When you see your average person stretching, you are observing what NOT to do. On top of that, the stretches that most coaches teach are useless and unnecessary.
Before people begin formally exercising, you see them stretching their muscles. This is wrong because the first order of business is not the muscles, it’s the joints.
Lubricating your joints activates the release of synovial fluid; it also moves the qi or vital energy through the limbs. From head to toe you want to learn how to circulate your joints so that the you increase your energy and get prepared for more vigorous action.
Or you rotate your joints so thoroughly that your brain-body is buzzing and there’s no need to do anything else. This is something you can do before heading off to work, or before going to bed.
It’s never a good idea to work only on muscular flexibility while ignoring joint mobility.
This is why one of the central components of my Combat Stretching DVDs addresses dynamic stretching and joint rotations.
Every joint that is tight is negatively affecting the positive balance you want to experience in the rest of your body. Tight ankles send signals to your shoulders. Tight hips send messages to your knees. And a stiff neck makes Jack and Jill’s connective tissues so tight they tear.
Be on the positive side of this stretching solution.
Notice how those who stretch their muscles before training jump from one stretch to the next and never get loose.
Loosen your joints the way I teach in Combat Stretching and notice how everything flows when you train.
Then when it comes time to stretch your muscles, make a note at how much more flexible you have become, with hardly any effort at all.
KATN!
Matt Furey
