New Shotokan student, too tense

[Zaine]

Spend A LOT of time just stretching out daily.

Please don't spend a large amount of time stretching out daily. You can overstretch your body and doing so will cause you to not perform as well; especially when it comes to static stretches, which a lot of martial arts studios practice. I recently saw a video that used a good metaphor for this: imagine that your muscle is a rubber band. If you put a rubber band in a freezer and then take it out cold and stretch it then the threshold to it breaking is going to be quite low. However, if you stretch that rubber band while it is warm then it can stretch for much longer before breaking. This is true for your muscles as well. When we prepare for any exercising we should be doing dynamic stretches. That is, stretch out while moving and even then we should not be doing this for much more than 5 minutes because, again, when we over stretch we actually create a bigger chance of hurting ourselves.

So be careful with your stretching practices. Tension can come from stress and other areas as well. I suggest looking at some relaxation techniques, yoga, or changing the way you stretch if you're just doing static stretches.

[JR 137]

Spend A LOT of time just stretching out daily.

Please don't spend a large amount of time stretching out daily. You can overstretch your body and doing so will cause you to not perform as well; especially when it comes to static stretches, which a lot of martial arts studios practice. I recently saw a video that used a good metaphor for this: imagine that your muscle is a rubber band. If you put a rubber band in a freezer and then take it out cold and stretch it then the threshold to it breaking is going to be quite low. However, if you stretch that rubber band while it is warm then it can stretch for much longer before breaking. This is true for your muscles as well. When we prepare for any exercising we should be doing dynamic stretches. That is, stretch out while moving and even then we should not be doing this for much more than 5 minutes because, again, when we over stretch we actually create a bigger chance of hurting ourselves.

So be careful with your stretching practices. Tension can come from stress and other areas as well. I suggest looking at some relaxation techniques, yoga, or changing the way you stretch if you're just doing static stretches.

Static stretching isn't the devil it's been made out to be in other threads (I've contributed to its evil perception). Static stretching is very good when you're not looking to do any real activity afterward. Sitting at a desk for 8 hours? Get up and stretch periodically. Same for if you're driving. And so on. It definitely has its benefits.

The thread issue...

I think the tension and tightness will go away after you're comfortable in the dojo. New physical stuff, people, expectations, requirements, and so on. Be conscious of it, and keep it in your mind that easing up will help. There's no need to be so stiff.

[jaypo]

Something that has helped me is to think of my arms and legs as chains with an iron ball on the end of them. Instead of striking like an iron pipe, strike as a mace!