Bac Fu Do
White Tiger Kung Fu

Grading Essay for Red Sash

Keith Walker February 1996

Introduction

When people think of martial arts they think of martial arts superstars; John Claude Van Damme, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, Bruce Lee, Jacky Chan; the list goes on and on.

People are impressed by these stars speed, power and skill, however the power to fight and fight well is possessed by many people. What makes martial artists different is they way they achieve their goals, the high kicks, the sudden darting move to the side, the way they swing out of reach of danger only to dart back in and deliver a kayoing technique.

What people don’t see in these movements is the hours of training that went into preparation for these scenes. A key part of this preparation is the flexibility training going into their exercise regimes.

This essay plans to outline the importance of stretching to martial arts, and Bac Fu Do in particular, then outline the bodily mechanisms involved in stretching, techniques you can use in stretching routines, and finally an outline of a possible stretching program the Bac Fu Do student can use and its benefits to individual muscle groups.

The Importance of Stretching to Martial Arts

Flexibility training for many Eastern martial arts goes beyond ‘limbering up’ for classes or keeping muscles warm and lightly stretched in order that they won’t be strained. People practicing eastern martial arts are expected to be flexible and supple as part of their training.

Classes have students doing side splits, leaning torsos over outstretched legs until the head touches the knees and placing heads under arms whose hands are themselves stretching out to grab a handful of toes. A full half hour is devoted to warm up in most classes with at least half that time devoted to stretching.

As a result of this training even ‘the average’ medium ranked martial arts student can perform a roundhouse kick to an opponent, at a level equal with his or her own head, with relative comfort.

In Bac Fu Do students are expected to be able to demonstrate techniques ranging from extended kicks, sweeps and punches to close in grappling or china. This means that the body can be twisted or strained through twisting action (such as a twisting torso), swing actions (such as a kick at full extension )or pulling actions (where someone is exerting force on a limb, leg or head).

It is no surprise therefore to note that the country from which Eastern Martial Arts supposedly originated - or at least the weaponless forms - rates stretching, or the assumption of asanas (forms) as of primary importance in the development of both mind and body. That country, India, has developed an entire physical regime, whose end aim is the enlightenment of the soul and transcending needs of the flesh, and whose method of attaining that aim involves deep stretching techniques.

A key part of this physical regime, known popularly as Yoga in the West, is stretching. The asanas or forms of Yoga necessitate an extreme flexibility of the body. Once the mind is focused and the physical attributes have been achieved, through exercise, the mind is free to consider higher things or even detach itself entirely from the body.

The monks who brought the beginnings of martial arts to China from India were ascetics who practiced the stretching techniques of Yoga. To them stretching was a means to practice the faith of Buddhism (although to be fair the exercises espoused by Buddhists were based on Hindu exercises and can really be considered a subset of Hindu belief), the precepts of which religion and the physical means by which to practice it have become part of the Chinese psyche imbedding themselves into traditional medicine, education and of course martial arts.

It would instructive at this point to examine some of the links between Yoga and Kung Fu.

Yogis (high level practitioners of Yoga usually belonging to the Hindu faith) believe that all manifestations of life are dependent on prana, a kind of universal energy. Prana circulates through the human body via a system of channels called nadis, which are in turn governed by 7 ‘wheels’ or centers called chakras .

Through appropriate breathing and mind clearing techniques and through practicing certain physical exercises - stretching - the life giving prana is allowed to flow easily and ensure that the person is not only more healthy but more enlightened as well.

How similar are these concepts to the Kung Fu concept of life giving Chi, also a universal energy flowing throughout the body that has points where it can be controlled or channeled, like prana through Chakras.

Like prana, the flow of chi around the body also benefits from exercises, to quote an ancient Chinese manuscript entitled ‘Cultivation of the T’ai Chi System’ :

“..one must combine external and internal, activeness and passivness, hardness and softness in order to achieve the end goal.”

Without seeking to go further into the intricacies of Taoism versus Buddhism and how the Chinese injected their own brand of understanding into the concepts of Buddhism the link between India and China, Buddhism and Hinduism, Yoga and Kung Fu are concrete and directly affect the martial arts stress of stretching and certain types of exercise. We can recognize that being supple is not only important in practicing kung fu but plays a role in the basic philosophy and concepts underlying the art.

From the point of view of the westerner undertaking martial arts he or she may choose to view the original views on suppleness through the light of eastern philosophy. Or they may (as I have chosen to do) regard the martial arts stress on flexibility as part of the eastern traditional attempt to bring good health through using techniques which today we are able to quantify and explain in terms of scientific and medical understandings.

Health Advantages of Being Supple

First we must clarify our terms when we are talking about flexibility.

Flexibility has been described as mobilization, freedom to move or technically the Range Of Motion (ROM) available in a joint or group of joints measured in linear units (centimeters) or angular units (degrees).

There are two types of flexibility, static and dynamic. Static flexibility relates to the ROM about a joint with no emphasis on speed, for example when performing the splits. Dynamic flexibility is the ability to use a range of joint movements performing a physical activity at a normal or rapid speed, for example a jumping roundhouse kick to the head requires this sort of flexibility.

The advantages to your health in a regular flexibility training program are enormous, especially in the study of martial arts where speed and your potential range of movement are essential in avoiding and delivering techniques. Some of the more obvious and easy to appreciate advantages are as follows .


Union of mind and body

The use of stretching to assist in clarifying the mind and relaxing the body reaches its peak in the practices of the (traditionally Indian) Yogis. These philosophers stress that without a supple and healthy body it is difficult for the mind to free itself to meditate and spiritually progress.

Dramatic examples of the power of a mind and body unified through these exercises and philosophies have been given many times. Perhaps the most dramatic example of this is the apparent freedom from pain of Buddhist monks in Vietnam while self immolating as a form of protest.

A more achievable aim for most people is using stretching exercise programs as a means to focus their minds onto something positive and to relieve stress and tension in their everyday lives.

Muscle relaxation

From a physiological perspective relaxation is the cessation of muscular tension.

Too much muscular tension can result in negative side effects such as decreased sensory awareness of the world (for example stressed and tired muscles are less sensitive to pain or changes in temperature) and raised blood pressure.

A contracted muscle also uses more energy than a relaxed muscle and if it is contracted for too long a period a muscle can even cut off its own circulation of blood and nutrients resulting in fatigue, muscle cramp and pain.

Constant contraction of the muscle also causes a condition called contracture. This, combined with constant muscle tension, can shorten the muscle and cause it to be less supple and able to absorb shock and stress in the future.

Relaxing the muscles and facilitating stretching prevent contracture.

Body Fitness, Posture and Symmetry

Most people are aware of the relationship between good diet, exercise and a healthy body. However the concept of physical fitness goes beyond just diet and exercise and includes flexibility, cardiorespitory endurance and a range of other factors.

There is some evidence that a lack of flexibility in certain muscle groups can lead to an imbalance in other muscle groups and corresponding bad posture. Bad posture has been linked to lower back pain, tenosinovitis ( or Repetitive Strain Injury) and a range of other debilitating diseases. Putting your body through a wider range of motion than it would face in normal life and thus assisting posture may not cure these conditions but it may assist in preventing their occurrence.

Sport Enhancement

In the 90's flexibility is accepted as a crucial factor in skilled movement. This is more the case in Bac Fu Do, being a martial art, than most other sports.

The range of movement expected from a martial artist both in offensive - such as kicking and grappling - and defensive - sidestepping, dodging, bobbing - maneuver, as well as in forms is a great deal greater than that expected in, for example, most ball related sports like basketball, soccer or Rugby League.

Having a limited flexibility in certain muscles may limit or prevent the application of a technique. For example an extended backhand punch relies on flexibility in the tricep and shoulder muscles, if that flexibility is not there not only can the technique be cramped but excessively rigid or inflexible muscles may act to slow the technique down, even through the range of movement it has available to it .

Finally it is well known that the greater the flexibility possessed by the individual the more likely it is that severe muscle or joint sprain can be prevented. In most sports there is a time when muscles are asked to do more than they would normally, if the reserve muscle/tendon/ligament capacity is there when the body is exerted then it is less likely that the soft body tissue will tear or strain.

How the Body Stretches

Muscles

The soft tissues in our body responsible for most stretching are muscles and their connective tissues, tendons. The place where a muscle attaches to a relatively stationary point on a bone is called the origin and the end of the muscle that moves with the bone is called the insertion .

When a muscle contracts it develops tension that is transmitted to the bones via the tendons and movement occurs.

Muscles vary in shapes and sizes, both of which factors alone affect flexibility - obviously a long slender muscle, such as that found in the legs, is intended to stretch further than a thicker squat muscle, such as the pectoral muscles in the chest. Muscle fiber is made up of progressively smaller clusters of muscle fibers, the smallest of which (for our purposes - see illustrations below below ) is the myofibril.

The myofibril is made up of bands of alternating light and dark sections called sarcomeres. When the command to perform an action is given by the body, for example throw a punch, a chemical reaction occurs within the sarcomers which causes elements within the light and dark bands to contract towards each other.

This reaction has been likened to having several electrically activated magnets on a string. When the power is turned on they are attracted to each other and suddenly the distance between the magnets gets shorter as they move toward each other.

When the muscles are properly relaxed and can be stretched the contraction effect is reversed, with the effect that and individual sarcomere can be stretched to 150% of its normal resting length. This means that even a normal person - with properly relaxed muscles - should be able to achieve the splits, theoretically.

Other limiting factors to stretching muscles are the tendons and the ligaments .

Tendons

Tendons are mostly thickly packed, parallel, collegenous bundles with a distinctly wavy appearance. The extent of slack that the waves give is the extent of how they will stretch, that is if they are stretched until they appear taut then any further stretching will cause them to tear. This inflexibility is due to the relative strength and inflexibility of collagen bundles of which tendons chiefly consist.

Tendons are designed to be the instrument through which the pull of muscles is transferred to the bones and therefore are not intended to stretch a great deal.

Ligaments

Ligaments bind bone to bone and like tendons they are mostly composed of collagenous fibers, although they do have more elastic fibers as well and their collagen fibers are generally thinner than tendons allowing more movement.

Their function is to support a joint by holding the bones in place.

For the purpose of this essay we will assume that no stretching will be attempted that will strain a ligament.

Types of Stretching

There are five commonly recognized techniques to stretch muscles.

Static Stretching

Static stretching - also known as hold and stretch exercises - involves assuming a position which is held for a period of between 10 to 60 seconds, often continuing to increase the stretch slowly over this period.

An example of this in Bac Fu Do is performing the splits, first normally then, after 15 seconds, trying to place your stomach on your thigh for a further stretch.

This form of stretching is relatively safe as you are controlling the stretch and there is no sudden movements.

Ballistic Stretching

This kind of stretching involves forcing the muscles to stretch quickly through using a bobbing or bouncing motion.

An example of this type of stretching would be bending stretching out over your leg as far as you can go with your arms and then 'bouncing' forward in small bounces thus attempting to stretch your calf muscles.
There are many opponents to ballistic stretching who claim that the muscle is more likely to be strained or injured this way as it does not have time to adjust and is more likely to respond to a sudden stretch by contraction rather than stretching.

However there is no doubt that ballistic stretching does help stretch muscles. Michael Alter in "Science of Stretching" makes the following points in defence of ballistic stretching:

"Ballistic stretching also helps to develop dynamic flexibility. Because most activities and movements are ballistic in nature, fast stretching would be appropriate in terms of specificity and warm up. Finally ballistic stretching can be less boring than static stretching".

In Bac Fu Do where movements, if they are to be practical, must often be quick and explosive, ballistic stretching does have a place. This is not to say that all stretching should be ballistic, far from it, but muscles which are likely to be used explosively with the possibility for over extension - such as a side kick above the belt - do benefit from some ballistic stretching. An example of this is lifting knees up to hands or kicking hands placed behind the buttocks.

Passive Stretching

This is where you are relaxed and make no active contribution to the range of motion. A machine or another person instead stretches your limbs for you.

Recent readers of "Australasian Fighting Arts" would have seen an example of static stretching in action through an advertisement for 'Oz Stretch', a machine in which the martial artist (usually a impressively mustachioed gentleman in a white singlet, see picture below) inserts his legs and then cranks them apart with the use of a crank handle between his legs.

Passive stretching is very effective when the muscle is too weak (for example after an accident) to respond or when you are unable to stop other muscles stiffening while stretching - thus inhibiting your stretch.

It also allows you to stretch beyond your usual rate of movement. However the flip side of this advantage is that if the external force is applied wrongly - for example by an inexperienced/overenthusiastic Bac Fu Do junior - there is the real risk of injury.

Active Stretching

Active Stretching is carried out using your own muscles to actively stretch your body. For example standing upright and slowly bringing your leg up to a 45 degree angle.

This is particularly advantageous form of stretching when low strength in muscles restricts movement in a muscle group as this tones the muscle a well as stretches. This form of 'active flexibility' is very desirable in Kung Fu where - at the higher level - actions are performed outside the physical capability of many people.

Propioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation(PNF)

This is technically defined as:

"promoting or hastening the neuromuscular mechanism through stimulation of the propioreceptors".

It is probably described more descriptively as the 'contract relax method' and works on the principle that immediately after a muscle has been activated and the activity in it has ceased a process called 'autogenic inhibition' begins. This means that the nerve receptors which activate to resist the initial stretching actually reduce their activity to less than normal activity allowing the muscles to relax more fully.

To use an example, say a Bac Fu Do student lies on her back and places one leg in the air with another student pushing that leg forward until the first student feels the muscles stretching. The student on the floor then tenses her muscles on the back of her legs by pushing the leg towards the other student, who prevents it from going any further, this tensing goes on for 10 seconds and then is stopped. In the period between when the leg is untensed and when the hamstring and biceps femoris muscles on the back of the leg start tightening up again, the leg is pushed forward facilitating a greater stretch on the muscles at the back of the leg than was possible with a simple passive stretching on the students leg by another student.

PNF stretching is theorized to work either because of the Golgi Tendon Organs and how they react (I will go into this in more detail later on) or that contracting the muscle in the first place changes the type of signals that go to the muscle, and in the period immediately after the initial contraction, and before the muscles normal muscle signals cut back in, there is a 'window of opportunity' where the muscles range of movement is greater than normal .

The PNF discovery and resulting stretching systems have been hailed as a great breakthrough for stretching in sport, although there is some evidence that these techniques have been around for some time (some author's suggest they were in use in China 2000 years ago! ). Certainly they have been well known in the martial arts, under the pseudonym of the 3s system since the early 70's

PNF techniques have been praised for bringing the most dramatic results in the shortest time.

However in recent times they have also been criticized along a number of lines. Firstly this technique does carry the risk of possibly greater than acceptable muscle damage due to the leg being stretched beyond its normal rate of movement- especially if performed with an inexperienced or careless partner.

Secondly there has been some doubt over the extent of the 'window of stretching opportunity', and there is some suggestion that although the muscle is more relaxed than it was before the initial contraction the degree of muscle resistance was greater than previously thought.

Mechanisms assisting the stretch reflex

When you are stretching there are certain actions and bodily functions that you can take advantage of to better your stretch. The ones suggested below are some of the simpler but effective mechanisms you can use.

I do not propose to cover the use of drugs or other artificial means to assist the stretch reflex as they would not be used in Bac Fu Do.

Golgi Tendon Organs

On the tendon near the end of the muscle fiber is a sensory receptor known as the Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO). The GTO monitors all thresholds of muscle tension and functions as an inhibitor or relaxant to stretching or contracting muscles, that is in situations where the muscles movement (which the GTO detects through tension on the tendon) may be in danger of being excessive the GTO relaxes the muscle to prevent damage .

In the case of stretching this mechanism operates as a relaxant only with a fairly intensive stretch. It can be felt when, for example, a student is doing the side splits and holds a reasonably intense stretch (that is one which is almost but not quite uncomfortable - certainly it does not have to be such as to damage the muscle) for a period of about 15 seconds. She/he will feel their muscles relax fractionally enough to further push into the stretch - this is the point where the student tries to put their chest on their thigh.

This relaxation response to a strong stretch is called the inverse myotatic reflex or autogenic inhibition. It is theorized that this mechanism is also used in PNF stretching, although in PNF stretching the GTO is triggered through contraction not stretching (this is because contraction triggers the GTO much more easily than stretching) and the resulting relaxation of the muscles is then taken advantage of by stretching the muscles further.

If the stretch is not strong enough to trigger the GTO mechanism then the opposite effect comes into effect. That is muscles will detect that they are being stretched and will actually contract as a defence mechanism against being injured this contraction is called the myotatic or stretch reflex and is seen most strongly in the case where a doctor taps you above the knee with a hammer and your leg jerks up (the muscle contracts) in response.

Reciprocal Invervation

Muscles usually operate in pairs so that when one set of muscles, the agonistic, is contracting the opposing set of muscles, antagonistic, are relaxing. This grouping of opposing muscles is called Reciprocal Inervation and can be seen in all the agonistic antagonistic muscle groups in the body.

Some of the more obvious muscle groups are:

* bicep and tricep;

* hamstrings and quadriceps;

* wrist flexors above and below the wrist;

* calf muscles and shin muscles; and

* pectoral and trapezius muscles.

By taking advantage of this phenomenon you can induce relaxation in muscles you want to stretch. For example to stretch your hamstrings contract your quadriceps before going into a hurdlers stretch .

Breathing

The act of taking air into and out of the lungs is the most important action to our immediate well being.

When we breathe actions occur that go beyond the act of the muscles of the chest and lungs working to take in breath. Martial artists, yogis and eastern mystics understand the importance of breathing as a tool for relaxation and focusing of the mind.

When we breathe in our chest muscles pull down the diaphram and expand our lungs creating a vacuum which draws in air. Naturally when we breathe in or hold our breath (which is after all simply holding the muscles taut in the 'breathe in' position) our muscles are tensing, the reverse is also true when we breathe out our muscles relax, contract and the breath moves out of our body.

Like reciprocal innervation we can take advantage of the body’s tendency to relax with the breathe out motion. For example in a side split, once the body is in the position with legs outstretched, a deep breathe out followed by a relaxation into the stretch will bring about a much deeper position than is normally possible.

The same can be said of any stretch. First assume the stretch position, place some initial tension on the muscle then breathe out and stretch the muscle.

There is also some attributes of relaxation and breathing relating to regulating the supply of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your system through breathing. I do not intend to cover these in this essay as it is outside normal Bac Fu Do lesson practice.

Proposed stretching exercises for Bac Fu Do

Before each session of Bac Fu Do training there should be a beginning session of warm up exercise, mobilization of joints and stretching of major muscle groups.

This can be conceived in the form of a triangle of activity with the beginning of the lesson at its zenith .



The warm up prior to stretching is vital for several reasons. Firstly it increases tissue/body temperature, through activity and increased blood flow, making stretching safer through decreasing the likelihood of torn ligaments and muscles - warmed muscles stretch further than cold ones.

Secondly it makes the body ready for activity by gradually speeding up the metabolic rate, increasing the heart rate, increasing the speed at which nerve impulses travel through the body and increasing the take up rate of oxygen from hemoglobin. Without these changes the body would be subject to a degree of shock as it quickly tries to get itself ready for activity in a very short time rather than gradually over a period of half an hour.

Thirdly it directly gets the muscles ready for activity by increasing the efficiency of reciprocal innervation (allowing muscles to contract and relax more efficiently), decreases the resistance of connective muscle or tissue, decreases muscular tension and enhances connective tissue and muscular extensibility.

In Bac Fu Do the warm up begins with exercises for the head and works itself gradually down to the feet. This process allows the individual to easily track where they are in the warm up process and ensures, through the methodicalness of the process, that no group of muscles is missed in the warm up.

Please note:

* I only intend to cover stretches here which can be done by the individual at home as well as in the class. I think these stretches have the most value for the individual student of Bac Fu Do as he/she can stretch without mechanical or partner assisted methods, in any case individual stretches are the most common to our style and training techniques;

* I use diagrams only where I consider the instructions could possible be misleading. It is for this reason that there are diagrams for some stretching exercises but not others; and

* for reference to the muscle groups being stretched, their positions and the related bone structure see illustrations below (the first four are from “The Stretching Handbook: 10 Steps to Muscle Fitness” [p6-9], the last two are from “Flexibility for Sport”[p10-11] - see bibiliography).

Arms, Shoulders and Head

First the head is warmed up through being slowly rotated one way then another. It is also bent towards all four points - that is forward, backward and on two sides - as well as turned to the left and right. These warm ups also act as light stretches for neck muscles, the point of this is that the neck and head, are more susceptible to being damaged if forcefully stretched, and should not be prepared so intensely as other muscle groups. However they do need to be warm and flexible to cope with the stress of being put in a hold.

After this arms are warmed up through being swung straight above the head in a rhythmic motion with the elbows being above the head (note the elbows should be bent when they are above the head) or being slapped side to side on the body in a hugging motion.



As a variation, which also warms the latissimus dorsi (‘the lats’)muscles, the trunk of the body can be gently turned from side, with the arms swinging so that bent elbows are being swung above the head when the trunk of the body is facing front during a swing. For this latter exercise the eyes should always face front and the feet should move with the swing but not move off their spots.


After they are warm the shoulder joints are then mobilized through swinging both arms in a circular motion in front of the body with elbows crossing in the middle of the swing. The final joint mobilization is with the wrist where arms are bent at the elbow, with the back of the upper arm being held in front of the body and the hands and wrists being moved in a rolled in a circular motion beginning with the thumbs touching, then the knuckles of the index finger touching each other then the knuckles of the second finger touching and so on until the palms of the hand touch and both hands roll around to the beginning again.

After these warm up and joint mobilization exercises arm stretching exercises can begin. Using the tool of reciprocal innervation to assist the stretch the right arm is held straight ahead, then is pulled back (under its own muscle power) around towards your back until you feel a light stretch of the tricep, it is then brought forward across your body, with the stretch being actively assisted by your other arm crossing behind the stretched arm, at the elbow, and pulling it as close as is comfortable to your body. The stretch is held for 20 seconds.



This is then reversed for the other arm.

This stretches the tricep and trapezius muscles.

Next place your hands, with palms together and fingers upright, behind your back. Lift your joined hands as high up your back as possible and then hold them together for 30 seconds. An alternative to this is to hold the hand out open, with fingers pointing down, grab the fingers with your other hand and assisting your own stretch gently pull the fingers back until you have reached a comfortable stretch.

This stretches the wrist flexors.

Straight after this bend one of your hands forward from the wrist as far as it will comfortably go, then with index finger and thumb wrapped around the wrist gently push the back of the hand down until it has gone as far as is possible without causing distress. This also stretches the wrist flexors but in an opposite direction to the previous exercise, again taking advantage of reciprocal innervation.

After this place your right arm above your head and with a bent elbow pull the elbow so that the arm (with fingers pointed downwards) is pulled down your back and behind your head. When finished repeat for the other arm.

This stretches your triceps.

Note while doing this exercise you neck should not be forced forward.

Put your left knee on the floor, your left hand about three feet in a straight line from your knee and your right leg straight out to your right side. Then place your straight right arm over your head and lean over the left until you can feel a good stretch along your right side. Hold this position for 30 to 40 seconds and then repeat for the other side.



This stretches the quadratus laborum (the muscle holding the lower section of your spine to your hip), the lats and the intercostal muscles (these are the groups of muscles holding the ribs together).

You may feel the position is a little strange and you would prefer to do this standing up. However the position is intended to minimize compression of the spine while still achieving a good stretch. As an alternative this stretch can be done while in a seated position.

Leg and lower body stretches

At the beginning of this section it is appropriate to perform some warm up exercises to get the bulk of the body prepared for the stretching exercises that are to follow.

One example of a routine might be to start with a light jog (with heels touching the floor with each step to prevent strain on the calf muscles caused by bouncing on the tip of your feet) whose tempo is gradually increased until participants are running quite fast with knees at a little less to 45 degrees to the body. This could be followed by a variety of other mainly leg based exercises that are maintained for a period not less than 8 minutes and designed to specifically warm up your gluteul, thigh and lower leg muscles as well as generally ‘get your system going’.

After finishing the warm up resume a standing position and with feet apart, about 2 feet, exhale and bend forward from the trunk until you are at 90 degrees to your legs. This should be done about 12 times with a fairly rhythmic action, with your hands at your temples.

This stretch mobilizes the hip joints, warms up the gluteul muscles and lightly ballistically stretches the hamstrings.

Next bring up your right leg straight up to a 45 degree angle with your body or as high as you can go and hold it. This stretches your hamstrings and adductor muscles, but should not do so intensely since it is an active stretch - that is the leg is stretching under its own generated muscular strength. Hold for 15 seconds.

Repeat for other leg.

Next grasp your right leg by the ankle and lift it up towards your right buttock until you feel a stretch along the front of your right leg. This stretches your gluteul muscles and rectus femoris (femoral) muscles, this static stretch should be held for 20 seconds.

As soon as you put your right foot down bend your left knee and bend your torso down over your straight right leg trying to touch your thigh with your stomach. Hold this stretch for 15 seconds. This stretches your hamstring muscles and the gastrocnemius muscles (the lower leg muscles), it takes advantage of reciprocal innervation, that is the relatively relaxed state of your hamstring muscles after they have been accommodating the femoral muscles.

Repeat both stretches in sequence for the left leg.

After this spread your legs as far apart as they can go and still be resting on the soles of your feet, support yourself with your hands and hold this stretch for 20 seconds. This statically stretches your adductor muscles that run along the inside of your legs.

After the 20 seconds you should have relaxed more into the stretch (thanks to the GTO mechanism) and you can push your feet out a little longer. This should be combined with walking your hands forward until you go as far as you can while keeping the feet flat on the ground - thus preventing excessive strain on your adductor muscles. When you have held this position for some 10 seconds walk yourself back in until you feel comfortable and have your weight partially supported on your forearms. The process of walking forward acts to actively stretch the muscles at your own pace, by supporting yourself on your hands some of the strain is also taken off your stretch.

When you are comfortable with your new position - that is with your weight supported on the soles of your outstretched legs and your forearms tighten the muscles on the inside of your legs as if you wanted to pull your legs together. Hold this for about 6 or 7 seconds, then relax the muscles and see if you can stretch out further for about 15 seconds. Repeat once more.

This mechanism uses PNF stretching techniques to stretch your adductor muscles.

After this walk your legs in until you feel no stretch on your adductor muscles then bending the left leg and keeping the right leg straight, with the toes pointed toward the ceiling, half sit down upon your left leg for two seconds and then moving straight across (not standing up and then going back down) repeat the same action for your right leg. Aim to increase the period you hold the stretch for by 1 second at a time until you reach 7 seconds. When this is reached hold the stretch for 20 seconds, to stabilize yourself, and increase the stretch, you might want to reach down with the same side hand that you are squatting with and hold the ankle you are sitting on and reach out along your leg with the other hand and grasp your other ankle.



Mobilization of the hips and stretching of the legs

Start off this section by sitting on the floor with legs spread as wide apart as possible, then reach out until you can grab both your ankles, then using your arms to gradually pull you forward, bend forward from the waist (not bending the spine) with your eyes looking straight ahead until you have gone as far as you can then hold the stretch 20 seconds.

This is aimed at mobilizing the hip joints and stretching the adductor muscles. For a longer stretch it can also be done using PNF techniques with a partner assisting.

Once the hips are loosened up, holding the arms out straight, palms down, make circles between your outstretched legs pushing off from your right leg and coming back over your left. After performing 10 or so of these circular movements reverse the movement and push off from your left leg and pull in over your right.

This exercise is aimed at loosening up and warming the muscles of the lower back and lightly ballistically stretching the hamstring muscles. Once 20 circles have been completed then repeat the first exercise of this section, you should be able to get markedly further than before.

Now with the legs still apart as far as possible reach out with your left hand along the outside of your left foot until you can grasp your foot, once this is done reach out and hold the toe of your left foot with your right hand. Hold this stretch for 15 seconds.

This stretches the adductor muscles along the inside of your legs, the lats in your back and the intercostal muscles.

Repeat for the other leg.

Now, with legs still apart, grasp your left foot with your right hand. Once this is done put your left arm and shoulder through the circle created by your right hand and left foot and gradually turn your head until you are looking at the ceiling. This stretches the same muscles as previously but more intensely. Hold for 16 to 20 seconds.

Repeat for other leg.

Bringing your legs together, place the soles of your feet together and draw your feet as close into your groin as possible. When this is done gripping your ankles with your hands place your elbows on your knees and gradually push down on your knees until you have gone as far as you can go. Once there hold the position for 10 seconds, then relax.

After relaxing for 5 seconds, take advantage of the relaxed and prestretched muscle to push down again and hold for another 10 seconds.

This exercise intensively stretches all the adductors from the groin to behind the knees.

Note to make this into a even more intensive PNF stretch squeeze the knees against the elbows for 6 seconds, release, then push the knees apart.

Stretching of the back muscles and hip adductors

Cross the legs and lean slowly forwards towards the floor, allowing the chin to fall on the chest. Hold this stretch for 20 seconds.

This stretches the erector spinae group of muscles, which is basically the muscles which connect each piece of the spine together and those which are connected to the whole spinal cord moving it as one unit.

Bring the legs together so that they are straight in front of you, then bend the left leg so that the left foot is in the groin. From this position lean over your outstretched foot, attempting to place your stomach on your thigh. Hold this position for 10 seconds then relax and repeat the movement, again hold for 10 seconds. On the second movement you should attempt to stretch out further than before.

This stretches all three groups of hamstring muscles.

Repeat for the other leg.

Now with both legs together and stretched out straight in front of you reach out and hold your ankles, at the same time bending forward from the lower back. Maintain this position for 10 seconds, then relax and stretch a little further, then relax and stretch a little further again.

This stretches your lower back muscles and your hamstring muscles simultaneously.

Note you may or may not want to slightly bend the knees in the this stretch. Bending the knees should be done if discomfort is felt in the hamstrings.

This is a good time to perform some warm up exercises before continuing on with more stretches. This is because some time has past since the previous warm up exercise was performed - probably at least 10 to 15 minutes - and although stretching is an exertion which will contribute to warm muscles it may not be sufficient to keep the student warm - especially in a Canberra winter.

It will also bring the body back to a warm state in preparation for the physical activities after stretching.

Some appropriate exercises for this section, given people are lying on their backs, might be situps, bent leg raises and reaching around and tapping the ankles of each foot. These will both keep the body warm and mobilize the muscles and joints of the back preparing them for the next exercise.

Now lying on your back, with knees bent, bring the right foot up to rest on the top of the left knee and using the weight of the right leg draw the left bent knee down until it reaches its limit then hold 15 seconds.

When completed repeat for the other leg.

This exercise stretches the hip adductors - gluteus medius, minimus, tensor fascia - and the iliotibial band (a band of fibrous tissue that runs along the outside of the leg and can become tight during leg exercises)

Roll over on your front with legs stretched out straight behind you. Place your forearms out in front of your body and push yourself up, looking straight ahead. Hold for 15 seconds.

This is intended to lightly stretch the abdominal muscles.

Standing and upright stretching

This section prepares the body for the activity that is to follow by completing final stretches to areas most likely suffer strain.

Stand up, with feet three shoulder widths apart and, with the right knee bent and keeping the left leg straight, turn to your right so that your torso is as near as possible to facing forward. Keep the foot of the straight leg pointing out at a 90 degree angle from the foot of the bent knee.

This stretches the adductor muscles on the inside of your thigh. Hold for 15 seconds.

Turn the foot of the left leg in so that it faces forward, widen the stance as much as possible and lean forward so that you are on the ball of the left foot - however keep the body upright. Keep the right foot flat on the ground.

This stretches the gastrocnemius muscles (calf muscles) on the left leg and the hip flexor muscles (the muscles that connect your hip to your backbone [psoas major], thigh bone [pectineus] and that keep your hips together [illiacus]). Hold for 15 seconds.

Now, while in the same position, place the knee of your left foot on the ground and, while using your hands for support, push off with the instep of the left leg so that the left knee is a few inches of the ground. Hold for 10 seconds

This stretches the muscles along the shin (tibialis anterior, soleus and the bands of fibrous tissue running along the front of the leg [extensor digitorum longus and perioneus longus). This stretch also takes advantage of reciprocal innervation principle, and the relatively relaxed state of these muscles after the stretching of the thigh muscles.

Place your left knee on the ground and grasp your bent right leg, behind the ankle, with your right hand and try to lean forward and down until the elbow of the right arm touches the floor. Hold this stretch for 20 seconds.

This stretches the adductor muscles and the femoris (top of thigh) muscle.

Now with the left hand firmly on the floor twist around behind so that your right arm touches the floor behind you. This should be held for 10 seconds.

This is a controversial stretch as it involves a twisting motion to the spine. It is aimed at mobilizing the muscles of the back, especially the lower back. It should be performed slowly and without sudden movement.

Now repeat all the stretches for this section on the other side of your body.

The final stretch for this section is the classic side or bicycle splits. Supporting yourself with your hands stretch your legs as far apart as you can, then turn to your right side and put your left knee on the ground, your hands should be either side of your outstretched leg. Hold for 15 seconds.



Then lean forward, attempting to place your stomach on your thigh. Again support yourself with two hands and hold for 15 seconds.

This stretches the hamstrings on the outstretched leg and the top adductor muscles and hip flexors on the other leg.

Repeat for other side.

When finished turn to the centre again, with legs as widestretched as possible, hold for a 5 second adductor stretch and then stand up.

Shake out hands and feet to relax them. Knead the lower back and buttocks to prepare them for training and bow off ready for instruction.
Bibliography

“Dynamic Stretching and Kicking”, Bill Wallace, Unique Publications, Hollywood, USA, 1981.

“Flexibility for Sport”, Bob Smith, The Crowood Press, Ramsbury, UK, 1994.

“Kung Fu: History, Philosophy and Technique”, David Chow and Richard Spangler, Unique Publications, Hollywood, California, USA, 1977

"Mobility Training for the Martial Arts", Tony Gummerson, A and C Black Publishers, London, UK, 1990.

"Science of Stretching", Michael J Alter, Human Kinetics Publishers, Illinois, USA, 1988

“Soft Exercise: The Complete Book of Stretching”, Arthur Balaskas and John Stirk, Unwin Paperbacks, London, UK, 1983.

"Sport Stretch", Michael J Alter, Human Kinetics Publishers, Illinois, USA, 1990.

"Stretching for All Sports", John E Beaulieu, The Athletic Press, Passadena, California, USA, 1981.

"The Science of High Kicking", David Page, publication unknown.

“The Stretching Handbook: 10 Steps to Muscle Fitness”, Francine St George, Simon and Schuster, Sydney, Australia, 1994.

“Yoga Made Easy”, Desmond Dunne, Mayflower Books, Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom, 1976.

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