Dynamic vs. Static Stretching in Martial Arts
Due to the nature of information transfer of the martial arts, many schools teach stretching methods that are not in line with modern sports medicine theory. Instructors follow the methods taught by their instructors that were taught to them by their instructors before them and so on. That’s why it’s very common to see martial arts instructors leading warm-ups that include long periods of static stretching, rather than following the advice of modern medical authorities that suggest that dynamic stretching is a better way to prepare muscles for the rigors of exercise.
Modern research is finding that static stretching not only provides no real benefits in terms of injury prevention, it can even hinder students’ movements for up to 10 minutes after the stretching period. Dynamic stretching, on the other hand, stretches the muscles using gentle (not explosive) movements. Some research suggests that it is a superior method of stretching for injury prevention. An article was recently published in the New York Times on this topic.
In my Vancouver martial arts school, we only use static stretching at the end of class as a cool down and to help students improve their overall flexibility. For warm-ups, we choose dynamic stretches that prepare students for the upcoming class. When relevant, I like to use methods that closely simulate the techniques to be covered in class.
I always try to keep up with modern sports medicine and use up-to-date methods for my class’s physical regimen. I consult with my students who are doctors and try to read up on medical research reports as they are released. Many of my students use my Jiu-jitsu classes as their sole method of staying in shape, so I have responsibility to ensure that they are getting proper fitness training.
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Nice post!
Earlier in the year I had to caution some students about the dangers of cold, static stretching.
And yet despite the problems of dogmatic transmission that you describe I think that while modern sports science is a useful sanity check, it is not the end of the road. Indeed, sports science will continue to develop in the years to come and best practices will change and evolve. In some cases old wisdom will be validated or re-discovered as well as furphies debunked.
For example: Here is an article that includes a description of how the breakfall-based warm-ups are performed in my jiu-jitsu class (scroll down for the pics). Not only are they dynamic and martial-art-specific, but they yield many other benefits as well (see the end of article).
Note that these dynamic warm-ups pre-date the validation of modern sport science by many decades (at least).
What do your warm-ups look like?
Thank you for your comments, Daniel. We too incorporate certain aspects of traditional training in our Jiu-jitsu workouts.
Our initial warm-ups start with several minutes of aerobic activity (skipping, running, jumping, etc.). We then take our joints and limbs through rotational movements to further distribute blood flow. After that, we do some dynamic stretching. From there, we lead the striking portion of our class which involves punches, kicks and other strikes.
After the striking portion of class, we do traditional breakfalls, much like the ones you do in your classes. That is followed by hold escapes and other close quarter self-defense manoeuvres that combine strikes and throws/takedowns.
Lately we've been doing a lot of kicks and kick-defenses and usually this is preceded by static stretching. What you wrote is very true: I'm actually less flexible (sometimes I even have trouble lifting up my leg to kick to the mid-section) after these exercises than before. I'll have to talk to sensei about this, let’s hope he's open to the idea. Would you care to describe some dynamic stretching exercises, specifically martial-arts related? I really need to work more on my kicks: I’m not a naturally flexible person and while low-line kicks are never a problem a martial-artist should be able to kick higher if only to provide a decent attack to defend against. What sensei suggested is the old karate-routine of 4-count kicks done in slow-motion, I suppose this is a form of dynamic stretching and a technical exercise all rolled into one.
Our usual routine in class looks remarkably similar to yours, except we usually do the break falls before the striking and we always throw in sets of push-ups, sit-ups and squats. It's not always the same but usually after the self-defense techniques we do some weapon-based drills. Now that there are a lot of new students it's not really the best time for sparring but normally we do a variant we call carousel: basically we form a circle with one person in the middle, attacks come from all sides and in all varieties (of course depending on the skill-level of the defender), one at a time. This exercise is great for developing all-round defensive capability/awareness, it teaches you to cope with stress and it's extremely exhausting to boot. After all that there should be some kind of cool-down but usually we simply don't have the time for it. Even though we train for two hours it's usually not enough to cover everything you’d want to cover and we usually rotate between kickboxing, close quarter, ground and weapons. So much to do so little time. On top of that there’s the material you have to master for tests and each technique must be practiced repeatedly over a long period of time to internalize it and burn it into your muscle-memory. That’s why I try to train as much as I can besides classes, if you don’t train extra with a partner or alone you’ll never get good and you end up superficially ‘knowing’ the technique without actually being able to do it properly and instinctively.
What I do miss is the traditional zazen before and after training: since what we teach now is modern self-defense based primarily on ju-jutsu we sort of abandoned much of the formal etiquette and customs, a fact I deplore but some students just don't want to be bothered with all the symbolism and the typically Japanese training-regimen. Meditation is an often overlooked ad-on to martial training and I found it actually helps absorb the techniques better as well as making you relax better which always helps speed and fluidity in technique.
Do you practice meditation?
Regards,
Zara
PS: while breakfalling is a great exercise and skill-set and should be practiced regularly I wouldn’t rely on it for warm-up, not solely anyway. While it does involve using the whole body other exercises are needed (primarily running and strength-exercises) to really get the blood flowing and prepare the muscles for the work-out to come, besides you’ll get dizzy after a certain number of falls and it does get repetitive after a while.