Stretching prior to karate training.

In the British Shitoryu Karate Association, like most other responsible martial arts associations, the art of stretching is taught and implemented prior to any karate training by beginners and seniors alike. The club instructors will always begin sessions with a warm up routine and students should use this every time they train even when not in the dojo, to minimise the chances of injury.

Stretching prepares the muscles, tendons and joints for karate activities which make the body go beyond the normal day to day range of movement. The body is used to the normal activities such as walking or jogging, sitting down standing up etc and the muscles are stretched ready only for those activities. The karateka strives to extend his normal range of movement to include all those required for the most demanding karate techniques so that he can perform those techniques at a moments notice with minimal risk of injury from them. There is no time to warm up or stretch in an emergency.

If the body is suddenly subjected to movement outside these normal ranges then muscle and tendon tearing can be expected. Once the tissue is healed from such mishaps the future range of stretching can be compromised due to the presence of scar tissue.

The subject of safety and injury is dealt with in great depth by many authorities and is beyond the scope of this site. A great deal of information can be obtained from the National Coaching Foundation. Suffice to say that stretching should not only slowly get the muscle and tendon tissues used to being worked hard but warm the tissue interior and encourage increased blood supply, to deliver oxygen and to take away unwanted products of exertion.

A well balanced diet will be a prerequisite for karate training since a great deal of energy is normally expended. New students are encouraged to discuss their training schedule and diet with their instructors.

Generally stretching is combined with joint warming and in karate can start from the feet, working up.

Since a lot of kicking is involved it is essential to warm the muscles in the groin area as well as the calves and thighs.

Next the torso needs to be stretched and there are exercises which deal specifically with certain areas and others which are combination techniques.

Follows from this is upper body, neck and arms. Again it is essential to follow the teaching of the club instructor in order to avoid injury from these exercises.

Senior karateka are required to be conversant with ‘Essential First Aid for the martial artist’.

The training methods are designed to minimise injury but martial arts injuries do occur from time to time and the causes are different from normal injuries. The senior in charge should be able to know what type of injury could be associated with any particular type of training and how to deal with it effectively.