Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/95

 Rh that was induced by the good nature instilled into samurai students by jiu-jitsu instructors. The bravery that is, in most men, inseparable from the conscious possession of strength aided in this heroic suicide that saved an army from disgrace. The whitening bones of the men who followed their prince were allowed to remain undisturbed until they had crumbled and mingled with the earth. It was a gruesome but splendid monument to the calm bravery of a race that has made good nature an art to be preserved through all the centuries to the present day.

Here is one of the tricks that the Japanese employ both for strengthening of the muscles and for purposes of attack. The assailant throws his arm around the waist of the intended victim, clasping his hands in such manner that the entwined fingers press against the spine at the very small of the back. At the same time the assailant presses his chin against the left breast at a point about an inch and a half below the top of the shoulder and the same distance from the inside of the arm. The chin is dug firmly into the breast, while the