In this post, I’d like to tell you all about an opportunity to try out the kind of flexibility training equipment that is purported to have contributed to baseball legend Ichiro’s athletic longevity. A new facility is now in the Tsuruya Department Store building. It’s a membership-based service but right now it’s possible to try it out for free.

First, let me introduce the relevant information about the facility in Tsuruya. Then I’ll introduce some links to English-language pages about what makes the equipment special and why it might be good for ordinary folks like us.

The facility is called “World Wing Kumamoto” and it opens officially on June 12th:

https://worldwing-kumamoto.jp

Until then, you can arrange to try the equipment out for free, with the guidance of a coach.

I got the image of the Wall Street Journal article about Ichiro’s secret gym here:

https://superichirocrazy.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/flexibility-is-my-weapon/

You can see a video from Japanese TV of Ichiro training with the equipment here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=H8KdXTBLjAg

Here’s an article with some explanation in English:

https://calltothepen.com/2017/03/04/miami-marlins-ichiro-brought-secret-gym-spring-training/

“The “secret gym” equipment Ichiro uses comes from a Japanese company, World Wing Enterprise, that specializes in advanced training concepts. They usually provide their equipment to organizations, not individuals, but they made an exception for Ichiro because he’s basically a rock star in Japan.”

And this page has more videos and English explanation:

The Unorthodox Training Behind Ichiro’s Unparalleled Longevity https://www.stack.com/a/the-unorthodox-training-behind-ichiros-unparalleled-longevity

“If you look closely at the machines, you’ll notice they’re all adorned with the letters ‘BMLT.’ The concept originated with Yasushi Koyama, a Japanese fitness expert. Koyama founded World Wing Enterprise as a training facility in 1981. In 1994, he published the theory that would become known as BMLT. The theory is based in part on the idea that athletes should get more flexible as they train, not less. Koyama believes that many athletes make the mistake of using too much weight and too little range of motion in their training, resulting in hard, tight muscles and limited flexibility and mobility. According to a patent filed by Koyama for a World Wing training apparatus, traditional strength training machines are often built on the principles of ’ending movement load training.’”

But the equipment seems to be good for ordinary folks too – not just elite athletes. Here’s a link to a summary of an academic paper:

A unique form of light-load training improves steadiness and performance on some functional tasks in older adults. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22493975

I’ve never tried the equipment myself. I’d like to but I don’t want to have to go downtown to exercise so I think I’ll stick with more current routine. The introduction I saw on local TV, however, seemed interesting.

– KIrk