Demonstrating excellence in Warm Ups

Warm Ups are made up of processes, techniques, and attitude. If you have practiced good
habits while training your warm ups, your improvement should show through.

The Process:

Positioning, timing, and teamwork are critical in performing excellent warm ups. Your
position throughout warmups must maintain perfect accuracy throughout the warmups.
You may be placed in formation individually or asked to line up as a group. In either
case, make every effort to understand exactly what position you are in (column/row) so
that you can fill that position quickly and maintain that position throughout warmups.
When the lead student calls “Class Attention” the formation is locked. No position
already filled will be required to move with the exception of 2nd degree black belt or
above positions. As the warmups progress along the floor you must maintain perfect form
with the formation. This may require a larger or smaller step than you would normally
take but should always be in line with the distancing demonstrated by the lead student.
Failing to maintain perfect positioning during warmups will make you “stick out” in a
way that only makes clear that you either don’t understand this rule or don’t respect it.
Consider your submission to the line leader and column leaders as a demonstration of
great respect. Conversely, your reluctance or inability to stay in your position will be a
demonstration of disrespect for someone in a higher position. We refer to maintaining
your position as good DISTANCING.

In order to maintain your distancing in a moving formation, you must be in perfect timing
with the column and row leaders. Not only do the physical attributes need to be in perfect
timing with the leaders but so to does your YELL timing. It can be difficult to maintain
perfect timing when you are still learning the details of the techniques. Each student
should make every effort to learn and memorize the warmups as quickly as possible so
that positioning, timing, and teamwork can start to show through.

Teamwork is a very basic way of saying that ever student has a responsibility to the class
to uphold the 19 rules as well as showing the highest regard for :
Charisma
Confidence
Courage
Decisiveness
Dedication
Honesty
Humility
Integrity
Motivation
Organization
Patience
Self-control
Trustworthiness
Vision
Communication
These are the attributes that the leaders of our style of martial arts are judged against and
mentored on. In addition to this list of attributes we are called as Christians to love one
another. As noted in 1 Corinthians 13 (NIV),

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails.

A great team member shows knowledge and actions in line with the 19
warmups, leadership skills, and is a loving Christian brother or sister.

Techniques:

The techniques used in KOMBIDO warmups are as follows:

Front punch
Front kick
Knife hand attack
Sliding side kicks
Double punch knife hand
Front kick front kick roundhouse
Upward elbow crossward elbow spinning knife hand
Front kick side kick spin kick (in place)
Knife hand attack reverse punch reach out grab the hair front kick and down block

Each technique has many attributes that should be perfected over time. To demonstrate an
example of some of the details that can be involved consider the outline for the front
punch:

Front punches ---

Correct weapon form (proper fist)
Start to form the fist by bending the fingers in and then the knuckles.
The thumb must lie tightly over the fingers
**Mas Oyama had one of the most powerful punches ever known. He demonstrated this
great power by knocking a bull out with a single punch. We are wise to take his advice
that the key to a strong punch is in forming the proper fist. In order to form a proper fist
the pinky finger must be tightened intensely. (funny as the focus of flexing the pinky was
also a part of Kung Fu Panda on Master Wixi’s finger hold). In all seriousness, the
difference can be easily felt if you simply punch into your hand with a fist as you
normally would and then tighten the pinky and do it again. You will feel a big difference
in the pain generated.

Correct stance (front stance)

Depth (equal to width)
Width (slightly wider than shoulders width)
Height
Body positioning (FRONT KNEE BENT VERTICALLY OVER FOOT)
Weight distribution 50/50
BACK FOOT FLAT ON THE GROUND
BACK LEG STRAIGHT OR WITH SLIGHT INPERCEPTABLE BEND)
Correct foot maneuver
BACK FOOT = POWER, FRONT FOOT = CONTROL
PUSH WITH BACK FOOT TO BEGIN
POWER & CONTROL SHIFT WHEN FEET PASS EACH OTHER
forward step
180 degree turn
KEEP FRONT KNEE BENT
DO NOT RISE BODY ON TURN

Proper yell

Short (YELL = QUICK BREATH OUT)

Loud (FROM THE DIAPHRAM PUSH AIR WITH BELLY)
On time
Body positioning
Vertical alignment (head/torso/hips)
Horizontal alignment(head/torso/hips)
Slight bend in punching arm (after contact)
Shoulders even
Bone alignment from hand to forearm
Speed
Timing (In the context of warm-ups, strike a split second before the
front foot settles for the weight of your body to be IN the strike, Not in
context the push with the toe and chain reaction of leverage from toe through
body with proper timing brings an order of magnitude to the power of the
strike)
Focus (Focus through target not on target)
Distancing (maintain strike distance without compromising body positioning)
Striking surface
Targeting (low, medium, high check effective striking points for the strike)
Coordination (hikate- chamber of opposite arm, twisting strike Twist fist during
contact)
Eye contact
Strength
Balance/stability
Block
Strong
 Correct blocking surface
Positioning
Focused

This by no means is a complete dissection of the front punch but offers a good starting
point from which the learning student can begin to keep a personal notebook as they
improve.

Attitude:

Finally, everything should be done with an attitude that demonstrates the above attributes.
There is much more to say on the subject of attitude but for now I will simply say that
much of what you do in a battle is mental. Having the correct mental frame of mind is
critical in your training.