Quote:
Originally Posted by Tenchu
Stretching is not that important. I dont do it and can do kicks at my own head height quite well (I am 186cm) and with ease. If you want to get good at kicking, practice kicking, if you want to get good at stretching, practice stretching, but the two are unrelated. Someone good at stretching is not automatically good at high kicks, and someone good at high kicks, like me, might be poor at stretching, like me. I never do it unless the teacher tells me.
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I understand what you mean.
In my case, however, some of my training involves various dodging maneuvers that require a significant amount of flexibility and control to perform. Therefore, it is essential for me to stretch.
Muay Thai fighters (like yourself) generally don't flip or roll during a fight, so it's somewhat understandable that you wouldn't emphasize stretching to the same degree.
Different martial arts may encourage stretching at different levels -- but recognition of it's importance exists, nonetheless. It provides many of benefits.
~ But that still doesn't change the fact that I hate doing it, of course.