Pehr Henrik Ling - Legacy

Legacy

Ling died in 1839, having previously named as the repositories of his teaching his pupils Lars Gabriel Branting (1799–1881), who succeeded him as principal of the Institute, and August Georgii, who became sub-director; his son, Hjalmar Ling (1820–1886), being for many years associated with them. All these, together with major Thure Brandt, who from about 1861 specialized in the treatment of women (gynecological gymnastics), are regarded as the pioneers of Swedish medical gymnastics.

Ling and his earlier assistants left no proper written account of their treatment, and most of the literature on the subject is repudiated by one set or other of the gymnastics practitioners. The origins and greatest influences of Dr Ling's work was certainly those of his Chinese friend "Ming" who had introduced him to Tuina and martial arts. The loss of filiation with these oriental influences were uncovered inadvertently by Johan Georg Mezger (1838–1909) who coined a reduced set of maneuvers and techniques of Dr. Ling's system as the "Swedish massage" system. These techniques were effleurage (long, gliding strokes), petrissage (lifting and kneading the muscles), friction (firm, deep, circular rubbing movements), tapotement (brisk tapping or percussive movements), and vibration (rapidly shaking or vibrating specific muscles). These are also basic techniques of tui na and Chinese massage.

Ling's system of medical gymnastics also influenced later institutions and systems. The Gymnastic Orthopedic Institute was founded in Stockholm in 1822 by Nils Åkerman, which after 1827 received a government grant. Around 1857, Gustaf Zander elaborated a medico-mechanical system of gymnastics, known by his name, and started his Zander Institute at Stockholm in 1865. At the Stockholm Gymnastic Central Institute, qualified medical men have supervised the medical department since 1864. The course is three years; one year for qualified doctors.

Broadly speaking, there have been two streams of development in the Swedish gymnastics founded on Ling's beginnings, either in a conservative direction, making certain forms of gymnastic exercises subsidiary to the prescriptions of orthodox medical science, or else in an extremely progressive direction, making these exercises a substitute for any other treatment, and claiming them as a cure for disease by themselves. A representative of the latter, more extreme, section was Henrik Kellgren (1837–1916), who had a special school and following.

Other variants and accounts of Dr Ling's practice and philosophies were published: a Handbook of Medical Gymnastics (English edition, 1899) by Anders Wide of Stockholm represents the more conservative practice. Henrik Kellgren's system, which, though based on Ling's, admittedly goes beyond it, is described in The Elements of Kellgren's Manual Treatment (1903) by Edgar F. Cyriax, who, before taking the MD degree at Edinburgh, had passed out of the Stockholm Institute as a gymnastic director. See also the encyclopedic work Sweden: its people and its industry: historical and statistical handbook (1904), p. 348, edited by Gustav Sundbärg for the Swedish government.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.