Is Stretching the same as Warming Up?

Sang H. Kim, author of Ultimate Flexibility answers this question, "While you may include stretching in your warm-up, stretching to increase flexibility should never be a part of warming up. A warm-up is best made up of 5-10 minutes of light aerobic activity that engages the whole body. It should increase body temperature and circulation but not be fatiguing. Stretching to increase flexibility should ideally be done after the strength and cardio portions of training, when the muscles are at their warmest."

DVD Sale: Save $10 on Select Titles

Now through Monday January 23rd, save $10 on select DVD titles including Complete Kicking, Advanced Knife Defense, Self-defense Encyclopedia and Joongbong Fundamentals and Patterns.

View the full list of DVD sale titles

New Wing Chun DVDs available

Four new Wing Chun DVD titles have just arrived from China to add to our popular Wing Chun forms series:

Wing Chun Footwork DVD

Wing Chun Punching DVD

Wing Chun Palm Techniques DVD

Wing Chun Elbow Knee and Foot Techniques DVD

Coping with Blisters on the Feet

Many martial artists, especially beginners or those training on a new surface, experience painful blisters on the feet. Trish Bare Grounds, author of Bare Essentials Guide to Martial Arts Injury Care & Prevention offers two methods to help heal blisters more quickly:

For blisters of the foot you can aid in the healing process and help toughen your feet up by one of two methods. The first is to use an ice bath (ice and water in a bucket) and add a substance known as povidine or Betadine®. This is done by adding one part povidine solution to ten parts water creating a ten percent solution. Soak your entire foot in this ice bath and solution for ten to twelve minutes, one to two times per day until the blisters heal and begin to toughen.

A second method is to simply replace the povidine solution with household bleach, in the same one to ten ratio, creating a ten percent bleach solution and soaking in the ice bath with bleach solution for ten to twelve minutes, one to two times per day. Both solutions will temporarily change the color of your skin, with the povidine giving a slight orange tint, whereas the bleach may lighten the skin a little. Once again, be cautious with children under the age 8, and those athletes with known skin allergies or sensitivity as they may have a reaction to these solutions.

Rare Kung Fu Wushu Competition Footage

Turtle Press has just discovered a DVD of rare Kung Fu and Wushu competition footage filmed in China over the last two decades. Many of the performances on the DVD are by masters who have since passed away, making this a special treat for the hardcore Chinese martial arts enthusiast.

Just released: World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2005 DVD

The World Taekwondo Hanmadang 2005 DVD has just been released and is available for preorder at TurtlePress.com. This DVD presents an international taekwondo competition where nearly 3000 Taekwondo practitioners from 10 countries competed in diverse events like Poomse, Breaking, Taekwondo Aerobics, self-defense and more. We expect to have these in our warehouse to ship by Jan 23rd. Reserve your copy today!