FLEXIBILITY
If you’re into Karate then its all about the kicking, and kicking high. Which is a shame because the emphasis should really be on kicking well! However, you just can’t do either without flexibility.
Kick High, Kick Well. Get the Flexibility to make the difference.
Flexibility is one of those things martial artists got wrong in the beginning with the whole ‘no pain, no gain’ macho approach. Ballistic stretching in particular, although effective, is pretty dangerous. Martial Artists now train Smarter as well as Harder.
Stretch harder and smarter with up to date flexibility training
It’s important to point out that ‘Warming up’, ‘Stretching’ and ‘Cooling down’ are 3 very different concepts and NOT separated by doing the same exercises at different intensities.
Warm up, Stretch and Cool Down – Know the difference.
Warming up gets the blood moving and should incorporate moderately vigorous movements like jogging on the spot, swinging legs and arms and shuttle runs. Training (in this case stretching) is to take the body beyond its comfort zone. So stretches should be progressive, reaching to a maximum and held there for at least a full minute and repeated. Cooling down facilitates the recovery process and should involve light easing of the muscles used during stretching, not held or bounced.
Thomas Kruz, author of Stretching Scientifically (http://tomkurz.wordpress.com) suggests that the ‘Stretching’ portion of your workout be to work the legs (kicks, patterns etc) then strengthen the legs (weights/isometrics) then stretch the legs before finally cooling down. Its a hell of a workout!!
PRACTICE PRACTICE…
Whatever you practice the whole idea is to get better at it, right? As obvious as this is, without the right mindset you’re unlikely to succeed.
The right mindset will pick you up when you feel low and give you the discipline to get up to train when normally you might give up. So what is the right mindset – for YOU?
To get your mind working for instead of against you…. Remember that the martial arts are centuries old and when you practice you are developing the art as much as those that invented them.
Martial arts training is ultimately you against you…. As funny as this sounds, which ‘you’ do you want to win?
More often than not, the day you really don’t want to practice is the very day you should. And in some odd way, its always the day you give your best!
FOCUS
You just don’t get anywhere without the right focus. But practicing focus is easy. To focus is to think, just before you act, about exactly what you want from this action.
Martial Arts training requires great focus and brings your concentration to those fractions of a second just before, during and after every technique.
To practice anything is to practice focus. But to get the most from your practice remember to apply EVERYTHING you know to what you’re doing. Simply put , a punch uses the whole body – not just the fist.
You get more of what you focus on. For example, focusing on how unfit we are doesn’t fill us with a desire to train. Instead it promotes negative feelings about ourselves that become self perpetuating, resulting in us training even less. Know what you’re focusing on!
Focus on ideas that move you forward. Thinking ‘I can’t’ is bad enough but even thinking ‘I can’ might limit us, especially if we don’t believe it. Try thinking ‘I am getting better’ because practice can’t make us worse and the mind can’t argue with that!