The necessity of ‘Hifumi Gymnastics’ for Japanese children in physical education and recreation

Abstract

The authors produced the ‘Hifumi Gymnastics’ programme, which included four representative movements based on Japanese traditional arts, to help Japanese children improve their physical strength and to address their lack of exercise. In addition, this exercise programme was designed to help children work on their educational subjects while enjoying local sports activities and educational scenes. The purpose of this study is to clarify the exercise intensity and the featured movements of Hifumi Gymnastics. Concretely, the program was measured by two methods: heart rate variability (HRV) and the body parts with the highest maximum temperature. Then, it was analysed by comparing its data to those of ‘Radio Exercise No. 1’, which is the representative exercise programme in Japan. The HRV for Hifumi Gymnastics increased gradually to approximately 75/min-100/min as the exercise load increased and ended. Thus, the intensity of the exercise proved to be slightly higher for Hifumi Gymnastics than for Radio Exercise No. 1. In terms of thermography, Hifumi Gymnastics constantly stimulated the back and lateral muscles of the lower extremities. This tendency was thought to be attributable to the selected four movements that the authors intentionally incorporated into the programme. From the above results, it is clarified that Hifumi Gymnastics is constructed of various movements and it uses many body parts from the comparison with Radio exercises. This results supports that it is valid as children's exercise for strengthening the lower extremities.