Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-01-01

weights were not anxious to mix up
with, decided to put a damper on the
fighting ambitions of the island empire.
There was much to be gained by
squelching the ambitious japanese, and
as Russia thought, nothing to lose. Dur
ing the preliminarles for the bout the
big and bewhiskered Russians spoke Of
the '1ittle brown men" as q huge joke,
and men of other nations said it was
shame for a big nation like Russia to
go to war with a people SO apparently
inferior as a fighting race as the Japa-
nese appeared to be. The world knows
the result Of that contest. It knows how
1.-The little brown men" came to look
like veritable giants long before war
was we'll under way The little Japs
proved superior to the big Russians
upon almost every point. They were
quite as brave, If not Drawer. They
showed as much generalship and
knowledge Of warfare as their oppo-
nents, and what astounded the Rus
slams, as well as the whole world, was
the splendid physical fitness of the
Japs. There were practically no sick
men among them. The soldiers quickly
recovered from the most trying and Sc
we're tests Of endurance. They thrived
on food that would have made their
opponents stagger with weakness. A
wounded Jap was back from the hospi-
tai and into the fight again in an amaz-
ingly brief period. He appeared i'm
mune to the inflammations Of head,
throat and lungs that assail most other
men exposed to sudden changes Of the
weather. In brief, he appeared at all
times physically fit.
When the war was over, fighting
men of other nations, with a new and
wholesome respect for the Japanese,
made inquiries as to the why and
wherefore. Why were the Japanese,
smaller in stature and weight than
their opponents, able to undergo the
same hardships and suffer little If any
as a result Of them? They rightly con-
Guided that the Japs underwent a train
ing that was especially adapted to put
and keep the body in health.
Long before the island empire was
even remotely known to other nations,
system Of physical training was in
vogue among all the people. Not that
Japan expected that the training would
some time serve her a good turn In war.
1t was practiced for the good that re-
suited to the individuals. Boys who
received the training grew up to be
men sound In mind and body. They
were free from the Ills and aches and
pains that assail so many people of
other nations. There is nothing COM
plicated or mysterious about the physi-
cal training given the Japanese youth.
The system IS much the same as that
adopted by other lands. It's effective
ness in the case Of the Japanese lies in
the persistency in which the training
is carried out. The Jap, correctly be-
| lieving that health is essential to hap
piness, regards exercise as necessary
to health and looks upon his physical
training and daily exercise much as
other people do their daily meals.
There are no spurts for a few days,
then abandonment for a while, with
final abandonment when manhood is
reached. He looks upon 1t as part Of
his daily life, and he grows to like it
and to look for it with the same regu-
larity as his daily food.
One Of the methods of keeping the
public interested in athletic achieve
ments is that of giving public exhibit
tions in which the foremost athletes
participate. 1t should be known that
n Japan an athlete Of unusual skill Is