 
 again, with full momentum, above the head, at the same 
 moment that the ball of the left foot comes to the ground 
 at an obtuse angle to the line of the backward lunge, 
 while the left knee bends, lowering the body some five or 
 six inches as the foot touches the ground. Great care 
 will be required to get this position correctly, and the 
 body, as well as the left foot, should now be at an obtuse 
 angle to the original starting position of the backward 
 lunge. Plate LIII.^ shows the position of the com- 
 pleted lunge, and though in itself the photograph is 
 excellent, I am sorry to say it does not represent the 
 correct angle that should have followed that view of 
 the position given in Plate LIII.^ For this reason : 
 In doing the whole exercise before the camera, I found 
 that in taking the lunge back from the full-face position 
 of Plate LIII.^, the foreshortening made it impossible 
 to analyse the position of the feet and knees. I therefore 
 had this one position taken in profile, and to understand 
 how I arrived at the lunge as shown on Plate LIII.^, 
 it must be remembered that before taking it I was 
 standing where, in the lunge, the right foot is touching 
 the ground, and facing to the left, so that my left side 
 would appear to the spectator. Fortunately, there is 
 an exceptionally fine Cinema Series No. 9, which will at 
 once clear away any confusion that may have been caused, 
 and it is only necessary to study this carefully to under- 
 142
 
 CINExMA SERIES, No. 9. 
 
 Copyyiqht.~\ 
 
 Exercise V. in Dutail.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 9 (co)itinue(l). 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 Jd± 
 
 a 
 
 Copyright ] 
 
 Exercise y. in Detail
 
 EXERCISE V 
 
 stand quite clearly the sequence of angles. It is most 
 important that the line of the backward lunge should be 
 directly behind the right foot, which, on completion of 
 the lunge, should be stretched to the utmost, and touching 
 only with the side of the big toe, all the weight having 
 been carried back simultaneously with the receding left 
 foot. As this most difficult movement becomes at all 
 possible, it will be found that any attempt to look round 
 on the backward lunge will immediately upset the balance. 
 Only by forcing the will to allow the fall back without 
 fear will the fourth position become possible, viz., that 
 of the reversed lunge. Here, again, the turn of the body 
 is effected by the loose free swing of the arms from the 
 shoulder, but in this curve they descend to their full 
 length and pass well below the waist. When sufficient 
 practice has made possible a careful analysis of what I may 
 call these ** motive curves," it will be found that quite half 
 of this curve is completed before any movement of the 
 body begins. But as soon as the half is finished, the 
 momentum of the swing comes against the resistance 
 of the shoulder, and against this resistance the whole 
 body is swung swiftly round into the final obtuse angle 
 at the same moment that the left foot comes to 
 the ground as its new base. From this position, a 
 recovery back to the right foot must be made without in 
 any way altering the angle of the body. This is effected 
 by the usual spring from the ball of the left foot, aided by 
 extreme tension of the right leg, so that both feet come 
 together high on the toes, the whole body stretched 
 
 143
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 upwards, the arms still uplifted and hands still clasped. 
 This position is shown on Plate LIV.^; and the final 
 one of all is a swift downward sweep of the hands, which 
 descend close to the body and to well below the waist 
 before they unclasp and separate in lateral curves to right 
 and left, stopping finally about eight or ten inches away 
 from the body, the fingers fully outstretched and tense, 
 and the palms facing backwards and slightly downwards. 
 Simultaneously with this downward sweep of the arms, 
 which must be extremely rapid, the feet are lowered, 
 so that the heels are level with although not actually 
 touching the ground, for all the weight must be on the 
 forward part as usual. This simultaneous movement of 
 hands and feet must be so swift and so exact that both 
 cease at the same instant, the heels being brought level 
 with the ground, on the principle of the steam hammer 
 descending to within a hair's breadth of a watch-glass 
 without actually touching it. There must be the same 
 arrestive force in the downward sweep of the arms as in 
 the lowering of the heels. Plate LIV.^ gives this last 
 position of an extremely complicated sequence of move- 
 ments, and it will be a long while before repetitions of this 
 exercise become possible. The angle at which it finishes, 
 being one of 45 degrees to the line of the start, the next 
 repetition begins by taking the first step in the same acute 
 angle, and ends at a right angle, beginning again in the 
 right angle and ending in an obtuse, starting on the obtuse, 
 and ending on the half-circle, and so on with three more 
 reflex angles, until the original starting-point is reached. 
 144
 
 EXERCISE V 
 
 To make a complete series of repetitions, therefore, the 
 exercise has to be repeated eight times, and it will be very 
 near perfection when the series of eight can be performed, 
 starting from a small chalk circle the size of a quarter, 
 and, without lowering the eyes once, returning to it with 
 the last step taken on to the mark I When the first 
 attempts at repetitions are made, two should be the limit, 
 otherwise the student will become hopelessly mixed and 
 neglect the necessary fine detail of the movement in the 
 effort to get the angles correct. Direction, as aim, is 
 entirely secondary, and it will be found that a perfectly 
 performed sequence cannot fail to register correct angles, 
 as the whole secret lies in the centre of gravity, and its 
 relation to its base ; if the two remain vertically connected, 
 the angles will be found exact. 
 
 145
 
 EXERCISE VI 
 
 THIS exercise, like No. IV., is a test of extremely 
 difficult balance accompanied by comparatively 
 easy movement. In this particular case, however, 
 the movement is forward instead of backward, which makes 
 the mental control easier, although the physical difficulties 
 are much greater than in No. IV. 
 
 From the Preliminary Position, take a fairly long step 
 back with the left foot, turning the body so that it faces 
 a right angle to the original position, while the left foot 
 is placed on the ground at an obtuse angle to the 
 direction of the start. The right foot remains on the 
 ground, with only the extreme point of the big toe 
 touching, and with the instep turned towards the left. 
 In taking the step back, the weight of the body must 
 travel with it, so that the moment the left foot touches 
 the ground, the left knee should bend, with the weight 
 directly over it, lowering the body five or six inches 
 and keeping it poised on the ball of the foot, the heel 
 being raised a full inch from the ground. During 
 these combined movements of body and feet, the 
 hands and arms remain exactly as in the Preliminary 
 Position, and when the body makes the acute angle turn 
 on the first backward step, the movement should be made 
 146
 
 > 
 
 <
 
 EXERCISE VI 
 
 from the hip and not from the waist. During the whole 
 of this exercise, the arms and the torso, together with the 
 head and the neck, remain perfectly rigid; rigid in the true 
 technical sense of the word, that is to say, with their 
 relative positions unchanged. Plate LV.^ gives the po- 
 sition after the backward lunge, the start having been 
 made on the left of the photograph with the body in 
 profile. The accuracy of the poise on the left foot 
 must be tested by raising the right foot for an instant 
 by a movement of the ankle alone, and if this can be 
 done without disturbing in the slightest degree the 
 vertical line over the left foot, the balance is perfect. 
 
 The exercise now consists in turning the body into 
 a fresh right angle to the left, repeating this four times 
 (including the first), which brings the position back to 
 the original starting-point. Each turn must be accom- 
 plished solely by a movement of the right leg and the 
 slightest possible turn to the left of the left foot. The 
 preliminary movement for this turn is a drawing up 
 of the right foot close to the left, without touching 
 it, and just clearing the ground, while the left 
 knee remains bent, the right knee drawn close to it. 
 Plate LV.^ shows this preparatory drawing up of the 
 leg before shooting it out into a fresh right angle, 
 after which the body would be seen in profile, the right 
 side with the extended leg facing the spectator. The 
 right foot must now be shot out as rapidly as possible, 
 at a left right angle to its first position, which move- 
 ment must be accompanied by the equally rapid turn 
 
 147
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 of the left foot, also to the left. This turn of the 
 left foot is the most difficult movement to make 
 correctly, although it would not appear so. The 
 vertical line of the body having been lowered by the 
 bending knee so that it passes through the points of 
 shoulder, hip, and foot only, the strain of carrying 
 the weight is concentrated on the extensor muscles of the 
 thigh, and the tendon Achilles ; and the effort to main- 
 tain rigid equilibrium in this position is extreme. When, 
 therefore, is added to this a movement requiring the sudden 
 change of direction of the body while undergoing this 
 exceptional strain, without altering any one of the relative 
 positions, the difficulties will be obvious. In Exercise V. 
 the initial movement of the arms was that which started 
 the vertical line of the body (with bent knee), revolving 
 on its pivot, a movement which, working as it did from 
 the more powerful leverage obtained by height, was able to 
 effect the turn of the whole body with literally no effort. 
 In the present case, the arms are rigid and immovable, 
 therefore the whole of the effort is confined to the muscles 
 of the foot, which must be so strong in Tension that they 
 are able to make the turn even with the weight above them. 
 This is not only possible but quite simple if the whole 
 body is equally tense, in which case, it will be remem- 
 bered, there is no aggregate of weight at any one point, 
 the elasticity of the Tension keeping it as a moving 
 quantity. Therefore, the movement of the left foot is 
 merely the signal for concerted action, and, like the flash 
 of a chameleon's tongue, the right leg shoots out into 
 148
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. lo. 
 
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 Exercise \'I. in Dclail.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. lo. (contumccl). 
 
 Copyright.] 
 
 Exercise VI. in Detail.
 
 EXERCISE VI 
 
 fullest Tension, the left foot has turned, and the whole 
 body is at a fresh angle, without the alteration of a hair's 
 breadth in any of the relative positions. The drawing up 
 and shooting out of the right leg should be a rapidly- 
 continuous movement, and, when it is performed correctly, 
 the toe comes with the barest touch to the ground ; the 
 outline traced by the curve of the leg movement being 
 that of an arc of a circle. The great difficulty will be 
 to localise the movement to the right leg and left foot, 
 especially in the shooting out. The body is bound to 
 topple over at first, and the weight will sway to the 
 movement of the leg on account of the weakness of the 
 left knee when bent, unused, as all modern knees are, to 
 making any independent movement. It will be a long 
 while before it is able to hold the whole weight of the body 
 immobile on the strength of its own particular muscles. 
 But when that is achieved, it is a beautiful movement ; 
 rapid and silent and definite, as each change shoots the 
 whole position into a fresh angle. And so on, till the 
 four are accomplished, and later on eight, or twelve, or 
 even more ; but this is a test for very perfect knee muscles, 
 and more than six rounds, viz., twenty-four changes, 
 should never be attempted, even by the most perfectly 
 trained muscles. 
 
 The recovery is a light spring from the left toes back- 
 wards, and upwards, which brings the body again into an 
 erect position, with both feet pressed close together high 
 up on the toes. Again the cinematograph speaks clearer 
 than the most lucid explanation could ever do, and Cinema 
 
 149
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 Series No. 10 is worthy of the most careful study. The 
 vertical immobility of the torso is admirably demonstrated 
 by the position of the head in connection with the side 
 line of a closed window which is seen in the background. 
 From the third row, right on to the last row but one, the 
 relative distance of the head from this line never changes, 
 although it must be remembered that the body has changed 
 into three different angles in this interval. 
 
 ISO
 
 EXERCISE VII 
 
 THIS exercise is, like the second, an example of the 
 triangle of forces, finishing in exactly the same 
 position as Exercise II., although arrived at in a 
 totally different way. It will be remembered that in Exercise 
 II. the backward and upward swing of the right leg is, so 
 to speak, the motive force of the sequence. In the case of 
 Exercise VII., the whole effort is concentrated on preventing 
 this leg movement until the last moment, when the leg flies 
 up of itself irresistibly. 
 
 From the Preliminary Position, raise the hands to the 
 first position of Exercise II., viz., the right hand with 
 clenched fist raised to the shoulder, the hand turned as 
 far round to the left as possible, the elbow bent and kept 
 as closely to the waist as will allow the forearm to remain 
 nearly vertical. Simultaneously with this movement, the 
 left forearm is brought across the waist in a horizontal line, 
 the hand also clenched. In this position, and taking great 
 care not to disturb the shoulders, force up the right hip by 
 lifting the right heel as high as possible until only the 
 extreme point of the big toe touches the ground, keeping 
 the knee absolutely straight, the whole leg tense and unbend*- 
 ing. The details of this extraordinary position are quite 
 clear on Plate LVI.'^ The extreme limit of Tension
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 in the right leg can only be obtained by bending the body 
 to the left, which must be done very slowly, keeping the 
 head vertical, so that, as the body bends over to the left and 
 slightly forward, the head remains stationary, while the right 
 shoulder, by means of the bending neck, gradually comes 
 quite close to the right cheek, not lifted specially, and above 
 all not hunched up in any way, but brought near by the 
 lowering of the left shoulder away from an immovable head. 
 The bend of the body to the left must take place at the waist 
 only, so that the left leg, as base, may remain absolutely 
 vertical, the foot flat on the ground. It is most important 
 that in this bending over of the body from the waist, there 
 should be only a very slight lean forward, the direction of 
 the bend being almost a right angle from that in which the 
 body faces. Plate LVI.^ shows this side bend when it 
 is about half completed. Now comes the moment when 
 the Tension plus the weight of the leaning body make it 
 difficult to keep the right toe on the ground, but this must 
 be done until the bend reaches the utmost limit, paying 
 out the weight and drawing out the muscles of the right 
 leg, until it can bear it no longer, when in an instant the 
 body actually overbalances, and apparently the whole 
 position is lost ! But no, it is just this overbalancing that 
 releases the tension on the right leg, and up it flies Hke a 
 willow branch that has been held down, just at the exact 
 moment when the poise seems irrevocable It is here 
 that the principle of the triangle of forces comes into 
 action, and the outward and upward swing of the right 
 leg counteracts the falling body by throwing out a weight 
 
 152
 
 > 
 
 w 
 <
 
 > 
 
 w
 
 EXERCISE VII 
 
 in a horizontal line at a sufficient distance to form a 
 reaction strong enough to pull the body back into balance, 
 provided always there is that perfect connection of every 
 muscle through complete Tension. Plate LVI.'^ is a 
 very fine example of this poise, which is extremely difficult 
 to maintain for any length of time. At the moment of this 
 re-established poise, the left hand is pulled round to the 
 left shoulder, drawing the body round in a rapid turn to 
 the left ; at the same moment the waist, with a quick little 
 twist to the right, readjusts the body squarely over the left 
 foot, which has acted as pivot in this movement, and will 
 now be at a right angle to its first direction, having spun 
 round on the toes. The twist of the waist is accompanied 
 by the inward turn of the right hip and consequently the 
 altered position of the whole leg, which is now turned so 
 that the sole of the foot is facing upwards. Here, then, is the 
 exact position of the poise as shown in Exercise II., and 
 Plate LVII. shows it exactly as it took place. It will be 
 noticed that the outline is blurred, and this is accounted for 
 by the extreme rapidity with which the turning movement 
 has to be made from the poise of Plate LVI.^ Although 
 my photographer wished to retouch the outlines, I preferred 
 to keep it untouched as is the case with all the photographs, 
 that they might above all be absolutely true. The recovery 
 is naturally the same as that given in Exercise II., viz., by 
 raising the body and lowering the right leg simultaneously, 
 without relaxing the Tension of the line formed by the 
 locking of the spine and the right leg. The head makes 
 no independent movement, but is carried into the right- 
 
 153
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 angle turn with the body, and is left free and erect by the 
 squaring of the shoulders which is the result of the waist 
 twist. After the final recovery on to the toes, the position 
 should be maintained, as with all exercises, sufficiently 
 long to make quite sure that the balance is secure. 
 
 This particular exercise is exceptional in its move- 
 ments of the sciatic muscle which occur at the moment 
 of the simultaneous twist to the right of the waist, and 
 inward turn to the left of the right leg; these two move- 
 ments combined place the muscles of the lumbar region 
 at their highest pitch of Tension, muscles which as a rule 
 are given little or no share in any exercise, but which in 
 this particular movement are called upon to bear the main 
 responsibility of a perfect poise. One moment finds the 
 body bent sideways on fully-stretched abdominal and loin 
 muscles ; the next finds it presenting a full face to the 
 direction in which the side bend was made, the twist 
 having been made by the small of the back on a tense 
 pivot. The importance, therefore, of this particular exer- 
 cise from a purely physical point of view is obvious, for 
 the large majority of men and women, especially women, 
 suffer from weakness in these particular muscles. 
 
 As the final recovery is identical with that of 
 Exercise II., a second photograph has not been given, and 
 reference can easily be made to Plate L.^ 
 
 Four repetitions of the exercise will complete the 
 
 series, each ending at a right-angle turn, but with 
 
 this difference, that whereas in the first case the 
 
 pivot itself describes a small square as the body 
 
 154
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. ii, 
 
 Copyright] 
 
 Exercise VII. in Detail
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. ii [coNtinncd). 
 
 « 
 
 rf 
 
 Copyr,i,hi:\ 
 
 Exercise \ II. in Detail
 
 EXERCISE VII 
 
 changes direction, in the second it remains stationary, 
 each turn being made by the movement of the foot 
 alone, without change of place. In Cinema Series No. 11 
 will be found some fine positions, notably Nos. 13 and 15, 
 which have been enlarged for the better study of the 
 actual turn. 
 
 155
 
 EXERCISE VIII 
 
 THIS exercise will at first sight seem a retrograde 
 movement, on account of its apparent simplicity, 
 but it is just this simplicity and ease which make 
 it so hard to achieve. Apart from this, each sequence ends 
 at an acute angle, making a series of eight repetitions, which 
 in itself trebles the difficulties, and the movement is so 
 peculiarly continuous that the general impression of the 
 eight repetitions is that they form a circle. As a matter of 
 fact, this is what they do, and this makes it much more 
 difficult to judge each angle correctly, and to arrive at the 
 finish upon the actual starting-point. 
 
 The start is, as usual, from the Preliminary Position, 
 and begins by raising the hands as in Exercise I. This is 
 followed by a short step back with the left foot, leaving 
 the right with only the extreme point of the toe touching 
 the ground, both knees perfectly straight and tense. 
 Plate LVIII.'^ shows this position. Now, without altering 
 the position of the feet, carry the uplifted arms and 
 shoulders right round to the left until the arms form a right 
 angle to the direction of the feet. This is a movement 
 made by the waist and hips, which twist the whole of 
 the upper part of the body to the left, without disturbing 
 the position of the legs. (See Plate LVIII.^) When the 
 10
 
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 w 
 
 < 
 P-i
 
 EXERCISE VIII 
 
 right-angle turn of the shoulders is completed, the move- 
 ment must be carried on without the least pause by the 
 right foot, which comes round and back in a sweeping 
 inward curve, until in line with the left foot. This 
 places the right foot about fifteen inches back, and the 
 same to the right of its first position, which really 
 means that it is now about a foot length and a half 
 behind the left foot, and pointing at an acute angle 
 to its first direction. As the right foot touches the 
 ground, the knee should bend, lowering the body about 
 five inches. The left foot should now be touching 
 the ground with the extreme point of the big toe, and 
 although the heel will be well raised, the direction of 
 the whole foot should be exactly the same as it was 
 when having taken the first step back, while the right foot 
 will be pointing to the left, in an acute angle to its first 
 direction. These details are extremely intricate, but 
 Plate LVIII.'^ will, I hope, render them comprehensible. 
 The greatest care must be given to the study of the different 
 positions of the feet, as these are of the utmost importance. 
 Now comes a free upward swing of the left leg into the acute 
 angle midway between the line of the start and the right- 
 angle turn. After reaching a horizontal Hne, it swings 
 back to the right foot, which, on the upward swing, should 
 rise right up on to the toes, with the knee still bent. (See 
 Plate LVIII.^) On the downward movement the right 
 knee straightens up to meet the left foot, so that both may 
 come close together in the effort to bring the body into 
 an erect poise. Simultaneously with the upward swing of 
 
 157
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the left leg, the arms must swing down to the left side to 
 counterbalance the leg movement to the right. These 
 movements will be recognised as very similar to those of 
 Exercise I., and the recovery, as in the case of the first 
 exercise, is made by carrying the arms up to their first 
 position at the same moment that the left leg is lowered. 
 
 The final direction of feet and body will be into an 
 acute angle from the first line, and in this position lies the 
 difficulty of the repetitions. It means the complicated 
 mental performance of making a right angle turn from an 
 acute angle position, and it is quite useless to trust to the 
 eyes to find land-marks. It is the feeling of the position 
 which will be the test of an accurate angle, and the whole 
 attention should be directed towards the perfection of each 
 detail, which alone will give correct angles. 
 
 The most important thing in this exercise is to keep 
 the movement continuous and smooth. This does not 
 apply to the repetitions only, but to every change of 
 position in the single sequence, as, for example, the 
 immediate carrying-on movement of the right leg, as soon 
 as the body has been turned into a right angle, the 
 immediate bend of the right knee as soon as the foot 
 touches the ground on its backward step, the immediate 
 upward swing of the left leg the moment the right knee 
 is bent, and the equally rapid lowering of the left leg as 
 soon as the horizontal line has been reached. And so on, 
 like a wave, rising and falling, should be the movement of 
 this apparently simple yet unaccountably difficult exercise. 
 The torso remains throughout vertical and practically 
 158
 
 EXERCISE VIII 
 
 immobile, except for the turn of the waist on the second 
 movement. Unfortunately, the Cinema Series of this 
 exercise has been mislaid, but the large plates are so 
 exceptionally full of detail that there will be no difficulty 
 in arriving at a clear understanding of the changes of 
 position. There is, however, a Cinema Series representing 
 a combination of two exercises in which this fortunately 
 happens to be one. In Cinema Series No. 15, therefore, 
 the first two rows and a half represent the whole of this 
 exercise before it merges into a second, and a reference to 
 this series will provide all the details necessary for the 
 single exercise. 
 
 159
 
 EXERCISE IX 
 
 THIS exercise needs great care, because, unless the 
 details of each change of position are followed 
 out accurately, the movements may become too 
 great a strain. But given the necessary caution, there is no 
 need to fear an over-strain. If the other exercises have been 
 patiently studied, the muscles of the diaphragm and the 
 waist will have become so much stronger that they will be 
 quite ready to undertake the whole strain of this move- 
 ment, or, to be more accurate, share it with the knee 
 muscles, for the whole strain is concentrated on the inside 
 muscles of the knee and those of the diaphragm and waist: 
 sets of muscles which are rarely if ever called upon to play 
 a really important part in any of the usual exercises. This 
 concentration of effort on two sets of muscles does not 
 mean that no others share in the movement. Ail are 
 vibrating with tense alertness in the effort to disperse the 
 weight in order to relieve the two points of special strain, 
 and it would be impossible to achieve any sort of success 
 with this particular exercise unless the Tension were 
 complete. 
 
 Begin, then, from the Preliminary Position by taking a 
 rather short step forward on to the ball of the left foot, 
 and instantly spinning round on it into a left right angle, 
 1 60
 
 X 
 
 <
 
 EXERCISE IX 
 
 while at the same moment the right foot makes a long 
 lunge to the right side in such a manner as to lower the 
 body five or six inches on bent knees, the weight equally 
 divided between both feet, which should be well turned 
 outwards. The spine should be kept quite still and 
 vertical, and the arms should hang straight down at each 
 side, tense as to muscle, but quite loose and free at the 
 shoulder socket. Plate LIX.'^ shows the position as it 
 should be after having made the right-angle turn. The 
 three movements that go to make up this turn, the spin 
 on the left foot, the side lunge with the right, and the 
 bending of the knees, should all be done simultaneously 
 with the utmost rapidity, and in studying Plate LIX.^ 
 it must be remembered that the start was made facing the 
 spectator. Great care must be taken to maintain the 
 weight of the body exactly between the two feet. 
 
 The movement which follows is a backward lean of 
 the shoulders, together with a simultaneous push forward 
 of the hips and a turning in of the knees, and the farther 
 back the shoulders are able to lean, the farther forward 
 must come the hips and the nearer together the knees. 
 The hip movement forward is to counterbalance the back- 
 ward lean of the shoulders, and the narrowing of the 
 distance between the knees is to avoid what would 
 otherwise be a dangerous strain on the groin muscles. 
 With the turning in of the knees comes a similar inward 
 lean of the feet until the outside edge of the sole is raised 
 quite clear from the ground, and all contact is on the 
 inside of the foot, as far as the ankle, which eventually 
 
 i6i
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 lies over on the ground. This turning in of the knees 
 and feet leaves unstretched the abdominal and groin 
 muscles and makes possible an extraordinary backward 
 lean on the strength of the diaphragm alone, and, what is 
 more, without the least strain, except indeed on the 
 inside muscles of the knee, which are stretched to their 
 utmost by the increase of the bend as the body is 
 lowered. Plate LIX.^ should now be studied, so that 
 the position of the head and the angle of the body may 
 be noted. Here it is wise to insert a caution against any 
 attempt to lean back before the knees are brought together, 
 for if this is tried, instantly a great strain and dragging 
 will be felt on the abdominal and groin muscles, which is 
 most harmful. No exercise that causes pain can be right. 
 Muscles which have been overstrained never reach their 
 full power of elasticity — on the contrary, contraction and 
 hardening is the inevitable reaction of overstrain, a 
 condition known among athletes as " muscle-bound." 
 In the case of this particular exercise, the turning in of 
 the knees relaxes all the abdominal and groin muscles, and 
 allows direct leverage between the diaphragm and the 
 foot. 
 
 While m the position shown on Plate LIX.^, the 
 body should be swayed backwards and forwards, great 
 care being taken not to straighten the knees in any way, 
 but only to widen or close them according as the body 
 sways forward or backward ; widening, of course, on the 
 forward movement, narrowing on the backward, quicker 
 and quicker as the strain becomes less, but never repeating 
 162
 
 EXERCISE IX 
 
 more than six times at a break. The forward movement 
 is merely the return to the vertical, and is therefore a 
 negative one in relation to the first position. 
 
 I hesitated a long while before adding Plate LIX.^, 
 on account of the danger of premature attempts to arrive 
 at it, and I most strongly advise that it should be left 
 alone by all whose muscles are not in the very finest 
 condition. 
 
 It might appear quite a simple matter to drop on to 
 the knees in this position, and so it would be. But now 
 study the photograph. The knees are not on the ground ; 
 they have been lowered slowly, slowly, until within an 
 inch ; even the calves of the legs are not touching, as 
 will be seen by the faint line of light between them 
 and the ground. The effort is terrific, and the whole 
 beauty of it lies in the strong muscular control that 
 forces the knees to bend slowly, slowly, until they reach 
 to within a fraction of the ground, and then, as slowly, 
 rise again ; that is the difficulty. Going down is hard 
 enough — look at the muscles of the neck standing out 
 through the jersey ; look at the diaphragm, it is Hke a 
 board— and then picture the strength of the foot and 
 knee that are going to reverse that tremendous strain 
 without an interval, without any definite point of leverage. 
 It is the diaphragm that leads, and the feet and knees obey. 
 
 Perhaps, too, I have added this photograph from a 
 little feeling of conscious pride in being able to prove 
 what even forty-seven-year-old muscles are able to do 
 when finely trained. 
 
 163
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 And now, after this exercise, evolved solely for the 
 strengthening of the diaphragm, another follows which 
 has been thought out with a view to suppling the same 
 muscle. 
 
 164
 
 EXERCISE X 
 
 THIS exercise consists in moving in two different 
 directions at the same moment. 
 It was done by the Egyptians and by the 
 Greeks, and later by the Parthians, who survive to this day 
 as a small clan in the heart of Thibet, where they were re- 
 cently discovered by the French explorer, Mons. D'Ollon. 
 He describes how among this remnant of the Parthian 
 tribe may still be seen men who run in one direction 
 and shoot in another, the origin of the expression "a 
 Parthian shaft." 
 
 In this exercise the whole body is braced into the 
 utmost Tension, and the upper and lower parts will work 
 against each other, with the diaphragm as an axis on 
 which each half may turn in opposite directions. 
 
 From the Preliminary Position, begin by taking a short 
 step forward with the left foot, bringing, as usual, the 
 whole weight on to the ball of the foot, the heel just 
 off the ground, and only the toes of the right foot 
 touching the ground, the arms hanging straight and tense 
 at the sides, with clenched fists. Plate LX.^ shows 
 this position, and while studying the photograph it must 
 be remembered that the actual advance is going to be 
 made towards the spectator, while the incentive movement, 
 
 i6s
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 if I may use such an expression, will be to right and 
 left. As soon as the step is completed, swing the arms 
 round as far as possible to the left until they have made 
 the shoulders and the head complete a right-angle turn. 
 They will now be facing the direction in which the 
 actual advance of the body is to be made. Plate LX.'' 
 shows the position when the arms have been brought 
 round, and it will be noticed that the face and shoulders 
 are looking directly over the left hip. The next move- 
 ment consists in a complete swing round on the ball 
 of the left foot, which should now face the opposite 
 direction, while the right takes the place of forward 
 foot with all the weight upon it, leaving this time the 
 left toes on the ground. The rapid turn of the feet will 
 now bring the right hip to the front, and simultaneously 
 with the leg movement the arms must swing in the 
 opposite direction, as far as they can, to the right, to 
 prevent the shoulders from moving, so that each time 
 the swing of the hips is made directly to right or left, the 
 arms swing in the opposite direction, while the head and 
 shoulders remain rigid, advancing always in the same line 
 of sight. Plate LX.^ shows simply the reversal of the 
 movement. The black line behind the head was placed 
 for the purpose of showing how very slight is the 
 deviation of the body from the direct line of advance, 
 in spite of the lateral movement of the feet with each 
 step, which, when completed, represents an advance of 
 from six to eight inches. These last two photographs were 
 taken without any interval between the two movements, 
 1 66
 
 X 
 
 w „ 
 < 
 
 X 
 
 ■Ci. 
 
 o
 
 EXERCISE X 
 
 except that necessary for raising the camera shutter 
 preparatory to taking the second, so they are strictly 
 sequential. Throughout the whole of this exercise, the 
 knees must remain braced into full tension, each step 
 being taken as one movement from hip to foot. Six or 
 eight steps should be the limit for the first attempts, 
 but eventually twenty-five or thirty may be done without 
 strain. 
 
 A careful study of the photographs should be made, 
 with a view to a thorough understanding of the foot 
 positions, remembering that the ball of the forward foot 
 is the momentary pivot during the swing round, but that 
 the weight of the body comes instantly on to the other 
 foot, the moment it has been brought round to form the 
 new pivot. 
 
 These last two exercises have been specially thought 
 out in connection with the diaphragm and waist muscles, 
 and having less variety of movement than the others will 
 probably prove less interesting. On the other hand, what 
 movement there is will be found more difficult than any 
 other, and for this reason these two exercises have been 
 postponed until the muscles have reached that condition 
 of strength and elasticity which makes them possible. 
 
 No cinematographic series exists at present of the two, 
 as they were only thought out after the others had been 
 taken, and were unfortunately too late to be included with 
 them. 
 
 167
 
 EXERCISE XI 
 
 NOW comes the most beautiful of all the exercises, 
 in which positions occur more striking and more 
 varied than in any other. As there are many- 
 details which cannot be seen when doing the exercise in 
 profile, two series of photographs have been given in this 
 case ; one taken in profile and one full-face. Besides these, 
 the cinema series gives all the intermediate changes. 
 
 From the Preliminary Position, take a short step 
 forward on to the ball of the right foot, bringing the 
 whole weight over it in a vertical line, leaving the left leg 
 stretched, behind and slightly to the left side, with only 
 the extreme tip of the big toe touching the ground. As 
 the step forward is being taken, the right arm should be 
 raised simultaneously in a position of parry, the forearm 
 just above the head and about five or six inches in front 
 of it, the fingers tense and outstretched, the palm of the 
 hand turned outwards. Plate LXI."^ illustrates this first 
 position, in which the spring of the feet should be 
 specially noted. The left arm should hang straight and 
 tense, well away from the left side. From this position a 
 very rapid vertical drop should be made on the ball of the 
 right toes until the knee is so bent that the thigh is 
 horizontal and the body actually sitting on the right heel. 
 1 68
 
 PLATE LXI. 
 
 Cofi\right.'\ 
 
 Eiercise XI. (Profile View.)
 
 EXERCISE XI 
 
 When speaking of this movement as a " drop " on to the 
 heel, I do not mean that the movement may be either 
 jerky or uncontrolled ; on the contrary, the greatest 
 muscular control is required to enable the bend of the 
 knee to be performed with the greatest rapidity without 
 disturbing in the slightest degree the vertical poise of the 
 body. The effort is divided between the muscles of the 
 diaphragm, knee, and foot, the diaphragm maintaining 
 the poise, while the knee and foot lower the weight. 
 Simultaneously with this drop comes the bend of the 
 left knee in such a manner that the foot and knee lie 
 over on the inside close to the ground, although only 
 the foot touches it, the sole lying at right angles to the 
 ground, facing backwards. The arms change position as 
 the knees bend ; the right being brought down from that 
 of parry to one of attack ; the fist clenched, the elbow 
 close to the side, but slightly in front of the waist line. 
 The left arm should reach well forward, nearly at full 
 length, and with open hand, to about ten inches to the 
 left of, but exactly level with, the right knee. Plate LXI.^ 
 shov/s this position in profile. The great difficulty of 
 this movement consists in keeping the line of the body 
 absolutely vertical over the bending toes of the right foot 
 without once leaning forward during the drop, but if 
 perfectly executed it will be found that the right thigh is 
 at a right angle to the spine, and the right toes at a 
 right angle to the instep; this latter detail being an 
 impossible achievement for the untrained foot. In the 
 profile view of this position, the right foot is hidden, but 
 
 169
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 it can be seen in the full view. (See Plate LXII.^) From 
 this crouching position, the right knee should now be made 
 to touch the ground, levered forward on the toes of the 
 right foot, a still greater test for the toe muscles ; while 
 the torso remains absolutely motionless and vertical. The 
 moment the knee touches, the whole weight of the body 
 should be brought forward, though not allowed to rest on 
 the knee for more than an instant, but, passing on, be 
 brought to a vertical poise over the right hand, which 
 reaches forward to form the new base. The whole arm 
 should form a vertical line from the shoulder, and almost 
 the entire weight should be over this line, for in the reach 
 forward the right foot is entirely relieved of any weight, 
 and even the left foot, which will have been drawn forward 
 about ten inches, will be touching the ground with only 
 the extreme point of the toe, so that it forms quite a 
 secondary support. On the completion of this same 
 reach forward, the right knee must be lifted well off the 
 ground, while at the same moment the left hand is 
 clenched and drawn right up to the left arm-pit, so that 
 the left elbow is bent to its limit and remains in vertical 
 line above the shoulder. This line should, if the position 
 is correct, be able to pass unbroken through the right 
 shoulder to the right hand. 
 
 The whole of the front of the body should be facing 
 the left, while the right toes remain in exactly the same 
 spot through the whole exercise, although, as will be seen, 
 they become still more bent over on the reach forward. 
 In lifting the right knee off the ground as soon as the 
 170
 
 EXERCISE XI 
 
 right hand is placed as base, great care must be taken not 
 to allow this movement to disturb any of the other relative 
 positions. 
 
 The first attempts nearly always produce a hunching 
 up of the back because of the difficulty of keeping the 
 hip-socket loose ; but if this is free the movement of the 
 leg need in no way affect the spine. Plate LXI.^ shows 
 this fine poise, which is a very perfect example of move- 
 ment, restricting the body to its narrowest limits within two 
 planes, and is almost a better example of this than the 
 much-disputed Discobolus of Myron. It will be noticed 
 that in the reach forward the left leg has straightened into 
 the utmost Tension, and it is just the tension of this leg 
 which is the key to what otherwise would be an impossible 
 balance. 
 
 After a moment's pause in this position, the recovery 
 begins by replacing the right knee on the ground, and 
 drawing up the left foot level with, and about four inches 
 to the left of it, at the same moment the body is 
 raised once more into a vertical Hne, while the arms hang 
 straight down at the sides, about ten inches away from the 
 body. (See Plate LXI."^) The weight is now fully over the 
 right knee, and the final movement consists in transferring 
 it to the left foot and rising in a vertical line, just as the 
 descent was made over the right, which brings back the 
 first position, with this difference, that the left foot is 
 forward. The repetition may now begin by once more 
 bringing the right foot forward, with the uplifted arm, and 
 so on through six or eight of these beautiful sequences of 
 
 171
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 a rising and falling line ; swift, smooth, and vertical, on 
 the springs of knee and foot, Plate LXI.^ shows the 
 position of the final recovery. The fine full-view positions 
 of this exercise are very successful photographs ; the first 
 is probably the finest example of vibrating Tension in 
 the whole book, the feet seeming barely to touch the 
 ground. This sequence is illustrated by Plates LXII.'^, 
 LXII.^ LXII.^ LXII.^, and LXII.^ 
 
 In the second position of this full-view sequence, note 
 carefully the angle of the left knee, which is quite clear 
 of the ground. 
 
 Cinema Series No. 12 shows all the intermediate 
 positions of this exercise, especially those taken in the 
 rapid drop of the body, where once more it may be seen that 
 the head descends in the same unwavering vertical line, if 
 compared carefully with a little mark on the background 
 directly behind it. 
 
 172
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 12. 
 
 mm 
 
 2 
 
 Copyri«lil. 
 
 Exercise XI. ia Detail.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 12 (continued). 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 Copyright.-] 
 
 Exercise XI. iti Detail.
 
 EXERCISE XII 
 
 WE come now to the last exercise, in which the test 
 of mental and physical control is equal, and both 
 required at their maximum. 
 
 From the Preliminary Position, take a step forward 
 with the left foot, and bend over till the spine is horizontal, 
 stretching the arms behind, also horizontal, with clenched 
 fists, the face raised, with the Hne of sight still horizontal. 
 This movement will bring the weight entirely over the ball 
 of the left foot, the heel of which must be at least half an 
 inch from the ground. The right foot will be touching 
 with only the extreme point of the big toe, and all the 
 muscles up the back of the leg will be stretched to their 
 utmost by the bending forward of the body. Care must 
 be taken not to let the head drop forward or the balance 
 will be impossible. Plate LXIII."^ shows this position, 
 which was unfortunately snapped a moment before the 
 spine reached the horizontal line, but as the Cinema 
 Series No. 13 has some very perfect positions, it is of no 
 importance. 
 
 From this position, a long lunge back must be taken, 
 without looking round, a movement which constitutes 
 literally a fall back, the actual fall being only saved at the 
 last moment. It is here that the will is put to such an 
 
 173
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 unusual test. The instinct to look round while falling 
 back is so strong that it will be a long while before the 
 beginner can overcome the desire. It is just this looking 
 back which upsets the physical balance, a result right and 
 logical in principle : for, where hesitation and uncertainty 
 and fear take hold of the will, the action that follows must 
 of necessity be unreliable. As the right foot is lifted from 
 the ground preparatory to its lunge back, there must be 
 no alteration in the position of the body or the head, both 
 being allowed to fall back as one combined weight, with- 
 out the least resistance. Back, back, they must fall, 
 while the right knee bends more and more to avoid 
 touching the ground with the foot, which would check 
 the movement. The left knee should remain straight 
 until the last moment, when the torso and head are 
 raised, and turned like a flash right round to the right 
 until they have made a complete half-circle, which will 
 leave them facing in exactly the opposite direction to that 
 of the start. This turn is aided by the movement of the 
 right arm, which is swung round until the hand is level 
 with the right shoulder, the elbow bent to its utmost, the 
 fist still clenched. The left arm during this movement 
 should also bend, but in an opposite direction, for it 
 remains behind the back with the forearm lying horizontal, 
 and with the back of the clenched hand touching the 
 body. The right foot comes to the ground at the same 
 moment that the body makes the half-circle turn, the 
 right knee very much bent, the foot itself turning slightly 
 to the left (to be exact, it should form an acute angle to 
 
 174
 
 X 
 
 w 
 
 <:
 
 EXERCISE XII 
 
 the direction of the body), while the torso is facing full and 
 squarely in the opposite direction to that in which it started. 
 The hips should be facing the same acute angle as the right 
 foot, the shoulders alone having squared to the half-circle. 
 We left the left leg with the weight of the body 
 rocking back upon it. At the moment of the turn, the 
 left foot should also turn on the heel to a right angle, and 
 as the right foot touches the ground the left drops over 
 on its inside line, so that the ankle is on the ground, 
 the knee bent, and lying over, the under side almost 
 touching the ground. The whole of this position will 
 now be clearly understood if Plate LXIII.^ is carefully 
 studied, as the photograph shows admirably every detail. 
 It will be noticed that the torso is vertical, and that the 
 whole weight is directly over the left knee, which, how- 
 ever, is not on the ground, so that the knee constitutes 
 what one might call a suspended base, being directly 
 under the centre of gravity, but not needed, owing to 
 the strength of the knee muscles, which form so strong a 
 point of leverage that the weight can, through their move- 
 ment, be transferred instantly to either the right or left 
 foot. Having arrived at this position, test the spring of 
 the knees by raising and lowering the torso, always in a 
 strictly vertical line, the left knee rising about ten inches 
 above the ground, and descending to about one inch, but 
 never actually touching. This is one of the great knee 
 tests, as the whole strain of the spring movement falls on 
 the inside muscle of the left knee. But, if you reach a 
 condition which enables you to make this movement with 
 
 175
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 ease, what wonderful knees you will have! Priceless 
 springs of steel that feel no strain too great to bear; and 
 therefore this test of rising and falling on one set of springs 
 will produce a feeling of great exhilaration without the 
 least fatigue. Make the last upward rise simultaneous 
 with a strong spring back from the ball of the right foot 
 and a straightening up of the left knee, and you will have 
 lifted your whole body into line once more, back on 
 to the left toes, drawing the right foot close to the left, the 
 arms still in the position shown in Plate LXIII.'^ 
 
 The final movement is a lowering of the arms to 
 the sides, tense, and with outstretched fingers, while the 
 body remains on the ball of the toes, light and vibrating 
 from the spring. Plate LXIII.^ gives the position just 
 before the arms are lowered, after which the final move- 
 ment leaves the whole body in exactly the same position 
 as that in which it began these exercises. 
 
 To those who have been able to follow them through 
 to the end, working patiently for their perfect accom- 
 plishment, I would say what Nestor said to Atrides, 
 in the Iliad : " Suppose thy nerves endow'd with 
 strength superior, . . . King of men, command thou 
 then thyself." And it is indeed a "strength superior" 
 that will vibrate through nerve and muscle trained to 
 understand the meaning of Tension : the power of a full 
 and complete activity. 
 
 Cinema Series No. 13 will make clear any difficulty 
 which has not been explained, and an enlargement of 
 the twenty - second position has been added for the 
 176
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 13, 
 
 4 
 
 Co/yyiigJil.] 
 
 ^ f 
 
 Ivxcrcis;; XII. in Detail
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 13 [continued]. 
 
 
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 L 
 
 
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 i 
 
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 Excrcisc XII. in Detail.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 14. 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 f 
 
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 i 
 
 Copyyii:lil.\ 
 
 Cdiiiliination of Exercises ^'I. niui \'II. in Dctai
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 14 (coiitmued). 
 
 Copyrighl.] 
 
 Continuaiion of Exercises \ I. and \ II.
 
 EXERCISE XII 
 
 purpose of showing how near the ground the knee 
 may go without actually touching. 
 
 With this exercise ends the series selected as suit- 
 able for a complete training, although three times as 
 many might have been shown, which give endless variety 
 of movement. But it would be impossible to give them 
 all in one book, and it will be for the really keen 
 student to try and work out the various combinations 
 rendered possible by the twelve " basic " exercises. For 
 instance, try combining in one exercise Nos. 1 and 2 : 
 the result is beautiful though extremely difficult; but 
 you see where the one glides into the other? On the 
 horizontal lift of the left leg which occurs in the first 
 exercise. Instead of bringing the leg to the ground 
 again, make it swing downwards past the right, and 
 back in a tense line to the left, turning the body to 
 the right when the swing is half completed, and pulling 
 round the right arm to the shoulder as in the backward 
 swing of Exercise II. The position will then be that 
 of the horizontal poise, the two combined movements 
 having been executed on the ball of the right foot. Then 
 take Exercises VI. and VII. and make the Hnk always 
 on the middle poise of the first of the pair. This 
 combination makes a very fine series of photographs, 
 and Cinema Series No. 14 is the only explanation I 
 intend to give of this puzzle, which will prove interesting 
 to work out. Another combination is shown as Cinema 
 Series No. 15. This is formed of Exercises VIII. and 
 IV., the order of numbering being the order of perform- 
 
 177
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 ance. Cinema Series No. 16 is a difficult puzzle-picture 
 and shall remain so, as it is formed of a combination of 
 two exercises not given in the series of twelve, both of 
 which are more difficult than any yet explained. An 
 enlargement of the twenty-first position is given as an 
 example of extraordinary poise, in which the horizontal 
 right leg with its pointed toes has entirely disappeared, 
 from an effect of foreshortening. This poise is interest- 
 ing from the fact that two violent changes of position 
 take place on the toes of the left foot, which make two 
 right-angle turns on a bending and straightening knee. 
 This latter movement immensely increases the difficulty. 
 Some of the final positions are not good, those especially 
 showing the right leg in a horizontal line on the last 
 turn are very poor when compared with the same move- 
 ment in other exercises, but the sustained effort of poise 
 in this sequence of movement is such as to make it an 
 achievement if it succeeds in one out of every four. 
 Then, again, the sight of what not to do will be a great 
 help to beginners, and that dropping of the body when 
 in the horizontal line, down on the left hip, is a useful 
 object-lesson, as it is the immediate cause of the bending 
 knee, and eventually of the loss of the whole balance. 
 It will easily be seen what a tremendous effort was 
 needed to prevent falling and to recover the final poise, 
 which in itself is good. 
 
 An important fact to be remembered, after having 
 acquired proficiency in these exercises, is that they do not 
 demand as a necessity a daily repetition. 
 178
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 15, 
 
 <- 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 
 Caii^EiS- 
 
 
 ti»'fT^ 
 
 
 f. 
 
 Cofiyri»hl.\ 
 
 Coiiihiiiation of Exercises V'lII. and 1\'
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 15 {co7itiniied). 
 
 ^r 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ^ V 
 
 Copy) ^ ^ni 
 
 Continuation of Exercises A'lll. and I\'
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. 16. 
 
 Copyngkl.] 
 
 Puzzle Combin-.uion.
 
 CINEMA SERIES, No. i6 {co7iti7iuc(l). 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 II; _- .- . 
 
 f 
 
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 Copyright.] 
 
 Puzzle Combination {contiauea)
 
 EXERCISE XII 
 
 These twelve exercises have been selected specially for 
 the purpose of making quite clear the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of movement in general, and of balance under 
 Tension in particular; so that when this knowledge has 
 been acquired by practice, all the everyday movements of 
 life afford complete exercise in themselves. 
 
 As far as possible, the basic exercises should be 
 practised three or four times a week. Personally, I do 
 some of them every day, if only for a few minutes, for 
 the sake of the added lightness and exhilaration which 
 they always bring. But I make no rule for others. 
 For those who have had the energy and determination 
 to work systematically through the whole series of twelve 
 exercises, I may safely leave the regulation of further 
 practice, knowing that the power and fascination of the 
 exercises themselves will exert their own influence, when 
 once they have formed part of the daily routine during a 
 whole year. 
 
 This explanatory chapter will, I fear, have proved 
 very dull reading, but it cannot be helped, for serious 
 and difficult work of this kind claims from both writer 
 and reader the utmost concentration, and the difficulties 
 confronting both in elucidating and apprehending its full 
 meaning are enormous. 
 
 The light touch possible in viva voce description 
 becomes in print irrelevancy and distraction. Too much 
 elaboration of details which in actual demonstration can 
 be seen at a glance, produces complication. If, then, it 
 appears very cut-and-dried, it must be remembered that 
 
 179
 
 THE RENAISSANCE OF THE GREEK IDEAL 
 
 the aim has been for lucidity and conciseness at the sacri- 
 fice of all else, and that the desire to render in words any 
 idea of what the movements themselves are able to produce, 
 of lift and exhilaration, has been rigorously repressed for 
 the sake of those students who have the continuity of 
 purpose to struggle through the physical difficulties to the 
 end, and for whom the clear separation of the different 
 phases of the work is the only chance of success. 
 
 i8o'
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aegina Pediment, position of certain 
 figures in, 3 
 
 Alchemy, secret code of, 62 
 
 Amazon (Vatican, Rome), description 
 and explanation, 77 — 80 
 
 Apes: formation of feet, 16; modi- 
 fication in movements of, 17 
 
 Aphrodite (Villa Item), 84 
 
 Archer in Aegina Pediment: position 
 described, 3 — 5; position demonstra- 
 ted as a possibility, 69, 70; represen- 
 tation in movement, difficulty of, 9 
 
 Architecture: basis of equilibrium in, 
 54; ideal of strength in, 36 
 
 Aristotle: on the senses, quoted, 98; 
 energeia, 106 
 
 Arm-swing, rapidity of, effect, 8 
 
 Athenians, wrestling contests of, 37 
 
 Axis of balance, definition, 42 
 
 Balance: accuracy of, controlling force, 
 34; affecting the feet, 17; axis of, 
 41, 42; early training in, 11. In 
 movement: law of, 41, 67; prin- 
 ciple of, 3, 68 
 
 Baldwin, Professor, on the activities 
 of the nervous system, 33 
 
 Bats, sense of approach, vibration, loi 
 
 Body- weight: support of, in walking, 
 29; distribution of, in water, 29; 
 when required, 7 
 
 Brain: activities, classified, 90, 91; 
 clogging of registration, 95; here- 
 ditary weaknesses of, 96; influence 
 on, of tension, 87; reflex action of 
 physical movement upon, 86; as 
 transmitter, 90 
 
 Browning, quotation from, 94 
 Buddha, poise of, 27 
 Bull, M. Lucien, 50 
 
 Camilla of the Volscians, 65 
 
 Centre of gravity: connection with 
 tension, 22; of curves by movement 
 of limbs, 41; in movement, 34; 
 proper to a moving body, 40; where 
 placed, 29 
 
 Charioteer (Capitol, Rome), descrip- 
 tion, 70; movement of, demonstrated, 
 71; reference, 4 
 
 Chinese, design used by, to represent 
 Eternity, 52 
 
 Chinese wrestling, 38 — 40 
 
 Concentration, type of, demanded for 
 performing sequential exercises, 91, 
 
 93 
 Consciousness: definition, 92; control 
 
 by means of, 89; how obtained, 
 88 
 
 Consciousness, full, not implying self- 
 consciousness, 89 
 
 Controlled action resulting from con- 
 tinuous motor-existence, 95 
 
 Criminals, experiments on, 26 
 
 Curves: as affected by the pivot, 43; 
 geometrical law in relation to, 41; 
 true, definition, 42 
 
 Dancers, professional, manner of walk- 
 ing, 20 
 
 Dancing, professional, effect of, on 
 toes, 20 
 
 181
 
 INDEX 
 
 Diaphragm: connection of, with the 
 mind, 104; development of, import- 
 ance, 24, 26; tension of, 29; reaction 
 of, upon the spirit, 106; slackness 
 of, effect, 26 
 
 Discobolus (bad copy of, Florence), 
 69 
 
 Discobolus (of Myron): final position, 
 7; position described, 5 — 7; repre- 
 sentation in movement, difficulty of, 
 9; references, 4, 68 
 
 Discobolus (Vatican, Rome), mistake 
 shown in, 68 
 
 Discus: average weight, 7; momen- 
 tum, source of, 7; throwing of, 
 described, 5, 6 
 
 D'Ollon, M., 165 
 
 Egyptians, design used by, to repre- 
 sent Eternity, 52 
 
 Emerson, on the educated will, quoted, 
 96 
 
 Epictetus on self-control, quoted, 95 
 
 Eternity, ancient symbol of, 53 
 
 Feet: balance depending on forma- 
 tion of, 16; importance and care of, 
 34; diagrams of, before and after 
 training, 13, 14, 15; and knees, 
 connection between, 16, 17; train- 
 ing of, II, 18 
 
 Fighting Theseus (Paris), position de- 
 scribed and explained, 75 
 
 Force, economy of: on what it de- 
 pends, 34; resulting in beauty of 
 movement, 54 
 
 Fortuna (Naples), poise of, described, 
 83, 84 
 
 Geometrical Movement, see Move- 
 ment, Geometrical 
 
 Greek dance, balance in movement 
 shown by, 83 
 
 182 
 
 Greek dancing boy, vase painting, 
 
 description, 84 — 5 
 Greek vases, exercises shown on, 11 
 Greeks: condition of muscles of, con- 
 nection between the diaphragm and 
 the mind recognized by, 104; early 
 training, 10, 11; formation of foot, 
 II, 12; ideals of, as to highest develop- 
 ment, 103; muscular condition, 2; 
 physical superiority, i; slimness of 
 hips, cause, 24; spirit as regarded 
 by, 105; wrestling, 37, 38 
 
 Haemon, on the phrenes, 104 
 
 Harmony, definitions, 54 
 
 Herakles, frieze representing the apo- 
 theosis of, 73 
 
 Heredity, hypothesis of, chief factor 
 in, 96 
 
 Heros Combattant (Louvre), description 
 and explanation, 73 — 4 
 
 Hindus, design used by, representing 
 Eternity, 52 
 
 Hippisley, Colonel: on the centre of 
 gravity, 48; description of designs 
 by, showing figures produced by a 
 moving arm on a pivot travelling 
 elliptically, 43 — 8 
 
 Homer, "harmony," word as defined 
 
 by, 54 
 Homer, Iliad, will-power alluded to 
 in, quoted, 106^8; reference, 2 
 
 Infants, diaphragm movement of, 25 
 Institut Marey (Paris), experiments at, 
 71, 73 
 
 James, William: on brain function, 
 quoted, 90; on concentration, quoted, 
 
 93 
 Japanese wrestling: origin, 38; re- 
 semblance to Greek, 38
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jujutsu: origin, 38; throws described, 
 38 
 
 Keats, quotation from, 113 
 
 Knees: bracing of muscles of, 30; 
 
 effect on, of high-heeled shoes, 18 — 
 
 19; and foot, connection between, 
 
 17, 18 
 Krause, Professor, " Hellenika Gym- 
 
 nastik und Agonistik," by, referred 
 
 to, 38 
 
 Lance Throwing, in four directions 
 without moving the feet, 82 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci, 67 
 
 Loewy, Professor, on the Charioteer, 
 70; quoted, 5 
 
 P^STUM, Temple of Neptune, 36 
 Pallas Athena of Aeginetan Pedi- 
 ment, description and explanation, 
 80, 81 
 Parthians, survival of, in Thibet, 165 
 Pettigrew, Professor, experiments of, 
 
 in design in movement, 64 
 Physical force, in relation to geo- 
 metrical movement, 50 
 Physical Training: anatomical knowl- 
 edge not essential to, 88; origin, 36 
 Pivot: alteration in position of, 42; 
 
 curves described by, 43 
 Poise, result on feet of perfect, 18 
 Preliminary position of exercises: de- 
 finition, 28, 29; instructions for, 
 29 
 
 Marey, Professor, 64 
 Mental processes, chain of, 92 
 Mentally deficient children, latest 
 
 method of training, 86 
 Movement: beauty in, how obtained, 
 54; of body in water, 39; discon- 
 nected, definition, 32, 33. Geometri- 
 cal: explanation of plates, 52 — 63; 
 laws governing, 49; possible connection 
 of, with ancient symbolism, 62; sym- 
 bolism in, 53; harmonised, definition, 
 54; necessity for mathematical ac- 
 curacy, 67; law of rhythmical, 34. 
 Sequential: acceleration acquired by, 
 34; definition and explanation, 33; 
 results of practice of, 92. Reflex 
 action of, 87. Types of, 32 
 Muscle: full consciousness of, defini- 
 tion, 88, 89; tension of, see Tension 
 
 Optical Registration: of geometric 
 movement, definition and explana- 
 tion of plates, 51, 52; key to plates, 
 55 
 
 Reflex Action of Physical Move- 
 ment, 87 
 Richet, Professor Charles, 50, 64 
 Rod, Edouard, on the idea of move- 
 ment in architecture, 36 
 
 Sargent, referred to, 67 
 
 Schroeder, Dr., on interpretation of 
 
 the word "hieros," 103 
 Sculpture, antique, principle of balance 
 
 in movement exemplified in, 68 , 
 Self-consciousness an obstacle to full 
 
 consciousness, 89 
 Shoes, recommendations re, 19 
 Socrates, on self-control, quoted, 93 
 Spartans, mimic battles of, 37 
 Spirit, Greek conception of, 105 
 Statues, principles of balance shown 
 
 ^^y. 3 
 
 Tendon Achilles, exercise for the 
 test of, 58 
 
 183
 
 INDEX 
 
 Tension: as affecting centre of gravity 
 in movement, 40; affecting sequen- 
 tial movement, 34; condition of, 
 described, 98; definition, 21; con- 
 nection of, with centre of gravity, 
 22; increase of will-power by means 
 of, 97; maximum activity gained by 
 means of, 94; physical and mental 
 processes connected by, 87; resist- 
 ant power of, 100; special condi- 
 tion of, shown in representation of 
 the Fortuna, 83; vibration increased 
 by means of, 99 
 
 Titian, 67 
 
 Unregistered Impressions, constitut- 
 ing the sub-conscious self, 95 
 
 Vibration, increasing receptivity and 
 resistance, 99 
 
 Waist, muscles controlling tension at, 
 
 24 
 
 Walking: support of body in, 30; 
 tension required in, 34 
 
 Weight-contact, 42 
 
 Will-power: control depending on, 91; 
 definitions, 97; depending on strength 
 of diaphragm, 106; effect of, on 
 muscles, 2; instinctive and uncon- 
 trolled, 96; of the mother on the 
 unborn child, 96; as recognised in the 
 Iliad, 106 — 8; by tension, 98 
 
 Wrestling: of the Greeks, attribution 
 of invention of, 37; introduction of, 
 into Japan, 39; preparatory exercises 
 for, 38; by tripping, 38 
 
 Youth of Subiaco (ascribed to Myron, 
 Rome), position described and ex- 
 plained, 76 
 
 184
 
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