Japan 中学2年 Health and Physical Education

1. Physical fitness exercise

Body-relaxation exercises · Exercises to improve body movement

• 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 · Horizontal bar · Balance beam · Vaulting box

• 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

Sprint, relay, long-distance, hurdles · Long jump, high jump

• 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

Crawl · Breaststroke · Backstroke · Butterfly

• 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 · Kendo · Sumo

• Judo: Fall Safely, Throw Smartly, Hold Firmly – Judo means "the gentle way". It was created in Japan in 1882 by Kano Jigoro. You learn three things: falling safely (ukemi), throwing by breaking the partner's balance (nage-waza) and holding a partner on the back (osaekomi-waza). A full point is called ippon. Respect, a bow and a safe mat come first.
• Kendo: The Way of the Sword, Step by Step – Kendo is a Japanese sport where two players use bamboo swords (shinai) and wear armour (bogu). You learn a calm stance (kamae), low sliding footwork, and clean strikes to the head (men), wrist (kote), body (do) and a thrust to the throat (tsuki). Attacking moves are shikake-waza and answering moves are oji-waza. Respect and safety come first.
• Sumo: Low Hips, Strong Legs, Push Out of the Ring – Sumo is a Japanese wrestling sport. Two wrestlers try to push or throw each other out of a round ring (dohyo) or make the other touch the ground with anything except the soles of the feet. Basic movements are shiko (leg stamp) and suriashi (sliding step). Main winning moves are pushing (oshi), grappling by the belt (yori) and throwing (nage).

7. Dance

Creative dance · Folk dance · Modern rhythm dance

• 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.
• Folk Dance: Dances of the People, Around Japan and the World – A folk dance is a dance made by ordinary people and passed on from one generation to the next. It is usually danced together, to a steady beat, in simple patterns such as a circle, two lines or pairs. Many moves copy daily work. Japanese folk dances (min'yo) include bon odori and soran bushi. Around the world there are circle dances, line dances, partner mixers and stick dances such as dandiya.
• Modern Rhythm Dance: Rock and Hip-Hop – Modern rhythm dance means moving your body to the beat of popular music such as rock and hip-hop. First find the steady beat, then count it in groups of 8. Hip-hop bounces down on every beat. Rock puts the strong hit on beats 2 and 4 (the backbeat). Dancing with others means everyone moves on the same beat.

8. PE theory

Significance, effects, learning methods and safe practice of sport (2年)

Coming soon

9. Health (2年 allocation)

Lifestyle diseases and their prevention · Smoking, drinking, drug abuse and health · Injury prevention

• Lifestyle Diseases: How Daily Habits Build or Break Your Health – Lifestyle diseases are long-lasting illnesses that are strongly linked to how we live: what we eat, how much we move, how we sleep, and whether we use tobacco or alcohol. Major examples are heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity and many cancers. They develop slowly over years, so good habits started young, plus regular check-ups and cancer screening, prevent most of them. After illness, treatment together with healthy habits helps recovery.
• Addiction: How It Starts and How to Stay Free – Addiction is losing control over a substance or a behaviour, even when it causes harm. It can be to substances (tobacco, alcohol, drugs, misused medicines) or to behaviours (gaming, gambling, social media). Each use gives the brain a burst of dopamine, which teaches it to repeat the action; with time tolerance grows and you need more. Warning signs are craving, loss of control, compulsion and carrying on despite harm. Protection comes from refusal skills, healthy rewards, sleep and routine, and asking for help early. Addiction is treatable.
• First Aid: What to Do in an Emergency – First aid is the help you give an injured or ill person until trained help arrives. Its aims: preserve life, stop things getting worse, help recovery. Follow DRABC: Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, CPR/Call. Breathing but unresponsive → recovery position. Not breathing normally → CPR 30:2 at 100-120 pushes a minute, 5-6 cm deep, and an AED. Bleeding → direct pressure. Burns → cool running water 20 minutes. Choking → back blows and abdominal thrusts. Sprains → RICE.