Any form of martial arts requires a good amount of strength and mobility to perform optimally and avoid injury. Even if one is not doing martial arts for the purpose of competing, being physically prepared to defend oneself will enhance the skills that are taught in self-defense. Prior to training it would benefit one to perform a warm-up that includes elements of both mobility and corrective exercise to assist with performance enhancement and injury prevention.
The following is the first warm-up of a series that will be utilized in a Comabitives class that will be taught at the school where I learned Isshin-Ryu Karate (Moyer’s Karate, Shillington, PA). This class is a new class that is being taught as an advanced self-defense class with a physical preparation component included. This warm-up can be performed prior to any type of martial arts training (or any other sport for that matter). Even though one can’t warm-up prior to a real life self defense situation, performing activities of this sort over time will enable one to be more mobile and less prone to injury.
Here is the warm-up. For all stationary & ground drills, perform 5-10 repetitions each. Movement drills (i.e. skipping) can be done for a distance of 10-15 yards. Hold all static stretches for 15-30 seconds.
As mentioned previously, this warm-up will change over the course of the year; stay posted for updates.
For more information on this class or instruction in Isshin-Ryu Karate, visit the Moyers Karate website.
Mensinger Performance and Fitness Systems 