I’ll get right to the point. Every dojo I’ve ever practiced at does stretches, but very few people at any of these dojo ever seem to get very flexible. There’s a good reason for this: most people are stretching wrong. This article is about stretching right. Just look at the number of people who have been doing…
Overall, the consensus is, I can move pretty well, but there’s always room for improvement. It looks like most Taidoka are pretty comfortable with their current levels of flexibility, but recognize that they could benefit from more (or more effective) stretching. Here’s how the results for each response broke down: How Flexible Are You? 52% — I can move pretty…
Since posting the Stretching Challenge, I’ve gotten some good feedback and comments. I really appreciate everyone sharing their own experiences here. On the challenge post, I embedded a video of me performing and explaining the essential components of my current stretching routine. As I wrote then, all of these movements (and more) are included in Paul Zaichik’s Elastic Steel course,…
If you haven’t been following Taido/Blog lately (and shame on you if that’s the case), you should read the first two posts in this series before continuing. Here they are: You’re Probably Stretching Wrong Why Flexibility is Important in Taido Those posts really lay the groundwork for what’s to follow, so please read them to make sure…
In my last article (You’re Probably Stretching Wrong), I wrote that the standard 5 minute warm-up stretch is inadequate for building flexibility. That’s no big deal — we can just stretch for longer. How much stretching are we talking about here anyway? I’ll suggest 15 to 20 minutes, at least three times a week. Why Spend Time Stretching?
