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One needs to have good physical conditioning when practicing the deadly martial art of escrima. You will notice that this martial art is characterized by short and intense bursts of movement. Since escrima is weapon based, it needs to end the fight as soon as possible, unlike say, more prolonged fights like boxing. In this article we give a rough guide of what a good escrima workout is supposed to look like.
We start with the breathing exercises first. Try to set yourself into the proper mindset, with concentrated breathing. Make the inhalation deep but not too deep, since exaggerated inhalation of breath can actually only make it hard for your chest. Try deep breathing in a relaxed and gentle pace, making sure that theres no stops in your breathing. Then you can do the cardio, a few laps of jogging will do, again with a focus on the proper breathing procedure.
After the jogging you can do some preliminary dynamic stretches. Start from the head, with vertical movements, horizontal movements, and then head rotations. Do the same for your shoulders, then your arms. Trunk twists for your torso, various movements for your hips and waist, and then lastly your legs, knees and feet.
Stick warm ups involve twirling and twisting the stick. Usually it is done with two sticks, each hand holding its own stick, though there are certain drills which may be done with single stick, such as the Bruce Lee like nunchuck exercises which bring the stick both behind and in front of the body. Such exercises wake up the wrists, elbows and shoulders, which are vital for a weapon wielding arm.
And then comes the meat of the training, the stick drills. Now the name of the game here is repetition, since what we want to do is to make the movements into muscle memory. Every escrima style has its own set of basic movements, which is fine. Try to practice those movements a hundred times, taking short breaks in between if the basic sets are too long. Also remember, you need to practice the basic strikes with the proper form, otherwise your body will only remember the wrong movement, and it will be hard to unlearn it in the future. Make sure that your escrima instructor is guiding you for the first few repetitions.
After youve done all the drills, then its time to cool down and stretch. Do maybe one or two laps of walking around the track. And then you can start the full stretching routine. We highly recommend doing ground stretching, since it gives the maximum stretch and flexibility for your tired muscles. Make sure you stretch both your upper and lower body, and hold each stretch for 30 seconds to 1 hour. There you have it! The basics of an escrima workout. Hope that it guides your training session and makes it more productive.
We start with the breathing exercises first. Try to set yourself into the proper mindset, with concentrated breathing. Make the inhalation deep but not too deep, since exaggerated inhalation of breath can actually only make it hard for your chest. Try deep breathing in a relaxed and gentle pace, making sure that theres no stops in your breathing. Then you can do the cardio, a few laps of jogging will do, again with a focus on the proper breathing procedure.
After the jogging you can do some preliminary dynamic stretches. Start from the head, with vertical movements, horizontal movements, and then head rotations. Do the same for your shoulders, then your arms. Trunk twists for your torso, various movements for your hips and waist, and then lastly your legs, knees and feet.
Stick warm ups involve twirling and twisting the stick. Usually it is done with two sticks, each hand holding its own stick, though there are certain drills which may be done with single stick, such as the Bruce Lee like nunchuck exercises which bring the stick both behind and in front of the body. Such exercises wake up the wrists, elbows and shoulders, which are vital for a weapon wielding arm.
And then comes the meat of the training, the stick drills. Now the name of the game here is repetition, since what we want to do is to make the movements into muscle memory. Every escrima style has its own set of basic movements, which is fine. Try to practice those movements a hundred times, taking short breaks in between if the basic sets are too long. Also remember, you need to practice the basic strikes with the proper form, otherwise your body will only remember the wrong movement, and it will be hard to unlearn it in the future. Make sure that your escrima instructor is guiding you for the first few repetitions.
After youve done all the drills, then its time to cool down and stretch. Do maybe one or two laps of walking around the track. And then you can start the full stretching routine. We highly recommend doing ground stretching, since it gives the maximum stretch and flexibility for your tired muscles. Make sure you stretch both your upper and lower body, and hold each stretch for 30 seconds to 1 hour. There you have it! The basics of an escrima workout. Hope that it guides your training session and makes it more productive.
About the Author:
The author has been training for more than five years in the martial art of escrima, and has just recently received his third-degree black belt as a certified instructor. He is also interested in computer technology, and popular examples of metaphors.
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