How to Stretch Your Limits in Martial Arts

When talking about martial arts basics, it's necessary to discuss the two essential elements that set the stage for main­taining interest in them and excelling at them, namely flexi­bility and strength. For women, what's especially important to remember is that to excel in the martial arts, you don't have to be a human rubber band or a female version of The Terminator.

Certainly, developing flexibility and strength is important to your basics training. The stronger your techniques, the cleaner they'll look. The more flexible your legs, for instance, the lower your stances will be and thus the more attractive your forms will be.

The key to enjoying your training is to determine the level of flexibility and strength you're capable of, and comfortable with, attaining. For instance, no matter how much I train, I still can't do a full split—and truthfully, I'm not particularly interested in attaining that ability. I can't even lean forward to touch my toes without bending my knees, much less put my palms to the floor as several of my classmates can. And no matter how many push-ups I do (and I can't do many), bulk is not what comes to my mind when I pose my biceps before the bathroom mirror.

A certain level of flexibility is, however, essential to the martial arts for three reasons:

- It helps prevent injuries by decreasing the tension on muscles;
- it reduces muscle soreness; and
- it will make your moves more dramatic, and in most martial arts styles, aesthetics, or how your moves look, count as much as effectiveness, or what your moves are intended to achieve.

The way to increase your level of flexibility is through warm-ups and stretching, which almost seem to be the same thing, but are not. Warm-ups raise the temperature of your muscles, decreasing the chance they'll be stressed and injured, and increasing their responsiveness, as well as the blood flow to the muscles. Warming up for martial arts practice is particularly important because many of the moves involve changing direction quickly, which can aggravate and tear tight muscles.

Related Articles

• How to Stretch Your Limits in Martial Arts
• How do you know when you're warmed up?
• Warm Up and Stretch Out Suggestions in Martial Arts

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