Stretching/fitness

[Mujician]

I've been out of martial arts for 19 years. At 34/5 I feel that I'll never be able to stretch as far as I could as a kid. Is this true, or can I work on doing that and getting stretchy and flexible again? I only have the time to attend one training session a week. I intend on practicing my art when I can at home, but what is there I can do in a restricted space to try and get fit and flexible again?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I've been out of martial arts for 19 years. At 34/5 I feel that I'll never be able to stretch as far as I could as a kid. Is this true, or can I work on doing that and getting stretchy and flexible again? I only have the time to attend one training session a week. I intend on practicing my art when I can at home, but what is there I can do in a restricted space to try and get fit and flexible again?

I have become more flexible now than I was when I was young. However, I was not very flexible then, and I'm not that much more flexible now. I can't do the splits, and some kicks are beyond my abilities at the moment.

I believe that working on flexibility is time well spent, but it's only part of the picture. Work on your cardio. Work on your balance. Work on your breathing. As you learn stances and transitions, practice them well on your own time. You need little space for these things.

One of the best exercises you can do for cardio is jumping rope. Period. It's a great exercise, and it takes nearly no space and only a simple rope in the way of equipment.

For balance, stand on one leg until you can do it as long as you wish. Then begin to move while keeping your balance. Balance is key to so much in martial arts.

Stances are also important, and IMHO are not practiced enough by anyone, including myself.

Breathing is something we all do of course, but conscious correct breathing from the hara is something you can practice - assuming your style of martial arts emphasizes this - I hope it does.

Flexibility can be gained by stretching exercises, as well as by practicing doing the splits. You can rig up a rope and a pulley on a doorway to stretch your leg muscles - only use your arm strength so that if you trip or lose your grip or whatever, you are not hung up in the air like a side of beef.

Dynamic tension builds muscle without weights or equipment of any kind. It's boring and difficult to maintain the mental concentration necessary to do it diligently, but it works for most upper body groups.

Situps build core strength.

Stair climbing is great for leg strength and kicks.

Nothing I have described requires much in the way of space or equipment. Just desire and time.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I've been out of martial arts for 19 years. At 34/5 I feel that I'll never be able to stretch as far as I could as a kid. Is this true, or can I work on doing that and getting stretchy and flexible again? I only have the time to attend one training session a week. I intend on practicing my art when I can at home, but what is there I can do in a restricted space to try and get fit and flexible again?

I'm not sure how far you were able to stretch as a kid, but you may have some limitations on how far you'll be able to stretch now. Spend less time trying to be as flexible as you were when you were a kid and more time on being flexible enough to do a technique.

 

[FireSnake]

There will be some hard limits you will not be able to overcome due to age and lack of attention over the years to keeping supple. I would recommend setting realistic expectations. You can, with time and dedication, improve your flexibility to reverse some of the stiffness and range of motion limitations acquired through being sedentary for so long. But, in terms of childhood flexibility levels, it is a use it or lose it situation, and age-related effects will continue to diminish those abilities over time, so at best you can defer it.

Given your lack of physical space, you can quite easily get into stretching regimens, and use resistance work to build strength (either using resistance bands, pushing as hard as you can against a wall for a length of time, etc). But as flexible and powerful as you might become, it means almost nothing if the cardio is weak - unless you land that first, knock-out truck-hit of a punch or kick before gassing out. As Bill Mattocks above suggested, a skipping rope is a good way to get the heart rate up.

A word of advice as you integrate more physical activity: never neglect the warm-up. That's when stretching is key. By being meticulous about warming up, you reduce your possibility of injury. I learned that the hard way when I failed to warm up properly, and it resulted in a permanent partial tendon tear.

 

[wingchun100]

Depending on what you are looking to do, flexibility might not be the most important thing. If you are looking to do something flashy like extend your leg straight up in the air, then you will need more flexibility. If you are looking to gain self-defense skills or to get a good workout, flexibility is not that important. Endurance, however, is another story.

 

[Ironbear24]

I can kick many people in the head depending on their height of course. I can am possibly the highest kicker in the dojo and I am only an orange belt, that's due to my previous experiences with martial arts.

The point is though even though I can kick very high and strong, been praised by many of them for it and been told my technique is great. They all kick my *** often with low kicks and better hand work, their superior levels of experience is what beats me.

You do not need to kick high. Kicking high has its benefits but it is not absolutely necessary.