The 10-Minute Warm-Up System: The Master Template, Five Session Builds, and the Modifications That Keep Every Body in the Session
Mat Manual companion guide to "How to Warm Up for Any Martial Art." Print it. The article teaches the order: raise, mobilize, rehearse. This book runs that order minute by minute: the master template, full builds for st…
| Art | Cross-Art |
|---|---|
| Family | Cross-Art |
| Level | all-levels |
| Format | system |
| Topics | fundamentals, safety, training-plans |
Mat Manual companion guide to "How to Warm Up for Any Martial Art." Print it. The article teaches the order: raise, mobilize, rehearse. This book runs that order minute by minute: the master template, full builds for striking, grappling, throwing, forms, and sparring days, cold-gym and older-body variants, joint-limited modifications, and the logs that turn warming up from a habit into a system.
Name: ______________________________ Art: ______________________________ Instructor: ______________________________
SAFETY, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE ☐ Range is never forced, by a partner, by an instructor, or by momentum. Every range in a warm-up is owned by the body that has it, today. ☐ Pain stops the movement. A warm-up that produces pain has found information, not a challenge. Report it to the instructor before the session, not after it. ☐ Falls are rehearsed before throws, every throwing session, at heights that build in steps. No student is thrown at speed on a body that has not practiced landing today. ☐ Partner work in a warm-up runs at agreed speed and agreed contact, stated out loud before the first round. Warm-up rounds are never a contest. ☐ Submissions and locks are never applied in a warm-up. Position and movement only. Tap rules from the session apply from the first minute: tap early, tap often, release at once. ☐ Dizziness, chest pain, or breath that will not settle ends the warm-up and the session plan for that student, and is treated seriously the first time, not the third.
Part 1: The Master Template — Ten Minutes, Minute by Minute
| Minute | Phase | Content | Standard at the end of the minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00–1:00 | Raise | Easy locomotion around the space: walk building to a jog, direction changes on a call | Moving freely, breathing starting to rise |
| 1:00–2:00 | Raise | Light footwork in stance, or easy shadow movement for ground arts | In stance or on the floor by the session's shape |
| 2:00–3:00 | Raise | Skipping, lateral movement, or flowing partner movement at low effort | Light warmth all over, conversation still easy |
| 3:00–4:00 | Mobilize | Neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists: circles and rotations, small building to full | Upper body joints visited, no forcing |
| 4:00–5:00 | Mobilize | Spine: flexion, extension, side bend, rotation, as separate gentle movements | The back has moved in every direction it owns |
| 5:00–6:00 | Mobilize | Hips: rotations, leg swings front and side, building gradually | Hip range honest for today, both sides even in effort |
| 6:00–7:00 | Mobilize | Knees and ankles: knee circles, ankle rotations, calf raises, deep positions as available | Lower joints ready for stance and footwork load |
| 7:00–8:00 | Rehearse | The session's first pattern at half speed | Pattern recognizable, breathing controlled |
| 8:00–9:00 | Rehearse | The session's second pattern, or the first pattern at three-quarter speed | Timing arriving, no full-power efforts yet |
| 9:00–10:00 | Rehearse | Session-specific finish (Part 5 to Part 9), ending one step below training speed | Ready. The session's first drill makes the final step up, out loud |
Template rules:
☐ The phases never change order, whatever gets cut. A short day shortens each phase. It never deletes one ☐ The raise phase should leave every student able to hold a conversation. If not, it was conditioning, not a warm-up ☐ Mobilizing loads the joints the session will load. The master list above is the default, and Parts 5 to 9 adjust it by session
The 10-Minute Warm-Up System: The Master Template, Five Session Builds, and the Modifications That Keep Every Body in the Session
Mat Manual companion guide to "How to Warm Up for Any Martial Art." Print it. The article teaches the order: raise, mobilize, rehearse. This book runs that order minute by minute: the master template, full builds for striking, grappling, throwing, forms, and sparring days, cold-gym and older-body variants, joint-limited modifications, and the logs that turn warming up from a habit into a system.
What's Inside
- Part 1: The Master Template — Ten Minutes, Minute by Minute
- Part 2: The Raise Phase — Movement Library
- Part 3: The Mobilize Phase — Joint by Joint Specification
- Part 4: The Rehearse Phase — Rules and Builds
- Part 5: Session Build — Striking Day
- Part 6: Session Build — Grappling Day (Ground)
- …and 20 more sections
The full guide is a paid Mat Manual product. Checkout is not connected yet — no payment is taken on this page.
Free companion article: How to Warm Up for Any Martial Art — the full article, free in full.
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