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Filed under: Endurance Training for Sports and Martial Arts, Exercises and Workouts, Flexibility and Stretching, Periodization, Principles of Sports Training, Sports Performance, Sports Psychology/Mental Toughness, Sports Technique, Strength Training for Sports and Martial Arts, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | Leave a Comment
Tags: Children and Sports Training, explosive power, maximal strength, mental toughness, sports psychology, sports techniques, stretching and flexibility
Troubles with Joints
Troubles with joints happen–from accidents, aging, training errors, whatever…. So it is good to know which commonly prescribed treatments hurt, which make no difference, and which really help. Get that knowledge from an article Treating Worn-Out Joints.
On a related matter, as doing stupid things to joints damages them, see Flexibility Problems, or Kiddie Stretches for Adult Joints–You Have to Be Kidding! and also read comments on An Unteachable Guy Praises Flexibility Express.
Filed under: Flexibility and Stretching, Health Maintenance, Sports Injuries | Leave a Comment

What is wrong with what he is doing?
More than a year ago, Flexibility Express DVD got a glowing review. I didn’t share it then on Stadion Publishing’s FB and IG pages, because of a photo the reviewer attached to the review (see the photo above). But after getting a testimonial from another customer, with a similar photo, I decided to share that original review, to see how many—or rather, how few—viewers of Flexibility Express paid attention to its instructions. (And then they wonder why they didn’t get results as quickly as they could have–had they actually paid attention to the instructions….)
Teachable people who viewed Flexibility Express, or just read my articles on increasing flexibility, will instantly understand what is wrong with what the reviewer is doing in the photo. If you understand, post your comment at stadion.com/an-unteachable-guy-praises-flexibility-express.
BTW, of the three comments posted so far, the last one, from Gregory, at least shows that Gregory actually applied exercise instructions from Flexibility Express. However, he did not directly answer my question, i.e., “What is wrong with what the reviewer is doing in the photo.”
So, again, can you point out the obvious?
Hint: To answer my question, “What is wrong with what the reviewer is doing in the photo,” see a video excerpt from Flexibility Express (chapter “Introduction”). The video is in the article Flexibility Problems, or Kiddie Stretches for Adult Joints–You Have to Be Kidding!.
Filed under: Flexibility and Stretching | 2 Comments
See errors of kicking in self-defense and a lethal effect of kicking against knife attack in my recently posted Self-Defense Tip #129 — Kicks vs. Knife Attacks.

Watch and learn from a real-life video.
Filed under: Sports Technique, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | Leave a Comment
My updated article on the downside of reducing inflammation after an injury or just an intense workout is at www.stadion.com/inflammation/
Filed under: Sports Injuries | Leave a Comment
Tags: exercise, ibuprofen, injury, NSAID, reducing inflammation, Thomas Kurz, workout

At the end of my post High Kicks with Tactically Sound Setups, I asked readers who know drills for different but still tactically sound setups of kicks, to post descriptions of those drills in comments to the post. Some did, and you may read their comments at High Kicks with Tactically Sound Setups.
Filed under: Sports Technique, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | Leave a Comment
Tags: high kicks, high roundhouse kick, karate, martial arts, mawashi-geri-jodan, tactical setup, Thomas Kurz
Okinawan te, the precursor of Japanese karate, did not teach high kicks — too risky in self-defense. Forms (practice patterns of movements) of Okinawan te do not include roundhouse kicks, let alone high roundhouse kicks. It is easy to understand why high-level roundhouse kicks and mid-level (mawashi-geri-jodan and mawashi-geri-chudan) are not included … Continued at stadion.com/where-from-are-the-high-roundhouse-kicks-in-karate/
High Roundhouse Kick—Correct Form
Filed under: Sports Technique | Leave a Comment
Tags: karate, mawashi-geri-chudan, mawashi-geri-jodan, Okinawa-te, Okinawan te, roundhouse kick, self-defense
Why Karate Has High Kicks?
Do you want to know who, when, and why introduced high kicks to karate? The answer is in my article Why and Since When Are High Kicks in Karate?

Tom Kurz throws a high roundhouse kick (mawashi-geri-jodan) with no warm-up
Filed under: Sports Technique | Leave a Comment
Tags: high roundhouse kick, karate, mawashi-geri-jodan, warm-up
After immigrating to the U.S.A. in the early 1980s as a political refugee, I was looking for a way to make a living from my sports-science know-how. So I was looking at publications on various aspects of sports training and p.e., among them martial arts’ magazines. Especially in those martial arts’ magazines, I noticed a need for good instruction on practically everything. I decided to sell my know-how on flexibility, because it’s so easy to advertise.
Think, how would you advertise, let’s say, the best method to improve a high jump and a reach jump? It’s difficult to show a photo of a dynamic movement that convinces people. But with flexibility it is very easy: a photo of a split between chairs proves a point: the great range of motion combined with considerable strength. But I did not use a photo of a front-back split — I used a photo of a straddle split because, unlike the front-back split, it plays on a human viewer’s “monkey mind.” To see why it does it, read my new post at https://www.stadion.com/high-kicks-and-splits-monkey-mind-and-advertising/
To obtain my flexibility know-how, see publications listed below.



Filed under: Flexibility and Stretching, Sports Psychology/Mental Toughness | Leave a Comment
Tags: Flexibility, front-back splits, high kicks, martial arts, monkey mind, sports science, sports training, straddle splits, Thomas Kurz






