over coming tenseness!

[honoluludesktop]

Sounds like your level of conditioning is a factor. If it is, very deep breathing may be a sign of fatigue. When you take time off, then return, your mind remembers what it could do, but your body may not be up to it. If this is the reason, you will be OK in time. You can separately work on conditioning (wind sprints as well as distance running), in addition to breathing (timing) during class. Try to breath out when striking, and in when you rest after a strike. Combination striking are a set of short breaths out, then breath in at the end. Breath in through the nose, and out between the lips, using the lower abdomen to regulate the flow of air out. Use your breath to trigger the action. It helps for beginners to make a soft "ssssup" sound when exhaling. Once caught on, the sound can be eliminated. For some, breathing can be difficult to learn without supervision.

[metalfury]

I'm often repramanded for being tense also - For me it is in the shoulders and it is a habit that creeps in.

For me I find it helpful to tense up even more and then relax. (If my tenseness was on a scale, and set at 7, I tense to 9 and then it feels easier to relax to 5.) I'm sure I've read about a similar approach being taken when stretching?

Anyhow, the difficulty I have is identifying that I have become tense in the first place - that's where the Sensei comes in!

[zim]

Hi Dangars,

I would highly recommend learning some basic yoga. It doesn't require a gym and can easily be done early mornings or in the evenings (or as a warm up before class). If I remember correctly you had a pretty bad accident so some yogic posturing may also help realign the body a bit. I have always done a bit of yoga myself but the last 2 months I have been doing an hour 4 days a week along with my karate training and my balance and movement in karate has changed dramatically.

I often feel, due mainly to time constraints of a hour or hour and half class, that the warm up is a bit too short. This is okay when your 8 years old but as adults we need the blood circulating to the right places before the body is ready to perform (let alone relax).

If you have ever had the pleasure of doing a Wado Academy Course it is not uncommon for the first hour and half to be dedicated to proper stretching... all very yogic in nature.

Cheers,

Chris

[wadoka]

Chris

First half hour is more like seiza! :-)

[zim]

Chris

First half hour is more like seiza! :-)

Touché :)

It builds spirit as well as assists in digestion...

[dangars]

My missus suggested yoga, she does it on her Wii, but i have been thinking about getting into the gym and getting back into my cardio training. I will hopefully be doing our next assocation course as its being held near my parents caravan and i will be on holiday down there at the same time. Im trying to do more sessions throughout the week but cant travel to far as the missus is due to give birth soon ( 1 week left and counting).

[metalfury]

I would highly recommend learning some basic yoga.

are you able to recommend a specific type of yoga that would compliment wado?

[zim]

I would highly recommend learning some basic yoga.

are you able to recommend a specific type of yoga that would compliment wado?

hi metalfury,

i would suggest starting with hatha yoga. it is the foundation from which all yoga styles spring from. if you take a liking to it you can always try something slightly more aggressive (ashtanga or bikram) as your skill develops. they say, "breathing is the bridge" in yoga and for many of the balancing positions learning to correctly control your breath not only assists in balance but in deepening the particular pose. this will also transfer over quite well to your wado training :)

In this day and age it is relatively easy to find a decent instructor pretty much anywhere. classes tend to be 55min to an hour or so in length and after you have a good grip of the basics it can be done at home and you can use the ones you find practical to your training before or after class.

As a martial artists i particularly enjoy the warrior poses.... great series of postures that really works the balance and helps develop strength in your legs.

cheers

chris

[metalfury]

Thanks Chris,

All very helpful information.

MF

[dangars]

thanks for all the tips guys trained last night and felt a looser and wasn't so tense and didn't get nagged all night!