Dying Breed Dialogues: Ron Jones on Reviving Classical Physical Education

What's lacking in modern PE, the noble purpose of being fit, and the virtue of a beautiful push-up

Ron Jones calls himself a "historical kinesiologist," but that label hardly captures the full scope of who he is. Ron’s truly a dying breed — a physical educator who understands not only what PE once was, but what it still has the potential to be.

Ron is steeped in the physical culture traditions of the past. Over the years, he’s amassed a vast library of vintage fitness manuals and training guides, and he’s made it his mission to preserve and share the wisdom he’s found in his studies through his blog, The Lean Berets, and other platforms. If you're a listener of the AoM podcast, you may remember the interview I did with Ron about his documentary The Motivation Factor, which is about the famous La Sierra High PE program of the 1960s where shirtless young men in different colored shorts would do perfectly synchronized calisthenics and incredible feats of athletic strength.

Ron recently took a job as a PE teacher at an intermediate school in Cleveland, Oklahoma, which is located about an hour west of Tulsa. He got that job in part because the principal of that school (and member of The Strenuous Life), Jeremy McKinney, heard that podcast episode I did with Ron. When Ron applied, hoping to relocate from California to be closer to his wife’s family in OK, Jeremy realized he had the opportunity to hire one of the best PE teachers in the country — someone who treats physical education not as a throwaway class, but as a vital, essential part of educating the whole person.

I recently took a trip out to Cleveland to visit Ron at his intermediate school gym (that doubles as the cafeteria and assembly hall) to talk to him about physical education and to take a look at the classical equipment he's using with 5th and 6th graders in rural Oklahoma. Some of the equipment comes from the personal collection of Bonnie Prudden, one of the most influential physical educators in American history. Her landmark report to President Eisenhower on the poor fitness of American children compared to their European peers helped spur the creation of the President’s Council on Youth Fitness (which led to the President’s Challenge fitness awards you may have grown up trying to earn).

So consider this both a Dying Breed Dialogue and a Field Trip.

Statue of Cleveland High School and University of Oklahoma alum and 1952 Heisman Trophy Winner Billy Vessels

Ron and I talked about why the "golden age" of physical education from 1885-1920 produced better results than modern programs, how World War II fitness manuals contain forgotten wisdom on exercise, and how classical PE was designed to serve the noble purpose of building citizens who could serve their families and country.

We also discuss the famous La Sierra program, the best book on physical education (hint: we saw this book on my field trip to a university library), and why beauty is an important component of PE.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.