Koehler's West Point Manual of Disciplinary Physical Training

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Introduction

This manual is based upon the experience gathered in this work at the United States Military Academy during a period extending over more than a generation, and upon the direct personal application of the results of this experience to approximately 200,000 men in our new Army, 37,oc)o of whom were aspirants for commissions.

In general, the manual is a revision of Special Regulations, No. 23, Field Training of the Soldier, a syllabus prepared by the author, and published by the War Department, by the direction of the Secretary of War, making it mandatory upon all to carry out this work in the service in accordance with these special regulations.

The reason for its publication at the present time is to meet the frequent demands made by those, in and out of the service, who having had a practical personal experience with this method, and who, realizing the present importance of physical training to our people in general, were kind enough to urge its publication in order that this method and any merits it may possess might become as accessible and wide-spread as possible.

To facilitate its application the subject has therefore been treated as simply and comprehensively, and with as much detail as possible, so that drill instructors of even limited experience, and the intervi INTRODUCTION

ested layman may follow it intelligently and be able to carry out its intent successfully. Wherever possible technical terms and professional terminology have been translated into every-day English.

Though the manual is intended primarily for the instruction of recruits in the service, civilians who expect to be inducted into the service, and those who do not but who are desirous to add to their general efficiency, will find it to their advantage to become thoroughly proficient in what it prescribes. By doing so select men will not only be physically fit and qualified to successfully meet the demands made upon them when they enter the service, but prepared to take advantage of any opportunity for early advancement that may present itself.

The manual will also adapt itself readily to the needs of schools, colleges and other institutions in which the object of bodily training is disciplinary and educational and not only physical.

Contents

SECTION PAGE

I GENERAL OBJECT i

Efficiency of military establishments — Demands of modem warfare — Importance of physical training — Standard set by military requirements — Health and organic vigor determining factors — Development of recuperative and resistive powers — ^Health, strength and vigor a means — Discipline of the mass — Discipline to be voltmtary — Definition of discipline — ^Relation between discipline and physical training — Summary of objects to be attained.

Foreword

I have been asked to write a word of introduction to the West Point Manual prepared by Lieu^ tenant Colonel H. J. Koehler, Master of the Sword and Instructor of Military Gymnastics and Physical Culture at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

For many years Colonel Koehler has had charge of physical education at the Military Academy and those who have attended graduation exercises at West Point have seen the finished product of his system in those wonderful, tense lines of alert, erect young men, who stand like statues on review, showing the human body, as it seems to me, in its greatest perfection; its muscles easy and strong, its proportions set of? by the tight-fitting uniform, with new elements of handsome grace born of correct carriage and graceful action. One exclaims involuntarily when he sees the Corps that if the physical discipline at West Point had only an aesthetic value it would be quite worth while. And I doubt if anybody is able to move about the grounds at West Point, however drooping his own figure has become from sedentary habits and inattention to physical culture, without for the time being walking more erectly, giving freer expansion to his lungs and a somewhat more elastic spring to his step.

xii FOREWORD

But the advantage of this discipline is not merely to make men look fit, but actually to make them be fit. The mind inevitably shapes itself with the body in which it resides, and the moral equivalents come with these physical attributes; men whose systems are renewed by wholesome physical exertion, who are well and strong, whose heads are set square on erect shoulders, look their fellow-men straight in the eyes and both show and expect moral erectness as the normal attitude.

When America went into the European war we summoned from civil life thousands of young men to enter officers' training camps. Many of them had had college athletic experience, all of them were educated, and some of them had had military training either at Plattsburg or as a part of their life at school or college. Colonel Koehler became an instructor in these training camps, bringing with him from West Point his method formed by years of experience, and adapted to the special purpose of fitting men rapidly for military service. Those who had an opportunity to see the effect of his instruction were amazed at the rapidity with which the sense of responsibility and the authoritative personality which must be back of effective command were created, and if we could follow Colonel Koehler's graduates, either from the Military Academy or from these training camps, to the battle fields of France we would find an impressive story of physical and moral adequacy which made these young officers themselves able to endure the hardships of modem war and also able with the democracy of sympathy which char-

FOREWORD xiii

acterizes life in America, to lead and inspire training in their men which made them fit for their part in these fiery trials.

The appearance of Colonel Koehler's manual will, theretore, make available to a large number of people the principles of a system which is the product of experience, and which has stood the test under critical conditions, and whatever form our future training of boys and young men in this country may take it is greatly to be hoped that we will not again fall into the habit of slighting the body as we were on the point of doing when the war forced us to realize its importance as the basis of our national strength.

The great lesson of this war, of course, is the sanctity of the moral foundations of civilization for which the war itself was fought; but as we have prepared and fought a great many incidental revelations have come to us, and among them few are more important than what we have learned about young men associated in a great cause, in a wholesome environment, and given an opportunity to develop their best talents under inspiring circumstances; we have learned that the natural tendency of young men is up and not down, that young men in Armies prefer to lead upright and noble lives and that the spontaneous emotions of youth are generous and brave. I have myself become so convinced of this that if I were told of an Army that it oppressed the weak and pillaged and destroyed the homes of the defenseless, I would immediately assume that the responsibility lay with those in the higher commands; perhaps not neexiv FOREWORD

essarily that they ordered or authorized the acts, but that they at least had not given the natural man in the ranks a free opportunity to develop.

The soldierly virtues which our men have shown are, of course, not all due to their physical training; their sound health does not rest entirely upon the exercises which individuals have taken, but as a part of the whole system the physical training of the individual and the mass is very important, and those who are responsible for our educational processes in the future cannot wisely overlook the experience of our Army in this regard, for a round education must hereafter have its professorships and some such intelligent plan for the culture of of the mind, and its professorships of the body, the body as that of Colonel Koehler will be needed to replacethe aimless and casual exertions of uninstructed playgrounds and unled games. Colonel Koehler's manual is, of course, primarily adapted to the making of soldiers, but it can be easily used for those who may never see military service, and its greatest value lies in the fact that it is orderly and systematic, and rests upon principles apart from the mere excitement of the moment which the casual game gives to the player.

After all how can one plead too strongly for this cause? What can be more obviously advantageous to us as a nation than that our youths should be straight and strong, that we should learn to carry our heads erect, that we should stand squarely on our feet, and walk with a firm and confident tread, that we should learn to associate ourselves with others until we become effective in

FOREWORD

XV mass action, coordinating our movements and subordinating our wills to the voice of rightful authority when the question is the common good? Does it not go without saying that we will be the better in every way for being a strong and vigorous people? Incidentally, we will be more competent commercially, more happy spiritually, braver for the tasks that still lie before us if our bodies are made too handsome to entertain an unhandsome spirit

OF

DISCIPLINARY PHYSICAL TRAINING

OF

DISCIPLINARY PHYSICAL TRAINING

OF

DISCIPLINARY PHYSICAL TRAINING

DISCIPLINARY PHYSICAL

TRAINING

SECTION I GENERAL OBJECT Efficiency of military establishments . , . i

The demands of modern warfare . . . 2-3

Importance of physical training .... 4-6

Standard set by military requirements . . 7-8

Health and organic vigor determining factors . 9 Development of recuperative and resistive

powers 10

Health, strength and vigor a means , . .11

Discipline of the mass .... ^ 12

Discipline to be voluntary 13

Definition of discipline 14

Relation between discipline and physical training IS

Summary of objects to be attained ... 16

1. Efficiency of Military Establishments.

That the efficiency of a military establishment is in direct ratio to the physical fitness and aptitude of its individual units has never been demonstrated as conclusively as it has during the present war.

2. The Demands of Modem Warfare. The demands made upon those engaged in this titanic struggle are so far in excess of what was thought

I to be the limit of human endurance, judged by a before-the-war standard, that it is impossible to even conjecture now what that limit actually is.

3. Despite the fact that the military profession has not hesitated to impress almost every known science into its service, in an effort to successfully overcome man's endurance, these efforts have proved futile up to the present time, as the trained man has demonstrated his ability to hold his own against these almost unbelievable odds, and in the end it will be discovered that it is the carefully trained and conditioned man who alone can make victory possible.

4. Importance of Physical Training. With these facts before us it follows logically that the physical training, development and conditioning of those recruited for the military service must be the first and most vital concern of a nation at war.

5. Training men physically for offensive and defensive purposes is as old as warfare itself and from the very beginning up to the present time it alone has remained the one constant and unvarying factor in the education of the soldier, upon which, more than upon all other components of this education combined, success has depended.

6. From the military point of view the individual can be considered only with reference to the requirements of the service, and these demands determine the nature and extent of his training. In other words, in the final analysis, the recruit can not be considered a dependable and effective unit until he succeeds in measuring up to the standard of these requirements.

7. Standard Set by Military Reqtiirements.

Since this standard so far exceeds the standard required of men in the ordinary walks of life, with respect to severity, variety and general intensiveness of its demands, it is necessary that the soldier possess more than the average amount of organic vigor, muscular and nervous strength and endurance. Aside from these it is also necessary that the power of resistance to disease, somatic vigor, inherent in every individual, in a greater or lesser degree, be fully developed in order that he may successfully withstand the hardships of field service without diminishing his effectiveness,

8. The Object of Military Physical Training. The object, therefore, that a course in military physical training must seek to attain is the development of every individual's physical attributes to the fullest extent of their possibilities, in order to enable him to enter upon the duties his profession imposes upon him with the greatest confidence in his ability to discharge these duties successfully under any and all circumstances and conditions.

9. Health and Organic Vigor the Determining Factors. Since the nature and extent of all physical training is determined by the state of health of the participants, every rational course in such training, military or otherwise, must have the development of the human organism in its entirety for its primary object

This can only be accomplished if the means employed will give to each organ that which will aid it in its development, assist it in the discharge of its peculiar functions and establish a coordinated, organic balance between the organs upon which the condition of perfect health depends.

ID. Development of Recuperative and Resistive Powers. To insure the maintenance of this balance the training must endeavor to develop the recuperative and resistive powers of the vital organs in such a degree that each has a surplus of energy at its disposal against which it may draw in its own favor or in favor of the others when the exigency for such compensation presents itself.

11. Health, Strength and Vigor a Means. Though robust health, strength and organic vigor, etc., are the basis and the determining factors in the training of soldiers, they are, from a military point of view, but a means, and will avail the soldier but little to attain the other objects of his training until he has learned to carefully conserve the former and use the latter to the best advantage to himself and to the mass of which he is a member. In other words, the possession of these means makes it possible for him to develop the mechanical requirements of his profession, efficiency in which in turn develops self-reliance, confidence, courage and self-control or personal discipline.

12. Discipline of the Mass. It is this discipline of the individual that determines the discipline of the mass, which is brought about by the welding together of the sum of these personal attributes, and which, plus self-control and the mutual confidence they engender between the individual units, makes for corps spirit that inspires organizations to dare because of the confidence of the ability to do.

13. Discipline to Be Voluntary and Intelligent. In the pursuit of discipline superiors should be guided by the rule of reason rather than by the authority vested in them by the commission they hold. The American officer must be essentially a leader, but only he will be a successful leader who, in his efforts to instill the spirit of discipline in his men, succeeds in impressing upon them that discipline, true discipline, the only kind a sovereign people should ever be subjected to, is one that appeals to the head and the heart even more than it does to the hands.

This appeal to the intelligence and the finer sensibilities of the men, particularly of the men composing a selected army, can be counted upon to awaken in them a sense of their responsibilities, and by doing so it will strengthen an officer's control immeasurably, no matter how strict or exacting he may be, so long as he does not lose the sense of the proportion of justice and remains humane.

14. Definition of Discipline. Such discipline may therefore be defined as the voluntary, intelligent, coordinated and cheerful subordination of every individual in an equal degree with every other individual of the mass to which he belongs, and of which he is an interdependent and not an independent unit, through which the object of the mass can alone be attained.

15. Relation Existing Between Physical Training and Discipline. The intimate relationship that exists between physical training and discipline is not appreciated as it should be even by many in the military profession. To these, physical training means physical effort with little or no bearing upon discipline.

The experience of the author, stretching over a lifetime at the Academy, but particularly that gained in training several hundred thousand men, directly and indirectly, in which men of every walk of Hfe, in every part of our country were involved, proved conclusively that the disciplinary value of military physical training equaled, if it did not surpass, its purely physiological value.

In fact, it proved itself, when applied to the great army precisely as it has proved itself here at the Academy, to be the best and most efficacious means in the development of discipline, in the individual and in the mass, at the disposal of those in charge of recruit instruction.

1 6. Summary of Objects to Be Attained Through This Training. Summarized briefly the objects this training must seek to attain are:

(a) The development of general health and vigor and how to conserve them.

(b) The development of muscular strength, energy, endurance, etc., and how to convert these most advantageously into the mechanical requirements of the profession.

(c) The development of the discipline of the individual and of the mass.

(d) The development of self-reliance, confidence and courage.

(e) The development of smartness, enthusiasm, alertness and precision, and personal and organization pride.

SECTION II GENERAL SCOPE The scope of field physical training . . .17

Setting-up exercises .18

Conditioning and restorative exercises . . 19

Rifle exercises 20

Bayonet training 21

Vaulting and obstacles 22

Athletic contests and games . . . .23

17. The Scope of Field Physical Training is

necessarily limited to those activities that can be indulged in without the aid of any appliances, or with the aid of such as may be improvised, and, finally, with such as the equipment of the soldier provides.

These activities embrace :

(a) Setting-up exercises

(b) Marching and exercises in marching

(c) Double timing and exercises in double timing.

(d) Jumping

(e) Rifle exercises

(f) Bayonet training

(g) Vaulting exercises and overcoming obstacles (h) Athletic games and contests

18. Setting-up Exercises. These exercises are to be considered the basis for all other activities.

Their importance can not be overestimated, as by means of them alone it is possible to effect an allaround development impossible by any other means, while their disciplinary value is at least as great as their physical value.

In the prescribed course only those exercises have been included whose value from a physiological and military point of view is unquestioned.

19. Conditioning and Restorative Exercises. Following the setting-up exercises and supplementary to them, the lessons should include such general conditioning exercises as marching and exercises in marching, double timing and exercises in double timing, jumping, and finally the restorative or concluding exercises, which are composed of movements that tend to diminish the heart action, regulate respiration, and restore normal condition.

20. Rifle Exercises. The purpose of these is to develop handiness in the wielding of the piece and accustoming the men to its weight. As the weight is considerable, especially to the raw recruit, it is recommended that instructors be reasonable in the employment of these exercises. It is recommended that only those prescribed in this manual be used.

21. Bayonet Training. Aside from its military importance, bayonet training is a most valuable adjunct to the physical training course, as it calls into action practically every muscle of the body, and makes for alertness, quickness of perception, decision, aggressiveness and confidence.

It is now given such prominence in the training of the men that it has been made a distinct and separate cour&e, hence it is not included in this manual.

22. Vaulting and Obstacles. Vaulting and overcoming obstacles are exercises of application and should be practiced upon such appliances as vaulting bars, walls, fences and ditches or upon natural or improvised obstacles.

23. Athletics, Contests and Games. These should be considered recreational and only those activities should be indulged in in which it is possible to employ large numbers at the same time. It is best to select those activities in which the element of personal contact predominates.

SECTION III METHODS The employment of various forms of training . . 24-25

Condition and aptitude of men ... 26

Classification of the men 27

Time devoted to the training . . . . 28

The morning period 29-30

The afternoon period 31

The arrangement of the instruction material 32

The disciplinary exercises .... 33

The setting-up exercises 34-38

Marching 39-48

Jumping 49

Endurance runs 59

Contests 60-63

Group contests, games and athletics . . 65

Endurance course 65-67

24. The Employment of Various Forms of Training. In the employment of the various forms of military physical training it is most essential that well defined methods should be introduced in order that the objects of this training may be attained in a thorough, systematic and uniform manner.

This has been neglected in our service up to the present time and so long as this training is not coordinated and all are not compelled to follow the

KOEHLER'S WEST POINT MANUAL ii

same methods we shall fail to obtain the results from it that we should.

25, In planning a method of procedure the following factors must be considered:

(a) The object of the training

(b) The scope

(c) The condition and physical aptitude of the men

(d) The time devoted to it and its division

(e) The instruction material and its application

The object and scope have already been fully discussed.

26. The Condition and Aptitude of the Men. The question of the condition and aptitude of the men is a very important one and should always determine the nature and extent of the task expected of them. Never, during the recruit period, should the task be made the determining factor. This is frequently lost sight of by well-meaning but overzealous instructors, who by confusing quantity with quality always succeed in defeating the very purpose of this training.

As condition and aptitude increase, as they will if the application of the work has been rational and progressive, the standard of the severity of the drill should be gradually increased until all are able to measure up to the standard set by the military requirements. This under ordinary conditions will require several months of training.

2y. The Men to Be Divided into Two Classes. The men should be divided into two general classes : the recruit and the trained soldier class. No man should be considered a trained soldier until he has served at least three months in the recruit class.

28. The Time Devoted to This Training.

This should be divided into two daily periods each of an hour's duration for recruits; one period to be held in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

29. The Morning Period. This should begin not earlier than an hour or an hour and a half after breakfast. At no time should these drills be held immediately after or before a meal; to do so is likely to affect the digestive operation seriously. The practice of exercising men strenuously immediately after reveille and just before breakfast is a vicious one and should never be tolerated. At such a time digestion is of more importance than exercise.

30. The morning period should embrace the following forms of exercise in the order named :

(a) Disciplinary exercises, two minutes

(b) Setting-up exercises, twenty minutes

(c) Marching and exercises in marching, from five to eight minutes

(d) Jumping exercises, from five to eight minutes

(e) Double timing, from three to five minutes

(f) Contests, ten minutes

31. The Afternoon Period. This period should be employed in:

(a) Bayonet training, from twenty to thirty minutes

(b) Games and contests, alternating daily with conditioning exercises; double timing to develop endurance; vaulting and overcoming obstacles, from fifteen to twenty minutes

(c) Rifle exercises, ten minutes

32. The Arrangement of Instruction Material. This should be progressive, every lesson being complete in itself with respect to the results it is intended to attain.

33. The Disciplinary Exercises. These embrace the starting positions; the position of at ease and rest; the position of attention and the facings.

When a snappy and accurate performance of these exercises is insisted upon, the recruit's mind is concentrated upon the work to follow.

34. The Setting-up Exercises. These embrace exercises for all parts of the body; arms, neck, shoulders, trunk and legs are employed in each lesson, for the purpose of every lesson is the harmonious development of the entire body. Thus each lesson embraces the following exercises arranged in the following physiological sequence :

Introductory arm movement

Leg exercise

Trunk exercise, turning

Leg or foot exercise

Trunk exercise, dorsal (bending forward)

Shoulder exercise

Trunk exercise, lateral (bending sideward)

Arm exercise

Trunk exercise, abdominal (bending backward)

Balancing exercise

This sequence should be adhered to in general in every lesson.

35. All exercises must be performed with the greatest accuracy, precision and smartness, and proper posture must constantly be insisted upon.

In order to develop an intelligent responsiveness, attention should be called to the object of each exercise,

36. Each movement of every exercise should first be performed separately at a command that is indicative of the movement required and the various positions should be held momentarily while corrections are made before moving into the next positicm.

This static performance insures accuracy and precision. After repeating an exercise in this manner several times, the exercise should be continued in a regular cadence, which, however, should be so divided that it will bring out the full physiological value of the movements.

37. In order to inculcate rhythm and coordinated mass movement and flexibility, such exercises as lend themselves to rhythmical repetition may be performed in that manner, provided it does not detract from their physiological value.

38. As the value of all exercises depends upon the manner of their application and not upon the exercises themselves, the cadence must be made to fit the exercise and not the exercise the cadence.

39. Marching and Exercises in Marching. The object of these exercises is the development of proper posture, poise and carriage while marching. The exercises taken in connection with marching are intended to develop control, coordination, suppleness and endurance.

40. The length of the full step in quick time, as prescribed in the drill regulations, is thirty inches, measured from heel to heel, and the cadence is 120 steps per minute.

By common consent this has been changed to a step twenty-eight inches long and to a cadence of from 126 to 130 steps per minute.

The change was adopted for the purpose of "quickening" the men, to make them more alert and add to the smartness of their actions and appearance.

41. In marching in quick time the head and trunk should remain precisely as they are while standing at attention. As the left foot is advanced the right forearm is swung forward and inward, obliquely across the body, until the thtmib, palms being turned in, reaches a point about the height of the belt. The forearm swing ends the moment the heel strikes the ground, when the forearm, with muscles relaxed, is allowed to swing down and back until the thumb is about a breadth of the hand to the rear of the buttocks. As the right arm swings back the left arm is swung forward with the right foot in precisely the same way.

42. In order to avoid any rotation about the spine and to avoid any shoulder movement, the upper arms are never allowed to pass the perpendicular in the forward swing.

43. The legs must be fully extended as they are carried forward but all jarring of the body must be avoided when the heels are brought in contact with the ground. When the heel is planted the weight of the body is rolled forward to the toes from which the body is thrust forward.

44. The feet should remain parallel when marching, toes turned squarely to the front. This position of the feet should be insisted upon at all times, except when standing in the position of attention.

•

45. The poise of the body must be free from all restraint and stiffness and the arm swings, while as uniform as the leg motions, must be free from all exaggeration.

46. When exercises are taken in connection with marching the cadence of the exercise must always determine the cadence of the step.

47. In marching at half step, the character and the cadence of the step remain unchanged; only the length of the step is affected. All tendency to shuffling, raising the knees unduly or "digging" the toes in should be avoided.

48. In marking time, the heels should be raised first and the toes last, the foot being replaced in reverse order. All tendency to raise and lower the foot in a flat-footed manner, raising the whole foot at the same time with little or no ankle motion, detracts from the smartness of the movement and adds to the tendency toward flat-footedness.

49. Jumping. When indulged in for the purpose of developing coordination, form and control, rather than for the purpose of covering distance, it should be confined to jumps of moderate length.