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Olympic Gold Medalist Tries the Naruto Run
posted on by Kim Morrissy
The "Naruto run" is a reference to a running style where characters are shown stretching their arms behind their backs, which was popularized in the United States by the Naruto anime and manga series. This is referred to as the Ninja hashiri, or "Ninja run" in Japan. They said the "Naruto run" could dodge bullets, but is it faster than a regular run? The Because Science YouTube channel enlists the help of Olympic Gold Medalist Jeneba Tarmoh to set the record straight.
Tarmoh won a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics for participating in the qualifying run for the 4 x 100 meters relay team. She also won gold at the 2014 World Relay Championships in Nassau for the 4 x 100 meters relay.
As you may expect (and has been shown in countless other YouTube videos on the subject), the "Naruto run" is slower than running normally. Besides being slower, Tarmoh described it as potentially dangerous. "You're not going to get as much knee lift as you should be able to, and then with your arms not swinging you have absolutely no counterbalance, so you're gonna increase the probability of you falling and scratching your face."
On the other hand, even when doing the Naruto run, she was still faster than Because Science host Kyle Hill doing an orthodox sprint. Perhaps that's the proof that anime characters do the Naruto run in the first place: to show off how great their athletic skills are by blitzing a slower and more dangerous style of running. Don't underestimate a trained athletic.
[Via Hachima Kikō]
