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Ground crawling exercises (perfect even for beginners)

In this article, we want to see 5 types of ground crawling exercises for beginners.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

Important premises:

Do stretching before starting (read Basic soft stretching and How to correctly perform stretching)
These exercises can be performed as a warm-up (read Basic warm-up and How to correctly perform warm-up)
Train safely, do not train what is in pain (read also Safe training: the 3 errors rule)
We have not invented these exercises but we have adapted them to our needs, it is therefore necessary to emphasize that there are other versions

Exercise 1: drag from the sitting position

Ideal for arms / legs warm-up and to help muscle chain conditioning inside our muscle memory
This exercise is useful to get used to employing arms on ground fighting (read Ground fighting)
Let’s sit on the ground with the legs partially stretched
The palms of our hands and feet rest on the ground
The goal of this exercise is to move backward by coordinating our body movements (read Use the body power: the muscle chain)
We have to push against the ground with both our hands and feet, moving our buttocks upwards and backward
As we push, our legs must stretch out and the palm of our feet lift off the ground (the heels remain instead in contact)
Then we return to the initial position and repeat the past steps in a continuous, cyclic motion
Let’s try to involve our entire body in a smooth, wave-like motion that starts from your feet and travels up to our head (this will come with time)
Let’s try to be as fast and coordinated as possible

Exercise 2: drag the broken leg

Ideal to learn how to move with a damaged leg
The same as exercise 1 but with one leg
The leg at rest remains stretched on the ground as if it is broken
The leg at rest must be rigid (for advanced practitioners it can also be suspended from the ground)
The leg at rest should obviously be alternated

Exercise 3: soldier crawl

Ideal for coordination, body symmetry, stamina and for muscle chain
This exercise is useful to move fast on ground fighting and for stealth
Let’s lie down on the floor on the stomach (only the head should be raised)
We lean on our forearms but without touching the ground with the hands
The goal of the exercise is to move forward using a “crossed” body coordination
To advance we must first push by stretching the right leg and “grabbing” the ground with the left forearm (in sync) and then vice versa
While the left arm pushes the left leg is dragged and vice versa
By repeating cyclically these steps we can move forward
The more we can engage smoothly shoulders, hips, abs, breathing (etc.), the more we will move quickly and effortlessly
The more we are uncoordinated (legs raised, asynchronous movements, etc.), the more we will move slowly
Let’s try to gain speed and harmony (if we are working well, we should move fast and quietly)

Exercise 4: inverted soldier crawl

Ideal for coordination, body symmetry and muscle chain
This exercise can be useful to move on the ground when we need to control what happens above us
Let’s lie down on the floor on the back (the head and the arms are raised, the feet touch the ground)
The goal of the exercise is to move backward using a “crossed” body coordination
To advance we must push with the right foot and with the left shoulder (in sequence) and then vice versa
While the left foot pushes the left buttock raises and vice versa
Repeating cyclically these steps we can move backward (in head direction)
The movement must look like a side swing (almost as if we were giving hooks)
The more we can engage smoothly shoulders, hips, abs, breathing (etc.), the more we will move quickly and effortlessly
The more we are uncoordinated (asynchronous movements, etc.), the more we will move slowly
Let’s try to gain speed and harmony (if we are working well, we should move fast and quietly)
The exercise can be also performed without completely touching the ground with the feet (only the external side)

Exercise 5 (rolling in length)

Ideal for, coordination, ground fighting and to accustom our balance to the unusual movements of the struggle
This exercise is one of the fastest ways to move when we’re on the ground
Let’s lie down on the floor on the side with the body completely stretched
If we want to go to the left, the left forearm and the right palm of the foot are bent to touch the ground
The goal of the exercise is to move laterally using a loop rotation
To advance we have to rotate the shoulders and (in sync) press on the ground with the right foot (in the left direction)
When the right arm touches the ground, it pushes (together with the shoulders) in the left direction to perpetuate the revolution
During the rotation, the movement must follow a straight line and the passive elements of our body must remain rigid
We can also try to push with the right toes to add extra speed
Repeating cyclically these steps we can move on the left (or, inverting the parts, on the right)
The more we are coordinated, the more we will move quickly and effortlessly
The more we are uncoordinated (unwanted bending of the lower part of the body, etc.), the more we will move slowly
Let’s try to gain speed and harmony (if we are working well, we should move fast and quietly)
The first time we will suffer a little dizziness, it’s normal (remember to go first in one direction and then immediately in the other)

All of these exercises have to be performed for (at least) 10 minutes. We can do specific sessions for each of them or we can divide the amount of time dedicated executing altogether (eg. 2 minutes each).

Variations

These are safe and extremely simple ground crawling exercises ideal for beginners (or as a warm-up) but they can be performed also by advanced practitioners or (with some adaptations) as stealth techniques.

Let’s see some interesting variations (not for novices):

Tie an elastic rope to the wall and to our abdomen to slow down / hinder our movement
Wear a weighted vest (15-25 Kg) to make the exercise harder
Add obstacles on the ground
Let’s retrieve or lift items at each turn (weights, weapons, etc.)
…

A note by Master Kongling – If we want to train stealth skills, let’s concentrate on noises, on staying as low as possible and on taking up as little space as possible. In addition to this, we should try to cover uneven paths and prolong the workout for well over 10 minutes (so as to build the right stamina).

In the next article of this series, we will see more ground crawling exercises.

Special thanks

A special thanks go to:

One of our Facebook followers (E.R.) who with a free donation has requested this article
One of our Core Course students (S.J.) who reported an error in this explanation

Note – If you want to ask for specific articles read Learn Kung Fu online: request a specific article).

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – All our core technical exercises to build real martial skills
Advanced speed and reflexes training – A complete path toward combat speed development
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Combat flexibility: tendons transformation for martial arts – A video course about the methods to gain advanced-level combat flexibility
Full body stretching exercises – A video course with all the basic exercises to stretch our body
Wellness: self-massage techniques – How to improve our health through self-massage

In-depth articles

5 jumping exercises ideal for beginners / warm-up – The best way to start conditioning our knee to reach the basic level of functionality
5 running exercises ideal for beginners / warm-up – A few simple (Kung Fu related) exercises to approach with running

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Do you find it difficult to find coordination in crawling?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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