conditioning and flexibility

[superman859]

I have two questions.

Does anyone know how I can work to improve speed and snap of my techniques? Any practice or anything, preferably requiring no extra equipment (speed bag..etc) as money is low...I need to increase speed of punches and the snap for a good strike, as well as kicks.

Secondly, can anyone give me advice on improving leg flexibility for a split ( legs to left and right, not front and back) ? Right now I have just been sitting down into it as far as I can and holding it, but there may be better ways I dont know, and I want to check on something to see if I am doing it right. Should my feet be pointing upwards with my heels on the ground, knees up, or should my feet be pointed forward and set on the ground, knee's forward? I wonder this because it is a little bit different as I can do one ****her than the other ( better with knee's forward). However, It also does have a different stress around the knees specifically, and one way may be bad for knees and tendons etc around knees. After holding it ( I have been doing it knee's forward feet forward) I get up and feel where its been stressed on the insides of my knee areas and dont know if it should be like that or should not be like that. And mostly when doing it I get cramps around the hip area, not so much the same stretching feeling I am used to, but it may just need loosening up a lot. I just want to correct it or make sure I am getting it right before I continue the wrong way, and try and avoid any injuries I dont need.

[mickey]

Hi superman859,

For Punching Speed:

1- Hammer Curls

2- Pull Ups

3- Punching itself incorporating speed and relaxation

For Kicking Speed:

1- Sprints

2- Kicking using the same principles as Punching above

Flexibility:

1- Stretch when the body is warm

2- High Kicking drills followed by Stretching to be followed by high kicking drills and more stretching, etc.

I hope you find this helpful.

mickey

[superman859]

thanks. For the flexibility, what kind of stretches should I do to improve the sideways split? I do high kicking already and do it when warmed up and all. I know a lot of stretches that we work on and do in class, but we havent focused a whole lot of stretching the legs in that way(especially by ourselves, we have done partner stretching once or twice). So what kind of stretches would help improve the split? That is my main focus right now as it is pretty far from an actual split. Other stretches, im average flexibility but its not so bad. Ill work on them and know some things to try.

And thanks for speed help, I ll be sure to work on that.

[mickey]

Hello again,

Stretches, for me, are hard to describe with just words. I would recommend that you get the book Stretching Scientifically by Kurtz or Kung Fu: the Way of Life by Douglas Wong-- Wong's book has some very nice stretches; Kurtz's book describes different approaches to stretching: static, dynamic, etc. I realize that you don't want to spend but these books you should have for the sake of understanding the technology.

It sounds like you are doing static stretches. Dynamic stretches require the tensing of the muscle being stretched while it is being stretched. That is followed by a musce relaxation where you then use that moment to stretch more. You repeat a few times to make gains.

mickey

[superman859]

I will look into those books. Books arent that bad, they are fairly cheap. I just cant afford to go out and buy a bunch of expensive equipment or anything and try and find room to put it. I would actually love to buy a heavy bag sometime but I have no where to hang out or set one up or anything. Books arent bad though I will check them out. All I know about my stretching is I do it where I hold them for long periods of time. While holding, I inhale, and on the exhale try to go a little further to stretch it more.

Do you happen to know which way a split should be done properly though? With knee's upward or forward(along with toes)?

Thanks for all the help so far. I greatly appreciate it.

[mickey]

Hi There,

I achieved my split with the knees pointing forward. The knees pointing upward is more of a straddle stretch that I have seen gymnasts use-- it is usually followed by forward and side bends. Once you have gone down as for as you can with the straddle split sit back into the straddle stretch and do the bends as described above. When you are bending forward use your arms to push your legs ****her apart. This will help your flexibility.

I'm going to bed now. If you have more questions, I will answer tomorrow.

Good night,

mickey

[mickey]

That deleted part was f-a-r-t-h-e-r

[mickey]

One more thing,

You may want to look into yoga at some point in future. It is real good stuff.

mickey

[Toby]

I used to like yoga. My wife goes regularly. But I did read recently (probably in one of Pavel's books) that it works on stretching ligaments which can lead to weak joints. Better to focus on stretching muscles. The easiest example is if you go to touch your toes. If you feel a stretch behind your knees, you're stretching ligaments. If you then unstraighten your legs a bit, the stretch will move from behind the knee to a bit higher up, where the hamstring is. Apparently the hamstring terminates higher than the knee.

Anyway, I'm a long way off splits superman859, but some exercises that may help: (yoga's) downward facing dog for the calves, touching toes (while trying to bend at the hips, not the back) for hammies. For the groin, I do two. One is, I kneel with the back leg and have the front leg at 90 degrees (like the end of a lunge in weights). Then push slowly forward with the front leg and back with the back. Hands by your sides. You can also grab your back ankle and bring it up for a nice quad stretch at the same time. You'll need something nearby to help you balance in that case. The other one is the same, but I go down onto my elbows next to my front leg. Eventually you could get your upper body on the ground. Neither exercise is dangerous in terms of slipping and hurting yourself. You'll feel a nice groin and bum stretch. You could also try cossacks for the hips, groin.

[norther practitioner]

side splits...
try them up against a wall too...

I usually start by sitting facing a wall.
Extend legs up the wall
put your back on the floor
move your self close to the wall (so your butt is almost against it if not touching) and let gravity do its work.

[stimulant]

learn any version of Tan Tui and practise it hard, flexibility and snap legs will come as will punching power.

[superman859]

One thing I am wondering then. Today I kinda felt it where I had been stretching, but I dont know if thats a good thing. Last night I held it for a long time. Today sometimes I could feel it on the insides of my knees, like it shouldnt be stretched there or something. I think maybe from when I was standing up and went down, it put some pressure from gravity on the inside of my knees against the hinge I guess you could say, where it shouldnt bend at all. I just want to avoid getting bad joints.

[mickey]

Gosh,

How long do you hold your stretches?

mickey

[MasterKiller]

Sounds like tendonitis. Rest for a few days before you stretch that deeply again.

[superman859]

last night I dont know how long. I just held it and read a magazine and some history for school. I came out for a few minutes and went back for a little bit more(didnt stay stretched the whole time). It didnt hurt or anything when I was doing it. I could have stretched further I believe. The main thing that happens when I stretch is it feels like up near my hips on the sides it cramps up, as opposed to that "stretching" feeling from most stretches.

[voltex]

punches- clap push up, punch with one arm for a set amount of time then do the same with the other arm

kicks- do squats and when you come up kick with one leg (about 20 each leg to begin with), try pushing with the leg that is kicking off the ground, bring your knees up as high as you can as fast as you can (same as the squats)

streaching- hold your split for at least 1 min. each day, spread out as far as you can then bend overto hold yourself up get on your heels and push down, try leg lifts to work out the cramp, if you think you can go further then by all means do

Hope this helps you :cool:

[mickey]

superman859,

I have never held stretches for long periods of time. 30 seconds to a minute most for each posture. If I did not feel that it was good enough, I would repeat it. Maybe I have been lucky. The way that you stretch I associate with dancers and gymnasts. They can get away with that because they have the developed muscles for that kind of stretching and have often been doing that for years. Also, their discipline requires that level of flexibility.

Remember that when your muscles are a great part of that process. I agree with Masterkiller's suggestion that you take some time off.

mickey

[superman859]

I will stretch shorter periods of time then. I dont need to be as flexible as a dancer cuz thats just insane. I will hold it for longer than 30 seconds probably cuz for me by about 30 seconds the stretch is just like..getting warmed up and not really stretching anything. After that, I can go a little further which I will do for 30 seconds or a minute, then just move on. Does stretching weaken muscles? I am wondering cuz of that last comment about how muscles is a big part of it for martial arts, so you agreed with someone to take some time off or something? Or maybe I am just confused. Thanks

[stimulant]

stretching doesnt weaken muscles, but muscles are not as strong in a stretched position. you need to strengthen them in the stretched positon.

[mickey]

Hi superman859.

The amount of time needed will vary; maybe you need 2 minutes. Extended stretching, when the muscles are not willing can lead to injury. stimulant is correct about strengthening the muscles in the extended positions. That would require equipment though: the use of leg weights while lying down with legs up in the air. Separate them as if you are doing an upside down split and close.
This is called a leg abduction.

When you train your straddle spilts try to keep the soles of your feet flat on the floor. Reflecting on the pain that you are experiencing, I get the feeling that you are not doing that.

mickey

[mickey]

Additionally,

Using the leg weights from a standing position raise them out to the side while keeping the leg straight: as if you are doing a side kick. This is leg adduction. You can do this slowly or with a swing to trigger abductor activity (not fast-- a little faster than a pendulum swing to maintain momentum). On both exercises do not start with too much weight. Do three sets of 8-15 repetitions.

This will also increase your kicking speed. Your legs will float to its target.

[superman859]

just so happens that should work out! I actually do have a pair of ankle weights. (also have some other weights to lift but no big equipment...just the little dumbells i think they are called).

About soles on feet, that might have been the problem I am not sure. Usually I try to keep them that way but I might not have last time I stretched.

Should I stretch a little every day? Or is it like work outs where you should every other day I believe?

[CaptinPickAxe]

For hand speed I use five pound wieghted gloves and 10lbs wieghts on my feet and go over my forms (browns in splashing hands) . I've seen significant improvement in my striking speed. As for streching I use a streach rack for my east/west splits and do normal north/south splits. I also do a lot of kick ups, toe-down kick ups, and bottom of foot to hip kick ups. I streach for about 10 min. before doing a 2 hour workout.

[stimulant]

you should not stretch hard every day, need to rest at least one day per week (either do no stretching or very light stretching and warm ups for joints)

[mickey]

Superman859,

I think it is best that you give yourself some time to heal. I think you may have caused more harm than good with your intensity level. Recovery is where gains in flexibility and strength are made.
You don't want to experience negative returns-- that is where you get back less than the effort you put in.

When you are recovered, you may want to designate 3 days out of the week where you give special attention to stretching. Don't go 1000%, a little at a time. The days in between can simply be mild stretching to facilitate warm ups and cool downs for your workouts.

mickey

[mickey]

I was just looking over the threads to see if I missed anything.

Warm ups are done simply to elevate body temperature, relax the body and help establish that mind body connection. Yes, extreme stretching before a workout can weaken the muscles via the stretching of the fascial sheath -- these are coverings over the muscles that work as compression suits when your muscles flex. The ligaments are weakened as well. And you weaken your stabilizers (your abductors and adductors fouction as stabilizers). You need thenm in delivering focused strikes. So. if you do that extreme stuff before a workout you are injury prone.

mickey

[superman859]

My knees feel fine now, but I won't start back up yet. How many days should I wait before returning to stretching some? For now I am just working on punching speed and stuff and have pretty much just been punchin on the air tryin to be quick and relaxed, and I hope its working..lol I feel sore on my back right below my shoulders near the arm. But how many more days of waiting till stretching?

[mickey]

Superman859,

Please don't overdo it. Wait 2-3 days.

mickey

[superman859]

alright, thanks for all the help mickey and everyone else. I will be sure to take stretching much easier. There is no need to rush anyways I see this as an activity I have my whole life to be working on. Rushing it will only cause problems. I will give it time to heal just in case, and then start stretching again but I will take it much easier.

[mickey]

Superman859,

That sounds like a real healthy perspective. I wish you well!

mickey

[superman859]

or I could do like they used to in China...stand there and let two people just yank my legs hard and rip all the tendons...lol sure itll hurt years later but its a way of getting the split a little faster...lol

[mickey]

Superman859,

This is the 21st century. Don't just use two people; use two people........ in separate cars!! Talk about separation!

mickey

[superman859]

im not sure if I can live with missing my legs...lol sure screw up the tendons as long as they grow back and im in good flexible shape...but hey, i need my legs! lol gotta have them attached still. dont know if they would work too well on different sides of the street...lol I did some stretching today and its not bad at all. It feels fine with the knees, I think the problem was the way my feet were. I hadnt kept the full bottom of my foot flat on the ground I think I just had the sides touching which put too much pressure on the knees.

[mickey]

That sounds great!

Don't lose sight of your new perspective and enjoy.

mickey