Looking back on 2009, Mr. Anma recalled a year spent traveling around foreign countries including Taiwan, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in order to participate in competitions. Battling it out with climbers from all over the world, Mr. Anma managed to dramatically improve his ranking from number six in 2008 to number three. He began free climbing after his father introduced it to him in the spring of his twelfth year. Three months later, a free climbing genius was born. He rocketed up to the foreground of the climbing scene and managed to place first in a competition held in Japan during his second year.

Free climbing demands that one is able to perceive shallow indentations and weak protrusions on a wall face in fractions of a second and decide on a route up which to progress. "A climb is usually finished within about six minutes, but during that period of time your body becomes one single and inseparable sensory organ and you never stop concentrating. It also feels as though you're taking in the information coming from your body into your mind and being forced to process it in lightening speed," said Mr. Anma. He said that the act of locating a hold was similar to solving a jigsaw puzzle. "That's why you can't give up. There's nothing more enjoyable than when one's mind and one's body are completely in synch."

In order to ascend quickly and with accuracy, meticulously developed muscles are a must. However, if one puts on too much muscle, it increases your weight and becomes a handicap when you're trying to climb. Although muscles are a necessity for a free climber, they can also become extra baggage. When Mr. Anma was in high school and still struggling through a trial and error phase with respect to his training methodology, he took a leap of courage and participated in a camp in Austria. While there, he learned about training sciences ? a subject he had been interested in for some time ? and was able to put what he learned into practice. "First you think about it, and then you give it a shot," said Mr. Anma, stressing what he felt was important. "I wanted to master the science of training. The only place I was able to do that was at Waseda." He currently is studying coaching and psychology under Associate Professor Hiroyuki Horino. "There's nowhere other than Waseda that will go strait to the point and provide an environment where you will be taught exactly what it was that you felt you wanted to learn. I'm very happy with the potential of this university."

Mr. Anma showed us the palms of his hands ? the instruments that support his entire body. The accumulated layers of blisters on his hands were, in a way, a map showing the paths he took to be where he is now. When asked what he would do if his hands ended up becoming like those of Spiderman, he responded by laughing and saying, "If that were to happen, I'd have no trouble blowing away the competition at any meet I were to attend. But no, I don't need hands like his. After all, the whole 'first you think about it, and then you give it a shot' thing is absolutely fascinating!" Mr. Anma said that in 2010 he hopes to conquer his biggest rival, Mr. Adam Ondra of the Czech Republic, and rise to the top of the world rankings. Along with those words shined a smiling face devoid of the slightest shadow.