Warm up

[ralphmcpherson]

Do you believe warm up should be part of class or do you think students should get to class early and warm themselves up before a very brief warm up at the start of class. Im noticing more and more classes around the place dedicating twenty minutes or more of a one hour class to warm up. Personally, I would rather pay money to learn tkd and do my own warm up prior to class, and warm down after class. That way I can also personalise my stretching to suit me, my injuries etc How does your club do it, and how do you believe it should be done?

 

[Cyriacus]

We warm up towards the end of the kids classes prior to the adults classes, and you can just ask for help if you have no idea what youre doing. The class is about training. Personally, i dont warm up at all though

 

[ralphmcpherson]

We warm up towards the end of the kids classes prior to the adults classes, and you can just ask for help if you have no idea what youre doing. The class is about training. Personally, i dont warm up at all though

I agree that class is for training. I saw a class at the school hall while picking my kids up from school, and after nearly half an hour I noticed they were still stretching, jogging, doing pushups, sit ups etc and had not actually done any martial arts. It seems to me a lot of money to pay each month to spend half a class doing stuff you could just do in your own time.

 

[Blaze Dragon]

Do you believe warm up should be part of class or do you think students should get to class early and warm themselves up before a very brief warm up at the start of class. Im noticing more and more classes around the place dedicating twenty minutes or more of a one hour class to warm up. Personally, I would rather pay money to learn tkd and do my own warm up prior to class, and warm down after class. That way I can also personalise my stretching to suit me, my injuries etc How does your club do it, and how do you believe it should be done?

At my Kwoon we are trained on warm ups and review from time to time but we are told to warm up before coming in so we can dedicate class time to learning and drills...

I think it depends on the class and the students. in many cases 15 min warm up is not bad, in others it's wasting class time. Trust your gut.

 

[Uncle]

If the instructor has no idea about how to do a proper warm up then having students be able to warm themselves up is good. If the instructor does know what they are doing with regard to warm ups then having it as part of the class is a good thing.

 

[chrispillertkd]

I think warm ups should definitely be a part of each class. If you leave them entirely to the student it's quite possible that new students wouldn't know what the instructor was expecting them to do, in fact. That being said, I don't see the need for warm ups to last more than ten minutes or so, and could be shorter. They should focus on getting the body limber and ready to train. They can also include some strengthening exercises such as sit ups and push ups. (Stretching for flexibility should be relegated to the end of the training session after the body is well loosened up.)

I suppose some people could view cardio training and major strength training as being part and parcel of one's Taekwon-Do training, and these things do greatly benefit your training. It's a balancing act, ultimately, with the instructor having to decide how much conditioning they want in relationship to how much time spent on actual techniques. Exercises such as push ups, sit ups, lunges, and stretching should be done by intermediate and advanced students outside of class just like actual Taekwon-Do techniques because, frankly, an hour long class 2 or 3 times a week just isn't enough training time.

Pax,

Chris

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I think warm ups should definitely be a part of each class. If you leave them entirely to the student it's quite possible that new students wouldn't know what the instructor was expecting them to do, in fact. That being said, I don't see the need for warm ups to last more than ten minutes or so, and could be shorter. They should focus on getting the body limber and ready to train. They can also include some strengthening exercises such as sit ups and push ups. (Stretching for flexibility should be relegated to the end of the training session after the body is well loosened up.)

I suppose some people could view cardio training and major strength training as being part and parcel of one's Taekwon-Do training, and these things do greatly benefit your training. It's a balancing act, ultimately, with the instructor having to decide how much conditioning they want in relationship to how much time spent on actual techniques. Exercises such as push ups, sit ups, lunges, and stretching should be done by intermediate and advanced students outside of class just like actual Taekwon-Do techniques because, frankly, an hour long class 2 or 3 times a week just isn't enough training time.

Pax,

Chris

Good point regarding cardio, that opens up another can of worms entirely. I am a cardio junkie, I am a long distance runner and do a lot of daily cardio so in class time it is the last thing I want to do, I'm there to learn tkd not get fit. I can, however, see how others would disagree with that way of thinking. Basically I'm there for martial arts tuition, not stretching or cardio. I teach guitar and I charge by the hour and I don't waste my student's money by having them warm their fingers up during tuition, their time with me is spent learning guitar.

 

[Cyriacus]

I agree that class is for training. I saw a class at the school hall while picking my kids up from school, and after nearly half an hour I noticed they were still stretching, jogging, doing pushups, sit ups etc and had not actually done any martial arts. It seems to me a lot of money to pay each month to spend half a class doing stuff you could just do in your own time.

Thats what gyms are for

 

[Earl Weiss]

In a perfect world students would achieve a reasoneable level of fitness are there own and come for Martial Art instruction and training.

I operate in a world that is less than perfect and would say that 90%+, especialy the kids are woefully unfit. So, the class is the place to help them with that and quite frankly that is what many parents want.

I tell the students that class time is too short and not frequent enough for fitness and flexibility essentials, and they need to work on this on their own. Seldom happens.

 

[Markku P]

Warm up should be part of training. During warm up we can work with footwork, Poomsae movements, shadowboxing, jumps etc

 

[StudentCarl]

Our warmup helps students build essential attributes such as focus, intensity, flexibility, strength, balance, agility, and coordination. Particularly with younger students, I find it helpful to have some high intensity activities early in class both to help them focus and to burn off a little of their hyper energy so they can be at their best for learning.

 

[Gorilla]

In sport training with Elite Level BB training sessions are very strenuous.....warm ups and cardio are part of training...the classes last 2-4 hours each time...strength conditioning is also a big part...

For regular 1 hour martial arts classes warm up before...

 

[oftheherd1]

If the instructor has no idea about how to do a proper warm up then having students be able to warm themselves up is good. If the instructor does know what they are doing with regard to warm ups then having it as part of the class is a good thing.

It would seem to me that if an instructor doesn't know how to do a proper warm up, he would likely be deficient in teaching a martial art as well.

And the way I learned was stretching and cardio before class to ensure it happened and happened correctly.

In a perfect world students would achieve a reasoneable level of fitness are there own and come for Martial Art instruction and training.

I operate in a world that is less than perfect and would say that 90%+, especialy the kids are woefully unfit. So, the class is the place to help them with that and quite frankly that is what many parents want.

I tell the students that class time is too short and not frequent enough for fitness and flexibility essentials, and they need to work on this on their own. Seldom happens.

I think that is the norm. However in the Hapkido I learned, I think it was normal, at least in our gym it was. Stretching before doing kicks and techniques was essential to prevent injuries. We also did cardio and practiced different kicks, both for practice and for cardio. We had one exercise where the GM would call out a series of kicks and they all had to be performed in correct sequence, correctly, and with precision and power. Great way to improve memory as well as strength and mobility.

 

[sfs982000]

My current school we warm up for about 15 minutes at the beginning of class, normally the majority of us are there a little earlier warming up on our own as well. With our classes being an hour a pop we really don't have much time to warm up in the beginning so for me I have to get there a little earlier to get that additional warm up time in. I think it really comes down to time constrants in most cases, I've been in schools where the classes are longer and the warm ups at the beginning of class are longer but really don't cut into getting a decent training session as well.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

We warm up 15 minutes before class (except saturday morning class, which only me and 2 other bbs ever go to), and are expected to warm up by ourselves for tests, although I wont have one of those for a while lol. I think its important to be part of class because it a. makes sure they're warming up properly b. makes sure they are at least semi-fit and c.lets the instructor know what the students can and can't do.

 

[Manny]

I think warm up MUST be a part of the class, we must realize not every one can get dojang 20 minutes before class and do his/her warm up, besides not many dojangs have separate areas where one can warm up and then get to class. What I do it's I use 20-25 minutes of warm up and then I gave a full hour of tkd class so my class is about 1.5 hours of duration.

Manny

 

[WaterGal]

I think it's good to have some warm-ups as part of class, since like Earl said, a lot of people won't do it or won't know how to do it otherwise. We usually run laps or do push-ups and crunches, and then stretch, but try to keep it under 10 minutes. Some of our students will come in early to do extra stretching. I think eventually we're going to get some cardio gym stuff so they can do that, too.

 

[Rumy73]

First off, the warm up is not a waste of time. People have busy schedules and may not have the luxury of time to arrive early to stretch properly. Secondly, and absent from this thread and most dojangs, is the mental and spiritual warm up, if you will. Setting a theme and tone for the class. A brief meditation to center the mind. Most schools skip this essential aspect of martial arts, which has turned it into largely a physical activity.