A warm up is critical part of any exercise program and needs to be taken seriously to avoid unnecessary injury.
If you are performing exercises at home or just practicing techniques, it is still recommended for you to carry out a good warm up.
Even before warm up exercises, you should carry out some simple dynamic stretches, these are simply to gently warm muscles, tendons, ligaments and to encourage fluid between the joints.
Anyone who has participated in our classes will know we ALWAYS perform a simple Dynamic Stretching Routine.
Static stretching such as attempting the splits or any other stretch where you are holding a stretch in place for an extended period should be saved for after your training session when your muscles are warmed up, loose and ready to be stretched. Please note that although Static stretches should cause a little discomfort, they should not hurt. The last thing you want to do is cause serious injury to yourself which can be caused by overstretching. Static stretching tends to cause the muscle to fatigue, something you don't need to do before training.
Watch the video below for a very simple Dynamic Strtching routine you should perform before training sessions. Before your training becomes too rigorous, you should slowly increase the tempo and intensity. After the Dynamic stretching, which will only take about 3 minutes, a great way to warm up further is to perform some of your techniques at a very low intensity, whether it's breakfall drills, kicking, punching, take-downs etc
If you want to find out more about effective stretching for Martial Arts, this is a very useful guide:
Whatever sporting activity you are performing, whether it's Martial Arts, Gymnastics, Golf, Football, Rugby, Cricket etc - Carry out a Dynamic Stretching Routine even before your warm up exercises and it will certainly help you to further avoid unnecessary injury.
The Human Body is full of complex systems, we take advantage of the weaknesses through knowledge of Pressure points, motor nerve points, joint range of motion, momentum, leverage and mechanical advantage.
What makes Ju Jitsu so effective? -
It's not about strength, weight, height or whether you are male or female. Anyone can learn Ju Jitsu and become very effective.
Pressure points are easy to learn and simple to take advantage of, whether it's to give you a few few inches to move free, to move your assailant in a particular direction or even to overcome your opponent with a minimum of applied force