Ludvík Fisher

“ The leaders of the people at home, men charged with high treason to Austria, because they are fired with love of their own land, the men who led Bohemian regiments over to the Russians, the heroes who created a Czecho-Slovak army in Russia, the workers who have organized the Bohemain National Alliance of America, are nearly all Sokols.
Will the Bohemian nation perish or will it emerge free from the awful, bloody contest? The Bohemians fight for their freedom and for the liberty of mankind. But they are not strong enough to win the fight alone. ”

“ He was convinced that Greece owed its unparalelled excellence to the passionate cultivation of the physical training of her children, and that the bodily vigor created by athletic exercises was the cause of the devoted patriotism which preserved the nation’s liberty. And so Tyrš boldly went back to the classical era for the means to strengthen his own race that he might train the youth of his beloved Czech nation into a similar harmony of physical and mental faculties and instill into it an ardent patriotism—the desires of the individual to be subordinate to the interests of the nation. ”

“ From this starting point Tyrš takes up the solution of the problem of his nation. All that lives is subject to this inexorable law of nature: Either increase and flourish, or dissappear and make room for other forms of life. This hard law makes itself felt in the history of humanity and mercilessly destroys individuals and nations, whenever they fall from their high standards and cannot keep step with others in the world arena. Tyrš remembered Rome, once the mistress of many nations, later an easy prey in its decadence for the Teuton barbarians, the physical giants of the north. ”

“ If physical training was to be the means for the cultivation of the nation’s energy, it was necessary to take into account racial characteristics; the method must be such as to fit the needs and temper of the people. That method had to be discovered by Tyrš. He gave his Sokols a purely Bohemian system of training, one that satisfied completely the instincts of the young body for exercise and at the same time gave heed to aesthetic considerations: the search for the true beauty of the body. ”

“ One great president of the United States led his people into a great war in order that six million black people should become their own masters. Another great president brought the United States into the greatest war of all ages, that all nations of the earth might be free to live their own lives. The Czecho-Slovak nation of twelve millions looks to the United States and to President Wilson for help in their struggle to become free from the yoke of the Hapsburgs. ”

“ It is a crown containing in itself all that a man values highest—the freedom of every individual and of country, well-being and glory, the preservation of families, in short, all the best things within the gift of the gods.”
So high a value did the Greeks put upon bodily training, in the days when the ancient Hellene started his hardy education in the gymnasium, when in the arena he exercised his muscles to acquire manly beauty and grace, when in the contests he practiced physical fitness and power which was united with a high degree of intellectual and moral cultivation. ”

“ Regular gymnasium training has a beneficial effect on all the activities of the man who takes the Sokol idea seriously. He learns to submit to voluntary discipline which commends itself to him through its noble aims; he cultivates the sense of duty to himself, to his family, to his fellow-citizens, above all to his nation. Thus he strengthens and improves his character as he aims at Tyrš’s definition of an ideal Sokol-a well rounded, honest man and citizen.
The Sokol societies train not only young men, but also the older boys, especially those of the laboring classes. ”

“ Thus we come to the point which practically is the most important contribution of the whole program of Tyrš. He realizes that a weak people must become gradually accustomed to the heavy tasks awaiting them, that the energy of the individual must be raised and his character strengthened, that the practical efficiency of the Bohemian people must be increased so that the entire race may better withstand external attacks. ”

“ At the same time the peasant released from slavery to his feudal lord, breathed more ,freely after centuries of severe oppresion and became conscious that he was a man; the indifference and ignorance of serfdom gave place to a recognition of duties to the nation. All over the lands of the Bohemian crown, as persecution and oppresion were lifted, powers that had been lying dormant came to life and sap began after a long winter to circulate in the body of the nation. ”

“ As long as that was true, ancient Hellas did not fear for its freedom, because her sons possessed matchless bravery and perseverance; and Greek art produced its most wonderful gems, while the learning of Greece enriched forever the entire human race. ”

“ Because the rapid growth of wealth and its concentration in the hands of a few brought about luxury, immorality, corruption and stagnation, which in their turn undermined the foundation of the state. Rome stood still, became enervated, set herself against the spirit of eternal change and progress, and thus perished the nation that had done so much for humanity. ”

“ They say in Bohemia that to be a Czech is to be a Sokol. The Sokol idea penetrates all classes of the people and makes the entire nation democratic and liberty-loving. It is no wonder that in the present war the Bohemian people have taken an anti-Austrian stand, and that thousands of members of Sokol societies here have enlisted as soon as this country declared war on Germany. ”

“ Bohemian women have appreciated the importance of the teachings of Tyrš, and the intelligent Czech woman considers it her duty to join the Sokol society of her town. At the last great Sokol meet—one is held every five years and is looked upon as a great national holiday—over five thousand women and girls took part in the athletic exhibition in Prague. Women who are members of the Sokol organization give to the nation sound, healthy children, and teach them passionate devotion to Bohemia. ”

“ It was necessary that the people of Bohemia should realize their heritage, should know again the great deeds of their ancestors, should join the nineteenth century with the fifteenth and sixteenth across two centuries of unconsciousness. František Palacký re-discovered Bohemian history and through his truly monumental work made the people proud of being members of the Czech race. ”

“ They take interest in popular education, fight corrupting literature and coarse entertainments, oppose reactionary tendencies in politics, agitate for equal rights. Not the least of the good effects of the Bohemian Sokol movement has been the closer contact and co-operation of the Slav nations. From the Bohemians the Sokol idea has spread to the Slovaks, the Poles, Russians, Croatians, Serbians, and everywhere it is a power making for progress, patriotism and liberty, and for common effort to make all Slav peoples free. ”

“ It is in this rich variety of exercises for every age, calling and sex that the Bohemian method of physical training differs from other systems. The Sokol institution thus obtained a distinctive, solid foundation from which the further education of intelligent Bohemians could proceed. A sound and strong body, the primary requirement, fostered by the numberless Sokol societies, assists in the better development of the individual man’s higher faculties. For we know now that man’s mental processes are closely connected with his physical make-up ”

“ When conscience was no longer violated, as it had been for the past two hundred years, when men could exercise their intelligence upon religious and philosophical questions, it was to be expected that the new generation would not have the souls of slaves or of hypocrites created invariably by fanatic persecutions. ”

“ And then the abiding vitality of the Bohemian people, persisting in spite of long lasting oppresion came to the surface. Men came forward in great numbers animated by the conviction that they must work hard to preserve the people’s language. The awakening of the nation began with the defense of the Czech language. Joseph Dobrovský, the gifted linguist, defined first the laws governing the correct use of the Bohemian language and gave the initial impulse for its further cultivation. ”

“ Then the sun of Hellas set, and with it the noble striving for the cultivation of the body, until in the dark centuries of the Middle Ages asceticism was magnified into the highest virtue and the human body was treated as an evil thing. But as soon as nations began to lead a conscious life, as soon as the rights of man received some recognition, the cultivation of physical and mental forces received again proper attention. Athletics as a means to physical well-being came once more into its own. ”

“ The aim of serious physical training was well brought out long ago by the Grecian philosopher Lucian in the dialogue of Anacharses and Solon: “In our public contests more is at stake than the prizes that are to be won; we aim at greater things both for the athletes and the country. ”

“ The great emergency for which Tyrš tried to prepare his people has come. The very existence of the Czech people is in the balance. But the Sokol idea has proved its soundness. In the forefront of the determined opposition to German tyranny are men trained in the Sokol halls of the Bohemian cities. ”