Drawing Exercises - What exercises are good before going into a martial art?

What exercises are good before going into a martial art?

I plan on exercising alone through the end of the year, and then add in at least one martial art. What exercises can I do now to prepare for this? There are several studios around - which one I choose will depend on what happens between now and then. Thanks for your answers! :)

Public Comments

hmm. I did Japanese karate for 8 years and I'd say it really helps to be flexible. Run or bike, then while your muscles are soft shortly after, stretch. I'd also recommend some pushups and situps. My sensei made us do knuckle and fingertip pushups. Just be in shape. Jumping jacks are good too. Don't do tae kwon do, that's for sissies, they can't even throw a decent punch and it's all americanized and watered down.
Yoga. It will help your flexibility and is great for strengthening body and mind.
I never did stretch before I was in Tae Kwon Do. But now you'll need to stretch when ever you are doing any physical activity. Do the butterfly stretch, stretch your hands to your feet. And make sure you don't injure yourself.
Jumping jacks and push-ups. Start out with 70-100 jumping jacks and 10 push-ups. (if you wanna do more, OK, go ahead... :-) You'll want to do stretches too, to make beginning martial arts a bit easier. Toe-touches-- left, right, and both feet-- and splits would work great. Now, I take Tae Kwon Do, and what I just described is part of our warm-up session. n(We do many more jumping jacks/pushups, though) I don't know what kind of exercises other martial arts would require, but jumping jacks, pushups, and stretches probably can help prepare you for other martial arts as well. Good luck. :-)
just the normal, push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks if you like, i don't know what the point is of these, they're very easy. and running is good for people. dancing. get your heart rate up, get in shape. and thats good preparation for any athletic activity.
I never exercised until I was 56 and joined TKD. I trained as hard as I could--blood, sweat and tears--often taking 2-3 classes per night just to relax. I received my black belt at 60 under the tutelage of Ernie Reyes' West Coast Martial Arts. I am very proud of this. My goal was to reach 3rd degree by now (I am 66), but my health got in the way. <sniff>
Lots of cardio and some strength training.
iama black belt in karate and i have a booklet that i go threw in the morning it in cludes things like squat punches and kicks some of my katas and some of your every day pushups and situps depending on how old you are you would probly want to work on using your knees for when you older
Work on your flexability and cardio. I recommend you go and watch the classes at the martial art studio's that you are interested in and see what they do to prep their students (warm up, stretches and cardio exercises). That way you will get an idea of what you will be expected to do in class. Chop and change the exercises, duration and intensity to suit and then by the time you are ready to start your chosen martial art your mind and body will be familar with the exercises. You will recover quicker and therefore be able to train more frequently and learn the foundational techniques of the martial art without information overload. By the way I must congratulate you on deciding to take the time to prep yourself BEFORE beginning to train. I wish you all the best!
Running, regardless of which martial arts you choose, endurance and stamina are EXTREMELY important.
running skipping and anything that involves ab work strong abdominals are good
Crunches,push-ups,running, stretching. Anything that builds up your strength and aerobic/cardio strength.