Like all sports, taekwondo requires preparation (also known as warm-ups) before every formal training.
For many young people who are eager to achieve results, they often underestimate the role of preparatory activities, and the result is often that they are not achieved quickly, and even leave the sequelae of martial arts training. To this end, let’s talk about why you should do warm-up exercises from several aspects, as well as important preparation activities.
Mental preparation
It is generally thought that preparation activities are nothing more than “lifting your arms and stretching your waist, jogging a few laps to do exercises”, but this is actually very one-sided. Preparation activities, first of all, should be mental and psychological preparation, that is, mentally we must first understand why to practice today, how to devote ourselves to practice, only by clarifying the purpose, can we ensure mental concentration and foolproof. This can be done by meditating on goals, encouraging cues, and through thoughts. Everyone has a threshold of excitement for each person, so the timing and pace of optimal training varies, but they must be consciously passed through this stage before they can move on to the physical activity below.
Physical preparation
Just as a car needs to warm up with idle speed for a period of time just after it has started, before it can exert its maximum horsepower as soon as possible, the preparation of taekwondo is precisely to bring the body to a certain state of body temperature and excitement. The body’s energy mobilization, that is, muscle movement, is mainly completed through biochemical processes (explosive exercise is powered by adenovinegar triphosphate, short-term exercise is powered by phosphocreatine conversion, long-term exercise depends on glycolysis in the body or fat conversion), and this process needs to be guaranteed for a certain amount of time, and are inseparable from the control of the nervous system. Therefore, the preparation part of the exercise is to make the body save in advance, so that a large amount of energy is supplied at that time, and a higher training level is reached faster. At the same time, it also accelerates blood circulation in the cardiovascular system, and the heart rate reaches a high level in advance to ensure the oxygen supply capacity during large exercise loads, and the pulse should reach more than 100% times/min.
Helps prevent damage from occurring
Preparation activities are generally done to feel slightly sweaty on the body. Muscles, joints, and machinery, can only be efficient and protected from damage if they reach a certain temperature and lubrication (between joints).
Generally speaking, when the weather is hot, the preparation time can be shorter, and when it is cold, it is correspondingly extended, and more attention should be paid to wearing more clothes to keep warm and prevent the body temperature from dissipating too quickly.
Most of the most vulnerable injuries in the human body in hot sports are several major joints, such as the neck joints of the neck, the shoulders and elbows of the arms, the hips, knees, and ankles of the legs, and the lumbar vertebrae that link the upper and lower limbs and torso. Therefore, these joints should also be focused on and moved to prevent injury.
These preparatory exercises are the most basic, the main purpose of which is to make joints and muscles soft and elastic after stretching, and accelerate blood circulation. It is important that these exercises are maintained every day. Vigorous jumping, kicking, or striking exercises at the outset can easily cause muscle strains, sprained ligaments, or other injuries. The following 10 sets of exercises can be used as appropriate for each set of repeated lessons.
1. Knee-arm exercises
See the movements (Figures 4-8), pay attention to the extension of both arms and lift as large as possible, and squat on both knees requires full squats.
2. Swing arm exercises
See (Fig. 9 to Fig. 12), and try to expand your chest as much as possible when raising your arms flat on your side.
3. Body side exercises
See (Figures 13-20), the upper body is bent to the side of the body and the elbow cannot be leaned forward or backward.
4. Pitch exercises
See (Fig. 21 to Fig. 26), when leaning forward with both hands, knees straight, and lower back as much as possible.
5. Hip rotation exercises
See (Figures 27-35) for action. Note that when twisting the hip joint, the direction of the head and eyes is consistent with the direction of the turn.
6. Leg lifting exercises
See (Figures 36-40) movements, raise your thighs as much as possible, and keep your body balanced.
7. Turn the neck laterally
See (Figure 41 – Figure 44) for actions.
8. Neck extension
See (Figure 45 to Figure 48)
9. Neck twisting
See (Figures 49-54) for action. The direction of rotation of the head can be clockwise and then counterclockwise.
10. Breathing exercises
See (Figures 55-60) in which the first three movements are inhalation, the fourth movement is exhalation, the fifth movement is inhalation, and then the end is smooth exhalation.
Flexibility exercises: Since these movements are exercises of physical flexibility, it is necessary to maximize the participation of all parts of the body in the completion of the movements. These exercises should be done both at the beginning and after the strenuous exercise in taekwondo in order to better relax the muscles and stretch the ligaments around the joints.
1. Push-ups
See (Figure 61 to Figure 66) Note that the last three figures use palm, fist, and two fingers (thumb and index finger) respectively.
2. Split the legs and brace
See (Figure 67-Figure 70) for action.
3. Side squat stretch
See (Figures 71-75) for action. When pressing down on the leg, the upper body is pressed forward as much as possible.
4. Flexion and extension of the foot
See (Fig. 76-Fig. 79), note that the soles of the feet must be close to each other, and the upper body must be leaned forward as much as possible.
5. Press down with straight legs
See (Figure 80-Figure 83) for action. Keep your legs straight together, and do not bend your knees when pressing down.
6. Crossfork pitch
See (Figure 84 to Figure 87) and keep the chest as close to the ground as possible.
7. Lateral flexion of the transverse fork
See (Figure 88 to Figure 91) for actions. Bend your head as close to your knees as possible.
8. Bend your knees and press down
See (Fig. 92 to Fig. 95), after pressing the right leg, change the left leg to bend the knee on the straight right leg.
9. Raise your legs on your back
See (Fig. 96-Fig. 100), press (Fig. 99) to lean forward again after the leg lifting exercise, and then end.
