Plyometric Work at a Japan Training Camp

The following video is from a dual training camp where the Canadian Jr National Team traveled to Japan in the summer of '08. The clip shows some nice plyometric work and a few basics on floor before breaking out into more skill oriented training.

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I believe that the young Canadian who filmed it was at the recent US/Germany/Canada training camp & competition this past Oct '09.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I really want to try that back roll drill they did at 3min 20 seconds in. Looks like fun!

This is not what I normally consider pylometric work it looked more like stuff for rebound technique and snapping down from handstand. Not how I normally associate plyo work achieving max power and speed, but then mayb I'm confused :oops: .

Looks like incredible facilities in that gym! The kid in the video looks pretty dam good and really young tho it can be hard to tell with gym kids.

I liked seeing the bow (rei) at the beginning. This is always seen in Japanese martial arts, such as Shotokan Karate-do or Judo, at the beginning and end of class, as a sign of respect for the teacher, senior students, and the art itself. As an endeavoer that requires like physical commitment and discipline, it seems appropriate in the gymnastics setting.

This was a really awesome video... got things to go try

Wolf with one Ear said:

I liked seeing the bow (rei) at the beginning. This is always seen in Japanese martial arts, such as Shotokan Karate-do or Judo, at the beginning and end of class, as a sign of respect for the teacher, senior students, and the art itself. As an endeavoer that requires like physical commitment and discipline, it seems appropriate in the gymnastics setting.

This is not only a particularity of martial arts or discipline related activities. Almost anything the Japanese do in group, they do a greeting or formal opening or closing. Even for parties, tours, etc. there is the person in charge to say "Let's start the party from now on, bla bla bla". In many gyms, they salute even before the practice of each event. When I was going to one of those gyms, it was funny to line up with the small guys and bow in front of a pommel horse or parallel bars (there was no teacher around, just the senior would say "let's start/finnish the pommel horse practice, bow!")

Last month Kohei Uchimura made a presentation with Iketani in the city I work (Hanyu) and lots of other good gymnasts, too bad that it was forbidden to tape.

In gymnastics, many gyms will line up at attention and salute using their "finish" pose instead of bowing. Besides some of the religious people get nutty about bowing.

The bow is accompanied by

"yoroshiku o-negai shimasu"

Probably the most common phrase your hear in Japan when meeting people, asking for favors, etc. It's a catch-all phrase that can mean a bunch of different things, like "nice to meet you" or "thanks for being willing to help me out."