This Principal Does A Shuffle Dance With His Students Daily To Keep Them Active

Jan 30, 2019 by apost team

One school principal in China is in the spotlight. Zhang Pengei decided to go for more of a nontraditional way to get the kids interested in exercising. He set the stat-approved, mandatory program to the side and treated the school with the shuffle.

This 40 year old principal at XI Guan Primary School which is located in Shanxi Province has went viral for his way of teaching. His dancing and exercising has everyone wanting to get up and join in. And, it's not just the kids. Some of the staff is happy to dance around with him. Just since Friday, this one video has acquired more than an astonishing 26 million views!

Zhang brought this idea to life in November, 2018. He was unhappy with the results from the children in previous years with their physical output and they had expressed just how boring the normal calisthenics program was. He knew he had to do something to change things. This is when he learned how to do the shuffle. Once he perfected it, he shared his skills with the staff and students.

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He knew that something fun would be much more interesting than the normal restrictive ways of exercise. He was also hoping that this new way of exercising would also divert the children away from electronics .

The routine he is performing is called Guibu, or better known as "Ghost Steps". It's a shuffle dance that incorporates some jazz steps to give it a little flair.

The unfortunate thing is that the government makes surprise visits to ensure that the exercise program is being followed appropriately. This is when Zhang ran into a problem. In the beginning half of the teachers refused to new exercise program that Zhang had invented. This was because rules were being broken since Zhang had deviated from the governed curriculum.

The governed program has been mandatory since 1951 in all types of schools. The program includes testing and continued use of stretching, flexibility, and jumping. This mandatory participation is followed in hopes to increase teamwork and overall strength of the students. It was even used in the work day at factories and government institutions that were state owned. The program is no longer used at working facilities.

These exercise tactics are believed to have originated back in the 19th century in Germany. It's even been traced through the Japanese military and Soviet Union during WWII.

I think I could get into an exercise like this! How about you? What are your thoughts on allowing principals to decide their own exercise programs? Maybe kids would enjoy exercising a little more if they had some freedom with it. Let us know what you think and feel free to pass this along to your friends and family!