Japan 高校2年 Physical Education
Chapters: 8
1. Physical fitness exercise
Body-relaxation exercises · Planning exercises for daily life
- Body-Relaxation Exercises – Body-relaxation exercises are easy movements and slow breathing that let tight muscles soften and the mind settle. First notice where you hold tension (shoulders, jaw, fists), then release it: shrug and drop, stretch, belly breathing (4 counts in, 6 out). You can also do gentle partner games, such as mirroring, to feel safe and connected.
- Physical Fitness – Physical fitness is the body's ability to do daily work, play and sport with energy to spare. It has five health-related components (heart-lung endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition) and six skill-related ones (speed, agility, power, balance, coordination, reaction time). We improve it with a planned programme using FITT (frequency, intensity, time, type) and training principles like overload, progression, specificity, rest and reversibility.
2. Gymnastics
Mat, bar, beam, vault
- Gymnastics: Apparatus, Basic Skills, Balance and Safety – Gymnastics is a sport of controlled body movement: rolls, balances, jumps, swings and vaults on the floor and on apparatus. The main types are artistic, rhythmic, trampoline and acrobatic gymnastics. Two science ideas explain most skills: you stay balanced when your centre of gravity is above your base, and you spin faster when you pull your body into a tuck. Every skill is learned step by step, after a warm-up, on mats and with a spotter.
3. Athletics
Running events · Jumping and throwing events
- Athletics: Running, Jumping and Throwing – Athletics (track and field) is sport where performance is measured: races are timed, jumps and throws are measured in metres. Track events include sprints, middle and long distance, hurdles and relays. Jumps (long, triple, high, pole vault) have four phases: approach, take-off, flight and landing. Throws (shot put, discus, javelin, hammer) depend most on release speed, then on release angle and height. Clear rules on starts, lanes, lines and sectors keep it fair.
4. Swimming
Four strokes and medley
- Swimming Strokes, Water Safety, Skating and Skiing – Swimming has four strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Each uses a different arm and leg pattern. Water safety means knowing how to float, never swimming alone and helping a drowning person from the edge. Skating and skiing work because blades and skis slide on ice and snow with very little friction.
5. Ball games
Goal type · Net type · Base type
- Goal-Type Games (Invasion Games) – In goal-type games two teams try to take a ball into the opponents' goal or basket while stopping them from doing the same. Football, hockey, basketball, handball and rugby all work this way. Winning needs three things: good ball handling (pass, dribble, shoot), smart movement without the ball into empty space, and team tactics for attack and defence.
- Net-Type Games – In net-type games a net splits the court and each side tries to send the ball over the net so that it lands inside the opponent's court and cannot be returned. Volleyball is a team example; badminton, tennis and table tennis are racket examples. A rally follows a pattern: serve, receive, set and attack. Players cover the court by standing in good positions and communicating.
- Base-Type Games (Bat-and-Ball Games) – In base-type games a batter hits a ball into the field and runs round bases while the fielding team tries to get the ball to a base before the runner arrives. Baseball, softball and rounders are classic examples; cricket shares the same bat-and-ball idea. Winning needs three skills: batting the ball into a gap, running the bases smartly, and fielding with quick throws and team coordination.
6. Martial arts
Judo or kendo
- Traditional Games and Martial Arts – Traditional games are played with simple objects and rules passed down through families and communities, like tops, marbles, tag games, tug of war, kabaddi and kho-kho. They keep culture alive and build fitness and fair play. Martial arts and combat sports (judo, taekwondo, karate, wrestling, kalaripayattu, boxing) teach self-control, respect and technique. Every combat sport rests on the same basics: a bow of respect, a stable stance (centre of gravity over a wide base), safe falling (break-falls), clear rules and safety gear.
7. Dance
Creative, folk, modern rhythm dance
- Creative, Folk and Rhythm Dance: Make a Group Dance – Three kinds of dance meet in a group dance. Creative dance turns a theme (like a wave) into movement. Folk dance uses simple patterns, such as a circle, that people share. Modern rhythm dance moves to a steady beat counted in eights. To make a group dance, pick a theme, choose a pattern, count the beat and join the parts in order.
- Dance: Elements, Choreography and Forms – Dance is movement of the body, in space and time, with energy, used to express feelings, tell stories or celebrate. Every dance can be described with four elements: Body (what moves), Space (where: levels, directions, pathways), Time (when: tempo, rhythm, pause) and Energy (how: sharp or smooth, strong or light). Choreography is the art of arranging movement using devices such as motif, repetition, canon, unison, contrast and formations. Good performers train technique, safety and expression, and good audiences describe, analyse, interpret and judge what they see. Dance forms, from classical and folk to ballet and hip-hop, grow out of their culture and history.
8. PE theory
Effective ways of learning sport
- Effective Ways of Learning Sport – You learn a sport by practising skills with feedback and rest, by understanding tactics (smart choices in a game), and by playing safely: warm up, use the right gear, and match effort to your body. Regular sport strengthens the heart, muscles and bones, and also lifts mood and focus.