T'ai Chi • Kung Fu • Kids Martial Arts • Shop

Letter from Jim Buell on Stretching and PNF

Part 2

Sifu Hau,

In my last message I referred to the reason why relaxation breathing helps one's stretching. This was your second pearl of wisdom.

There are two conditions that cooperate to make this appen. The first has to do with what is called "irradiation", in which a stimulated motor nerve tends to stimulate adjacent nerves. This can be observed my tighly clenching one's fist, that should only require the forearm muscles to flex.

The harder one clenches, the more other muscles also begin to flex. In an extreme fist clench one can note that the upper arm and some torso muscles begin to participate. This works in reverse also, nstimulated nerves tend to quiet adjacent nerves.

The second situation relates to the special place breathing has in our nervous system. We have two major subsystems in our nervous system, the somatic (voluntary) and the autonomic (involuntary) systems. The voluntary system flexes the muscles we choose, like walking or opening a door. The involunary system makes sure certain functions are carried out whether we choose to do them or not. These are things like making the heart beat and glandular activity.

Actually, breathing can be both voluntary and involuntary. When we breath in
our sleep it's involuntary; when we deliberately hyperventilate it's voluntary. Breathing is the only function that is controlled by both systems. When one chooses to breath slowly, deeply, and rymthmically, the relaxed cycling irradiates to other functions, including motor functions. The same happens when a deeply inhaled breath is suddenly exhaled.

In relaxation breathing applied to stretching, one stretches a body part until the stretch reflex tenses the muscles controlling the stretch. A long deep breath is inhaled, held under diaphragmatic tension for several seconds, then suddenly exhaled. The effect is a sudden relaxation of the stretch reflex. This can be amplified by tensing the entire body after the inhaled breath, then letting all the tension go at once while suddenly exhaling.

This cycle can be repeated several times until the stretch reaches a limit.
Doing this regularly will reprogram the stretch reflex to allow a larger range
of motion.

Jim

How do I get started? Click Here

Tom Gohring's School of Tai Chi and Chinese Kung Fu
6611 Airport Blvd., Austin, TX 78752 • 512-422-4245 • www.taichitom.com