PRO.
"The Japanese method of rowing is entirely different from ours. We row with our oars at right angles to the side of the boat, while we are seated. The Japanese oars are almost parallel to the side of the boat, and they row standing with their faces to the side. The movement is different also. We lift our oars from the water after each stroke. The Japanese oar is always submerged, and the oarsman moves it backward and forward with a sculling motion. There is an oar also at the stern of the boat, as well as on the sides. In our style of rowing, we exert our force only from the waist up, and at every stroke must exert motion out of the water with our oar to secure another hold on the water. The Japanese bring into action all their muscles from the feet up; and as there is no removal of the oar from the water, there is no loss of the power they exert."[1]
CONTRA.
"Putting the Japanese and foreign methods of rowing into comparison, full credit is due to the Japanese method of rowing (or yuloing[2]), for its affording the most complete bodily exercise. As Professor Bell says, every muscle from the feet up comes into action. Another instance where yuloing comes in practically and usefully is in passing narrow passages, when a Japanese boat (sampan) can continue to be propelled forward, while the crew of a gig would probably have to shift oars. Its superiority or advantage over the foreign way of rowing, in any other direction, I, however, venture to question.
Speed.—Taking a pilot sampan as an example with six good sailors, a speed at the rate of 4 to 4½ knots an hour can be obtained, while a well-manned six-oared gig can do 5½ to 6 knots without much trouble. Besides, the latter can easily keep up that speed for an hour or more, while 4½ knots yuloing for that
Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/425
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Rowing.
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