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What is flexibility? It is the ability to move your muscles and joints through their full range of motion. While most people can only move, bend, twist, or turn so far; the flexible person can go beyond that and bend, twist, or turn much further. One of the goals of any martial artist should be to push the limits of their bodies as far as possible, to be able to move in the fullest range of motion possible, to go as far as humanly possible.
What are some of the benefits of flexibility? While stretching has many benefits, the most widely accepted benefit of stretching is injury prevention. Being flexible and stretching on a daily basis helps prevent injuries such as aches and pains, and even serious joint damage. Stretching also reduces “day after” soreness from intense workouts. The more flexible you are, the better able you will be to respond to the occasional overextension of a joint, or the sudden and unexpected twisting movements that might occur in the chaos of live grappling or sparring. What might cause an average person a serious muscle tear or sprain might barely even affect the person who stretches everyday. The bottom line is- flexibility prevents injuries.
Another benefit of flexibility is improved performance in martial arts and overall fitness. Being flexible will obviously improve the height and ease with which you throw your kicks. Flexibility will also make your grappling more effective, allowing you to perform certain techniques that require flexibility such as the “gogo-plata” with more ease. Even basic techniques such as the triangle can be performed with more speed and less strain when you are flexible. Two examples of how flexibility can improve your jiu-jitsu game are B.J. Penn and Eddie Bravo. Both of these grapplers can perform many moves that the average grappler can’t because of their extreme flexibility, and this gives them a serious edge over the competition and elevates their grappling game to a higher level. Therefore, the more flexible you are, the more you will be able to accomplish both as a striker and grappler.
Other benefits of stretching include improved body awareness, increased energy, focus, relaxation, and stress relief. Stretching improves blood circulation to tense muscles and leads to faster recover and increased energy. Stretching also makes you more aware of distinct sensations in joints and muscles, leading to improved body awareness and a stronger overall mind-body connection. And for some stretching is a great way to relax and even relief stress since stress is usually manifested in our bodies as tightness. A good stretch will alleviate some of that tightness and reduce overall stress levels, as any hardcore yoga practitioner can tell you.
So now that you know all the great benefits of flexibility, how do you get started? How do you become more flexible? The answer is simple, stretch. The following tips and guidelines will help you in your path towards increased flexibility:

1. Make a small commitment- When starting out; try not to make such a big commitment like stretching an hour a day. Most likely you will start to make excuses and drop the routine all together. Make a small commitment like 15 minutes a day. 15 minutes of stretching per day will increase flexibility in the long term and this will make it more likely that you stick to the routine in the long run.
2. Set concrete goals- Set exact goals of how often and how much you will stretch. Also set flexibility goals such as, “By the end of the month I want to be able to touch my toes, or do a full split.” Right now, I mean right now, take a moment to set a goal of how often and how much you’ll stretch. Like anything else in life, setting goals only increases the likelihood of success.
3. Stick with it- Don’t give up!
4. Get educated- Read up on how stretching works or on specific stretches. Ask your coaches about it too.
5. Finally, congratulate yourself for making the decision to improve your flexibility and your overall person. It feels good. Doesn’t it?

The real bottom line is, if you want to be more flexible, stretch every day. There are no shortcuts.