Kung Fu Shoulder Roll Warm-Ups

Series Summary

Kung fu is a traditional form of martial arts native to China. The forms of combat arts that make up kung fu can be traced as far back as the 12th century B.C. The term “kung fu” actually refers to any individual accomplishment or cultivated skill obtained by long and hard work. The term was popularized in Western countries in the 20th century by Hong Kong films in the 1960s. Learn warm-up exercises for kung fu fighting in this free video series featuring fourth-degree black belt and kung fu instructor Mike Mallon. Instructor Mallon demonstrates kung fu warm-up exercises such as shoulder rolls, shoulder criss-cross warm-ups, neck muscle warm-ups, neck exercises, and wrist and forearm warm-ups in this kung fu video series.

Video Transcript

"Hello, I'm Sifu Mallon, with the Clearwater Kung Fu Center. This is my assistant Melissa, and we're learning Kung Fu for health. Beginning with warm up exercises. We're going to start with our shoulder rolls today. So the shoulder roll is an important exercise to go ahead and get the blood flowing. And also give you full range of motion in your shoulders. You're going to begin with your feet shoulder width apart Melissa. Place both hands in front into fists. Keep your hands relaxed, but keep them in the fists the whole time. You're going to allow your arms to roll all the way down, reach behind you and up. OK? Bring them all the way down and around. As you do this really relaxed and just let your shoulders move. The first few you kind of do slow. And then you can pick up the speed. So you get a nice full range of motion. OK. Now going backwards. Stop with your palms and hands in front, still in that fist. Now you're going to circle up and back. Full range of motion. There we go. All the way around. Good. Now as you do this try to keep your head looking straight forward. Alright. And get a nice big movement through there. You want to keep your body relaxed, and remember to breathe. Don't hold your breath. Good. OK. And this is how we perform shoulder rolls for Kung Fu for health."