Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/68

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Japanese Physical Training

of the danger-point. After some weeks of faithful practice the student will find that both heart and lungs have been greatly strengthened, and that his endurance under arm strain will be little short of marvellous.

Yet in order to make this work effective, the student should never forget the principle of constantly employing resistance to the upward or the downward movement of the arms. At the outset, two upward and two downward movements of the arms from in front, and the same number at the sides, should be sufficient for the morning and for the evening work. The beginner's own intelligence should teach him how to increase this work as time goes on. A Japanese who has been under instruction in jiu-jitsu for three months is able to keep up these arm exercises for fifteen minutes at a time, and without the slightest feeling of fatigue. Even from four to six weeks will convince any persistent investigator that the arms may be built up to the point of superb strength without resort to the Indian clubs and dumb-bells that were unknown in ancient Japan. But the fact should never be lost sight