How to stretch..... your hands!

How to..... stretch your neck muscles

Some Historical Photos

Here are a few photos I found. In the first one, my karate teacher, Mr. Michael Masley, and I are freesparring in 1978. Mr. Masley was Dr. Sohn's top karate student/teacher. He was amazing. His flexiblity was incredible. Mr. Masley began his studies under Dr. Sohn at age 9, and by age 12, he achieved first degree black belt. At the time, (1963 or 1964 IIRC) Mr. Masley was the youngest black belt in the country. Also, he was tested by Dr. Sohn's teacher from Korea, Master Ahn Kyong Wan. Master Ahn held young Michael to ADULT standards when he was trained/tested. There were no children's classes, no pads on the hands or feet, and he had to fight (spar) adults who were instructed not to "go easy" because he was a young boy.

In the second picture, I am about to begin teaching a class, circa 1994. Note how we started the class the same as recommended under the stretch page on howtostretch.com.

Stretch or Rest a Torn Muscle?

Let' say you tore a muscle. What should you do? Well, like anything, it depends on the details. If the tear is deep, and it burns when you even approach stretching it, take time off. Massage the muscles, or get a professional massage therapist to work on it. The Homeopathic remedy Arnica Montana (30x strength) is for sore muscles and bruises, and taken as directed, can help that muscle heal. You can also get Arnica gel at the Health Food store, and rub it directly on the area.

If the tear is tolerable, I will often do stretches around the area, to loosen up any tension on the affected muscle. So, let's say I tore my hamstring. When I stand and stretch, the pain is noticeable as tension, burning, and pain. I stop the exercise, and get down on the floor and do seated hamstring stretches. I will follow up with associated hip stretches, and some quad stretches. These do not hurt the affected muscle, but since they are opposing muscles to the torn hamstring, stretching them makes the hamstring feel better because there is less tension on it.

Oh, hot baths, saunas, and steams (like at your gym) help a lot too.

A New Year, a New Look!

Happy New Year to all. 2009 will bring a lot of changes to howtostretch.com. Now we are past the holidays, we finally shot two more videos this week, and they should be edited and uploaded soon. The website has a new look, as I rebuilding it to make it more intuitive and interactive. I might add new pictures and stretches, but I am also thinking about making all additions videos. I will think about it. Any input from our readers?
In the meantime, go check out the website. Let me know what you think!