Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/136

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Japanese Physical Training

the Japanese do not employ their full strength in combat. All that they do is to use their opponent's strength so as to defeat him.

It requires some time to grasp this idea. A Japanese who seizes his adversary does not employ all the strength that he has acquired. What he does is to take hold of his adversary at the weakest point presented. Then he holds on firmly, and allows the adversary to use his own strength to the point that brings pain or exhaustion. For instance, the man on the defensive who secures the wrist-pinch that has been described already has nothing to do but to hold on until his assailant's strength has been exhausted to a point that renders the latter unable to keep up the contest.

All of the tricks of self-defence must be practised by two opponents. It is to be hoped that neither of these combatants will need the work for actual self-defence, but friendly contests are to be encouraged, as every one of the feats will make for actual strength, for courage, and for what is worth most of all in emergencies—presence of mind and agility.

There can be no doubt that, for purposes of