Product Description
Use our method to attain maximum height in your kicks and to be able to kick at that height with no warm-up! Learn:
* How to stretch safely and quickly to achieve and maintain your maximum flexibility
* How to make your muscles grow stronger and longer so you stay flexible all the time
* How to do splits even if you are over 40 or 50
* How to kick high and do splits with no warm-up
* How to develop each of the three kinds of flexibi… More >>
I read this book several years ago after starting martial arts training in my later 30’s. Prior to following the methods of Stretching Scientifically, I had slightly better than average flexibility. In less than 6 months after reading this book, and most importantly, actually following its methods, I could do the full splits in all 3 directions while simultaneously flattening my body to the ground. Now at 40, I’ve maintained the stretch, and take full advantage of it in martial arts. I’ve trained with some great world-renowned martial artists, but have not met anybody who understands stretching the way Thomas Kurz does. This is a great book.
Rating: 5 / 5
I am not out of shape. At 190 pounds – I can bench press 2X my bodyweight, squat 2.5X and run 100 Meters in 10.7 seconds. Why then have I never been able to touch my toes?
I spent years as 22 foot plus long jumper. Nothing my coaches or “Physical Therapists” tried (PNF streching for 3 hours a day, partner stretching, warm ups, warm downs, Yoga etc) ever did a thing to visibly improve my extension. After 8 to 10 years of training 3 hours a day and streching every day I could never do any better than mid shin (and that was after fully warming up).
Kurz’s book puts all of my coaches to shame and puts an end to the myth of inborn flexibility. I learned within the first 30 pages what I was doing wrong. Within two weeks of following his suggestions I can now easily touch my toes during the day without any warmup. This is the most flexible I have been in my life despite now being over 30.
The truth is that gaining flexiblity using his methods is much easier than what I was doing for all those years for 0 results. This book works.
It is true that there is a lot of scientific “filler” as one reviewer calls it and a distinct lack of pictures. I imagine it is kind of a dense read for people who haven’t studied physiology so they might want to have a dictionary handy. Still, I had no problem creating a routine from the presented material that has produced amazing results.
I’m going to buy the video now. I hear it is pretty dated but If his suggestions worked this well without really knowing if I have been following them correctly I can’t wait to get my routine closer to ideal.
-M
Rating: 4 / 5
*** This review is for the 4th edition, superceding my 3rd edition review.
Buying this new edition, especially since I thought the third edition was a good enough start, was a matter of integrity. I’d blistered the editors for not organizing the book well, and took the author to task for some vagaries in his descriptions and the lightness of graphical assistance, i.e. crummy drawings and mediocre photographs.
I can say that the editors improved the book significantly. The organization of the chapters is now more-logical, and it also begins in a very direct, simple manner that gradually adds complexity as you read. Which is fine, since concepts introduced earlier are laying a foundation of knowledge required for the later , extremely scientific chapter on how muscles, tendons, and ligaments work together to move your body in three dimensions.
I enjoyed the new edition more than the third, and I was very pleased with the updates and corrections. I believe you still need to invest some sweat to extract any value from this, but I would surmise no one is picking this up for light reading: this is an owner’s manual for your body in some respects, and it requires hands-on application.
The fifth star is not forthcoming, and I don’t think a fifth edition will change this. The photographs and stick figures you loved to hate from prior editions are still here, and I can’t help wonder why the publisher didn’t just run a contest at SVA or Pratt for book illustrators.
Still, there’s less excuses for readers to employ if they can’t figure out a good routine after reading this book, and Thomas Kurz’s admonishing commentary is hilarious: I can actually see him as a professor taking some of the dimmer student body to task for not fully reading the relevant material. The FAQ section alone is worth the price of admission.
Rating: 4 / 5
The book isn’t well-organized, and that might not be Kurz’s
fault. I’m sure his training is valid and scientifically tested;
I have little doubt that the techniques work and there is an
underlying logic to the book; I’ve used similar methods
successfully for years in some form or another.
First, the beginning science is padding, filler. You don’t need
to know, in so much depth, how stretching works unless you’re a
medical student.
The rest of book is tantalizingly close to giving you a
stretching routine you can adapt, but fails to do bring you
to a worksheet or methodology. Kurz gives four sample regimens
for stretching but does not delineate a complete routine using
all four methods.
There are some routines near the end of the book that purport to be sport-specific. A better version of this book would show all the stretches, in the order you might perform them (especially in grouping them), and then charting sports and the stretches that might benefit the most.
Three stars for potential and content. A solid rewrite could put
this book over the top. And I can’t understand the five-star
reviews of this book, but my guess is a good mix of genetics and
luck, plus no exposure whatsoever to a disciplined approach to
stretching, might explain it.
I’d recommend it for folks who have never approached stretching
in a disciplined manner before, or have not had good instruction
in training methods that use stretching.
Rating: 3 / 5
I was sceptical of much of what the author had to say but I could not doubt the body of literature he quoted and the scientific studies he quoted to buttress his arguments.
Regardless, I applied his principles and I was astonished at the results especially the non-conventional kicking exercises in the morning with little warm up.
In applying a few simple routines twice per day for less than 10 minutes I was able to dramatically increase flexibility AND strength resulting in much better axe, side, round house and spin hook kicks.
The key to success is applying the principles and routines DAILY.
I particularly liked how he debunked certain myths of stretching especially stretching BEFORE a workout. The body of scientific literature suggests that stretching before a workout is actually detrimental and he is astute in pointing this out.
Some have argued that he does not provide sport specific routines, however, if you read carefully he points you to the correct chapters based upon your interests and allows you to decide which routines would be best for your interests. For example a martial artist who does alot of kicking would want to focus on lower body stretches whereas a wrestler would want to spend some time on upper body flexibility.
In other words he wants you to think about what your goals are and use the routines accordingly. He clearly states which routines are best for various types of flexibility.
This is a must have book for any serious martial artist.
Rating: 5 / 5