Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/78

44 severely used as may be done without causing any physical distress to either.

First of all of the leg exercises directed in the average jiu-jitsu school is the one now to be described. The contestants seat themselves on the floor, or on the ground, facing each other. The legs are extended forward. The trunk of the body is erect, with the palms of the hands pressed against the ground or floor. In this work much support must come from the hands and arms. One man places the flat of his right foot against the flat of the other's left foot. At the start the heels of both rest upon the floor. Next, very slowly, each man raises the engaged foot as high as possible. All the while the greatest pressure possible is maintained.

It is the object of each contestant to apply the pressure of his own foot to such an extent that he forces his adversary over on his back. At the outset it is much better to use this work along purely resistant lines, allowing each to gain the victory in turn. After a while this sport—for such it becomes—may be varied, when the strength of the contestants is about