How To Lead Warm Up

You should be prepared to have a loud voice while you are leading, otherwise no one will hear you. After bowing to the shomen and sensei at the start of practice:

• Go up to the front where everyone can see you. You will be in your own row.
• Call out the number lines you want for warm up.
  • Make sure the number of lines will allow for everyone to have ample space to do warm up without hitting each other.
  • This number is usually 3, but it can vary depending on the number of people at practice.

Once everyone is settled into lines:

• Loudly call out “ki o tsuke” (attention).
• Call “rei” (bow).
• Bow to everyone and everyone will bow to you.
• Call “tai to” and bring your sword to your body.
• Call “nu ke to”, which is a command for everyone (including yourself) to draw their sword and go into sonkyo.
• After you call out “nu ke to”, immediately say “put your shinais down” and lay your shinai on the ground.
• Start running through the non sword exercises demonstrated and described below.

To start an exercise, call out the name of the exercise (bolded below) followed by “ichi” (one) to start the count. Everyone else will join on “ni” (two). Count with the dojo until “ju” (ten). Stop when you reach “ju” (ten) and repeat until you and everyone else finish the last non-sword exercise, arm circles. Maintain a loud voice when counting even after everyone else joins you.

Some exercises you will just count while doing the exercise motion. For these exercises, count with roughly 2-3 seconds between each number. These exercises are:

• Wrist shakes
• Jumping
• Knees
• Leg stretches
• Arm circles (optionally)

Some exercises, you count every time you “restart” the exercise motion, such as every time your right knee is raised for knee lifts, every time you bend forward for spinal flex, etc. These exercises are:

• Knee lifts
• Spinal flex
• Up and over
• Twists
• Side bend

Some exercises have multiple variations within the same exercise. For example, in the first jumping exercise, you jump in place, then jump while switching which foot is in front and in back, then jump while opening and closing your legs. You count to ten per variation of the exercise. These exercises are:

• Jumping
• Knees
• Leg stretches

When you get to leg stretches, instead of starting with the name of the exercise, instead call out “turn to your right” and you and everyone else will do so. Note that you will be facing the opposite direction than the rest of the dojo. After calling out “turn to your right”, you will call out the name of the stretch, which is “calf” to start. Start the count as normal. After reaching “ju” (ten), call out the next stretch which is “achilles” and start the count. Repeat until you finish all the stretches. The order of stretch call out is:

• Calf
• Achilles
• Groin
• Hamstring
• Switch sides (to stretch the other side)
• Hamstring
• Groin
• Achilles
• Calf

For arm circles, the dojo doesn’t usually count, but you can start one if you wish. If you do, count for all three motions (forward, backward and side to side). If you choose not to count, call out “arm circles forward” and do the motions for a few seconds. Repeat for backward and side to side.

	Wrist Shakes Arms to sides, hands below center of gravity, as if shaking water off hands, relax, breath normally
	Knee Lifts Lift knee straight to front toward shoulder, alternate sides, exhale. Lift heels up in back, kick butt with heels, keep knees down, inhale.
	Spinal Flex Tuck chin to chest, flex the whole spine forward (don’t lean forward), cross arms in front, spread shoulder blades apart, exhale. Look up at ceiling and down the wall in back of you (don’t lean back), spread arms to sides and back, press shoulder blades together, inhale.
	Jumping In place with feet straight ahead, then forward and back, then side to side
	Up and Over Swing arms to front up over head (elbows straight but not stiff), palms front, knees and ankles extend, relax hands and wrists, inhale. Swing arms down and back behind (palms back), knees and ankles bend, exhale.
	Knees Heels & toes together, hands on knees, bend knees forward/back, side/side, circle. Keep heels on floor, carefully stretch Achilles when bending knees. Stretch hamstrings when straightening knees. Keep back straight (extended), don ‘t round (flex) spine. Spine more vertical when bending knees, more horizontal when straightening knees. Exhale as knees bend, inhale as knees straighten.
	Twists Feet straight ahead, shoulders width apart Rotate hips, shoulders and head left and right, look left and right as far as comfortably possible, don’t force the range of motion. Front arm slaps opposite shoulder, back of back hand hits opposite butt cheek. Inhale as you twist back, exhale as you return to the front.
	Jumping In place with feet straight ahead, then both forward and back, then both side to side, count every other bounce.
	Side Bend Feet straight ahead, shoulders width apart, hands on hips, fingers & thumbs point forward. Lean shoulders to one side, push hips to the other, touch ear toward shoulder, exhale, inhale as you come up.
	Leg Stretches Starting by turning to the side, then stretch the following: calf achilles groin hamstring other side
	Arm Circles Heels shoulder width apart, toes pointing 45 degrees to the outside Arms to sides, make large circles in a forward, backward and side to side motion while keeping elbows straight and hands relaxed Inhale and exhale every other circle

After finishing the non-sword exercises:

• Call “pick up your shinai”.
• Pick up your shinai (everyone else will do the same).

You will now run through the sword exercises demonstrated and described below. Follow these steps for each sword exercise:

• Call “kamae” (middle sword position).
• Wait for everyone to be in kamae.
• Call out the name of the exercise (bolded below).
• Call out the number of times you want to do the exercise in Japanese (suggestions below).
  • Say the number of tens in the number, followed by “ju” and “kai”.
  • For example, to communicate the number 20, you would say “ni ju” “Ni ju” translates to 2 (ni) 10s (ju) which is 20.
• Call “hajime” (start/begin) to start the exercise. The full announcement would be something like “Kamae! Jougeburi, ni ju kai. Hajime!”

As with the non-sword exercises, loudly count each time you do an iteration of the exercise.

	Jougeburi x20
	Men-uchi x30
	Sayu-men x20
	Hayasuburi x30

After the sword exercises, you will conclude warm up with a breathing exercise called shinkokyu. You will be the only person counting so count loud. You are free to count as fast or slow as you wish, but try not to count so fast that no one can keep up or so slow that people are waiting between steps. Follow these steps:

1. Call “Kamae” (middle sword position)
2. Call “shinkokyu, hajime” (start shinkokyu)
3. Call “ichi” (one) and step forward with left foot and raise shinai up high while inhaling a deep breath.
4. Call “ni” (two) and bring shinai down while stepping back with left foot, going into sonkyo, and exhaling.
5. Call “san” (three) and stand up, take one step forward with left foot, and raise shinai up while inhaling.
6. Call “shi” (four) and step back with left foot and return to “kamae” (middle sword position) while exhaling.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 with numbers 5 through 8 (“go”, “roku”, “shichi”, “hachi”).
8. Call “kyu” (nine) and step forward with left foot and raise shinai up high while inhaling.
9. Call “ju” (ten) and bring shinai down while stepping back with left foot, going into sonkyo, and exhaling.

Once in sonkyo at the end of shinkokyu:

• Call “o sa me to” (put away sword) and put away your sword (everyone else will do the same).
• Stand.
• Take 5 steps back (mind your surroundings).
• Bow to everyone.

Congratulations! You just led warm up!