In July, I started losing weight and getting fit. I have been doing a great job and I have started to take a self defense class as part of my fitness program. It is a coed class and the females get paired up with males so that we have practice with a guy because it's the most likely scenario. Every time I walk out of the class, I am extremely bruised. I bruise very easily. Is there anything that I can do to help myself not bruise so easily?

crossbowchic, hi, since you mentioned you have been getting pretty fit since July, are your muscles tone and well-developed? And you have been doing weight training, too right? You bruised easily because your muscles may need to be better tone and well-developed if your muscles are somewhat flabby, for example (please pardon my example, no offense). Self-defense classes, as you know require a lot of extra "homework"practice sessions, especially if you are really serious about self-defense and the martial arts, and want to get good at it so you can apply it. And that means practicing out with another person and a lot of stretching.

You can easily get bruised and sore just from the muscles tightening up. Thus, it's always a good idea to stretch out slowly your entire body muscles before going in the class each time. That means you may need to stretch your muscles more than the amount needed for the warm-up that your classes does. I know when I used to take advanced self-defense class such as yourself, the instructor would require all students to do extra, really extra stretching at home first before doing the actual warm-ups in class!

And besides, a lot of stretching, especially in the morning, does tend to warm up the muscles and blood circulation pretty good, thereby helping and conditioning your muscles to absorb a lot of those back and forth jabs, kicks, falls, etc. I recommend stretching out for a good 30 to 40 minutes minimum at home first right before the class, if your schedule allows. :)