Have you continued resistance stretching?

Anything of note to report?

My thanks for your effort put into this.

Actually, flexibility isn’t that crucial for many martial arts. I do lots of self-defence and a bit of competition-style (free fight, muay thai) martial arts, so I can actually do without lots of flexibility. In a self-defence scenario, I would never use high kicks, I think. Still, it’s nice to be able to do them. I did notice that my hip joints felt a lot more mobile since I started with resistance stretching. For some reason, it just feels a lot more comfortable to throw high kicks. Maybe that is also an effect of increased muscular functionality.

My thoughts

1. For central split, as I mentioned before – multiple muscles can actually get in the way… so even though the split is primarily the groin/adductors… if you feel like you hip flexor (psoas) are getting in the way, that’s what you need to stretch first (then move to the adductors). I usually do psoa, quad, hamstring and psoas again (now that the hamstring and quad are out of the way), glut and then adductor. Notice how sometimes you need to go back to a muscles as like muscles have overlapping layers of tightness once you have gotten the major issues out of the way.

2. I too have noticed assymetries in flexilibity (my right legs always seems to be tighter). Tom puts this down to assymetrical conditioning / training / preference (like I assume you favor/train more with right-handed stances if you are right handed). Life you I noticed a distince different in flexilibilty for joining arm behind back (my right side is much easier than the left, and I’m left handed…). Tom says for me this is likely due to tightness in my lat muscle on the left side and we’ve evened it out a little (but it hasn’t been a priority).

3. I agree with your assessment that Resistance stretching typically does not dramatically increase you overall flexibility. I do think that is dramatically improves your “muscle functionality” (only way I can describe it). Basically six months ago… I just turned 30 and felt like I was “getting old”… my body just wasn’t responding and recovering like it used to under intensive conditioning and use and I was getting nagging aches and soreness and fatiguing (compared to when I was younger)… now I feel like I did when I was in my early twenties (well mostly). I’m 100% sure if I had use traditional stretching techniques, I wouldn’t feel this way. That is to say I might have a little bit more passive range of motion (i.e. I could lower myself more into a central or side split), I would have as much activity mobility (the light feeling you get in your hips during your kicks you mentioned).

I realize that extreme flexilibty it is important for martial arts. (I took karate and TKD as a kid and took some kung fu / tai chi classes in college… but am still very much a beginner), but for me I care more about overall physical functionality (whether I can snowboard, skate, and climb better) and I think resistance stretching really helps in that regard.

4. I agree that the Bob Cooley and the claims he makes in his book are really… really out there. I am Chinese by heritage (i.e. born in the States to Chinese parents), but still am very strongly skeptical of the Eastern medicine influence that the book has… However, I think Bob still has discovered something here … Tom Longo (my instructor) is all business and actually all of the stretch that he has been do by myself are not in the book as far as I can tell.

5. Yes I highly recommend partner stretching AND partner mashing (i.e. have someone walk over your tight muscles before you stretch). It will probably be a significant other or something you don’t mind really getting close to because they will be stepping on very personal/sensitive areas of your body… from the adductors by your groin (lie on your stomach on a carpet/rug with your hips twisted slightly to one side, then using a chair/ladder on the far side to take some weigh off, have the person step forward and mash their heel into your adductor *gently* at first), the to serratus muscles in your underarm and other places.