Archive for the ‘Sports Technique’ Category
Can you tell a well-schooled sports instructor or a martial arts instructor from an unschooled one? Then watch the video in my latest article and point out the single teaching error that keeps a student practice a simple grappling throw for over ten minutes and still not get it–even though his instructor shows him the […]
Filed under: Sports Technique, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | 1 Comment
Tags: martial arts instructor, sports instructor, teaching athletic skills, teaching error
Power High Kicks With No Warm-Up! DVD trailer Power High Kicks With No Warm-Up! DVD is now available as a pay-per-view streaming video for $39.95 ($10.00 less than the DVD). You may view it from anywhere, for an unlimited number of times. The first and the second chapters of Power High Kicks With No Warm-Up! […]
Filed under: Flexibility and Stretching, Sports Technique, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | Leave a Comment
Running Technique
Running is the most commonly used form of movement for developing general aerobic endurance. It is a simple, natural movement, yet people can do it wrong. For a description of the correct running technique plus info on the influence of footwear on gait and posture, which affects athletic performance in every sport and martial art, […]
Filed under: Endurance Training for Sports and Martial Arts, Health Maintenance, Sports Injuries, Sports Technique | Leave a Comment
Tags: endurance training, exercise, gait, martial arts, posture, running technique, sports training, Thomas Kurz
Apart from the internal focus in this demo, I also don’t like the short grip–which is great for twirling but not for power with accuracy at a long distance.
Filed under: Sports Psychology/Mental Toughness, Sports Technique, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | 1 Comment
Tags: combat sports, external focus, fighting, internal focus, martial arts, mental training, nunchaku, sports psychology, Sports Technique, Thomas Kurz, Tom Kurz
Resistance and Technique
To make myself stronger, I use resistance between the minimum that forces the correct technique and the maximal training resistance (MTR)—the greatest resistance that can be overcome without a strong effort of will and emotional stress. Exceeding the MTR, except for a well-justified test, is about vanity, showing off—it doesn’t perfect technique (it leads to […]
Filed under: Sports Technique, Strength Training for Sports and Martial Arts | 5 Comments
Tags: correct technique, maximal training resistance, optimal training resistance, Science of Sports Training, strength training, Thomas Kurz, Tom Kurz
This post was written as my contribution to a series of posts on training young athletes, published in coach James Marshall’s blog. I will begin with tips not for the young athletes themselves but for those who train them. I begin by commenting on a concept from the post by Frank Dick, “before you get […]
Filed under: Sports Injuries, Sports Technique | 3 Comments
Tags: Denis Betts, external load, external resistance, Frank Dick, general exercises, Gil Stevenson, gymnast, internal load, James Marshall, judo wrestler, judoka, Kelvin Giles, Paul Gamble, Roy Headey, Simon Worsnop, sport-specific exercises, sports techniques, sprained ACL, sprint, sprinter, Thomas Kurz, Tom Kurz, track-and-field, Vern Gambetta, young athletes
Someone has asked me what I think about using resistance bands in kick training, specifically Myosource Kinetic Bands. (You can see a martial arts class using these bands in the video below.) Here is my answer: With good technique, they could help. The TKD master in the video is an abysmally poor instructor, so for […]
Filed under: Sports Technique, Strength Training for Sports and Martial Arts, Teaching Movement Skills for Sports and Martial Arts | 6 Comments
Tags: American Taekwondo Association, ATA, athlete, Chief Master Steve Westbrook, Children and Sports Training, comedy, elastic resistance, instructor, kick, kicking, martial arts, martial arts class, Myosource Kinetic Bands, resistance bands, Songahm Taekwondo Federations, sports training, STU, taekwondo, technique, Thomas Kurz, TKD master, World Traditional Taekwondo Union, WTTU
First, Fix Faults
My observations tell me that the key to a great and lasting performance improvement is not in trying harder but in removing obstacles. In other words, fixing faults pays more than overcoming them. Therefore, when asked to advise people how to improve their performance, my guiding principle is “Usun usterki,” or in English, “First, fix […]
Filed under: Sports Injuries, Sports Technique, Strength Training for Sports and Martial Arts | 10 Comments
Tags: active release, injuries, lower crossed syndrome, martial arts, muscle activation, performance, posture, taekwondo, Thomas Kurz, upper crossed syndrome
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. An example: A […]
Filed under: Sports Technique, Strength Training for Sports and Martial Arts | 3 Comments
Tags: american football, clean and jerk, clean and press, combat athletes, deadlift, explosive power, kettlebells, mixed martial arts, mma, snatch, tire flips, wrestling
“You can observe a lot by watching”—Yogi Berra Here are my thoughts on the dispute between proponents of separation of strength training from skill training vs proponents of integration of strength and skill training (i.e., progression of strength exercises from general to increasingly sport-specific with parallel technical training). Let’s begin with easily observable facts: At […]
Filed under: Sports Performance, Sports Technique, Strength Training for Sports and Martial Arts | 3 Comments
Tags: skill training, sport-specific strength exercises, strength training, super slow
