WNY MMA & FITNESS: Kick boxing Stretches and Flexibility Exercises.

WNY MMA & FITNESS

Kickboxing Stretches and Flexibility Exercises

Kickboxing stretching exercises to improve your performance and do away with kickboxing injuries for good.

In original karate matches, contact was forbidden. Points were awarded for strikes that penetrated the defenses of an opponent, but the strikes were not intended to inflict harm on the opponent. In 1959 Tatsuo Yamada became interested in Thai fighting which did allow full contact. He wanted to begin having full contact karate matches. He proposed a new form of fighting competition called “karate-boxing.” It was a blend of Thai fighting and karate.

If you’re looking to improve your kickboxing or just seeking to prevent kickboxing injuries it is important to follow the information in this article. In addition, adding a few simple stretches to your fitness program will also help. To get started on a safe and effective stretching routine that’s just right for you, check out the Ultimate Guide to Stretching & Flexibility.

In 1963 there was a match between three karate fighters and three Muay Thai fighters. The match was won 2 to 1 by the karate fighters. Noguchi and Kenji Kurosaki studied Muay Thai closely and developed “kick boxing.” In the beginning, butting and throwing were allowed to distinguish it from Muay Thai. In 1966 Osamu Noguchi founded the Kickboxing Association, the first sanctioning body for the sport. The first sanctioned kickboxing event was held in Osaka in April of 1966.

Tadashi Sawamura, and the televised kickboxing matches, brought kickboxing to the forefront. It began a boom in popularity. However, with Sawamura’s retirement it began to slide in popularity. It was about this time that it began in the U.S.

In the U.S. they also wanted to find a way to add more contact to traditional karate matches. In the 1970s many karate practitioners decided to move to a full contact version. Questions were raised about the safety of the sport so rules were developed to make it safer and protective equipment was implemented.

Head-guards, gum shields (mouth pieces), kickboxing gloves, groin protectors, and shin guards and kickboxing boots were introduced. Early matches were contested in open, matted areas, much like the traditional karate fighting. Later the matches moved to regular sized boxing rings. As the Americans became more proficient they decided to test their mettle against Japanese fighters, and sent some of their best over seas. This was the beginning of true international kickboxing. From there it developed into an international sport.

Some famous early kick boxers included Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Bill Blanks, Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Benny Urquidez, and Ed Daniels. These early fighters set the stage for professionalism in the sport and endorsement opportunities for today’s fighters.

Anatomy Involved

Kickboxing has also gained popularity as a fitness activity. Cardio kickboxing and various other kickboxing classes have become the rage among fitness enthusiasts. The head to toe fitness benefits of kickboxing entice many people seeking new fitness avenues. From beginners to advanced trainers, kickboxing offers a high intensity, low to moderate impact workout.

Kickboxing requires good endurance to fight through multiple rounds. The use of the legs for kicking and the upper body for various strikes and blocks requires good flexibility and strength in these areas. Agility and quickness are also essential to the kick boxer.

Strength in the hips and legs is important to provide a solid base and good balance. A strong upper body is important for delivering powerful blows and absorbing the blows of an opponent. Core muscular strength is also important to protect the body from the blows during a fight.

Kickboxing requires the use of the following major muscle groups:

• The muscles of the shoulder girdle; the pectorals, the latissimus dorsi, the teres major, and the deltoids.
• The muscles of the upper legs and hips; the gluteals, the hamstrings, and the quadriceps.
• The muscles of the forearm and upper arm; the wrist flexors and extensors, the biceps, and the triceps.
• The core muscles; the rectus abdominus, obliques, and the spinal erectors.
• The muscles of the neck and the trapezius.

A kick boxer must follow a good strength and conditioning program to prepare the body for the rigors of a fight. Good strength to protect the bones and joints, cardiovascular conditioning to make it through the entire fight, and good flexibility to be able to move and strike at various angles are all essential to the kick boxer.

Most Common Kickboxing Injuries

Kickboxing, even with the many safeguards and extensive safety equipment, can be a dangerous sport by nature. The body is subjected to various violent blows and the intent of the contest is to knock the other fighter to the ground, or render him unconscious.

Acute injuries are common in kickboxing. The different strikes to the head and body can lead to many injuries including concussions, rib fracture, broken nose, and contusions.

• Concussion: When a strike to the head causes the brain to move within the skull the impact can cause swelling within the brain. This swelling causes tissue death. Loss of consciousness, pain, blurred vision, and memory loss are all symptoms of a concussion. Any fighter exhibiting these symptoms should be removed from the fight, kept awake and seek medical attention. Recovery may take 4 to 6 weeks before returning to competitive fighting. Rest should continue until all symptoms subside.
• Rib Fracture: Repetitive blows to the rib cage area, or extremely violent blows, can cause the ribs to fracture. Fractures to the ribs may be in a single rib or multiple ribs at once. When multiple ribs are fractured, or fractured in several places, a flail chest may occur. The rib cage will lose its structural support and difficulty breathing may result. If the rib becomes dislocated it may puncture a lung. Splinting the ribs, removal from the activity, and rest are important steps in the treatment of rib fractures.
• Broken Nose: A direct blow to the nose can cause a separation of the cartilage of the nose from the bone of the skull. This is considered a fracture of the nose. Profuse bleeding, angulations of the nose, pain, swelling, and discoloration around the eyes often accompany a broken nose. The first step in treatment is to control the bleeding. The nose will then need to be set to prevent future complications. Protection of the nose until it is fully healed will also prevent future injury and complications.
• Contusions: Violent blows to the body can cause a rupture in the blood vessels beneath the skin. The blood will then leak into this space causing pain, discoloration, swelling, and pressure. Superficial contusions respond well to ice and NSAIDs. Deeper contusions to the muscles, or even bone, require more aggressive treatment, including rest and possible immobilization. Protecting the injured area from future injury will be important, as well.

Injury Prevention Strategies

A good overall conditioning program and practice in proper form and technique will keep the kick boxer performing at peak levels and reduce injuries.

• Muscular endurance and strength are both essential to the kick boxer to reduce fatigue and protect the body from the violent impact of the many blows endured in a fight.
• Fighting in sanctioned fights with a referee and in an approved ring will also cut down on the chances for severe injury.
• Good instruction from a qualified instructor and practice of proper technique will also reduce the chance of acute and chronic injury.
• A solid stretching program will improve flexibility and prepare the muscles for the demands that will be placed on them during a fight. A flexible fighter will be able to move better to avoid strikes and get into position to deliver blows, as well.

The Top 3 Kickboxing Stretches

Stretching is one of the most under-utilized techniques for improving athletic performance, preventing sports injury and properly rehabilitating sprain and strain injury. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that something as simple as stretching won’t be effective. Below are 3 very beneficial stretches for kickboxing; obviously there are a lot more, but these are a great place to start. Please make special note of the instructions beside each stretch.

Rotating Stomach Stretch: Lie face down and bring your hands close to your shoulders. Keep your hips on the ground, look forward and rise up by straightening your arms. The slowly bend one arm and rotate that shoulder towards the ground.

Standing High-leg Bent Knee Hamstring Stretch: Stand with one foot raised onto a table. Keep your leg bent and lean your chest into your bent knee.

Squatting Leg-out Adductor Stretch: Stand with your feet wide apart. Keep one leg straight and your toes pointing forward while bending the other leg and turning your toes out to the side. Lower your groin towards the ground and rest your hands on your bent knee or the ground.

WNY MMA: Wrapping hands

One of the main reasons why the people at Wny mma & fitness stress wrapping the hands so much when you are participating in boxing, kickboxing, or mma is because of the hand injuries that would occur. Boxers fracture, ligament injuries and other injuries specific to the hand can be daunting and put a halt to your training. There is some information posted below for your reading enjoyment, as well as a separate case study on boxers fractures. Proper punching technique and wrapping your hands are both the best preventative measures you can take, or not practicing martial arts works as well, but who really wants to do that. 

A boxer fracture is one of the most common hand injuries that occurs from utilizing an improper technique when punching. Other types of hand fractures are also possible and happen fairly often in these sports. A fracture means that the bones in the hand split apart in one or more places. This usually requires rest and a cast to heal completely. A ligament or cartilage tear is also a common hand ailment for boxers and other types of professional fighters. If the hand or wrist is flexed when a punch is thrown the ligament or cartilage can easily tear away from the bones. This is painful but does not usually require a cast. A jammed thumb is another injury that is common when punching people or stationary objects. This generally requires only time to heal properly.

With any contact fighting sport, hand injuries are not that uncommon, even with protective gear. If improper fighting techniques are used, the bones and ligaments of the hands and wrists are susceptible to breaks, tears, and fractures. The most common hand injury seen in boxing and UFC sparring is the boxer’s fracture. Normally, if a fist is made properly and strikes are done correctly, the force of the impact should be distributed across the hands to the wrist and arm evenly. The force should typically come from the second and third knuckles with proper form. With improper form, the force of the impact may come through the fourth and fifth knuckles; the result in the force of the impact not distributing well into the wrist and farm, and may cause the bones in the hand to buckle and ultimately fracture. This injury is typically seen when a hard, immobile object is punched, such as a wall or a box.

Here is a case study link on boxers fracture for your reading enjoyment

WNY MMA & Fitness: Awesome Tips On Sparring

 WNY MMA & Fitness: Awesome Tips On Sparring

Sparring at wny mma & fitness is very important for everyone who is interested in being able to defend themselves and their loved ones competently. It is only through practiced combat (sparring) that you can develop the skills necessary. For example, timing, distance and strategies can only really be practiced while sparring. It is very important to directly apply what you learn in training to your sparring. However, it is very common for people to forget everything learnt. You have probably seen it before: 2 people who look skilled in training start to spar each other. All skill goes out the window, along with all their practiced techniques and combinations. The sparring match looks like a mixture between a sloppy schoolyard fight and 2 orangutans fighting over a mate!
The following is a list of the Top Ten Tips to improve your sparring.

Breathe:
Sounds simple but very few people breathe correctly when they spar. This is why you get tired really fast. It is also the reason why situations on the street seem to last only a matter of seconds and then it's a battle of who can get their breath back first in order to finish the fight! We tend to hold our breath when fighting and this is what tires us out. Even though you may be able to hold your breath for a long time it is very different during a physical situation. Make sure that you breathe out when you strike. It should be a short sharp exhalation coming from your diaphragm and lower abdomen. When you breathe like this it also keeps your muscles tensed so that you are better protected against attacks.

Guard Up:
Another simple one in theory. Make sure that your guard is tight. Practice with heavy gloves to condition your arms because there is nothing worse then not having the strength in your arms to hold your guard up during a fight. Your guard is extremely important before you launch an attack. Most people at beginner and intermediate level get struck when they are trying to strike. Keep your guard tight when you attack and this will minimize your opponents counter attacking capabilities.

Move:
Don't stand in the one spot. A fight is not determined by who is standing in the centre of the ring. A wny mma fighter that moves controls the fight. Even if you are bigger and stronger than your opponent, keep moving. You can stand toe to toe with your opponent and battle it out but this way always tires out and injures both fighters. There are specific times during a fight when you should stand your ground but all other times you should be moving. When you are on the balls of your feet, you have a much faster reaction time too.

Multiple strikes:
Follow up all strikes. Don't look for the one strike wonder. When you launch a strike and it hits, capitalize upon it and continue to strike. If you throw a strike and your opponent blocks, continue to strike at the areas that your opponent isn't blocking. You increase your statistics of winning/striking by throwing multiple attacks.
Legs to hands to legs:
Use combinations of kicks and punches. This makes it a lot harder for your opponent to defend. If you are a distance away from your opponent then use a kick to bridge the gap. This should then bring you closer so that you can strike with your hands. Also, if you are close already and using your hands, you can break away with a kick to give you distance again. Try to make the exchange between legs and hands flow without missing a beat.
Don't Rush in:
Too many people just charge in. This may work against inexperienced people but aggression alone will not beat an experienced opponent. Take your time. It is important to attack but make sure that you never neglect defense for offence because this is when a lot of fighters get knocked out.
Think:
Its is very important to think during a fight. You need to be able to strategize and figure out your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Can your opponent fight equally from both sides? Do they drop their guard when they kick? Are they mainly a puncher, kicker, grappler? Etc. You need to analyze it all and in a short period of time. This process starts before you even enter the ring. Watch your opponent and study them. All information helps you to form a combat plan.
Work on your weaknesses:
Make sure that you work on your weaknesses during training. Things that are weaknesses now will be strengths in the future if you work on them. Don't be afraid to try new things in training. Obviously when the pressure is on (street or competition) you should only use what you know and what you are good at. All other times increase your abilities.
Alternate targets:
Keep changing targets because this makes it very hard for your opponent to defend against. A lot of people starting out tend to 'head hunt'. As you get a bit more experienced and confident, start to work the body. Strikes to the ribs, chest, solar plexus and kidneys can take the wind and the will out of a fighter. Striking to these areas also creates openings in other areas. It is impossible for your opponent to block everything at the same time, so use this to your advantage.
Diversify:
Spar as many different people as possible. The more diverse the better you will become. Spar people who are lighter, heavier, taller, smaller, experienced, inexperienced etc. Try to spar using different rules and spar people from different styles. This will turn you into a well-rounded fighter, making you more versatile and giving you greater skills.

Hopefully, the above has given you a few new ideas and helps you to become even better at sparring. The only real way to get better at sparring is to spar so give them a go the next time you are in the ring.

WNY MMA & Fitness: Boxing Heavy Kickboxing?

Its true that kickboxing has so many rule sets, that it's hard to keep track of most of the time. Its fine because most people only know of a handful of them. For the people who know more, well you did the research, kudos to you. I'm here to provide you with a little taste of one of the many rule sets of kickboxing. One of which, I believe you can take into consideration when you need to liven up the ol' muay thai or other "insert here" style kickboxing. For example; with muay thai, some judges score elbows, knees, clinch and kick higher than punching and so it is not as favored but its still used to set up the other skills. For the dutch style; because of the emphasis on aggression, everything is pretty much scored evenly, coupling that with many of the schools that were mostly kyokushin karate dojo before accepting the training rubric of muay thai and boxing, Its a very flavorful style. If you are a member of a gym that has american kickboxing, muay thai and boxing; then you are pretty much developing a similar style, just like at WNY MMA & Fitness.

One of the reasons why you can benefits from training dutch style is the strong emphasis on striking in combinations, these combinations are normally followed up by a low kick. It works wonders, people aren't thinking about their leg when they are trying not to get their head knocked off. You thought tall fighters were hard to deal with before, wait until you fight a dutch kickboxer. They are normally taller than you, and have longer limbs than you; so they can hit you from anywhere. Oh, and they're extremely aggressive.


Its also good for smaller fighters; Ramon Dekkers was a short fighter, but he was incredibly aggressive. He would demolish the poor saps who decided to get into the ring with him, he has a dutch style kickboxing background. In some instances, shorter fighters have to be more aggressive just to stand a chance against their taller opponents. So there is the benefit of this particular kickboxing style.

I'll toss you a bone before I get to the videos that will be included in this article. Last year, I was attending the arnold classic because the kickboxing team at UB was participating in the competition. After a couple of fights, Allistar Overeem walked over to the ring that we were standing at and decided to watch the heavy weights fight. After one of the guys got his thai pads signed, I asked about a good dutch style combo to use; jab, cross, fake the lead hook into a rear leg kick, drop the foot down right where it is to follow up with a rear hook to the head in a switched stance. Depending on where you started, it would be southpaw or orthodox. I've held on to that little gem of information for a while.

Well there is my rant on dutch style. I've adopted the style, mainly because I like boxing. In the meantime stop by WNY MMA & Fitness for some rounds. you may pick something up.

WNY MMA & Fitness: Rock Hard Shins

So, after watching UFC for the last like decade, you have been introduced to a number of combat arts that have been proven to be effective in the cage. One of those styles is a striking art from Thailand called muay thai, or for the initiated, the art of eight limbs. Unlike other styles that you may be familiar with, kickboxing for example; only makes use of the fists and the feet to do damage. In muay thai; you have the fists, elbows, knees, and shins. But wait, isn't muay thai just like kickboxing, ummmmmmm... next question. As you can see, it utilizes many more tools than you would find in american boxing and kickboxing, pretty much giving you more to put your opponent down with. At WNY MMA & Fitness we have all three, but Ill be cover one particular aspect of muay thai in this article; shin conditioning.

 Now I know what you're thinking, they kick with there shins, it hurts when I bump my shin on the edge of a table. Through proper shin conditioning and years of training, there have been muay thai and Kyokushin guys have put their shins through baseball bats with little more than a trickle of blood. Read what I just wrote again so we are both on the same page, I said PROPER shin condition. Lets go over what improper shin conditioning is, by no means do you go outside and kick trees. I know, you see videos of guys in thailand doing it, here's the thing about that; they are kicking banana trees, they not sturdy like the trees we have in our yards. If you do, you may kill the nerves in that area, but you will also increase the risk of fractures in the shin, ultimately you will be unable to train for a while. What we do at WNY MMA & Fitness, along with other muay thai gyms, is that we will use thai pads and the heavy bag as the primary source of shin conditioning. Its a gradual progression from soft and tender shins to shins of steel.

How does this happen, I glad you asked. Your skeletal system goes through a breakdown and remodeling cycle quite frequently. I posted a video above for you to take a gander at that will give you a very cool view of the process. Anyway, when you put stress on the bone over a long period of time, I.e. when you kick the bag or when you do weight bearing exercises like squats, the body will breakdown old bone and rebuild it with new calcium deposits. This is important because this is how your bones become harder and stronger, this process can not be rushed. This is not to say that your shins won't hurt in the process, they will hurt when you first start training muay thai. When they start to hurt always give your shins time to heal, during that time its always good to work your knees or the other striking tools. When sparring at WNY MMA& Fitness, you will be wearing shinguards, so no worries. 

WNY MMA: OMG, That Body Shot!!!!!!

Okay, this maybe my personal opinion; I think body shots rock, like a really good shot that digs under the ribs. Where your opponent has the deer caught in headlights look on his/her face, ahhhhh priceless. Its a lacking practice now a days, I just recently seen a shot to the body again; it was from Amer Abdallah, guess its an old school tactic. The reason that I say that its a little old school is that most of the time in fights may it be boxing, kickboxing, or mixed martial arts; you don't really see a lot of body punches, unless its a knee. Its becoming something that may be easier to pick off on people because its not as expected anymore. But i'll toss you a few ways of getting your kicks in with those shots to the body. All thanks to your friendly neighborhood WNY MMA & Fitness!

Body shots are very unique things; they either sneak up on you, or they put you down right away. In both instances, they hurt like hell. KOs due to headshots are debilitating but just like they say, its like hitting a button and that person is out. Sometimes; its more like your body is just completely out of your control, you tell your body to move but it just doesn't happen. When its a well placed body shot, the pain grows from that point and spreads a few inches into the body and sits there. It hurts and you know it does, so does the guy or girl who hit you there. If you ever come to WNY MMA & Fitness and ask to spar with Corey, watch out for those liver shots. 

Now there are a few tried and true ways of getting that good body shot in; modified hook/ angular uppercut to the body, spinning back kick, left roundhouse, or a knee. If you want a good example of a well placed liver shot, check out some of Bas Ruttens pancrease fights. 

In the meantime, I got a video for you guys. Legendary Liver & Body Punches, of course you guys are gonna like it. Come by WNY MMA & Fitness and try some of these out.