In this 10‑minute at‑home movement session, the instructor greets viewers, thanks them for their support, and leads a series of martial‑arts‑inspired drills designed to improve mobility, breathing, and stress relief. The routine begins with shoulder‑dropping and punching drills (hook punches, uppercuts) to release tension, followed by cross‑body arm motions that the instructor cites as beneficial for neural conditioning after a 2014 car‑accident‑induced brain injury. The class then moves into hip and lower‑back activation through hip circles, a horse‑stance (sumo‑squat) while throwing jabs, and knee‑strike drills drawn from Krav Maga, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai. Front‑kick drills are demonstrated with both legs, emphasizing chambering and controlled extension. The session concludes with a cool‑down that includes hip‑flexor stretches, calf stretches, and full‑body stretches, while the instructor reflects on the importance of breathing, stress‑induced muscle tightness, and gratitude toward the audience. Throughout, the tone is upbeat, instructional, and encouraging, with a personal narrative that frames the exercises as functional, brain‑friendly movements.
Chapters
Hi and good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Hey there, hi there, ho there. Thank you for joining me. And if you're in your office or if you're in a space where you have got the room to move it, move it, let's do this. And I have to tell you, for every time I think, well, is anybody really watching these? Is it making a difference? Thank you for the texts. Thank you for the messages. Thank you for the Facebook messages and just the letting me know that these are working for you. And that's what makes me keep doing them. So let's move it. And let's start by shaking it out, shaking your arms out, relaxing it. When we're stressed out, we start to constrict, so we're gonna start exhaling. And nice and light. Ooh, I just popped my back already. Just gonna push a punch across your body. And you can go whatever rhythm feels comfortable for you. You want to make sure that your shoulders are not next to your ears. Earrings are different than shoulders. We're going to learn how to drop those shoulders down. Now we're going to turn these into what's called a hook punch. Your arm is a big hook coming across your body, and if you can see, I'm rotating my body as I turn into the punch. Bam! Bam! During this time, It's important to take back your power wherever you can. I personally think taking back power doing some punching. And you can imagine— thank you for the messages. I've had people saying, I'm imagining I'm punching this or punching that. Great, do that. 3 more, 2 more, last one. Next punch is called an uppercut, and you're using the flat part of your hand to bring it up. And you can do high uppercut So if you were hitting someone on the chin, you can do a body uppercut. You'd be aiming right here, in the gut for somebody. In the gut for somebody. You'd be aiming in the gut. Boom, boom, boom. 3, 2, 1. Good. So we did hooks, we did uppercuts. Now I just want you to take single arms back, breathing in as you do it, exhaling naturally. And if you're ready, take both arms back. If you've got shoulder issues, it's typically easier to do single arms back. And single arm forward. In 2014, I had a really bad car accident, ended up with a brain injury, so I do a lot of cross-body motions. Really good for neural conditioning, for brain conditioning, for functionality. Because you know what, your brain, you got to keep it around for a long time. So cross them in front. Now, if you're feeling pretty flexible and your shoulders will let you, one of the things we do in martial arts is we'll reach back— oh, not feeling so flexible today. Ooh! Yah! And just reach those arms up. Now up and drop them down. Extend your shoulders up and then let them come down. Extend and up. Inhale, exhale, breathing in, breathing out. Sounds really simple, you'd be surprised, we hold our breath when we're stressed. Good, next motion you're going to cross your body, and you're going to reach across your body, and rotate your hips. Tighten your abs. Your abs are the antithesis of your back, so So if you've got low back problems, start tightening your abs, or working on your abs. Oh yeah! 3, 2, and 1. Excellent! Hip circles, warming up the hips, warming up your lower back. Inhale, exhale, switch directions. And we'll do some more stretches and maybe a little, I don't know, even a lunge or two. But here's what I want you to think about next. So you're gonna take what's called a horse stance, and it is the martial artists trained for the day that they'd end up on a horse. And we're just gonna throw punches, and it's like a sumo squat. If you've ever been to an exercise class, a horse stance is a lot like a sumo squat. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Nice, come out of that squat. Go ahead and put your left leg forward, and we're gonna throw jab to the corner, jab to the corner. Nice and light. Bam, bam, bam. Bam! Making sure not to hyperextend your elbow, you stop the punch before it goes full extension using your muscles. 3, 2, 1, if you like it, take it fast! 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Nicely done! Go ahead and switch your other leg lead, quick Corner, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner. And I've talked about making a fist before, but make sure that your thumb is always on the outside of your fist. Fastest way to break your thumb is to punch with the thumb on the inside. We're gonna take it faster. If you like this speed, then keep it this speed. Otherwise, speed it up. Get a little blood flow. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And I realize I like to go fast, that's just me. Next move we're going to do is a front kick. So you're going to start with your left leg in front, hands are up, you're just going to bring your back leg up, and kick it, and kick it, and kick it, and kick it, and you're kicking your toes like you're stepping You stepped in something and you're trying to get them off. Bring your knee up, it's called a chamber. Bring it back to a chamber after you kick. Good, you guys did so good at that. We're gonna hold. If you have a chair right here, up and down for 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Nice, shake it off, shake it off. Other leg lead. So you should have your right leg in the lead. Back leg is going to come up and throw that kick, and you're just going to throw that kick, knee up, and extend from that knee. Knee up, I'm trying not to kick a chair, knee up, knee up, knee up, and when you reset you just leave that leg back behind you. 3, 2, 1, good. If you want to grab onto that chair, We're gonna do them fast again. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Nice! Now to make sure your hips are nice and loose, we're doing a lot of sitting. Some of us are. I mean, I think we're probably getting more used to sheltering in place, or safer at home, depending on where your state and where you are in the world. Knee is going to come in and outside. Knee strikes, a very vital part of many martial arts. Krav Maga, taekwondo, Muay Thai. Those are just the ones that I train in. You want to think about bringing that knee up and out. Up and out. Now, no one looks cool doing it. You're going to bring your knee from the outside to the inside. Working your hip joint. Working that fluid, that blood flow. 3, 2, last one this side, last one this side. Awesome. Last thing we're going to do, I'm going to have you— if you've got a chair in your office, that's great. If you don't have a chair in your office, you can grab onto a counter or anything else where you can extend your arm. And I just want you to extend back, just like if you were watching a cat or a dog do a stretch, and as comfortably as you can. Now go ahead and step forward with one leg, and you're just going to lightly get a nice warming up stretching this hip. You're just up light. And then you're going to take that heel up, And back on the ground. When our bodies get very stressed out, when we're adrenalized, our calves actually start to tighten, because when we're in fight or flight, we have to flee or we have to fight, and our legs require a lot of energy. Okay, bring it up, stretch it down again. And step forward with the other leg. And again, nice and light. So you're just slightly extending that back hip up and down, up and down. 4, 3, 2, 1. Now roll up to your toes and down with your heel. I worked at a gifted kids school, and those kids, a lot of them were very, very stressed, and their bodies were wound very tightly. A lot of them have very tight calf muscles, and when you are in a period of angst, calves, they get tight. Legs get tight. All right, shake it out. See if there's anything else on your body that needs stretched, that needs air. Lift your arms up, stretch back. Lift your arms up, stretch it back. And balance. Last one. I want to say thank you. Thank you so much for keeping me motivated and keeping me moving, uh, during this time. See you soon.
