For the late French physical educator Georges Hébert (1875-1957), influenced by the "noble savage" teachings of philosopher and educationalist Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Hebert believed only the observation of nature could lead people to the true methods of physical development. He wrote:
"The final goal of physical education is to make strong beings. In the purely physical sense, the Natural Method promotes the qualities of organic resistance, muscularity and speed, towards being able to walk, run, jump, move quadrupedally, to climb, to walk in balance, to throw, lift, defend yourself and to swim."
"The final goal of physical education is to make strong beings. In the purely physical sense, the Natural Method promotes the qualities of organic resistance, muscularity and speed, towards being able to walk, run, jump, move quadrupedally, to climb, to walk in balance, to throw, lift, defend yourself and to swim."
An officer in the French Navy prior to the First World war, Hébert was stationed in the town of St. Pierre in Martinique. In 1902 the town fell victim to a catastrophic volcanic eruption and Hebert heroically co-ordinated the escape and rescue of some seven hundred people from this disaster. This experience had a profound effect on him, and reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism. He eventually developed this ethos into his personal motto, "Être fort pour être utile"--"To be strong to be useful."
Hébert had travelled extensively throughout the world and was impressed by the physical development and movement skills of indigenous peoples in Africa and elsewhere:
Their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skilful, enduring, resistant and yet they had no other tutor in Gymnastics but their lives in Nature.
While still at sea, Hébert began to systematise a method of physical culture training patterned on the abilities of the indigenous peoples he had encountered.
Hébert had travelled extensively throughout the world and was impressed by the physical development and movement skills of indigenous peoples in Africa and elsewhere:
Their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skilful, enduring, resistant and yet they had no other tutor in Gymnastics but their lives in Nature.
While still at sea, Hébert began to systematise a method of physical culture training patterned on the abilities of the indigenous peoples he had encountered.
Methode Naturelle. (Natural Method)
A (Natural Method) session is composed of exercises belonging to the ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, equilibrism (balancing), throwing, lifting, defending and swimming.A training session consists, then, of exercises in an outdoor environment - a course of greater or lesser distance (a few hundred meters to several kilometers), during which, one walks, one runs, one jumps, one progresses quadrupedally, one climbs, one walks in unstable balance, one raises and one carries, one throws, one fights and one swims.This course can be carried out in 2 ways:1 - the natural or spontaneous way; i.e., on an unspecified route through the countryside.2 - within an especially designed environment.All of the exercises can be carried out while progressing through this environment.Finally, the session can last from 20 to 60 minutes.
Thus, Hébert was among the earliest proponents of the "parcours" or obstacle course form of physical training, which is now standard in the military and has led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses. In fact, woodland challenge courses comprising balance beams, ladders, rope swings and so-on are often still described as "Hebertism" or "Hebertisme" courses both in Europe and in North America. It may even be possible to trace modern adventure playground equipment back to Hébert's original designs in the early 1900s.
Thus, Hébert was among the earliest proponents of the "parcours" or obstacle course form of physical training, which is now standard in the military and has led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses. In fact, woodland challenge courses comprising balance beams, ladders, rope swings and so-on are often still described as "Hebertism" or "Hebertisme" courses both in Europe and in North America. It may even be possible to trace modern adventure playground equipment back to Hébert's original designs in the early 1900s.
The true Natural Method, in its broadest sense, must be considered as the result of these three particular forces; it is a physical, virile and moral synthesis. It resides not only in the muscles and the breath, but above all in the "energy" which is used, the will which directs it and the feeling which guides it."The guiding principles and fundamental rules of the Natural method are:
1 the continuity of work.
2 work by contrary alternation of effort.
3 gradation of intensity of work.
4 initial Rust removal. (meaning, like a rusty hinge, the more you move it, the easier it becomes to move)
5 proportioning of the quantity of work, and individualization of this proportioning.6 adjustment of pace.
8 adjustments of the durations.
9 flexibility of work.
10 correct attitude and full breathing.
11 freedom supplements action of each participant, even in collective work.
12 work timed by the stopwatch
13 improvement of technical execution.
14 research and correction of the weak points.
15 work in a state of naturalness/nudity. Hardening with the bad weather.
16 free demonstrations of joy to be encouraged. To sing and to cry.
17 virilisation or the cultivation of energy.
18 moralisation or the cultivation of noble feelings.
19 emulation
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