Static stretching involves reaching forward to a point of tension and holding the stretch for 30 seconds. A static stretch includes the relaxation and concurrent elongation of the stretched muscle. Stretching in this manner alters the length-tension relationship in muscles
Compassion in martial arts training
CHA STUDENT BLOG: This month’s blog is written by Chang’s Hapkido Academy student Michi Lutz. When she’s not at Hapkido, Michi is a psychologist working in the NHS and currently completing her doctoral research in counselling psychology. The Compassionate mind
Disciplined practice creates positive mental habits.
I’ll be giving a keynote lecture at The Wellcome Trust this Saturday. My lecture will focus on how our actions in the dojang (martial arts training hall) influence how we act in our day-to-day lives. Intellectually we can understand the
Skills, skills, and more skills (part three)
After spending the past few months arguing for (part one) and against (part two) the importance of learning more skills, I’d like to question the relevance of either argument. So why does focusing on more or less skills actually miss
Skills, skills and more skills (part two)
Last month I spoke about how knowing a variety of martial arts skills can be beneficial to your practice (part one). Today I’d like to play devil’s advocate and argue the contrary. So why are more skills a bad thing?
Skills, skills, and more skills (part one)
By the time you’ve reached black belt in Hapkido, you’ve accumulated hundreds of Hapkido techniques: from the basic punch to the more complex self-defence skills and the multitude of variations. In this three part article I’d like to talk about
Training beyond black belt (part two)
[part 1] Before Christmas I surveyed some of Chang’s Hapkido Academy (CHA) black belts to discover what keeps them coming back after achieving their black belt. I’ve received over a dozen responses now from black belts across four of our
Training beyond black belt (part one)
To achieve a black belt in Hapkido requires many years of practice. Practicing anything long term requires energy, passion and commitment. But like anything else, our ability to perform a technique effectively will eventually decay – that’s why continued practice,
Do you have competitions?
When meeting someone new, and after answering the ‘What do you do?’ question, nine times out of ten the person will follow that with an enquiry as to whether I compete. My answer is always, “No”. And then I usually
Hapkido training as we age.
How old do you feel? I often find that the way people answer this question has a direct correlation to how active they are. The greater the activity level, the greater the difference between reality and fact. If we look