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Sooners abroad: usa - japan training camp Follow Mark Williams, Yul Moldauer and Allan Bower as they explore Japan.

Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams, senior Yul Moldauer and alumnus Allan Bower are participating in the US Senior National Team's annual joint training camp with the Japanese National Team. Hear from the trio as they travel, train with both countries' top gymnasts and explore Japan over the course of the next week.

SUNDAY, JUNE 17: MARK WILLIAMS

Sunday was our travel day to Japan for Team USA. Nine gymnastics national team members, two coaches and several administrators flew to Narita Airport and bused to our training site in Funabashi, Japan. All told it was about 19 hours of traveling to get from Oklahoma to our destination. Allan Bower, Yul Moldauer and I left early Saturday morning and finally got to our hotel at 6:30 Sunday evening. With the 14 hours time change, it was a long day.

Once we settled our things at the hotel, we had a quick meeting and a short tour of the area. The team was told that the city of Funabashi is sponsoring our visit and continuing a relationship with USA Gymnastics through the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Tomorrow we will visit the mayor’s office where we will be officially welcomed.

After our meeting, I had dinner at a local sushi restaurant with some coaches where the food options rotated around a conveyer belt. The fresh, fatty tuna dish I had was melt-in-your-mouth good, as were the other dishes that I tried.

Monday morning I woke at 4:30 a.m. with light already coming through my window. Rather than fight the jet lag, I decided to get up and get going with a morning run. My run was a nice beginning to our busy day. I’ve included a couple pictures from my run along one of the city’s canals.

MONDAY, JUNE 18: YUL MOLDAUER

On Monday, the national team was invited to the city hall of Funabashi where we met the mayor, the director of the Japan National Team and the director of the school district. At the mayor's office, they hung up pictures of the U.S. National Team in support of the new friendship they are trying to build between the American and Japanese programs. The city of Funabashi hopes to build a relationship with us as it prepares for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

This city has been really supportive and shown us a warm welcome throughout our stay. Everyone has said hello, waved and took photos with us.

Later in the day, we visited the local high school, which hosted a huge assembly with gifts and to meet the U.S. National Team.

After the assembly, we spent the rest of the day in the city's newly renovated gym, which was finished last December. It is a 26-million-dollar facility, where one of their high school students last year beat the Kohei Uchimura, the “king” of Japanese gymnastics. The equipment was amazing, probably the nicest I have ever used.

That night, we had a huge banquet with the mayor and all the Japanese gymnastics representatives. Dennis McIntyre, the performance director for USA Gymnastics, and the mayor of Funabashi signed an agreement of friendship for us to come back to Japan and train every year. We had a celebration that included Japanese rituals like dances and a lot of great food.

Japan has really been spoiling us. You can truly tell that gymnastics is a big part of the city and country. It's almost like football in America, you feel like a superstar. I wish there was some way I could thank all the people who have made this camp and relationship happen.

TUESDAY, JUNE 19: ALLAN BOWER

Tuesday was a great day in Funabashi. The morning began with a great Japanese breakfast followed by a morning practice to get ready for half routines in the afternoon. Many of the students at the Funabashi high school came to watch us at around 10 a.m. Even though we could not communicate very well, each student seemed to know a good amount about gymnastics. The students would clap and laugh at just about everything that we did and got especially excited at something as simple as high five. It felt like we were superstars!

After morning practice, the team and I walked around the city, enjoyed the beautiful weather and grabbed lunch for only four dollars. It was a simple bowl of rice with some beef and a spicy sauce but it was great!

After lunch, we returned to the new gymnastic facility for an afternoon practice and we were greeted by the Funibashi High School gymnastics team. Each of these high schoolers started off their practice by running around in the gym like kids on a playground. They would flip, wipe out and then get up laughing and do it again. However, once they started their first event it was all business and they looked awesome. It was a great experience to watch and train with some of Japan’s finest young athletes.

Later that night, Yul and I found a Korean Barbecue restaurant where we got to cook our own food and watch Japan play Columbia in the World Cup with all the locals. After a lot of yelling and cheering Japan pulled out a win to close out the night.

We headed back to our hotel and got ready for bed. It was definitely a day I will remember for a very long time and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21: YUL MOLDAUER

It was our light day in the gym on Wednesday, so we stretched, worked on new skills and did a little bit of conditioning to get ready for our harder days on Thursday and Friday.

Because it was a lighter day, we were invited to the Sapporo brewery. Beer is a huge part of Japanese culture and our hosts wanted to share the experience by giving us a tour of the amazing factory. You would not believe how well the facility was set up.

Then we went on another tour, this time of a large research boat that has traveled to Antarctica many times. The crew members and researchers on the boat told us you can be on the boat for years during expeditions. The boat was huge and filled with a lot of unique control rooms. The ship is about to head back to sea, so we were lucky enough to see it while it was docked in Japan.

For dinner, we walked in downtown Funabashi and ate the most amazing ramen and dumplings. I would definitely recommend everyone try the country’s dumplings - they are the most amazing food in Japan.

THURSDAY, JUNE 22: ALLAN BOWER

Thursday’s have never been so eventful! The day started with cold sweet eggs, white rice, liquid yogurt and fermented soy beans. I don’t recommend the soy beans. . . at all. Then it was off to an early morning practice to break a sweat and get ready for routines in the afternoon.

The day really started to pick up at about 11:45 a.m. when we headed to the local elementary school. Each athlete was paired with a class of about 30 sixth graders who were literally bouncing out of their seats with excitement. Upon arrival to the school, we were immediately treated like superstars. They had huge pictures of us hanging from every corner of the school and camera crews following our every movement.

Once inside the classrooms each student asked questions about our hobbies, families and gymnastics. On multiple occasions the kids would point at me and yell Justin Bieber. . . I guess I need to get a haircut.

After interacting with the kids for the next hour, we got up and headed to the gym to complete our second practice. To our surprise, all of the sixth grade classes came to watch us practice and began chanting U-S-A! It was such an awesome experience!

At around 5 p.m., the team and I headed to our first Japanese calligraphy class where the sensei taught us how to us write our names, family, and important symbols that pertained to our lives in Kanji. Who knew that writing family would take 40 strokes of the paintbrush! At this point we were all exhausted so we headed back to the hotel, pigged out on the world’s best sushi and went to our rooms. Another great day in the books!

FRIDAY, JUNE 22: MARK WILLIAMS

Friday was the last full day of training for team USA in Funabashi. The team’s assignment on Thursday and Friday was to show a routine on each event and follow up with half routines with extra difficulty and upgrades included. Thursday the guys did the first three events – floor, pommel horse and still rings – and Friday they did vault, parallel bars and high bar.

My day began with a run down to the edge of Tokyo Bay. I ran along several canals that had trails leading to the bay. Along the way I saw several fishermen out with rod and reel. It was a beautiful day for running and I enjoyed the sites along the way.

After breakfast we went to the gym for morning preparations. During the workout of basics and conditioning, Japanese television did interviews with the team. The NHK network was doing a feature on our visit to Japan that will run on national TV next Tuesday.

When we broke for lunch, I walked to the Oohi Shrine which was about a mile from our hotel. The shrine was quite beautiful and peaceful. There were several buildings for worship as well as a Sumo wrestling ring in the middle of the complex.

The afternoon workout finished up pretty well with everyone working hard through the end of practice. The guys had gotten a lot done during the week and their bodies were tired and a bit sore from the effort. With the our successful training complete, we discussed the exhibition that would take place on Saturday. A large crowd was expected to turn out for the event. It would be a fitting end to a great week of gymnastics, exchanging aspects of our cultures and developing new friendships with the people of Funabashi.

Photo Credit: Amy Saunderson (RW Studios), Yul Moldauer, Allan Bower and Mark Williams

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