Articles By Thomas Kurz

Thomas Kurz, the world's foremost expert on flexibility training, is the author of Stretching Scientifically, Secrets of Stretching, and Science of Sports Training and co-author of Basic Instincts of Self-Defense. Thomas Kurz is the president of Stadion Publishing Company, Inc. and of Real Self-Defense, LLC and its division Never-Thought-of-It Enterprises. You can see him demonstrating a perfect self-defense weapon—Self-Defense-Umbrella—made by Never-Thought-of-It Enterprises. (Read Biography)

A good idea can be turned into a fad by mindless followers. Mindful people use whatever tools they come across to their best advantage because they understand each tool’s function and use it accordingly. Fad followers adopt a tool not because it is appropriate for them but because others are using it. (Read Article)

I have owned your books Science of Sports Training and Stretching Scientifically for many years as well as your DVD’s Secrets of Stretching and Clinic on Stretching. Due to my own misunderstanding and bad practices at martial arts schools I have attended I have never made the progress I wished on my flexibility and conditioning. More recently I have been training at a good martial arts school in the arts of MMA and BJJ. I am looking for the best way to organize my workouts to get the best results. (Read Article)

Recently a woman who is an accomplished martial artist asked me for advice on regaining her strength and flexibility after surgery she plans to have soon. The surgery is for double hip replacement. Her hips were destroyed by the methods of stretching and teaching how to kick that are common in the martial arts, such as those methods taught by Bill Wallace (both hips replaced) and Chuck Norris (one hip replaced). I gave her my thoughts and info on preparing for the surgery and on rehab. My advice applies to any kind of orthopedic surgery, not just to hip replacement. Here is what I wrote: (Read Article)

Even though this column is titled “Stretch Yourself” it will deal with nearly all aspects of physical training as all of them are interrelated and should not be considered separately. I will provide readers with information they can put immediately to use and experience its benefits, often right away too. In the course of providing this information I will dispel some harmful yet persistent misconceptions on exercise and training methods. Here are some of these misconceptions.
(Read Articles)

In the first article of this column you have learned how to determine if you have the potential to do a side split, even before you start your stretching program. You have also learned that for many adults, who can perform the side split test, side or straddle splits are still very difficult. At a certain point, well before sliding into a full split, they feel that there is a “stop,” accompanied by pain in the outside hip or upper thigh region that prevents them from sitting in a full side split. In this article you will learn what causes it and what to do about it.
(Read Article)

In the first article of this column (in TaeKwonDo Times March 1999) you learned how to determine if you have the potential to do a side split, even before you start your stretching program. In this article you will learn if the joints and muscles of your thighs and hips will permit you to do a front split. (Read Article)

In previous articles in this column (in TaeKwonDo Times March 1999, May 1999, and July 1999) you learned how to determine if you have the potential to do a side split and a front split, even before you start your stretching program. In this article you will learn about kinds of flexibility and the right role for splits in kicker's training.
(Read Article)

In this article you will learn about the method of developing dynamic flexibility so you can kick high anytime without any warm-up. What difference does it make how well you kick if you can kick well only after warming up? Your kicks, like your punches, are supposed to be your weapons—always accessible and ready. You would not carry a gun disassembled, would you? You would not count on having the time to put it together while facing an attacker. And yet . . . how many people practice kicks, especially high kicks, and can't use them right away without first warming up and stretching?
(Read Article)

Apart from the right way of developing your flexibility—meaning doing the right stretches at the right time, to throw high kicks without any warm-up—you need to know and practice the right technique of kicking, including the right body alignment. In this article you will learn the correct body alignment for the high side kick. The high roundhouse kick I will discuss in the next article.

(Read Article)

To throw powerful high roundhouse kicks you need to align your body as follows . . .

(Read Article)

Web sites covering the following topics recommended by Thomas Kurz: Sports Science, Sports Training and Equipment, Sports Nutrition, Sports Injury Treatment, Fitness, Combat Sports and Martial Arts,
Self-Defense (View Sites)