Flex This!

Okay - I've finally come to terms with the fact that I will NOT be testing for black belt in June. My torn elbow ligament (fondly known as my Ulnar Lateral Collateral Ligament - UCL) is still damaged. While I have definite improvements in my range of motion, it's still damaged. I have not slept a full night without pain since January 17th - that's almost three full months! I have not been able to do a single push up, jab or extension of any type with that arm. Tailoring my martial arts workouts has been interesting to say the least. I have continued to train and spar, though. It's fun and slightly devilish to see my sparring opponents facial expressions when they figure out they are about to spar me. I look like a total invalid as I have to tuck my entire left arm in a sling underneath my chest protector. While it isn't pretty, I'm fully functional that way. I still have my killer spirit and I proceed to kicking those perplexed asses - even with only one arm. I can tell that my kicks have really improved, which the additional focus that I've been forced to place on them over the last three months.

Oh, how I digress... back to black belt testing. In our dojo, black belt testing is only twice per year. If I don't make June testing, I will have to wait until December. UGH!!! So, I'm going to find the positives in this situation and I figure that I can really set some hefty goals to make the extra training time fortuitous for me.

I have always displayed a natural flair for flexibility, but I've never been able to master all three splits - left, right and middle. I've currently got my left split down, but I'm only close on the right and on the middle. While possessing the ability to do the splits doesn't guarantee a better martial artist, those skills definitely help provided the artist understands the application. So, to fully explore how to train for greater flexibility and ultimately higher, more controlled kicks, I am turning to Tom Kurz, the world's leading expert on flexibility training.

Directly taken from Tom's website, www.Stadion.com, there are three kinds of flexibility:

Dynamic—The ability to perform dynamic movements within a full range of motion in the joints. High kicks are a display of dynamic flexibility.

Static passive—The ability to assume and maintain extended positions using your weight (splits), or using strength not coming from the stretched limbs, such as lifting and holding a leg with your arm or by other external means.

Static active—The ability to assume and maintain extended positions using only the tension of the agonists and synergists while the antagonists are being stretched. One example is lifting the leg and keeping it high without any support.

I have ordered Tom's book, "Stretching Scientifically" and will begin to supplement my daily martial arts workouts with focus on the three types of flexibility. So here it goes...

My goal is to have all three splits completely flat to the ground by black belt testing in December.

Kihap!

Dedie