Complete Conditioning for Martial Arts

I should say I don't study martial arts. I use this book just for it's good strengthening exercises (although it has good stretches in it, too.) This is a great book for strengthening, especially the torso. I like it because first, the things necessary to do the exercises are inexpensive, second it gives sets of exercises in 4s and 5s, so you can do 2 sets of exercises (I do one upper, one lower body) in about 20-25 minutes. They're very doable, and have a range of reps so you can do what you feel good about without overdoing it. I've been using it for about 6 months now and I love it. In fact, I'm here now because I accidently recycled my copy, so I have to get a new one!

Regardless of system, progress in the martial arts requires not only proper instruction, but a high level of general fitness. Many martial arts instructors neglect to tell this to their students, probably because they stick to "traditional" training techniques that were developed before the discoveries of sports science. It is not enough to go to class 3 times a week and expect your body to perform at a high level when you need it to. The masters of old trained every day, and with the exercises in this book, you can too, and get even better results.Read this and you will have the basic, scientific principles of athletic training at your fingertips. You will learn about the basic components of fitness (flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, muscular power, muscle balance, speed, agility, aerobic and anerobic capacity), and how various systems emphasize different aspects of fitness. Especially important--the joint stabilization exercises. You won't find very many instructors teaching these. I wish I knew these, as I dislocated my shoulder a few times doing judo and kung fu. They will improve your muscle balance and prevent dislocations. I've incorporated them into my workout routine.

Complete Conditioning For Martial Arts by certified strength and conditioning specialist and black belt holder Sean Cochrane is a solid, "user friendly" guide to stretching exercises and training techniques to build the strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, speed, and agility that, in turn, can be applied to improve one's command of martial arts. Black-and-white photographs along with helpful text, warnings of health hazards and art-specific advice characterize this highly recommended addition to personal and professional Martial Arts reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

In Complete Conditioning For Martial Arts, Taekwondo second-degree black belt and NSCA-certified Sean Cochran presents an indispensable reference for the aspiring martial arts students for developing and maintaining the physical conditioning necessary to all martial arts forms including karate, taekwondo, judo, aikido, jujitsu, and kempo. The exercises are specifically designed for practitioners of martial arts techniques and are enhanced with guides to proper nutrition, recovery, and sample workout programs. Complete Conditioning For Martial Arts is very highly recommended as being both user friendly and an ideal text for use by martial arts instructors, sports conditioning specialists, fitness instructors, and physical education teachers.

If you are new to the world of strength and conditioning then this book is for you. It is very basic and easy to understand. The introductions to each chapter are very comprehensive and provide a good rationale for the exercises to follow. The pictures would also be very helpful for beginners. I would have liked to have seen some more creative and advanced strength and conditioning exercises that were less general and more specific to martial arts, but as I read I quickly realized that this book is not geared toward strength coaches, but rather those students who may not know too much about strength, flexibility, nutrition, or plyometrics. This book would be great for any martial artist who doesn't know how to supplement their in class training with an out of class workout.