Clinching leads to sore neck...

[BIG JOHN]

Whenever I tie up in a clinch in class the next day I end up experiencing a sore neck(whiplash like)and it tends to take a few days to get over it. Is there any excercises/warmups I can do to prevent this.Right now I'm in the JKD class and we usually don't practice the clinch too often but when we do I run into this situation.It frustrates me alot because it limits my flexibility to turn and look when driving,and I can't spar for about a week.Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks Big John

[Scytale]

In my experience, that's just from not having strong muscles in your neck. After working the clench for a while your problems will go away. But that doesn't fix your immediate problem. Here are a couple of things you might try:

- Don't strain your neck so much in the clench. I know that sounds funny, but the clinch is like a standing grapple. And if you grapple with a very tense body, pitting solely your muscles against your opponent, you will tire quickly and probably be less effective. I'm not saying strength isn't necessary (it is!) but that you aren't trying to use brute force. See if you are using your neck entirely to pull your head up. Try putting your body under it. Try moving more with your opponent than against him, but while setting him up for a counter or strike. Use your arms and leverage to help move him where you want.

- Some basic neck warmups are a good idea. I'm talking about the ones where you nod your head forwards, backwards, and to the side. Also neck excercises can be good like leaning back against and wall and using your head to push yourself off the wall. I've heard bad things about some of the traditional neck excercises like bridging, so you might want to be careful of those since they put a lot of strain on a delicate and important area.

Hope this helps.

[Bau13]

yeah..I had the same problem when I first started training the clinch....Just like any excercise you're new to...it takes time for the body to get used to it...after a while..it wont hurt anymore...

[Call Me Al]

I agree with Bau13. It just takes time to develop the neck conditioning. I like moving from the boxing and clinching range to train boxing and elbow and knee tools. I also develop the shoulders and back muscles.

Something I have tried to do in the clinch is develop sensitivity in the neck to read the direction the person is going to crank or do a "whizzer" (A move we do to shake the head back and forth). Lots of people don't change the rhythm used to crank the neck and control head so you can move the rest of your body with the flow of energy.

This won't work with everyone, but its my 2cents worth.

[BIG JOHN]

Thanks for the advice guys.I think the main thing to do besides the excercises,is to get in more clinching time while sparring so I may get acclimated to it.Big John

[duchman]

i rember the first time i had a heavy on clincing class i could not move my neck up and down the next day

[Scytale]

Same here, duchman! I couldn't believe it because it did not seem that bad in class. Also that night I was playing with the no-hand kip-up (where you hop to your feet from laying on your back) which uses your neck very heavily. Driving was a big problem the next day...

[Harley]

one word,
ibuprofen
harley

[Evilution]

I'd agree with those who say it will just take some time to become acclimated. The same thing happened to me when I started training in the clinch but I got over it. Warm-up and neck exercises aren't a bad idea though. In my class people take advantage of the fact that neck control hurts after awhile. We crank the neck until the person starts to hurt and panic and then go for the strikes or takedown after they've been weakened up.