Stop "Relaxing" Start RELEASING 

Do you struggle with relaxation? 🤔 (Try the exercise in the video) 👍

"Relaxation is a myth." You have obviously never seen me in a recliner chair.

Ooh this is really eye opening. Learning that relaxation (as the term is used commonly) is a myth really makes everything fit into place. When you do any action, you're directing and moving energy and matter. If you relax, you just let that energy leave out of you. But if you release it, you can direct it from some places for example in a punch, you can release your energy through the fist. At least that is what i think is the practical application. What do you think jesse?

Francis Ngannou: "RELAX"

As a judo coach, "relax" is something I tell to new students, but here's my follow-up explanation behind it... when we tense our muscles, it does make us 'feel' strong in and control, but it's actually the total opposite. Tensing your muscles means you restrict your movement, and it becomes harder to move. Also, tensing muscles consistently will not only make you more tired than normal, but also, it can make you feel sore later. The solution I try to offer, is to try and stop focusing on flexing and tensing muscles so much, which is what a lot of beginners in judo tend to do. Instead, think of your limbs almost like noodles, they just... hang there, holding onto the gi of your uke (partner / opponent). It's your skeleton that moves, not your muscles. According to stories, it was said that doing randori (sparring/fighting) with the founder of judo, Professor Kano Jigoro, was like "fighting an empty jacket", because he was not only as small and light weight guy, but relaxed, and only used muscle and strength when he really needed it, e.g. to finish off a throwing technique, for example.

Generally the way I explain it is, learn to feel your weight. You can shift side to side, until you can identify it. When you move the weight of part of the body rather than the body to move the weight, you’re more relaxed. I also explain motions as pulling a wagon. Every motion as a pull. This helps coordinate motion while releasing the tension of the opposing direction. If you push, you lock part of the body to use as a base while flexing other parts of the body. When you pull, you engage everything into one direction. Then putting it together into coordinated power, compare it to swinging a bat. Essentially it’s all to get the right coordination to reduce unnecessary flexion.

My instructor taught relaxation/tension by using a simple bath towel. When you coil the towel it is still soft and pliant but when you whip the coiled towel, the striking end becomes rigid and imparts its power at it's fullest extension. He used other analogies but the towel method was very relatable and was easily understood by white belt students.

What helps me tremendously is Sanchin, and Tensho breathing exercises before and after training, and on a daily bases. I normally can tell when my body is at a tense state, that’s when I do the breathing exercises.

Train "Qigong". After having trained a few months, my body started feeling air-filled and like a bunch floating separate bones, muscles, and tendons, that can be independently activated and deactivated as needed. You can actually relaxe standing almost to the degree of sleeping - There is a balance point where you can't fall, where your bones hang in your relaxed muscles, fascia and tendons and together form a spring, that can be used in martial arts.

The breathing exercise reminds me a bit of Sanchin. Very cool. Your friend from 🇺🇸, Ryan

I learned much more from this 5 min video than I did in more than a year of training. Thanks, Jesse!

Muay thai is a relaxed style of fighting but among the muay thai style of fighting,the femur is the best example of being in a relaxed state of mind in a fight,the fighters of this style is almost like not taking the fight seriously but on the contrary they're the most technical ones of all styles,tho it doesn't mean it can win all fight but it surely is the most playful and light atmosphere of a fight to watch.

I played the cello for a while, and I feel like a similar situation happens in classical music too (and probably most other arts and crafts in the world, so martial arts fits here too). Whenever classical musicians tell you to be more “emotional” and put more “feeling” into your music, that advice often makes you sound forced and unnatural; you can’t just feel sad or angry or excited on command. And even if you’re feeling whatever emotional state applies for that situation, feeling too emotional can shake your concentration and make your bow control unstable (and on a sensitive string instrument, unstable sound registers really quickly). It’s far better advice to address the technicalities behind what sound you want at a specific point (like how you’re addressing the science of breathing) - to explain how to vary the strength and bow speed across a note, how to raise and lower pitch if you’re playing in an ensemble, how to change up your vibrato, things like that. You want a subtle qualitative look, but it has to be built upon tiny quantifications. In general, that’s the struggle of good artistry, I think. The artist has to build their work upon little, over-analyzed “techniques”, but the artist wants the viewer to see a work that appears soulful and natural.

In taekwondo ITF forms (tul), one of the reason the ‘sine wave method’ was invented was to train this release/selective tension, and it works greatly for this

"Relax!" or try "beathe slowly" from my own experience. Controlling my own breath tends to help me control myself and my emotions

Relaxation is the key part of Wadoryū. As he explained in this video relaxation is exactly called as "Release". "Nukeru" 抜ける is the term we call it in Wadoryū. Means, to come out; to fall out; to be omitted; to be missing; to escape; to come loose, to fade. Thanks for this video Mr.Jesse.. Peace and harmony, Sensei Maharaj 😊

It really depends on how your language understands "relax". Relax can also mean release the tension. If I tell a student to relax the shoulder muscles because they are inhibiting the motion, it means the exact same thing as "release residual stiffness." Understanding your audience and how they hear what you are saying is much more important than the difference between release and relax.

My first judo Sensei, back 60 years ago would have us meditate at the end of each class. We would release all tension and calm our mind. We would also push and pull the pain out of our hands and feet. These technics aren’t always taught today. Today it is fight to win. We were taught not to fight but control the situation or leave. Martial arts is more than just self defense. It is total control of your mind over body. Actions were automatic, but your mind was in control not your opponent.

Relaxation or in my words calmness which I teach to my students. I tell my students to be calm as well as relax. According to me relaxation doesn't mean that you release your body like free weight so that it falls on the ground and also it doesn't mean that you make your body soft so that you look like you are sleepy. This is what I told my students. Just relax be calm and focus on your breathing don't make your body stiff like a stone instead make yourself like a clothe. A clothe can be soft and calm and flow with the wind but it can also be hard and damaging with some water and speed. So just relax and focus on every movement of your body not with your sight but with your mind. I hope I teach my students right thing by saying this. What do think jesse san. And love your videos ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

For me relaxing in martial arts is relaxing the opposite muscles of the movement you're performing like in a punch I will relax my lats and middle traps and contract the chest and triceps. A mistake I personally used to make is that when I tried to be rigid in a movement I would also contract the opposite muscles which also caused injuries a few times, while relaxing there should also be control in the movement and we should just not flop into the motion, it's better to visualise an arc or a line connecting the point of impact to the target and trying to bridge the distance as fast as possible instead of just flopping into it or tensing the opposite muscles along with the muscles being used.

The exercise you two demonstrated resembles the Sanshin kata, with “selective tension” and breathing control. As sempai assisting my sensei in teaching lower kyu new kumite combos, I advise karateka to relax and slow down to make things flow. While sparring, I find I’m lighter-footed and less winded if I maintain mushin (“empty” mind) and stay loose, knowing my “springs” in arms and legs are ready.

Dear Sensei Jesse, I am Shorin Ryu 7 dan and Yoga Master. The breath is the exact point of union between karate and yoga. A big greeting and gratitude from Argentina.

My Kendo practice helped me a great deal with this. it is easier to learn with a tool like a sword etc. i presume. you realize better how effective you get by performance of the tool.

You are such a great student. Every couch dream!

You will become a person of unimaginable power soon

Nice video Sensei

You never disappoint me with your videos Jesse. Much love from saudi arabia ❤️

This is one of the best practical videos you've done, Jesse! Thank you, and thanks to the doctor for some enlightening information; as someone who had to deal with this problem, unsuccessfully, for nearly 30 years now, it is always good to see something new to help tackling the issue of overt tension.

This is simply amazing! Is a skill everyone should learn, this teaching are incredibly precious! Thanks Jesse!

I love the super mario like accent, great vid btw.

Very true, relaxation for quick muscle group switching, create tension on attacks and release, after attack relaxation again from quick muscle group switch for recovery, defense, or attack. In Xingyi they talk about compressing the core and expanding the body through the attack which comes from created tension and release. Good explanation.

Hey Jesse, Your videos really helped me and i went from a white belt to red belt in 7 months! Youre a living legend and a great mentor. Love u mate.

Again, great video and introduction to the topic! Following up from a keyboard: When I was younger, I spent years being told to relax. It wasn't until 2002 or so that I met someone who actually showed me how to let go. It wasn't until 2011 that I met someone who REALLY showed me how to start letting go of excess tension. It's a lifelong process that always has another level or degree or whatever that can be discovered. Breathing is one of the more simple ways to let go of tension. There are tons of patterns that work. We just need to understand that a free diver breath preparation pattern is different than stress reduction is different than sports performance. For the purposes of this video, as I understand it, the breathing pattern is great. A good general one is have the exhale be twice as long as the inhale. 7-7-7 is another good one. Inhale 7 seconds, Hold 7 seconds (I find a tiny exhale helps me). Exhale 7 seconds. There are a bunch of others. The homework is to find ones that work best for us. A fun one is to count breaths per minute. And through rhythm work, see how we can alter it. The links shown are good. One doesn't have to go full Wim, but things like cold showers and cold water dousing are useful when combined with breathing. The cold water creates a natural reflex to tense up. One uses breathing to help release that tension. By making it a regular practice, one learns to immediately start breathing and preventing automatic tension. Several years ago, my wife and I started making jumping into water on New Year's Day a regular event-Don't be stupid about it, by the way. Know your limitations and know when to quit. Over time, the body and mind adapts. Tension to release, timed with an exhale is one of the simpler ways to let muscles expand to their natural length. I have used visualizations such as imagining my muscles turning to water and flowing away or turning to smoke and drifting off to add to the breathing. I spend a lot of my day walking or standing on concrete at my money job. My hips, back and thighs usually start tensing up as the day goes on. I make a practice to open up these areas every few hours at work which reduces my daily pain considerably. Trying to force relaxation is counter productive. I know from experience and injuries because of it. It is much easier and more fun to make it a gradual daily practice to go through the body from head to toe (or toe to head) and move each joint, tense and relax each muscle and let it do what it can do that day. Over time, flexibility results and general tension lowers. Focused tension-release to the point of fatigue is a simple way to work on getting muscles to let go. I have to do it with my jaw because that's one of the areas that I carry excess tension. Military marching looks cool. It's also horrible for hips, lower backs and knees. It forces people into unnatural movements until that excess tension feels natural. I know from experience. Most of us get like that, to some degree. We carry excess tension somewhere so long that it no longer seems excess. All of these sorts of exercises, such that Jesse Enkamp has linked, are designed to overcome those habits and develop new ones. Dr Maurino said it is a skill. I agree completely. I still train grappling with people 20 years younger than I am. Learning to get tense until necessary lets me conserve energy. It also lets me slip out of positions because my own body tension is not keeping me trapped into it. An easy check about tension that works for most people: Find a spot about 20 feet in front of you. Point at it with both index fingers, allowing your arms extend to their natural limit. Exhale and let your elbows drop to where they go naturally. If they aren't close to vertical, it is an indicator of excess tension in the shoulders and back. By the way, that's why one sees the flared elbows in a typical boxing guard. When pretty much everyone who boxes has been told to keep elbows in from day 1. Thanks to Jesse for sharing!

This is a very interesting topic, Jesse!! 👏🏻 Thank you so much!! 🙌🏻

In Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (SSTA) we learned the difference between “living relaxation” and “dead relaxation” so when we are tense we would apply Kiatsu to that specific part, as part of our daily regimen we would ki breathe, as you advance you develop sensitivity throughout the body

I dont know how you do it but you always upload videos about the right subject on the right time.

Thank you for this Video 🙏❤️

hello sir your videos are very informative for us in martial arts field

For me, it was just breathe in and out slowly always. This is another level. Thank you so much.

So Welcome to Okinawa! (the birthplace of karate) That's what is going to be my mindset when I arrive and get received like that

After doing this simple drill, I'm now feeling all the places in my body where my muscles are chronically tense.

Great video,as a 3rd kyu(brown belt) wado ryu karate student, i find this video very insightful and interesting. It also lead me to study the biomechanics more of how to strike effectively,which is to release the maximum amount of energy at a certain moment of impact causing a devastating attack, Bruce lee mastered this concept extensively.

Amazing video, one of my many favorites. Thanks!

Relaxation won't work for throwing a hard, straight punch. But for circular movements, relaxation is key. I throw hooks harder than anyone I've ever met, and it's all because I use the systemma style of standing and walking. My feet don't move when I throw a punch, unless I'm simply walking towards my opponent, or walking backwards. My relaxed state when fighting allows me to take incredible strikes without feeling any pain. Literally. I've been punched in the jaw by a full strength haymaker, and their fist just slid across my face. Systemma uses the laws of inertia and centripetal force to maximize momentum and rhythm, and minimize pain from taking strikes. Truly amazing stuff. I've been taken to the ground by people who weigh 100+ lbs more than me, and I wrestled them with ease, completely relaxed. Very little strength is required for most things in life. Knowledge and technique can sometimes make strength utterly useless.

He is the best!

Everytime...Damn.. every single time.. Jesse has something new to offer !!

I understand where your comin from. But I still use the word relax. I was told that all the time in training. Reading some of Bruce Lee’s philosophies got me there and it clicked. Be calm in the mind. Accept what is. Control the tension. Control the breath control the energy. Systemma show cases how relaxing can save your life. Absorbing blows. Utilizing every movement. Knowing yourself and knowing when to be water and when to crash like a wave.

Very nice explanation...thanks sensei jessy

Great video, beautiful as always! I wish you did more often video with other martial artists, just like this. Have a nice day! 💪🥋 (by an Italian guy)

“Breathe”, I hear this a lot during training 😀

I caught myself thinking about this in this week. The term "relax" doesn't makes sense. So, I started to thinking relax is removing any unnecessary tension.

Muscles work in antagonistic pairs. When you tense it contacts both muscles, leading to inhibition of movement. To move properly you must relax one muscle whilst contracting its pair (such as bicep & triceps). It’s all relaxed application of expansion & contraction; tensing at point of impact is working against your own momentum

Awesome, thank you!

He says relaxation is a myth and then when releasing, breathing out, he says "relax". This is inconsistent. If you look beyond this, his advice is good, but even he cannot resist using the word. Super good exercises though. I will be using them.

This is the video I needed to see most in my journey. My current sensei is constantly telling me to relax but never how.

This video opens up the ambiguity of the word relax

Fascinating. I'm going to apply this on my next kettlebell set (clean and jerk). I bet it applies!

This really help thank you

From the pedagogical point of view... This was excellent and super useful. Thank you! 🙏

Good points! Systema teaches many ways to relax in combat

I totally feel this😂 Jesse, video idea: 'How does a fighter choose their weight class? (to compete) Maybe you can have another joint video with Oliver🙌🏽

Great. Thanks!

I usually explain it this way , relaxed doesn't mean soft and firm doesn't mean tense. It's good to try and "relax" while practicing, we are going to tense when we fight and it helps to keep your cool and move naturally. Breathing is the MOST important aspect of martial arts, it's our "fuel", our "enregry", our "chi". I think we are all curious about biomechanics, how our bodies work, and when we understand how things work whitout our teachers telling us directly is when the true learning happens, and it's beautiful. Great work Jesse, thanks for all the great material! PD: Okinawa the birthplace of Karate!

love ur videos. thanks for sharing and helping

Great video! Much has been done with breathing, recently. I also just switched from calling it relaxation to Tension Control. And no longer call stretching Stretching. I call it release or loosening. There are a lot of fun ways to sort of trick the body into letting go. Much of my experience with internal martial arts is that they are finding different ways to: firstly teach awareness of excess tension. Second, build up dormant stabilizer muscles so the big muscles do not feel the need to work so hard all the time.

Had RLS since I was a kid going to school, but controlling breathing and doing squats has helped me. And need no drugs.

Relaxation allows looseness free flowing movements better concentration makes it much easier to adapt and read your enemies of remove and makes overall movement and senses better and sharp this is a good analogy on relaxation in the art it is best to remain calm relaxed and focused as if nothing is even happening the more loose the more relaxed the better results when it comes to the right blows to take the enemy down and the better choices you can ultimately make by staying relax and loose no join aches this is martial arts after all it's supposed to be calm this relaxation and shortness of the highest caliber with the intent to always eliminate a Target in the streets and be the very best in competitions glad to see you all well and posting content all the best and be well fight on

Always top notch videos Jesse. Here is my understanding of stress and tension, it has two parts one mental, two physical. Both can manifest into each other, i.e mental stress can create physical tension and vice versa. In fact they can form a long and terrible never ending cycles. In Martial Arts though most stress can be mental, and mostly to do with fear. It could be fear of losing, bad performance or fear of physical harm. That form of stress can only be managed with mental control, where you have to cognitively reassure yourself and turn the alarm bell off. All the best.

IT'S LIKE THE 'SURPRISE BREATH TECHNIQUE' THAT MY OPERA TEACHER USED WHEN I TOOK THE BASIC IN SINGING. IT REALLY HELPS RELAX THE HARA.

excelent ! bellisimo!

This is a gem, thanks a lot for this amazing advice! It will change a lot for me and help me with my focus immensely

I think their can be different definitions of 'Relax'. My version is like, 'Don't think too much about win or failure. Forget all the issues you are facing today. So you can get more control on your body, actions and mind'. Does that make any sense?

The only martial art that could argue that relaxing is essential is tai chi

Really great explaination!!

Very very needed in things like taekwondo with kicking a lot. less relax, but more keeping yourself loose so you can move quickly and keep balance. Also got to snap in the kicks at the end, chill in the set up and chamber then boom

Very interesting to go beyond the usual "relax" thing which is not always understood by the student. This gradual exercise seems very good too. And yes the mindset will help with fully (?) "realeasing" too. Thank you to both masters Maurino and Enkamp

Thank you

Great!!!

I once read a book about this form of relaxation which I encourage people to read. Gold Medal Mental Workout for Combat Sports. It goes alot deeper into the science of this, but very interesting

Yeah i agree totally to relax but you have to go through hardness to get to softness ,,,not softness to hardness that way you are like spring steel ,the body does it completeley on its own with no effort ,once you are at the level we eleivate sencitivity hence becoming soft and like water whilw at the same time every part of the body is like a steel plate and arms and legs are like spring steel with a hair trigger and the flow of linked movement depends on what comes in

I tell my students it's just about not tensing muscles,&unless they need to move fast for a take down or for some other reason, move at pace of breathing, which keeps muscles working. So I agree just to say relax, that's not best way. Just like when people were told to not forget to breath. Detailed explanation why is needed.

Loved this video Jesse! It’s been a while for me commenting but just had to say I’m totally using this in teaching my students now. Really Iove the drill idea!

Wow, i will train it.

I agree with the video 100% I think 'release' is a better advice than 'relax' which always sounds condescending especially when being taught Martial Arts. It used to drive me crazy when I went to my first Wing Chun instructor where from day one you were told non-stop that you needed to relax. At first I thought they were just trying to make myself and the new students 'feel at ease'. But it went on and on. When you struggled to learn a new technique the instructor would get annoyed raise his voice and demand you relax! Not only did it not make me relax it made me even more tense and most nights I left the kwoon feeling like rubbish and that their must be something wrong with me. Suffice to say I left after 8 months. Eventually I found a much better instructor who explained properly from a different school. Its not possible to completely rid the body of tension in Martial Arts as even to hold you hands up there will be a little tension. Even just standing up you have to have some tension in your body otherwise you would just fall down in a heap on the floor like Jesse did!

This is something you wouldn't normally get from teachers, and certainly not for free. This will be useful in later on. You never cease to amaze us, keep up with good contents, Jesse. And can you make a video about "Soft strike"? Apperently, soft strike is a type of "mail-piercer", where the force penetrates the body.

“relaxation” in combat comes from Experience

Would be great to see you interview Nima King

I can relate to this more than "relaxation". Relaxation is like having a noodle arm when what u really want is an efficient use of power. Thanks for the video 👍🏼

It's funny that he mentioned the knots and stretching because the second I watched the intro clip I was like about I relax by doing myofasica releases. ( Works really great for both emotional and physical tension). Great video. As someone has been studying biomechanics it always confuses me when they say to relax and have no tensions. His explanation makes a lot sense and the breathing also kind looks similar to what you see some sprinters (specifically that fast one at the end).

One of my "coaches", who turned out to be a McDojo master and cult leader would always tell us to "relax" but would never elaborate on it. Turned out that us completely relaxing was really helpful for him in doing his demonstrations because nobody would provide any sort of resistance. After actually trying to learn something legitimate, I realized that "relax" is not a universally applicable action, and there are times to resist and times to "yield".

Whenever we teach in our classes where I do taekwondo: Relax means stretch we clarify that Also getting water

I'm testing for 1st kyu next Monday this helps alot

brilliant video!

Similar breathing techniques were taught/shared with me by my Sensei Shigeru Takashina in the 1970's. He taught proper breathing as a key to relaxation and focus as well as control of one's emotions.

I only know what it's called in German: PMR ->Progressive-muskel-relaxation. with a full muscle tension of 10 seconds you can then achieve a deeper basic relaxation of the muscle. Works with the Face, Hands, Legs, Back... for better Harra and more Kime. I also call it kata ;-)

Stara Wies Dojo in Poland. Beautiful place to train

Great great great

Thank you Sensei Enkamp! Lucio´s place makes my 40m2 dojang looks like a Barbie doll house!

Mucha gente se puede llegar a reír de esto, pero lo que se explica en éste vídeo es básico y absolutamente necesario para el karate y las artes marciales. Al principio es como volver a nacer porque se debe volver a aprender a respirar, la postura luego a caminar correctamente en karate antes de tirar tu primer zuki o keri. Saludos

I like this. I'm gonna use it!