Yin Yang Chi Kung Fu

Modern Scientific Martial Arts Exercises Comprises

Basic Training

"One of the most neglected elements of Martial Artist is the physical workout. Too much time is spent in developing skill in techniques and not enough in physical participation.

Practicing your skill in fighting is important, but so is maintaining your overall physical condition. Actually both are needed to be successful in a real fight. Training is a skill of disciplining your mind, developing your power and supplying endurance to your body. Proper training is for the purpose of building your body and avoiding activities or substances deteriorate or injure it.

So you're daily training consistent of aerobic plus others which was patterned to develop your skill in fighting. One of these exercises is running 2.5 to 4 miles a day in 12 to 24 minutes. You should change your tempo while running after several miles of constant, even strides, you would sprint several feat and return to easier running.

Another aerobic exercise in routine is skipping rope; this exercise not only develops your stamina and leg muscles but also improves make you right on your feat. Only recently psychologists have learned by several tests, that skipping rope is more beneficial then jogging. Ten minutes of skipping is equivalent to thirty minutes of jogging. Both are very beneficial exercise for cardiovascular system.

Skipping rope properly is one of the best exercises for developing a sense of balance.

Skip for three minutes is equivalent to a round in (SANDA/SANSHOU) match, then rest one minute only, before you continue for another round. Three round of this exercise are sufficient for a good workout.

Additional endurance exercises are shadowboxing and actual sparring. Shadowboxing is a good agility exercise which also builds up your speed. Relax your body and return to move easily and smoothly. At first concentrate on your form and move lightness on your feat until it becomes natural and comfortable, than work faster and harder. It is good idea to start your workout with shadowboxing to loosen your muscles. Imagine your worst enemy stands before you and you are going to demolish him. If you are your imagination intensely, you can instill into yourself an almost real fighting frame on your mind. Besides developing your stamina, shadowboxing increases your speed, creates ideas and establishes techniques to be used to spontaneously and intensively, going several rounds is a best way to learn proper footwork.

Too many beginners are too lazy. Continuous exercises will you develop endurance. You have to drive t to the point of exhaustion (out of breath and expect muscles are in a day or two). The best endurance training method seems to be a lengthy period of exercise interspersed with many brief but high intensity enslavers. Stamina type of exercise should be done gradually and continuously increased. Six weeks in this kind of training is a minimum for any sports that require considerable amount of endurance. It takes years to be in peak condition and unfortunately stamina is quickly lost when you cease to maintain high conditioning exercise. According to some medical experts, you lose most of your benefit from exercise. If you skip more than a day between workouts.

To warm up, select light & easy exercise to loosen your muscles and to proper them for more strenuous work. Besides, improving your performance, warming up exercises is necessary to prevent injury to your muscles. No one smart athlete will use his leg or hand violently without first warming it up carefully. This light exercise should dictate as closely as possible the ensuing, more strenuous type of movements.

Exercises

Certain exercises can help you greatly in your performance and others can impede or even impair your exertion of techniques. Experts found that beneficial exercises are those that do not cause antagonistic tension in your muscles.

Your muscles respond differently to different exercises. During a static or slow exercise such as hand-stand or lifting heavy weights such as a barbell, the muscles on both sides of the joints operate strongly to set the body in a disable position, but in a rapid activity such as running jumping or throwing, the muscles that close the joints contract and the muscles directly opposite elongate to allow the movement. Although there is still tension on both muscles the strain in considerably legs on the elongated or lengthened one.

When there is excessive or antagonistic tension, on the elongate muscles it hinders and weakens your movement. It acts like a break; causing premature fatigue generally associated only with new activity demanding different muscles to perform a coordinated, neutral athlete is able to perform in any sporting activity with ease because he moves with little antagonistic tension. On the other hand, the novice performs with excessive tension and efforts, creating a lot of wasted motions. Although, this coordination trait is more a native talent in some than in others, all can improve it by intensive training.

The first point to remember is a vital one. The body must be thoroughly warmed up before any attempt is made to increase the range of movements in a limb or muscle group. Raised muscle and body temperature brings a number of benefits.

1. The muscle metabolism is enhanced through increased enzyme activity.
2. Oxygen flow and blood supply to the muscles is increased.
3. Muscle contraction and reflex time is improved.
4. The heart is better protected against inadequate blood supply caused by sudden violent exercise.
5. Sprains and strains to occur pulls etc are less likely to occur.

Muscle Reaction

When a muscle is stretched to a point where risk of injury is present the muscle spindles trigger a signal, which causes the muscle to contract thus preventing the injury from occurring. This is known as the inhibitory stretch return. This proactive reflex generally operates when a sudden and involuntary stretch occurs, but can be overridden to an extent in carefully controlled exercises. If muscles is first contracted and then relaxed, it can be stretched to a point beyond which triggered by an involuntary stretch.

The overriding capacity seems to be due to the operation of Golgi Tendon. Organs found at the end of the muscle fibers and tendons.

If a muscle is stretched for longer than approximately seconds, these organs send sensory impulses to the cerebellum, which in turn sends back motor impulses which causes a relaxation response in the muscles. As the massage from the Golgi Tendon organs override those coming from the muscle spindles, the initial reflex contraction is therefore followed by a reflex relaxation.

This response, the inverse stretch reflex, lies at the heart of static stretching and that is called proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). Evidence from laboratory research indicates that contrary to general belief, when a relaxed muscle is stretched practically all at resistance to the stretch comes not from the muscle fibers themselves but from the shooting and connective tissue within and around muscles. Connective tissue is composed of material which allows it either to recover from the stretch or to retain the permanently stretched state.

To increase flexibility it is necessary to concentrate on the type of stretching exercise which directly bring about the permanent deformation of the tissue (always bearing in mind that taken to the extreme or done at too early an age, this could lead to undesirable hyper mobility in the affected joints). Research make it quite clear that the safest and greatest improvement in flexibility are gained from slowly stretching tissue which has been thoroughly warmed and then holding the stretched position for a determined period.

Stretching

There are basically three types of stretching exercise.

1. Static (Slow or Passive):

In this type of exercise the muscle is held at its maximum stretch position. For longer than 6 to 8 seconds, thus allowing operation of the Golgi Tendon organs response. (The inverse stretch reflex). This relaxation response allows the muscle to be further stretched to a greater degree without causing damage to muscle fiber or connective tissue.

The stretched position should be held just at the point below pain and for a period of at least 30 seconds. Although there is no consensus of opinion as to the optimum time to hold a stretch, the balance of judgment is at least 10 seconds to ensure the operation of the inverse stretch reflex and the general view seems to be that each exercise should be repeated three to four times and hold for 30 seconds each time. It is important to remember not to bounce in this type of stretch and to come out of the stretch slowly.

Partner assisted static stretching is successful only when you can have complete confidence in your partner. So that you can relax and allow stretching to be full and complete. Any nervousness will translate into muscle tension and this will directly influence the effectiveness of the exercise using a partner allows you to increase the degree of stretch beyond that which is normally achieved. The assisting partner has to assume a high degree of responsibility for the stretching partners safety and must be sensitive to reactions which would indicate danger.

In general you should try to approach partner assisted stretching in a systematic manner.

1. Before beginning the assisted stretch get into the initial position and allow the body to reach its natural gravity limit.
2. Calm the breathing and encourage the body to relax and settle even more into the stretch position.
3. The assisting partner can then follow the prearranged assisting movements, slowly, while the stretching partner breaths slowly and calmly keeping the stretched body part fully relaxed.
4. During the routine, the assisting partner must keep aware of the changing responses of his or her partners body, sensing only sudden tension in the limb, any catch in the breathing and any spasm or facial grimace. The routine must immediately halted and the stretch cease should any of occur, otherwise injury may ensure or at least the stretching partners confidence will be undermined, tension is increase and whole exercises become ineffective.
5. The stretch may be continued only when the breathing has once more become regular and calm and the body completely relaxed.

NOTE: The assisting partner must work to the limits of the stretching partner not his own judgment.

Ballistic (bouncing or dynamic stretching):

This type of stretching involves a bouncing or jerking movement to give a series of quick pulls to the resistant muscle and connective tissue. It cannot be recommended as a method of gaining an increase in mobility and range of movement.

From reading of the introductory explanation it will be obvious short jerking of the muscle fibers only results in the bringing into operation the stretch reflex, thus forestalling any possibility of an increase in stretch, while being of too short a duration to evoke the inverse stretch reflex to override inhabitation. There is also evidence that this type of stretching can induce muscle soreness and therefore decrease the degree of flexibility.

Ballistic exercise within the normal range of movement can however be effectively incorporated into a warming up programmed, but it must be recognized that their propose is different, here it is to increase muscle temperature not to increase muscle and tendon length.

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation(PNF):

Originally developed in the 1940s. For the treatment of patients Suffering from neuromuscular disorders.PNF stretching makes use of the relaxation response generated by the Golgi tendon organs.

In simple terms relaxed muscle should slowly be stretched to its maximum length (static stretching with or without partner). At this point the muscle should be contraction held for at least 6 to 8 seconds. Now the relaxation response should begin to operate and should be aided by a positive conscious relaxation and exhaustion of breath. After this 6 to 8 seconds period the muscle can be stretched further. This procedure should be carried out until just below the pain threshold and held for a further period of 20 to 30 seconds.

Martial artist must realize that increasing flexibility is a long and gradual process and avoid the temptation of bouncing. Static stretching is the answer but it cannot be rushed! Exercise to increase flexibility should be carried out at least four to five times a week. Exercise may be carried out once or twice a week.

During a long stretching session especially in a cold climate, it should be remembered that muscle efficiency is enhanced by an increase in muscle temperature it may be necessary, therefore to intersperse the stretching exercises with aerobic type exercises to maintain the body warmed.

Remember that at no time should the objective be to place excessive stress on the joints. Especially in young people to over stretching the ligaments which in turn can result in permanent joint instability and may indeed be so disabling as to require surgical correction.

Sijo. Dr. Udayan Acharya &
YYCMARDA