All Japan Championships is next weekend!  I’m excited to see the best gymnasts in Japan battle it out.  However, there will be no all-around competition this time around but only individual events and team.  Nevertheless it’ll be awesome to watch as there are many good individual event specialists in Japan, as well as strong teams.

Speaking of the team competition, it’ll be a 6-3-3 format where 3 of the best guys from each team will compete and all 3 scores will count.  It’ll definitely be nerve wracking as there is no room for error but exciting to see who comes out on top.  Another interesting aspect of this competition is that, a couple of the best high school teams will also participate.  In Japan, a lot of kids leave their home for other prefectures in order to train at high schools with strong gym programs. If only it was like this in the US (I know it used to be like this…).

The competition will obviously include the best college programs including Juntendo University (the university where I’m currently training at) and company sponsored teams.  There are several company sponsored teams throughout Japan and they are comprised of gymnasts who have graduated from college (and  also who have built a reputation for themselves) and want to train full-time.  Konami (the video game company for those who think it sounds familiar) has some great gymnasts as well as Tokushukai (a medical/pharmaceutical company) that has guys that competed in the Olympics like Takuya Nakase and Hisashi Mizutori.  These company sponsored teams shows how much support elite gymnasts have in Japan, and it makes me wish that the US had a similar system.

Anyway, I’ve already got the tickets and looking forward to the competition.  I’m excited to see my friends as well as go tour the city of Tokyo while I’m out there!