Fitness and Conditioning

Articles on USAdojo.com about Fitness and Conditioning in the martial arts.

Thomas Kurz Stretching

4 Stretch Yourself: Splits in Taekwondo, Karate, and Kickboxing

Stretch Yourself: Kinds of Flexibility and the Right Role of Splits in Taekwondo, Karate, and Kickboxing This is the fourth installment of my column on...
Makiwara Training

Makiwara Training

One of the major images in the general public’s perception of Karate is that of Karate practitioners performing feats of breaking wood, tiles etc....
Combat Triage

Combat Triage: General Conditioning: Focused Breathing

Last weekend I watched a great little movie called: From Mexico With Love. I was happy because it had a very happy ending, but...
Combat Triage

Combat Triage: General Conditioning: Hips, Shoulders, Legs and Neck

All fighters like economy of movement. Make something complicated and there goes your reaction time. It's the same thing with foundational training. As a...
Combat Triage

Combat Triage: General Conditioning: Building Up Your Core

One of the things that I've noticed in working with my up and coming fighters is that although many of them are strong; they...
Combat Triage

Combat Triage: General Conditioning: The Fighter’s Repose

Downtime Training: The Fighter's repose is about training your body to repair. For the true fighter, there is never any real off-time. When a fighter...
Combat Triage

Combat Triage: General Conditioning: Shoulders: Rotator Cuff Strengthening and Injury Prevention

Writing to you straight off the mat every week is wonderful. Each week, my fighters come in with a new problem for me to...
Fitness For Martial Artists

Fitness For Martial Artists

Many readers have written me in response to "The Link Between Martial Arts and Fitness," and not all of you were complimentary. In particular,...
Morne Swanepoel MMA Training

Developing Muscle Tissue For High Intensity Performance

It is essential that you follow a scientifically developed training program that aids in developing explosive muscle tissue to perform at high intensity levels...
Thomas Kurz Stretching

7 Stretch Yourself: High Kicks with No Warm Up – Roundhouse Kicks

High Kicks with No Warm-Up: The Right Body Alignment for Great Height and Power in the Roundhouse Kicks This is the seventh installment of my...
Thomas Kurz Stretching

5 Stretch Yourself: Right Stretches for High Kicks

Stretch Yourself: Right Stretches for High Kicks with No Warm-Up This is the fourth installment of my column on training that appeared in May 1999...
Cycling

Why You Should Be Cycling To Help Your Martial Arts Training

Nearly 3.6 million Americans regularly participate in some form of martial arts. While for some the sport is just a past time, for the...
Joseph Pilates

The Pilates Martial Arts Connection

Mind, body, spirit, focus, concentration, diaphragmatic breathing, precision, and fluidity these are some of the terms commonly used in the martial arts. But did...
Thomas Kurz Stretching

3 Stretch Yourself: Your Potential to Do a Front Split

Stretch Yourself: Testing Your Potential to Do a Front Split This is the third installment of my column on training that appeared in May 1999...

The Japanese Samurai Fountain of Youth

Your Fountain of Youth is well within your grasp...let me help you see it more clearly. My 60 plus years on this planet includes two...
Combat Triage

Combat Triage: General Conditioning: Hamstrings, Hips, Shoulders

Application 2 Category: General Conditioning: Hips-Shoulders-Neck Three target areas of stress that I am often asked about are the Hamstrings, Hips and Shoulders. It is by...