#183:When High School PE Was a Man-Maker

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2016

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you're like most people in America, you probably took PE during your school-age years. It was probably required, and also an easy "A." You spent 45 minutes playing some sport, and it was a blow off class. During the 1960s, though, La Sierra High in California developed an intense physical fitness program under the direction of Coach Stan LeProtti. He was inspired by the physical training of the Ancient Greeks, and wanted to develop strong young people who'd go on to be strong, useful citizens. My guests on the podcast today, Doug Orchard and Ron Jones, are making a documentary on this forgotten program. We discuss the history of that La Sierra program, its effects on those kids, the routines they were doing, and what this film can do for PE today.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We're at McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:19.3	If you're like most people who went to public schools in America, you probably took a PE
0:22.8	class or two.
0:24.1	One, you had to take it because it was required.
0:26.2	But also, you probably took them because it was an easy A, right?
0:28.9	You spent 45 minutes maybe playing some basketball, playing some dodgeball, having a class on
0:33.9	STDs or something like that.
0:34.9	I mean, it was sort of a blow off class.
0:37.9	But during the 1960s, there was a high school in California called Lossiere High.
0:41.5	And the coach there, coach LaPradi, we're going to talk about them today, developed this
0:46.3	intense physical fitness program that was inspired by the ancient Greeks, 19th century physical
0:52.3	culture.
0:53.3	People was to create strong young people, sort of a healthy body, healthy mind aspect from
0:59.8	the ancient Greeks.
1:00.8	That if we could create strong young people, we could create young people with character
1:05.5	and mental fortitude, etc.
1:07.1	They can go out and serve the country, right?
1:08.7	Be strong, to be useful.
1:10.8	In this program, COT fired, 4,000 other high schools adopted the same program.
1:15.7	JFK, John F. Kennedy used it as an example of what physical fitness education should be
1:21.4	like in public schools.
1:23.4	And for about 10 years, it was the talk of the town.
	...

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