Rings at Riverside Park

These are the rings at Riverside Park in New York city.

You're supposed to grab a ring with one hand, and swing and catch the next ring with your other hand.  Then repeat until you get to the end.  There are smaller versions of these for kids in a lot of places, but there's only a couple like this one for adults.  Believe me, its a lot harder for adults.  I'll post a video when I've mastered it.

Why do I find these rings important?  Two reasons.  One is that, like surfing, it inspires me.  I think it will be really cool when I can do this.  The second is that as humans, we should all be able to do this.  But most adults can't.  We've lost something as a species, a physical capability that is our birthright, and is important.

Being able to perform the rings requires a basic level of functional strength, something many people no longer possess, even if they work out.  As for myself, I've got shoulder issues from sitting hunched over at a desk for too many years with poor posture.  So I need to address the shoulder issues.  There are a few good methods for doing so, and the one I'm going to start with is by doing the exercises in Pete Egoscue's book Pain Free.

Think about this...  If no one could graduate high school without being able to go back and forth one time on a set of rings like this, how would that change our society for the better?