Stretching vs. Warming Up for Kendo Practice

[@jkou5549]

Thank you; I appreciate the fact that you incorporate scientific studies into your videos. I’ve been been practicing TKD for 5 1/2 years, and as a middle aged athlete, it seems the static stretching is becoming more painful with time, even after a short warmup such as jumping jacks.

[@PaulHBShin]

You should save the static stretching for AFTER practice.

[@RGANEY159]

Sensei, Thank you for this video. I have been training for 40 years and was stuck in the old way of stretching and doing pre-class warm-ups. This has been a great video and has sent me back to the drawing board for class order. I am curious. I see this is from 2015. Are you aware of any current information which can help in this area that builds on the studies cited? Thank You

[@PaulHBShin]

I hope it helps. Cheers.

[@thehumanpractice2985]

Help I like to train high rep suburi and I need a good stretch for forearms, arms, and torso. Due to the posture by upper back , serratus and in general core gets very stiff. Is there any recommended stretching for after the practice?

[@HaraldHofer]

Dear Paul, totally agree. A couple of years ago we - the Austrian Kendo Association (www.kendo-austria.at) - asked two physiotherapists (both accustomed to Kendo) to work out some warm-up and also some cool-down exercises for us. And they came to the same conclusions also backed up by studies. As a matter of fact they produced some very nice document about it. If someone is interested in it, he can find it here: drive.google.com/file/d/0B21N48lT4v2TVUVxckRHY2R0Xzg/view. I'm sorry that it's not available in English. If someone is willing to translate it: feel free to do so, just contact the president of the AKA first. One last but important thing: As in Kendo, reading can not substitute a good instructor who knows about the idea and the correct execution of the exercise.

[@vindl]

What about static stretching after exercise? Does it have long term effects on maximal muscle performance?

[@PaulHBShin]

+Marko Andrijasevic Static stretching AFTER exercise is good. There's a very large window of how long it takes to recover full power from static stretching -- one study showed about 10 minutes, another study showed as long as 24 hours. Best practice is to do static stretching AFTER your workout when you're thoroughly warmed up.

[@gordonhall9943]

Thanks for the video, Paul. good stuff!

[@rafael6688]

thank you Sensei!

[@Hippowdon121]

I definitely feel better and get less injuries stretching before squash. I think it's because I have to reach very far in squash. I also need to warm up. I always get injured if I don't stretch though. For water polo I think warming up is super super important. For kendo I feel I want to warm up but my dojo only does static stretches 😁 Sometimes one guy does some hayasuburi by himself. I don't know, I'm still very very new to kendo.

[@PaulHBShin]

Do what works for you. This video is just a reference point on what the scientific literature says.

[@nayefjoseph8969]

That is very informative and useful indeed, the question remains however, what are the recommended set of dynamic warm ups that are most useful for our kendo practice?

[@PaulHBShin]

Probably suburi.

[@nayefjoseph8969]

I am asking because I ended up having a SLAP tear, tendinitis as well as severe inflammation of the shoulder joint (left side) as I woke up one day! I never felt pain or soreness before that fateful day in which I merely napped!

[@mohammadhazim981]

Sensei, How do you think is the best way to warm up?

[@PaulHBShin]

Warm up routines can be quite personal. Whatever works for you. At our dojo we go through some range of motion drills. If you need to warm up quickly you might consider doing hayasuburi.

[@drtroosevelt]

Sensei, could you post the links to this please?

[@PaulHBShin]

+Theodore Roosevelt You mean the links to the studies? They are in the description above.

[@drtroosevelt]

I was thinking more of the actual citations to the literature quoted.