Human Grace (1952)

[Music] I suppose you might have thought that all I'm interested in is wild animals and birds and flowers and trees like that but we forget that we human beings are also animals and incidentally one of the most graceful of all animals now you just keep an eye on these gymnasts at their exercises and I'm pretty sure you'll agree with me and incidentally you are looking at some of the greatest uh gymnasts in the world because most of these pictures were taken at the Olympic Games and many of them are the actual competition for the Olympic championships now here we have a few of the setting up [Music] exercises these are tumblers just warming up for the Main [Music] Events you know gymnasts rarely have an opportunity to appear in competition before great audiences most of them are in the solitary confinement of the gym but at the Olympic Games uh once every four years they have a chance to do their stuff way out in front of huge audiences and I think it stirs them to even even greater [Music] Deeds another thing is that uh many people say that women are more graceful than men well more beautiful perhaps but more graceful I don't know about that I think uh I'll let you form your own opinion later on [Music] now I want you to notice that this uh uh girl here is going through a lot of exercises that are standard uh practice uh technique for ballet dancers there's a good deal in gymnastics that is exactly the same as the training for the valley that is you need Rhythm balance control and confidence in your [Music] act now there's a standard uh ballet procedure right there [Music] I say that absolute perfect rhythm is one of the secrets of good uh gymnastic execution and that's why so much of it is done to music it's just as much a rhythmical exercise as dancing is [Music] [Music] now there's perfect balance and muscular control [Music] now we're seeing it in slow motion and you can see how beautiful and how graceful it is and of course perfect confidence must go with [Music] it now those chaps were finishing off their turns on the parallel bar as you see the way the competition is scored certain number of points are allotted for the approach a certain number for the execution and a certain number for the finish so the approach and the and the Finish are just as important in a way as the execution if you are in gymnastic competition [Music] [Music] well there's a chap need a little help to get up to the Rings but that's quite all right that's allowable [Music] now we're on the [Music] horse and remember this is not only graceful it is healthful and Ralph Waldo Emerson said give me Health in a day and I Scorn the rank of an emperor here we have it in slow motion Now isn't that beautiful [Music] you know one of the old Greek principles of education was a sound mind and a sound body when you're healthy you can think better and clearer and you can act better too [Music] well this is the way not to do [Music] it look at the difference between a real gymnast and a uh beginner a few giant swings now [Music] I wouldn't advise that if you're my age but if you're younger it's good [Music] exercise but I think you can agree with me now that the human animal is one of the most graceful of all the members of the animal kingdom [Music] and as these chaps make their finishes I hope you'll agree with me that it's not only helpful but beautiful [Music]