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Masayuki Watanabe

Masayuki Watanabe is known throughout the gymnastics world for his technical expertise of gymnastic movement, and his ability to combine the precision of the physics of movement while maintaining the beauty, elegance, and artistry of gymnastics. He was a member of the Japanese National Team for six years, including Japan’s 1966 World Championship Team, when Japan dominated the World and Olympic competitions. For the past 35 years, he has used his extensive gymnastic knowledge and skills to develop many world-class gymnasts, Olympians, national champions, and trains coaches, at all levels and from many countries.

Watanabe moved to the United States in 1969 and was the Assistant Coach for the University of California Berkeley. Under his coaching, the University was the 1975 NCAA National Champion Team, and two 3rd place finishes in 1974 and 1976. Through the University and his club he trained several athletes that became National Champions and Olympians on both the men’s and women’s side, including 1972 Olympian George Greenfield and 1976 Olympian Tom Beach before being recruited to work full time for the United States Gymnastic Federation.

Watanabe was instrumental in creating the Junior Olympic Program for Boys, and conducted the first USGF Jr. National Team Training Camp. Through this program he was able to create on a national level a system to train young gymnasts with precise and efficient fundamentals. With these improved fundamentals the athletes were able to perform the increasingly difficult skill more easily and safely and that made their rise to international competitors much quicker. In this program he created a system for coaches to teach and trained many coaches that, in turn, successfully coach many national champions, international champions and Olympic Champions. The success of this program was obvious by the rise of the US team during the years from 1974 to 1984. His visionary approach to analyzing difficult skills, break them down into simple efficient movement and then teach them is unparalleled in the gymnastic community.

In 1984 he coached in Japan, including being the Head Coach for the Men’s Japanese National Team from 1985 to 1986. During this time he trained many Japanese athletes to World Championship and Olympic medals. In 1988 he returned to the United States and served as the USGF Men’s Program Director for 10 years. He is currently coaching elite women gymnasts at Byers Gymnastics Center in Sacramento, California. Received the 2006 USA Gymnastics Lifetime Achievement Award.

	DVD $29.95	Advanced Forward Tumbling This DVD on advanced forward tumbling is the natural extension from Mas Watanabe’s Teaching Tumbling Fundamentals. He covers advanced forward tumbling skill from three entry points, from a run, from a front handspring, and from twisting backwards tumbling.
	DVD $54.95	Coaching Gymnastics This two DVD set represents the first of a series that sets the basics for which all moves progress from. This is great for individual coach and can be used for continual staff training.
	DVD $29.95	Developing Strength - Plyometrics Essential Drills to Develop the Plyometric Strength for Gymnastics. Plyometric strength will greatly improve gymnastic performance. This instructional DVD covers how to improve this important element of gymnastics. Plyometrics by nature breaks down the body’s muscles, so this video covers the importance of how and when to implement this type of training into a gymnast’s workout.
	DVD $29.95	Developing Strength: Core Base Level Over 100 drills to develop the essential base strength for gymnastics. This instructional gymnastic DVD covers how to create a fundamentally strong strength base that will be built upon through out the gymnasts’ career.
	DVD $29.95	How to Maximize the Handspring Vault This DVD is a continuation of Mas Watanabe's series of video's explaining and teaching the basics of gymnastics movements from which all advanced skills progress. Topics include: The run, hurdle step and punch, preflight, repulsion, post flight, landing, complete vault, and drills.
	DVD $29.95	Teaching the Tsukahara and Kasamatsu Vault Continuing on from the Maximizing the Front Handspring DVD, Mas Watanabe teaches how to effectively learn and train the Tsukahara and Kasamatsu vaults.
	DVD $75.00	Teaching Tumbling Fundamentals Set This DVD set answers the question of how to help coaches to teach the proper body movements to beginning gymnasts from when they first start in your gym. Teaching these fundamentals effectively will make learning the more advanced skills much easier and the gymnasts progress faster. Buy set of all 3 **SAVE 16%
	DVD $29.95	Teaching Tumbling Fundamentals: Part 1 Rolls, handstand, limbers, walkovers, cartwheel, and round off.
	DVD $29.95	Teaching Tumbling Fundamentals: Part 2 Back handspring to round off-back handspring back tuck.
	DVD $29.95	Teaching Tumbling Fundamentals: Part 3 Front tumbling to front handspring front tuck and drills.
	DVD $29.95	Teaching Uneven Bars Fundamentals DVD from Mas Watanabe. Topics include: Glide Kip, Cast to Handstand, Clear Hip, Tap Swing, 3/4 Giant, and the Flyaway.
	DVD $29.95	Teaching Uneven Bars: Essential Intermediate Skills This DVD covers the most common and essential intermediate skills for beginning competitive optional bar routines. Coach Mas Watanabe helps gymnasts and coaches develop a complete understanding of these common optional uneven bar skills that will assist in development and form strong skills that gymnasts may use throughout their competitive athletic careers.
	DVD $29.95	The Yurchenko Vault This DVD is a continuation of the Watanabe Coaching Concepts and the third part of his vaulting series. It covers all the progressions, drills, and prerequisite skills necessary.
	DVD $29.95	Tumbl Trak Tumbling Skill Development Learn to use the Tumbl Trak for rapid skill development.
	DVD $75.00	Uneven Bar Fundamentals - 3 disk SET This 3-disk DVD set covers six essential skills to master beginning uneven bars, and form strong basics, common intermediate skills for beginning competitive optional bars, and why using the strap bar is important for developing bar skills. These three DVDs will help gymnasts throughout their athletic careers with strong basics.
	DVD $75.00	Vaulting Series 1 In this three-disk DVD series, Masayuki Watanabe walks you through the technical challenges of the Handspring, Tsukahara, Kasamatsu, and Yurchenko vaults. His step-by-step advice simplifies each move down to the basics of the preflight, blocking, and flip-orientation.
	DVD $29.95	Working the Strap Bar This DVD Working the Strap Bar completes Mas Watanabe’s Teaching Uneven Bar Fundamentals. Watanabe explains why using the strap bar is so important for developing bar skills and the most common way to set up the strap bar.
	E-report $5.00	z Interview/Article: Coaching with Feeling: The Kinesiology of Teaching Tom Beach from GymSmarts caught up with Mas Watanabe for this interview to discuss coaching. In this interview he talks about specific skills he uses to understand the individual skills the gymnasts are training and how he uses these skills to help be specific with his dialog will the athletes. What he explains here is truly amazing and surprising!
	E-report $5.00	z Interview/Article: Forward Giants - Two Types of Swing E-report Mas Watanabe discusses portions of his Teaching Uneven Bar Fundamentals. This interview covers the Forward Giant, and the two types of swing that are necessary basics. The DVD itself goes over all the important basic skills for bars and the importance of the basics and doing them well.
	E-report $5.00	z Interview/Article: Gain 1/2 Twist in the Tsukahara Vault Tom Beach from GymSmarts.com caught up with Mas Watanabe for this interview to discuss portions of his How to Immediately Gain 1/2 Twist in the Tsukahara Vault DVD. This interview covers the various critical parts of the Tsukahara and Kasamatsu vaults. The DVD itself goes over all the important differences of the vaults and how to teach them.
	E-report $5.00	z Interview/Article: The Back Handspring Tom Beach from GymSmarts caught up with Mas Watanabe for this interview to discuss portions of his Tumbling Fundamentals. This interview covers the change in how to do a back handspring for optimization. He explains that one has to be willing to change the techniques to create the most efficient use of new and improved equipment.
	E-report $5.00	z Interview/Article: The Importance of the Headspring This interview covers the headspring as a crucial part of front tumbling. The DVD itself goes over all the important skills for tumbling and the importance of the basics and doing them well.
	E-report $5.00	z Interview/Article: The Yurchenko Vault Tom Beach from GymSmarts caught up with Mas Watanabe for this interview to discuss portions of his upcoming Yurchenko Vault DVD. This interview covers the critical areas of the end of the round-off at the end of the board to the blocking and flip initiation. You can learn more about the Yurchenko Vault from the March release of the Yurchenko Vault DVD.