Excellent resource on stretching.

Sorry if this has been posted before, but I thought it deserved a mention. The page on Developing Flexibility from Trick Tutorials gives an illustrated guide to stretches for about every muscle in the body, along with discussions of various types of stretching routines, written in an easy-to-follow and downright hilarious style. Mods, you might want to consider making this a sticky, as nearly all the questions I see asked here could be answered by referring to this site.
(Be warned, that page takes a while to load; it has over 200 images.)

Interesting site..But what is up with this comment..

"No fancy stance, look in the direction you will be kicking and keep your hands up (As all the pretty little Martial Arts boys and girls do!)"

Very cool site. The author has LOADS of accurate and informative info and pictures. Thanks, MrMoyer!!!

He also has one bent sense of humor, and is in need of a haircut so bad it makes me laugh. Nonetheless, makes for entertaining reading.

If anyone looks at the site, bookmark it. Damn useful, no question about it.

All I can say is WOW.....after looking at that website for a while longer, it is LOADED with stuff. Once again, nice find, MrMoyer!

yeah, I like TricksTutorials- it's very interesting if you do "tricking," or "neokarate" as I think it's often called. THat particular site is really nicely put together with loads of tips on nutrition and conditioning, although I prefer Brad Appleton's free E-book on the subject( http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/docs/rec/stretching/stretching.pdf/ )- if I had to choose a free resource

Sorry dude, as much as I would LOVE to take credit for the find, I regret I cannot..It was all ShaolinNinja...I agree, the info is on point...Except for that one little comment by the long haired dude..

Ah, yes, sorry, it was ShaolinNinja. Thanks for posting the link!

The Tricks Tutorials forum is back online after a long absense

Very cool, I'll have to check them out.

My first post so don't flame me to bad ok?

Although I was impressed at the thorough flexibility and stretching tips, I find myself asking why Sensei's aren't teaching these very same things in the dojo. I reference remarks posted. This is an integral part and one of the cornerstones of good martial arts instruction, although this page has a distinctive flavor that would make any TKD man salivate.

The Uki for the pics does a nice job, barring the ridiculous lack of composure while airborne, and while instigating body mechanics that lead to the aerial techniques - trying to achieve the torque, speed, and elvation. Arms, hands, and legs are out of control and if used (as shown) in contact kumite, such a practitioner would learn, in short order, the value of a tight "center" - most probably sustaining significant injury at the hands of a well trained fighter. I did get a kick out of it, nice find! My $.02

I wish more instructors were open minded about new ideas on flexibility. I've even brought this question to my instructor---and being open minded and a professional high school techer himself, things did not change as far as our stretching. Yet.

IMO, martial arts in general hold onto "traditional" a little too tightly at times. Tradition is good, don't get me wrong, but refusing to change is not.

The young guy in the website must have some TKD background, but dropped it in favor of tricking. Just going on a pure guess here. His cresent kicks are smooth, high, and fast, but arms do flail. But I guess that's not an issue when no one is attacking you

I popped by the trickstutorials.com forum to check and see if there was some info on his background, but couldn't find a whole lot.

Yes, those are good points. Conditioning - both for strength and flexibility - is not taught much in martial arts classes. I find myself having to use the Internet and books to learn these things, and my sister/ flatmate is a qualified gymnastics instructor, so I get to pick her brain on conditioning.

There's an unfortunate attitute in martial arts that sagely says, "There are no shortcuts." The problem is that when a good and valid shortcut comes along it's often dismissed instead of being judged on its merits. The new scientific methods of stretching are a prime example. In the past it was never possible to gain flexibility except over the course of several weeks; now you can significantly increase your flexibility overnight.

Trickstutorials helped me alot with stretching. I am in the same boat as everyone else. I ask people in my karate class how did they get there splits and things and the anwser I would get is "I get two chairs with wheels...." and I am like how is that going to help me. I use combinations of Dynamics and relax and partner stretching in my class. I am going to start doing Isometrics at least once a week seeing as they are the best way to gain that flexibility. Stretching is fun and relaxing I can't believe people cry and moan about them pain lol.

Great link,
I've practised various stretching methods over the years. In TKD, Yoga, capoeira, dance, wushu. ...
His material really covered the best of what I've learned. And I learned a couple of new things too. I would recommend it.
I'm curious about this concept of no passive stretching before a workout though. I've heard of it before but I'm still a bit sceptical. Every art I've practised incorporated both dynamic and passive stretches in the warm up.
does anybody know if this theory has been proven and where I can find more info?

Quote:

---

Great link,
I've practised various stretching methods over the years. In TKD, Yoga, capoeira, dance, wushu. ...
His material really covered the best of what I've learned. And I learned a couple of new things too. I would recommend it.
I'm curious about this concept of no passive stretching before a workout though. I've heard of it before but I'm still a bit sceptical. Every art I've practised incorporated both dynamic and passive stretches in the warm up.
does anybody know if this theory has been proven and where I can find more info?

---

here is an extract from a publication by Ton Kurz on that very subject.

Never do static stretches before dynamic stretches, kicking, or any other dynamic movements. For several seconds or even minutes following any type of static stretch, you cannot display your top agility or maximal speed because your muscles are less responsive to stimulation—your coordination is off. Static stretches reduce the force production of the stretched muscles. This was shown by subjecting calf muscles to several 30-second stretches and measuring their force afterward (Rosenbaum and Hennig 1995). Maximal force production is impaired for several minutes after strenuous static stretching (Kokkonen, Nelson, and Cornwell 1998). If you try to make a fast, dynamic movement immediately after a static stretch, you may injure the stretched muscle. I explain these and other reasons in Stretching Scientifically (Kurz 1994).

In choosing stretches, you should examine your needs and the requirements of your activity. For example, if you are a kicker, you need mostly a dynamic flexibility of hips. To increase your range of motion, you need to do dynamic leg raises in all directions.

The principle of specificity states: Flexibility is specific to the speed of movement. Flexibility is also position specific, so static exercises or stretches like splits are not very useful if you want to kick higher (a display of dynamic flexibility). According to Logan and McKinney (1970) the principle of specific adaptation to imposed demands in the case of flexibility means that eventually, either at the end of the first set of dynamic stretches or in other sets, you should stretch at a velocity not less than 75% of the maximal velocity used in your actual skill, a kick, for example.