Essential FLEXIBILITY!

"Flexibility is the key to stability!"
​-John Wooden

Tai Chi, Shaolin Kung Fu, all martial arts, and even meditation requires a certain degree of flexibility. Some more than others, but for sure it is flexibility that ensures steady progress and safeguards against injury.

Potetamo, or Bodhidharma as he's called in India, knew this very well, and implemented a variety of stretching and strengthening exercises to assist his monks in meditation. Before this change of pace he noticed many of his fellow monks were falling asleep during meditation. In Tai Chi parlance we would say too much Yin not enough Yang.

In time this balanced way of training evolved into shaolin kung fu we see practiced so prevalent today. It all began from a simple monk striving to train vitality alongside of mental calmness.

In training Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi there are certain joints we should always stretch to keep open. Even if you are not training in a certain martial art we'll cover here the essential stretches we all need to do on a daily basis. =)

---

Read More