The founder of quad bikes from Japan commented on scandals in Russia

One of the first people who started practicing sports using animal techniques (later the direction was called quad bikes), Japanese Kenichi Ito told RBC that he knows about the wide discussion of the topic of quad bikes in RUSSIA.

"Quadrobics is a fun activity that helps kids get enough exercise and stimulates their creativity. But we also understand that it can create problems for society because kids get too involved and start biting others," Ito says.

In his opinion, walking on all fours sharpens the sense of balance, is good for the shoulder and hip joints, and prevents the development of back diseases. "They say that walking on four legs requires four times more physical strength than walking on two legs, so although it is a heavy load, it is effective. First of all, people who move on all fours do not suffer from back pain and stiffness in the shoulders, which are chronic diseases of those who move on two legs," he believes.

In Japan, there is a long-standing tradition of wearing animal masks, dancing and playing at festivals (the Fox Night Festival is especially famous). According to the quad roller, many elementary schools in Japan have introduced “bear walking” – a technique of walking on all fours – as one of their entrance exams. This exercise, which engages the abdominal and back muscles, improves posture and lays the foundation for athletics, the athlete emphasized. It is also being introduced as a compulsory subject.

“In Japan, people, especially young people, are increasingly seeking to be in nature after the covid-19 pandemic, and as a result, it is quite possible that the return to nature will be associated with quad bikes,” Ito allowed.

Kenichi Ito is a 42-year-old athlete from Tokyo. He invented the technique of running on all fours in 2003, and in 2008 he set his first world record in the 100 m (18.58 sec). After that, he regularly improved his time until his record was broken by another Japanese, Katsumi Tamakoshi. In 2015, Ito regained the title of the fastest quadruped runner in the world, running the 100 m in 15.71 sec. This record has not yet been broken.

Ito got his running technique from the hussar monkeys he observed at the zoo and watched many videos of. In 2012, he said that as a child he was often teased and called a monkey. “But it didn’t bother me much because I really liked them and somewhere inside I wanted to adopt one of their traits. When I saw a monkey that could run fast, I knew I had found what I needed – and from that moment on, I trained to run like a monkey every day,” he recalled.

Kenichi Ito is considered one of the founders of quadrobika, a movement in which people, mostly children, wear masks and animal tails, move like animals, and imitate their sounds. In Russia, quadrobika has been widely discussed since early September. The impetus for the discussion was a scandal involving singer Mia Boyko, who spoke disapprovingly of quadrobika during a concert after a girl in a cat mask came on stage.

The State Duma and the Federation Council are discussing the possibility of banning quad bikes at the legislative level. For example, they have proposed holding parents who encourage their children to take up quad bikes administratively and criminally liable, and have also begun to develop a bill banning "propaganda of destructive ideology, including quad bikes."