Half a dozen sets of these clubs will add materially to the equipment of the household “gym”; and it would be advisable to make them in several sizes—say from one to three pounds each.
Calisthenic Wands and Ball-bars
These wands, three to five feet long, may be cut from any hard-wood, or the same lengths of a one-inch curtain-pole will answer quite as well. Plain square sticks may be planed octagonal in shape, or rounded, as a matter of choice (Fig. 6 A).
The ball-bar (Fig. 6 B) may be made as described for the dumb-bells, by boring croquet-balls and attaching them to the ends of a bar with wedges.
In many schools calisthenic exercises with wands, dumb-bells, and ball-bars are regularly taught; and the boy who has provided his own gymnasium with the simple apparatus required will find pleasure in rehearsing the school instructions at his home.
Swinging-rings
Exercising and swinging rings are usually from six to ten inches in diameter, outside measure, and they may be purchased at the shops for one or two dollars a pair, according to the size and finish.
A blacksmith will make you a pair of rings, eight inches in diameter, out of five-eighth-inch round iron, for about fifty cents; and with a fine file and emery cloth they may be smoothed down so that they will not chafe the hands. Some rings are nickel-plated, but they are used only by professionals in their exhibition work.
Fig. 5.