Posted by Royal Dragon on October 19, 2002 at 11:11:30:
In Reply to: dedogi posted by ex-N.I. on October 19, 2002 at 09:47:44:
'If you properly warm up before practicing, say 20 minutes, then slowly build up,you will benifit the more. Most, not all moo instructors will make the student blast out 15-20 minutes right away, while the students body is cold, I can't say for sure but this could be the cause of alot of the knee problems with ex-moo's, I have been practicing didogi for over 22 years, and my hips are very flexable, and no knee problems. I would suggest warming up, go through five, 1 minute sets and build up from there, follow with 100 to 150 kicks, or your hips, knees will tighten not loosen.
Reply]
Hmmm, interesting. I used to say something similar to this. It is not something I would recomend doing for more than 20 minutes, twice a week, 3 at the most, for short cycles of 3-6 weeks tops. Following it with kicks is also a sound practice as you keep the blood flow up, but the actual muscular pressure down. I have also sugested starting out wiht short sets like you described. Maybe reps instead of time, but it is a similar concept. I would also add tht you should rest 1-3 minutes for every minute you perform the exercises. If it takes 60 Seconds to do 30 reps(Don't remeber, been so long since I have done Dodoji), then you should rest 1-3 minutes between the reps to allow for recovery, just like in weight lifting principals.
As for KC's assment of it's combat attributes, I do aggree that it programs bad habits into the student, especially with the exposing the head as a target thing. A taller tighter version would be better, with the controll following the 'one covers two' principal and shortening the circle to stay infront of the body as opposed to going all the way to the side.
There are better ways of developing hip flexibilty that are similar, and more combat oriented, such as 'Snake Creeps Down' from Taiji Quan. I think it's the same as discussed by others (EX?) on this forum reacently.
Pyun Su is also Dodoji, only in a slightly taller stance (Example, the second Pyun su IS the first Dodoji). Again, it is too exagerated to be good for combat training. Better to use techniques from Long Fist, or Taiji that go down that low and are used as trips, throws and up roots etc. The hip motion is the same, but the application is realistic. That and it's not reinforcing bad habits.
*; =qq(