Movement for YOU! Here, Now!

Hi, how are you? Master T, my students call me Master T. My real name is Theresa Byrne. I am a master instructor in martial arts. I have a— I have 6 black belts, a 5th degree black belt in one system and a 1st degree in another. And I'm excited to help you get into your body today if that's something that you choose to do. So I'm going to turn up the music and we're just going to kind of release some stuff. I got some neck stuff going on, so I think we're going to probably do some neck work too. So we're gonna start. Feet are shoulder-width apart. Your hands are right here. Thumbs are on the outside. And we're gonna start rotating and doing— these are called hook punches. And if you were using them for defense, you would come at someone's chin, or you could come at someone's body. Body hook, body hook, body hook. But for right now, we're just doing either shoulder level or lower. Kind of warming up your shoulders. Warming up your body, warming up your mind. Good. Now we're gonna drop these to body hook. Body hook, body hook, body hook, body hook, body hook. If you've ever seen boxers, they'll often develop these really strong muscles so that they can take some hits that feel like you're getting hit with a truck in your ribs. Well, this is because they're using a lot of core strengthening. So even while I'm rotating— Take them back up. I'm still tightening my core as I rotate. And part of our mission, my mission, is to help you feel better in your life. And a lot of times feeling better means movement, energy, inner chi, right? The energy of movement creates something different. All right, we're going to turn these into uppercut punches. So this punch, flat hand, your hand faces you, up, up, up. And same thing with your legs. Rotating side to side, moving, breathing. And for this punch, if you were aiming for someone else, you'd be aiming for their chin or their stomach, or there's a little bone right here that you can aim for. Um, I'll think of the name after I'm not pushing myself to think of it. Xiphoid process. Xiphoid process! I knew it would come. Yay, brain! So all of the moves that we're doing, I'm crossing the midline of our body. If you've done any of these workout videos with me, you know that being able to cross the midline of your body helps you engage your whole brain. I don't know about you, but my whole brain could use some energy today. Awesome. Now we're going to put those 2 together. If you are coordinationally challenged, just do what you can. And it's hook, hook, Uppercut, uppercut, hook, hook, uppercut, uppercut, hook, hook, up, up. Hook, hook, up, up. Hook, hook, up, up. Now we're going to take these a little bit faster, but you go your rhythm. I'm going to go hook, hook, up, up, hook, hook, up, up, hook, hook, up, up. Up. Ah, breathing in, breathing out. Nice. Hook, hook, up, up. A little bit faster. 4 more. 3, 2. Good. Last one. Nicely done. Go ahead and bring your arms forward. Rotate. And if you don't have arm, uh, things that are impinging or stopping your rotation, you can extend them. Now take it back, starting with arms bent, and then you can extend as you are comfortable. Oh, that just feels good. Nice. Now I want you to bring up overhead and cross in front. Up overhead, cross in front. Up overhead, cross in front. A lot of times— so I was saying, I have— my neck is kind of tight because my shoulders have been tight, or I've been leaning incorrectly. I don't know if you guys have heard of the eye hunch. But because we spend a lot of time on phones, we develop this whole hunching posture that is not in alignment. So I want you to get aligned. Pull those shoulders back. Excellent. Now we're going to do some elbow strikes to the side. I want you to think about striking with this part of your elbow. Side, side, side, side, side, side. Elbow, elbow, elbow, elbow. Also a great dance move. Just make sure you don't break anyone's nose or hurt anybody. Elbow, elbow, elbow, elbow. 8 more. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Nice. All right, let's work on the lower body. So we're gonna go squat twice. Now this is a shallow squat, just warming up your back, warming up your booty, warming up your legs, letting your body know it's here. You'll always see me put my hands up. Because if something is coming at me in life, I want to be able to handle it. I want to be able to focus on it. I want to be able to do something about it. So my hands come up, first of all, to protect my head, protect the moneymaker, which is actually my brain. 3, 2, 1. Good. Now hip circles. Rotate your hips out. Hopefully you'll feel a little bit of tension release or Stretching. And switch directions. Breathing in. Breathing out. We're going to work some more abs today. I'm actually going to teach you a fun Muay Thai block. In Muay Thai boxing, there's often a kicking move. Someone will come at you with a round kick. To be able to block that kick, you're going to use your knee, your core, and your arm. So you're going to bring that knee up to the side. Knee up to the side. Knee up to the side. Good. And think about squeezing. And you're meeting your knee. Don't bang your elbow on your knee. But you're rotating your leg out. And you're blocking. Block. Block. There's time— there are times to be defensive. And there are times to be more assertive. I stay away from aggressive, but this is also an ab exercise and you're doing it as a block. 4, 3, 2, 1. Good. Nice. Now we're going to take those knees and circle them out. Now they might just look like a knee opener to you if you're doing these at home, and really in martial arts it's a preparation for a crescent kick. Which is where we would be aiming for someone's face. We're not doing that. Similar motion, but warming up the hips. So good, so good. All right, now I'm gonna have you grab onto a chair or something. A couple years ago, I had a hip replaced. I had a car accident, had to have both hips redone, replaced. I kept my walker because it's great to hold on to. So I want you just to think about swinging that knee comfortably. This is a great warm-up for your back if you've been sitting a lot, for your tailbone. And just bring that knee up to your comfort level. This is something you can do— I can't— I guess you could probably do it, you just can't swing as well if you don't have something to hold on to. 2. And switch. Other side. Knee, knee. Good. Pull that knee up. Good. We're gonna do that same thing with a straight leg. So your leg is straight, and you don't have to go that high. You just want to go until you feel that release or you feel that tightening. So you might feel your leg, your hamstring, the back of your leg get tight, and that's as far as you need to go. You might feel a release somewhere else. Switch. And swing that leg. And even if you can hit like head high, you don't need to. This is just a dynamic flexibility training for our bodies, releasing some energy. 2, 1. Nice. All right, I mentioned next step, so I'm gonna do shoulder shrugs, shoulder back. All those crunchy things remind me I need to get in. See the chiropractor? Shoulders forward. Breathing in and breathing out. Cross your arms in front. Oftentimes when you've got back stuff or neck stuff going on, you might have tightness in your pectoral muscles, pectoralis muscles. Good. And the last thing I'm going to have you do, I'm going to have you do a couple of punches. So I want you to think about something that's bugging you today, something that you like You want to remove from you, some kind of obstacle that you want to put your energy toward so it moves away. And I just want you to punch it, punch it, punch it, punch it. Is it doubt? Is it disappointment? Is it low energy? Is it comparison? What is it? I just want you to punch it, punch it. Identify what you do not want in your day today and punch it. 8, 7. You don't have to go as fast as me. You can go boom, boom, boom. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, pop, 1. Nice. And a second of gratitude. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Take care of yourself. Take care of your life. Take care of the people in your life.