This exercise is first performed from platforms of various heights, and
from walls of various elevations. The object is to lessen the shock
that the legs and body experience in reaching the ground at a depth of
more than six or seven feet, and to diminish the distance if possible,
at the same time that it diminishes the violence and velocity of the
fall. All this is easily managed by observing the following rules.
Suppose the pupil placed upon a platform of four or six feet in height,
he must first examine the place he is about to leap to, so as to select
the most favourable part, free from stones and other obstacles. He will
then approach the extremity of the platform, with his back towards it,
and bend his body, placing his hands in the position shown in Plate
X. fig. 3. Having taken up this position securely, he will lean his
head a little forward, raise his toes from the platform, and remain
for an instant supported by the arms. The body then begins to extend,
and the legs to lengthen downward and backwards; the arms follow this
movement, bend, and support the body by the hands, which have a secure
resting-place on the edge of the platform, as in Plate X. fig. 4. This
descending movement is executed as slowly as possible: the arms stretch
out to their utmost length, till the body is sustained by the last
phalanx of the fingers, or touches the ground with the feet. If it does
not reach the ground, the pupil drops gently down on the tips of his
toes, bends himself, and recovers his upright position.
There is another mode of descending, when the last resting-place for
the hands is the top of a counterfort, or prop on a wall without a
counterfort. This consists (see Plate X. fig. 3) in seizing the last
hold with the right hand for instance, and in hanging firmly by that
hand, whilst the left, being at liberty, is lowered and pushes back the
body from the projecting stones in the walls, to prevent injury in the
descent. The impulse thus given is, however, very trifling, and solely
to avoid hurt, without increasing the violence of the fall, which ought
to be facilitated on reaching the ground by the rules already given. By
these means, the height of a wall is relatively diminished, for a man
who hangs suspended by his arms, has six feet less to drop than he who
has his feet where he might put his hands.
The down leap, unless gradually practised, may produce ruptures of
the diaphragm. When, however, the elevation from which the leap is
taken is gradually increased, the eye becomes accustomed to measure
the most extensive distances fearlessly, at the same time that by
practice the abdominal members learn to bend properly under the weight
of the trunk, and thereby preserve the organs contained in it from
serious injuries. In this kind of leap, the shocks will be diminished
by retaining the air in the chest, which may be done by closing the
glottis.
Persons who have long toes, powerful calves, and prominent heels, are
the best adapted for leaping.