Trish Bare Grounds, author of the Bare Essentials Guide to Martial Arts Injury Care and Prevention says that a vegetarian diet alone shouldn't affect your training but there are special steps you need to take to ensure that your muscles are getting the right nutrition:
Simply being vegetarian does not effect your stamina and muscle tissue repair, but too low of a protein intake will. Protein is the building block for your muscle which is damaged and broken down every time you work out, so therefore is a vital part of your daily food intake.
There are many very healthy alternatives if you do not wish to eat meat, fish, fowl, dairy products or eggs. Beans, nuts, tofu, and lentils to begin with have necessary protein from a non-animal source, but the addition of dairy products or even eggs would greatly increase your protein intake. Cheese, yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese, milk, etc. are good sources of animal product, but not animal, alternatives to eating meat. If you are a vegetarian and a martial artists, I suggest you look at your diet and re-evaluate your protein intakes and adjust them as necessary.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
New Book Release: Martial Arts Injury Care and Prevention
The revised second edition of Trish Bare Grounds' Bare Essentials Guide to Martial Arts Injury Care and Prevention has been released. New in this revised and expanded second edition:
Expanded strength and conditioning section:
Expanded taping and wrapping section:
Added information on first aid:
New chapter about pregnancy and the martial arts
Updated scientific research and medical information
Over 150 pages and 300 photos added
Expanded strength and conditioning section:
- 12 additional upper body stretches
- 7 simple tests to gauge your fitness level
- 24 essential core strengthening exercises
- Weightlifting for conditioning
- Core strengthening TotalGym workout
- 25 strength-training exercises for the Swiss ball
- Weight training with dumbbells and free weights
- Resistive band exercises for strengthening and rehab
- Plyometrics overview
Expanded taping and wrapping section:
- Using protective padding on the feet
- Taping the Achilles tendon, knee joint, elbow and heel
- Wrapping the ankle, thigh, hip and shoulder
Added information on first aid:
- wound care
- treatment of lacerations
- skin infections
- hip and groin injuries
- shoulder, elbow, wrist, finger and thumb injuries
- torso injuries
- dehydration
New chapter about pregnancy and the martial arts
Updated scientific research and medical information
Over 150 pages and 300 photos added
Kickboxing Strategy: Close Range Fighting
Keith Livingston, co-author of Complete Kickboxing, tells us why distance doesn't always equal safety in the ring:
The difference between the inside and outside is that the inside is a total power game, a seek and destroy kind of a game. A good inside fighter generally equates to a power fighter. On the outside, the jab is the dominant technique. It may therefore appear as though outside fighting is more strategic. But all the principles that apply to outside fighting also apply to inside fighting. When you get to the inside with a good defensive fighter, you can’t just punch away and hope to win. There has to be some method to your madness. You must vary your rhythm, timing, and strike patterns. For example, on the outside, you may jab high and throw a rear cross low. But on the inside, you may throw an uppercut to the head to open up the body. There are specific techniques which are more appropriate at close quarter range, such as hooks to the body, uppercuts, tight hooks to the head, short jabs and crosses, and overhand strikes. These inside techniques tend to favor power and allow for a better body attack. On the outside, you can land a lot of strikes to your opponent’s centerline. But on the inside, you can be successful with both the center and sides of your opponent’s body.
The difference between the inside and outside is that the inside is a total power game, a seek and destroy kind of a game. A good inside fighter generally equates to a power fighter. On the outside, the jab is the dominant technique. It may therefore appear as though outside fighting is more strategic. But all the principles that apply to outside fighting also apply to inside fighting. When you get to the inside with a good defensive fighter, you can’t just punch away and hope to win. There has to be some method to your madness. You must vary your rhythm, timing, and strike patterns. For example, on the outside, you may jab high and throw a rear cross low. But on the inside, you may throw an uppercut to the head to open up the body. There are specific techniques which are more appropriate at close quarter range, such as hooks to the body, uppercuts, tight hooks to the head, short jabs and crosses, and overhand strikes. These inside techniques tend to favor power and allow for a better body attack. On the outside, you can land a lot of strikes to your opponent’s centerline. But on the inside, you can be successful with both the center and sides of your opponent’s body.
Monday, January 23, 2006
What is Dynamic Tension?
Loren Christensen and Wim Demeere answer this common question in The Fighter's Body:
Dynamic tension is a simple, but highly effective way for your muscles to gain power and increase size by working against other muscles in your body. You control the tension by increasing or decreasing the amount of resistance you apply. The exercises are considered progressive because you continuously increase the tension as you progress in strength.
Dynamic tension has been an important supplemental exercise in the martial arts for many years. It defines the word applicability because it develops power from the starting point of a technique and all along its track. This is called “specificity of movement,” meaning that you exercise the exact muscles you want to increase in power and size.
You can do dynamic tension as a supplement along with your weight training, by itself at the end of your martial arts workout, or on those days you don’t train in your fighting art. If you normally lift weights but for whatever reason you can’t for a while, dynamic tension helps maintain your weight-trained gains.
Dynamic tension is a simple, but highly effective way for your muscles to gain power and increase size by working against other muscles in your body. You control the tension by increasing or decreasing the amount of resistance you apply. The exercises are considered progressive because you continuously increase the tension as you progress in strength.
Dynamic tension has been an important supplemental exercise in the martial arts for many years. It defines the word applicability because it develops power from the starting point of a technique and all along its track. This is called “specificity of movement,” meaning that you exercise the exact muscles you want to increase in power and size.
You can do dynamic tension as a supplement along with your weight training, by itself at the end of your martial arts workout, or on those days you don’t train in your fighting art. If you normally lift weights but for whatever reason you can’t for a while, dynamic tension helps maintain your weight-trained gains.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
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
View the full list of DVD sale titles
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
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
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
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.
Monday, January 16, 2006
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!
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Bargain Basement Books Delivery
We have just received a delivery of bargain basement books - about a dozen titles in all. If you see a title you want, act quickly because the quantities in stock are small and the bargain basement empties out fast.
Relative Distance in Fighting
From Combat Strategy:
Real distance is determined by the absolute measure of distance from one point to another. However, this objective measure works only in a world where all people are physical and mental equals. Since this is unreasonable, you cannot rely on real distance alone to determine your combat strategy.
Relative distance is used to account for the many mitigating factors of actual combat including:
EXAMPLE: In neutral and long-range combat, you use speed to initiate an attack. However if your opponent is faster than you, you will easily be countered before you complete the attack. If you are faster, then your relative distance to the target is shorter but if your opponent is faster than your relative distance is longer.
Real distance is determined by the absolute measure of distance from one point to another. However, this objective measure works only in a world where all people are physical and mental equals. Since this is unreasonable, you cannot rely on real distance alone to determine your combat strategy.
Relative distance is used to account for the many mitigating factors of actual combat including:
- Skill level
- Mental toughness
- Speed
- Size
- Types of available weapons (bodily and environmental)
- Vulnerability of targets exposed
- Type of techniques available
EXAMPLE: In neutral and long-range combat, you use speed to initiate an attack. However if your opponent is faster than you, you will easily be countered before you complete the attack. If you are faster, then your relative distance to the target is shorter but if your opponent is faster than your relative distance is longer.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Proper Breathing Techinique
According to Dr. Jacob Jordan, author of Total MindBody Training, the average person does not breath correctly and therefor does not get the maximum intake of air with every breath. "A normal thoracic breath draws only 500 to 700 cc of air in the average adult. This results in less efficient oxygen delivery to your circulatory system and subsequently less potential for physical action. On the other hand, a deep, abdominal breath typically draws 2500cc to 3000cc of air, expanding the entire lungs for optimal oxygen delivery."
To maximize every breath, he suggests practicing deep abdominal breathing. "Breathing should be accomplished by allowing the abdomen to inflate like a balloon creating the sensation of air being pulled deep into the lower body. When you have reached a maximum comfortable breath, press the air even further down towards the pelvis by tensing the abdomen slightly. Expiration is then accomplished in a gradual, controlled manner. Keeping slight tension in the abdominal muscles, the air is slowly released."
When breathing, he recommends using the nose, not the mouth. "All breathing should be done through the nose with the exception of when vocalizing as when a martial artist performs a kiai. Nose breathing is most efficient for oxygen delivery and preserves the moisture of the airways. This becomes extremely important when involved in lengthy, dehydrating workouts."
To maximize every breath, he suggests practicing deep abdominal breathing. "Breathing should be accomplished by allowing the abdomen to inflate like a balloon creating the sensation of air being pulled deep into the lower body. When you have reached a maximum comfortable breath, press the air even further down towards the pelvis by tensing the abdomen slightly. Expiration is then accomplished in a gradual, controlled manner. Keeping slight tension in the abdominal muscles, the air is slowly released."
When breathing, he recommends using the nose, not the mouth. "All breathing should be done through the nose with the exception of when vocalizing as when a martial artist performs a kiai. Nose breathing is most efficient for oxygen delivery and preserves the moisture of the airways. This becomes extremely important when involved in lengthy, dehydrating workouts."
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Loren Christensen honored by Black Belt Magazine
Loren Christensen, author of the best selling book Solo Training and the recently released Solo Training DVD has been named one of the "Toughest Martial Artists" by Black Belt magazine. Check out the details in the April issue of Black Belt, on newstands soon.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Zen Man Movie Website
The official Zen Man movie website is live at www.zenmanmovie.com
Check out the site today for trailers, production stills, movie themed wallpaper and more details about Sang H. Kim's first feature film.
Check out the site today for trailers, production stills, movie themed wallpaper and more details about Sang H. Kim's first feature film.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Video to DVD conversion complete
Turtle Press has completed transferring video titles to DVD format and will soon be discontinuing VHS sales. Some titles will not be transferred to DVD and will instead be discontinued, so order soon if there are VHS titles on your wish list.
Turtle Press video previews on Google
Turtle Press vidoe previews can now be seen on Google Video in broadband windows media format. If you're having difficultly previewing titles on our site in RealPlayer or just prefer to watch the previews in your browser, go to video.google.com and search on the DVD title or key words.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Feinting for Street Fighting
Loren Christensen and Wim Demeere, authors of Timing in the Fighting Arts, offer this simple partner drill to practice using feinting in a self-defense situation:
Square off with your partner and run trough your entire arsenal of feints using your head, arm, kicks, grabs, footwork, and even shouts. Your partner should give you honest feedback. If he feels your feint isn’t convincing enough, he tells you so. Now, don’t take it personally and come back at him with, “Yeah, but your mama’s a thief.” Learn from the critique and strive to correct the problem.
Here are a few tricks for you to try. They are simple because our fighting philosophy is simple. It’s already hard enough on the streets without getting complex in your self-defense.
Switch levels of attack Fake an attack to your opponent’s legs and when he moves to block, hit him in the face. The bigger the difference in the levels, the harder it is for him to defend against your follow-up attack. If you can’t hit at extreme levels, do less. Fake a head punch, and when he dodges, slam a hard punch into his liver.
Last Day to Save on Advanced Joongbong DVD
The Advanced Joongbong DVD will ship on Dec 15th. Today is the last to preorder and save $5.00 off the regular price.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dec 15th final day for ground shipping
Order before Thursday Dec 15th to take advantage of lower cost priority mail or UPS ground shipping on Christmas orders. This is also the final day for all international orders to arrive in time for Christmas. After Dec. 15th, choose UPS second day air or UPS next day air for guaranteed Christmas arrival.
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