When to stretch?

[evergrey]

OSU,
Our Shihan is pretty old school, and tells us to stretch before class. During class sometimes we stretch after having warmed up a bit, which I'm told is better. Some people say that stretching before a work out actually makes things worse, and that stretching cold can cause damage.
People do seem to agree that stretching after a workout is good for a number of reasons- increased flexibility, getting rid of extra lactic acid, stuff like that.

So my question is- when do YOU stretch? When do you NOT stretch?

OSU

[smoke]

We do a light warmup, then stretch.

If I lift weights, I stretch afterwards, which is recommended. Stretching before is not recommended.

[GJEC]

People confuse the terms 'stretching' and 'warming up'.

Before a class I prefer a few minutes of light jogging drills and dynamic stretches to warm-up, which raises the pulse and increases ROM. After a class people should do relaxed stretches (in their own time) especially if work has focussed heavily on kicking or sprinting drills.

As above, I'd only suggest developmental stretches as part of strength training, and not then until the body is really warm, i.e. sweating.

Gary

[evergrey]

Glad I just do careful stuff before class. I think I would like to find a way to warm myself up before I do them, though! Not easy since there isn't much space that isn't mat, and there's another class going on until ours starts. I guess I could jog around the strip mall, haha!

[MMX]

I always follow this for stretching.

Light Warmup

Dynamic Stretching before the workout.

Static Stretching only after that workout and not to overdo it.

[pandorasvise]

My before class stretching is balistic. Get the juices flowing. Extend, flex, swing, and rotate every joint:
fingers
wrist
elbows
shoulders
neck
hips
knees
ankles

After the body is warm, like halfway through class or at the end, i like static stretches to get as flexable as possible. Partner stretches are the best.