Pehr Henrik Ling - Teaching

Teaching

Having established himself as a teacher in these arts at Lund, Ling was appointed fencing-master to the Uppsala University (1805). He found that his daily exercises had completely restored his bodily health, and his thoughts now turned towards applying this experience for the benefit of others. He saw the potential for adapting these techniques to promote better health in many situations and thus attended classes on anatomy and physiology, and went through the entire curriculum for the training of a doctor. He then elaborated a system of gymnastics, exercises and maneuvers, divided into four branches, (1) pedagogical, (2) medical, (3) military, (4) aesthetic, which carried out his theories and would demonstrate the required occidental scientific rigor to be integrated or approved by established medical practitioners.

After several attempts to interest the Swedish government, Ling at last obtained government co-operation in 1813, when the Royal Gymnastic Central Institute for the training of gymnastic instructors was opened in Stockholm, with Ling appointed as principal. The orthodox medical practitioners were naturally opposed to the larger claims made by Ling and his disciples concerning cures of diseases, so far at least as anything more than the occasional benefit of some form of skillfully applied massage and maneuvers was concerned; But the fact that in 1831 Ling was elected a member of the Swedish General Medical Association (Svenska läkaresällskapet) shows that in his own country at all events his methods were regarded as consistent with professional recognition. He was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1835 and became a titular professor the same year.