Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/209

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How Agility is Acquired
149

sium where the ceiling is so high that the cord on which the object is suspended is long enough for the student to slow up before he has gone "to the end of his rope." The employment of the feat works wonders for agility and for its twin brother, accuracy of eyesight.

Vaulting over an obstacle breast-high is a method of increasing agility that is employed in some of the jiu-jitsu schools. Such an obstruction may be a horizontal bar, or anything else that will serve the purpose. As the student lands on his feet on the other side he finds himself face to face with an adversary who is awaiting him, and combat immediately begins. When victory has been obtained, the other man attempts the vaulting in the same way. This work can be performed successfully only by students who have gone thoroughly through the lighter work for obtaining agility. Undoubtedly it would be better for the average man to try this work, at first, by vaulting over an obstacle that is only waist-high; but the Japanese student does not believe in stopping at trifles.

When all the work described in the foregoing