Uchimura's Secret To Success

Japanese gymnastics legend Kohei Uchimura proudly raised his hands and held up six fingers after winning his sixth-consecutive World all-around title at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships last week.

“I wanted to show that just one hand is not enough (to count the number of World titles that I won).” Uchimura said. His words clearly shows his pride on remaining as the greatest gymnast of all time ever since he got his first World all-around title in 2009. Ever since, he has successfully defended his winning streak and has not suffered any losses in the individual all-around World competitions (including the 2012 Summer Olympics). That’s probably because he was endowed with all the traits required to become the “king of gymnastics”. 

Mitsuo Tsukahara, the Vice President of the Japanese Gymnastics Association, who owns a total of five Olympic gold medals, said, “There used to be quite a large number of champions about 170 centimeters."

He was pertaining to, for example, Vitaly Venediktovich Scherbo (169cm), a former Belarusian artistic gymnast who holds a record total of 23 World Championship medals. In comparison, Uchimura is 162 centimeters tall, giving the overall impression that he has a small body frame with bulging muscles. 

Hiroyuki Tomita, a member of International Gymnastic Federation’s (FIG) technical committee, said, "There are body types that are advantageous to compete in individual all-around world championships."

During the time of Scherbo, the gymnasts were focusing on improving the precision of their routines to attain the “Perfect 10” score. However, since the gymnastics scoring system was changed in 2006, gymnasts started competing for a combination of D-score (difficulty score), which is based on the difficulty of the gymnast’s exercise and performance and E-score (Execution score) which evaluates the preciseness and beauty of the performance. That means, the more difficult the routine is, the better the score the gymnast could obtain.

On the individual all-around competitions, the athletes are required to use their muscles in order to perform their routines. Male gymnasts, especially, use those bulging muscles in gymnastics events like the floor exercise, and the vault, which requires jumping power, horizontal bars that requires a strong core muscle, as well as the rings, which requires brute strength. The harder the technique the gymnast use, the greater the burden their bodies would suffer, increasing the likelihood of injury.

Despite being the qualifying event for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, the top athletes of Brazil and U.S. failed to make it to the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow, because of existing physical injuries. Uchimura, on the other hand, was gifted with a physique that was more resistant from suffering the burdens on joints and muscles. As a matter of fact, “King Kohei” has never suffered any major injuries.

Japanese Gymnastics Federation’s Vice President Tsukahara said. “What gymnasts of today need is muscle endurance that is necessary to perform many difficult techniques.” 

The gymnast’s muscle endurance can be measured by observing their landing – the technique that the athletes are at the end of their performances – in the events such as horizontal bars. Considering that the gymnasts are using difficult routines (which tests the limits of their physical abilities) in the competitions that they take part in – they tend to get exhausted at the end of their performances. For that reason, only a small number of athletes were able to perform their routines as precise as it needs to be. On the other hand, mainly because of his excellent muscle endurance, Uchimura was able to hold his body in any position that he wants to.

Even after obtaining his third Olympic qualification, Uchimura said, "The Olympics are a different dimension. They won't go the same way as the world championships." Aside from his instinctive qualities, Uchimura also possesses an inquisitive mind to master the sport of gymnastics since he is more familiar with the struggles and hardships in gymnastics more than anyone else. Due to his amazing qualities, no one can tell if there is a limit on how far the “king of gymnastics” can go.

To get more informative posts and news related to the sport of gymnastics, you should like and subscribe to our official Facebook Page. Learn gymnastics for kids with us, enroll now at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy and obtain the highest quality of training and education.

Kohei Uchimura: A Japanese Gymnastics Legend

Those who had the opportunity of reaching the podium with Kohei Uchimura depicts him as a remarkable artistic gymnast. “King Kohei”, “The Bolt of Gymnastics”, “Superman”, or in the most positive sense – a “monster” are only some of the titles that are given to this Japanese gymnastics legend. 

Given that he’s a five-time consecutive World all-around champion, this 26-year-old Japanese gymnast can be considered as the greatest male gymnast  of all time.

Aside from his dominance in the World All-around competitions which earned him a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records, Uchimura is captivating for his unending search for perfection, the Holy Grail of Gymnastics. If some in this generation have chosen to perform an increased level of difficulty in exchange of a good execution, Uchimura returns Men’s Artistic Gymnastics to all its nobility.

This search for perfection started since he was still a child. At the age of 3, he learned his first gymnastics skills with the help of his father, Kazuhisa, a former artistic gymnast. His father trained him at his own gymnastics club in Nagasaki. When he was 15 years old, Uchimura travelled to Tokyo to continue his training together with his idol Naoya Tsukahara, a key member of the gold-medal winning Japanese men’s artistic team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the year 2007, while still a teenager, Uchimera joined the Japan’s National Team, where he instantly became famous for his astonishing feats.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Uchimura was the youngest member of the Japanese Men’s team, but that didn’t stop him from being one of the top performers. Despite the error that Uchimura commited while dismounting at the Pommel horse in the individual all-around final, he still managed to finish with a silver medal to go along with another silver medal in the Olympic team event.

It was in the following year that Uchimura began showing his extraordinary superiority in the sport, after finishing as a World Champion in the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships in London. He finished 2.5 points ahead of the second placer, the same score margin that separated 2nd from the 8th place.

Despite the lack of height, standing only 5 feet 3 inches, that didn’t stop this legendary gymnast from dominating the sport. Not even an injury has managed to hinder his path. At the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, despite having a shoulder program, he still managed to defend his World All-around title along with three additional medals.

One year later, he took part in the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo despite experiencing a pain in his calf, but was such a “machine” that he still managed to finish 3 points ahead of the second placer, the same margin that separated 2nd from the 14th place. After winning his third World all-around gold medal, Uchimura earned a standing ovation from the audience that lasted for two minutes upon the completion of his final routine “I thought it was an earthquake. I’ve never received such applause,” he said.

After such a winning streak, getting a gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics was not a surprise anymore. On his way to Rio, the Japanese gymnastics legend displayed no sign of struggle in the 2013 and 2014 World Championships, obtaining another two World titles with little to no difficulty.

However, despite having an impressive collection of World (a total of 16 medals, including 7 gold) and Olympic Medals (five, including 1 gold and 4 silver), there is still one dream that the Olympic champion has yet to fulfill, to win a gold medal with his team at one of the great international competitions. Since 2008, the Chinese team has always been ahead of the Japan at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Perhaps the Japanese team will eventually end up as gold medalists one of these years, fulfilling Uchimura’s ultimate dream. As of now, “King Kohei” plans to extend his gymnastics adventure until 2020, when Japan will host the Olympics for the first time since 1964.

Level up your child’s gymnastics for kids training by choosing the right kind of school for your kid. Enroll at Bianka Panova Sport and Art Academy and let us provide your child with the proper training and education in order to unlock your child’s full potential. Subscribe to our social media websites to receive the latest updates regarding the world of ballet and gymnastics! :D