Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/58

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Japanese Physical Training

of doors the same feat can be practised by starting at a middle line, with "goal" lines drawn in the soil behind each contestant.

Just how much of this strenuous exercise is beneficial must be left largely to the judgment of those engaged in it, always bearing in mind what has been said above about not overtaxing the heart to the point of severe palpitation. At the outset, not more than three or four "struggles" per day are to be recommended, nor should any one "struggle" last, at first, more than two minutes. There will come a time, when, if jiu-jitsu is faithfully kept up, two well-developed and equally matched opponents can struggle for twenty consecutive minutes without either gaining material advantage. At first not so much attention should be given to victory as to the training of the muscles. If one of the students is decidedly the superior of the other in strength, then the stronger one should offer just enough resistance to continue the "struggle," and should allow the weaker contestant to slowly gain the victory once in a while. No exercise known in jiu-jitsu will do more than this one for gradually toughening all