Hey, Ando again from SenseiAndo.com. So, I got a question the other day about my favorite
stretching routine. I actually get that question a lot. Well, I have a confession to make.
I don’t stretch. Shh. Now, look--I’m not saying you shouldn’t stretch, of course you should.
It’s good for you. I just don’t. Full disclosure, I also don’t sleep or floss
as much as I should. But here’s the funny thing… even though I just turned 46, I’m
still pretty flexible. Yeah. I can’t do a full split anymore, that was back in my
20’s, but I’ll tell you what-- as long as you’re not taller than six feet tall,
I'll still kick a sucka in the head. The question is, how? How can a 46 year-old guy who doesn’t
stretch still kick a six foot sucka in the head? Well, today, I’ve got five tips to
help you stay flexible even without stretching.
Tip #1, A-B-C. A- always. B– be. C- conditioning. Always be conditioning. Always be conditioning.
Think about it--if you want to kick someone in the head anytime, anywhere, well, then
you should be conditioning all the time and everywhere you go. You can’t just go to
class two or three times a week, stretch out five minutes here, ten minutes there, and
expect to be doing full splits like Jean Claude Van Damme. Speaking of JCVD, I heard him in
an interview once and he said even when he’s waiting in line at the supermarket, he’s
flexing his glutes. Don’t worry, I’m not going to demonstrate that. Or how about ballet
dancers? They’re incredibly flexible. Well, I used to know a ballet dancer who would sleep
in a butterfly stretch.
Hmm. That’s not so bad.
No, no, no. On her belly.
Ow. No. No, no, no. That’s just stupid.
Yeah, that’s a bit much. I’m not telling you you have to go sleep in a full split,
but let’s talk about staircases. You should never take stairs one at a time. Always go
two or three at a time. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. What about if you drop something? You
should never be bending over with your back. Always use that as a chance to do a squat
or a lunge. And what about if you’re playing a video game or watching a video, like right
now. Get up out of the chair. Always drop into a horse stance. You can condition all
the time. If you have to use a chair, well, then how about this?
How do you get up and down from a chair? Most people just lean and fall out. But not us!
No. We see this as an opportunity to condition. Widen out the feet, stand up strong, up and
down, just like a horse stance. Even better, try using one foot when you get up and down,
like a pistol squat. Up or down. Even better better, try adding a little hop when you get
up on one foot. Ah. What-- you think that’s crazy? Hey, you’re the one who wants to
go around kicking people in the head all the time. I'm just saying if you want to be able
to do that, well, then you should always be conditioning. If you don’t, well, then you’ll
be shining my shoes.
Tip #2, don’t stretch before you work out, warm up instead. I swear, I thought everybody
already knew this one, but I guess not, because I still see students and even teachers starting
their workouts by sticking a leg up in the air or dropping into a full split. No! Don’t
do that. Stop it. That’s like trying to make a pizza with frozen dough. Or trying
to blow a bubble with a fresh stick of gum.
Look-- if you're going to be throwing high kicks
in your workout, well, then warm up with low kicks. Literally. Start at ankle
height. Get your groove, make sure that feels great, then move it up to the knee. Then move
it up to the hip, and the chest, and the head, then the bird on top of the guy's head. Whatever.
The point is get some blood into your muscles. Give your joints a chance to loosen up. When
you’re all ready, then you can run up the walls and kick the ceiling.
Tip #3, work your stances. I don’t stretch, but I do spend time working my traditional
horse stance, front stance, and cat stance. If you look at it, a low stance opens up the
same wide angles between your legs as a high kick does. So, if you’re practicing sweeps,
and throws, and takedowns, and even some groundwork, well, then you're already developing the flexibility
in your legs, your hips, and your lower back. My point: if you want to kick high, get low.
Tip #4, fix your kicks. Believe it or not, it takes more flexibility to throw a kick
incorrectly than it takes to throw it correctly. That’s why you should work out all of your
balance and alignment issues at a low level before you start throwing kicks at a high
level. Let's say your head is down, or you’re hunched over, or you're not pivoting properly,
all that's going to do is add tension into your body. Your body is going to fight against
you and ultimately, that's going to lead to injuries. So, before you get too excited and
you start kicking cigarettes out of your friends’ mouths, slow down, bring it down, and make
sure you’re doing things right.
Tip #5, keep your cool, man. Look, emotions affect motion. If you’re scared, well, your
muscles are going to freeze up. If you’re angry, you might feel stronger, but you’re
actually tensing muscles that are going to limit your flexibility. So, be smart. Train
yourself to breathe and keep your cool, no matter what happens to you on the mats or
off the mats. Relax your mind and your body will follow.
Okay, I know this video is supposed to be flexibility without stretching, but this stretch
is so easy, I don’t think it should count. All you gotta do is lie down, scoot your butt
up against the wall and let your legs hang open. That’s it. Gravity will do the rest
here. You just relax and slowly but surely, your legs are going to start opening up. This
is a great lazy man’s stretch. I used to do this one all the time after Tae Kwon Do
class. I was already warmed up. I’d go home, do a protein shake, turn on the TV, hit the
wall, and then just chill. Usually, I would chill too much and I'd fall asleep. Half an
hour later, I’d wake up and not be able to move. But I would be more flexible. Now,
you'll notice that this stretch is going to be focused on the inside of your thigh or
your groin muscles. So, if you want to do a variation of this, all you gotta do is put
your butt up higher, right, and all I'm going to do is hold my body up straight and then
same thing. I'm just going to let my legs hang open. By putting your back straight,
now you're focusing more on your hamstrings. Now, obviously, this is putting some pressure
on the neck, so do this at your own risk. Be very, very careful with this. If you fall
asleep in this position, well, you may never wake up! But this stretch is such a good one,
I thought maybe you should give it a try.
And those are your tips. Always be conditioning, warm up, work your stances, fix your kicks,
and keep your cool. One more thing— don’t be in a hurry. If you're yelling and screaming
at your body to give you a full split today, it’s just going to fight you. Instead, be
gentle. Ask your body nicely for a little more flexibility every day and I promise,
you’ll be kicking suckas in the head in no time. If you liked these tips, hey, don't
miss the next one. Hit subscribe and for even more great stuff, find the link to sign up
for my free email updates list. Until next time, keep stretching beyond your limits,
my friend, and keep fighting for a happy life.