Category: Fitness & Well Being

When people hear the term “warm up”, they usually associate it with stretching and getting the muscles warm. But there’s a whole bunch of other stuff that you should be paying attention to, especially if you want to prevent injury while doing your preferred activity. Warming up becomes all the more important when your fitness is taking place in a colder climate or during the winter season.

Muscle tissue is elastic. The whole point to stretching is to provide a bit of “give” to that elastic tissue, allowing for a greater range of motion with less chance of injury. take note that I say “less” chance as opposed to “no” chance… Stretching doesn’t guarantee you won’t pull o tear a muscle and in fact, muscle damage is actually how you get an increase in muscle mass. But I don’t want to get too technical on that aspect.

Most people seem to forget (or they simply don’t know) that it’s important to focus on your joints, cartilage and the fluid between your joints as well. This fluid is known as Synovial Fluid, and it’s responsible for reducing the friction in your joints as you move around. I’ll just let y’all Google that term, but these things need to be warmed up prior to a heavy workout as well, and are often neglected by most people. This is often because they aren’t even aware that these parts of the body require any warming up. But they do.

When stretching and warming, it’s important to chose a wide range of full-motion exercises that will include the joints by rolling them and getting a full articulation of movement. This ensures that you warm up that fluid and “activate it”, ensuring that your joints are as ready to go as your muscles.

The human body is an amazing machine. Despite the aches and pains we feel on a daily basis, the average human body thinks of almost everything. But you still need to nudge it along and give it the help it needs to work as efficiently as possible. Make sure that when you get ready for any strenuous, physical activity, you prepare muscles and joints for the hell you’re about to put them through. this will help to prevent injuries and potentially, long-lasting pain. ☯

One of the biggest issues facing any martial arts club is when the club as a whole focus more on the bowing and ceremony and less on putting in the honest effort to break a sweat. Unfortunately, this is a trend I’ve seen all too often in some karate clubs, and although it provides the illusion of a nice, fancy martial arts studio, it actually provides nothing beneficial to the students. Or the instructors.

Picture this: The entire class is standing at the back of the dojo. the head instructor provides instructions on a specific set of techniques that he wants the students to practice while moving up the length of the dojo. The head instructor bows to everyone, and everyone bows back. The students perform their respective versions of the demonstrated technique and make their way to the very front of the dojo where they end their techniques and bow to the front. Then they run to the back, bowing to senior belts as they pass them. Some of them no doubt develop hip dysplasia from all the bowing they do. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t doing the technique properly; the importance is placed on ceremony and protocol of the class.

Now, I’m going to be very clear about one thing right now: proper respect and dojo etiquette are VERY important to me. There’s nothing worse than someone who can’t maintain discipline within a karate dojo and shows no respect to those who have been where they are. But you HAVE to be able to work on the learning at the same time! While it may look nice to have a clean, pressed karate gi, and bow at every opportunity, you’re essentially wasting your time and the time of your instructors if you don’t commit to what you’re trying to learn and break a damn sweat!

Some martial arts clubs focus on the “club” and neglect the “martial arts”. That’s all well and good if all you happen to be looking for is a place to congregate and socialize with like-minded people. But while you’re busy exchanging Instagram user names, don’t forget that you’re actually there to learn a skill set that’s centuries and even thousands (depending on your style) of years old. Show it the respect it deserves or go join a knitting circle. ☯

The martial arts can be an important part of children’s lives and can help with a score of different aspects of their growth, including but not limited to increased attention span, better sleep habits, discipline and improved fitness. But how soon should kids start training? It’s an interesting question; one I’ve found myself asking even recently because my son usually sticks to me during my home workouts.

Depending on the type of fitness routine you follow, there are good and bad aspects for children. In general, the martial arts can be beneficial and even therapeutic for children and provide them with an outlet for their aggression and teach them some discipline; something that can prove difficult without. On the other hand, something that’s inherently physical that taxes the musculoskeletal system, like weight lifting, can be detrimental to young children.

According to an online article posted by the Mayo Clinic, “Trying to build big muscles can put too much strain on young muscles, tendons and areas of cartilage that haven’t yet turned to bone (growth plates) – especially when proper technique is is sacrificed in favor of lifting larger amounts of weight.” The article goes on to explain the difference between “strength training”, which can be beneficial, and weight lifting. The article can be read here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/strength-training/art-20047758

When it comes to the martial arts, there are no REAL limitations, as they apply to something intense like weightlifting. Stretching, punching and kicking as well as practicing forms can have a number of benefits with none of the down sides that some other sports may include.

When I travelled to Okinawa in 2001, I was having supper at the home of our style’s master. His wife was holding one of his grandchildren, who happened to be about three or four months old. His wife was holding the baby and dipping him forward every few minutes. I politely asked what she was doing, to which she replied “Teaching him to bow.” I was taken aback and quite surprised. They start grooming and teaching their children some of the fundamental aspects of discipline in their society from the moment they’re born. And they apply that same aspect to karate and the martial arts.

The only basic detail I think is important, is to remember not to PUSH your children into whatever sport regiment you follow. Although it fills me with pride overtime Nathan does a push-up or joins me in a workout, I’ve never forced him to join or told him he had to. I think that this is an important detail. Your child will enjoy themselves and are twice as likely to stick with it, if the decision comes from them. ☯

There’s an established standard when you walk into a martial arts dojo with the expectation of taking lessons and joining the club. For the most part, one expects to see someone with a black belt around their waist at the front of the class, teaching the student body. Not only is this NOT the case for every school you may walk into, it brings up an important point: although you SHOULD have a black belt in order to become an instructor, you should NOT be an instructor simply because you ARE a black belt!

Now that I’ve likely given you a headache with that last thought, let’s examine my reasoning behind it. Decades ago in my green belt days, Sensei had a student who lived two Provinces away. He was ranked as a brown belt but because he lived so far away, he held that rank well beyond what he rightfully should have. His skill, experience and performance put him well beyond brown, but the achievement of his black belt wouldn’t come for quite some time (much like my next Dan, which is about 10 years overdue, but that’s a different story…)

At some point, this student was approached by several people and asked to teach karate. He consulted Sensei, who agreed that he could open a branch of our dojo provided that he knuckle down and make a concerted effort to test for black belt in the near future. I attended one of his classes, about two years after he opened his doors (for the record, he still had his brown belt at that point).

I have to be honest; his teachings were exciting, dynamic and insightful. He had full and comprehensive explanations of the techniques he was trying to impart. And what’s more, the explanations made sense. His school was open for years, and as I write this I can’t confirm if it still is, or whether or not he passed his black belt (I certainly hope so).

Flash forward to a martial arts school that I currently frequent… The head instructor has found himself injured and has stepped back from teaching while he recovers. In the interim, the next highest-ranked black belt has taken over leading the classes. It’s been terrible. A pretty generic, blanket statement but accurate. His warm-ups are an exact repetition, every night. His workouts seem to drag and hold no dynamic movements or anything to keep the students engaged. He hesitates and takes full minutes between parts of his classes, as though he’s uncertain what to do next.

His explanations… well, unfortunately they often don’t make sense. He usually and steadily repeats key phrases, such as “connect mind and body” and “I wanna get the body moving a bit” several times throughout class. When he discusses a particular technique, his flow and follow-through doesn’t often match up with what he’s actually trying to do with the technique.

Don’t get me wrong; the guy is really quite nice. He’s got a great disposition and he trains well, when lined up with the rest of the class. But he seems to lack a little something in the teaching department. This has made sitting through classes problematic at best.

My experience with both these individuals have proven that holding the rank of black belt doesn’t automatically make you an instructor. Teaching is a fine skill, which may or may not be acquired and not everybody has it. Although you may hold the rank that is expected of an instructor, the color black does NOT make it so.

I think it’s important to recognize one’s strengths and area of expertise. Although you may have been doing something for years, even decades, you can expect that you may not automatically be able to teach it. And reasonably speaking, it’s much better if you relinquish the reigns to someone better prepared and suited for it. Not only is it to one’s benefit to do so, but it’s better for the prospective students you may be trying to teach. ☯