We explore the world of Japan's classical martial arts, the ancient predecessors of modern martial arts. Developed on the battlefield, classical martial arts techniques encompass centuries of wisdom on body mechanics and how to maximize efficiency of movement. Such skills still have great relevance for modern sports, and we investigate how athletes such as sprinter and Olympic medalist Shingo Suetsugu and Olympic speed skating gold medalist Nao Kodaira have been applying them in their training.