Ultimate Flexibility: A Complete Guide to Stretching for Martial Arts

Very extensive and thorough, over 400 pages. Even a section on stretching for rehabilitation.

Ultimate flexibility is an excellent book for those who practice the martial arts, regardless of their current flexibility level. It's even great for those who don't. My wife (who doesn't practice martial arts) joins me for flexibility exercises and enjoys the workout quite a bit. The book is divided to 3 main categories. The first chapters deal with the scientific background. What are the mechanisms behind flexibility; what can be improved; what are the limitations; and what are the potential hazards for the un-educated, practicing flexibility. It details the major muscle groups and explains the benefit of having each flexible. It has good suggestions in terms of keeping workout logs and setting goals. The second part has actual flexibility exercises, all clearly explained along with a photo for each. Some exercises are presented with a few alternatives-- easier versions and harder versions. The third and last part suggests flexibility workouts. That is, what a workout should include depending on your background and goals. Ultimate Flexibility has helped my flexibility tremendously. It's educational, clear and concise and most importantly, motivating. I now look forward for some time off so I can go out and practice some flexibility. Bravo. - Petel

I just received and skimmed through last evening, and this appears to be exactly what I had hoped. I'm now in my late 60's, with a goal of joining my granddaughter in TKD classes by the end of this year, and so I have some serious conditioning to do. The book is very well organized. I particularly like the suggested workouts in Chapter 7. These are two page step by step diagrams that take you through each of 14 stretch areas -- with page references for each stretch. For the beginner, it's a great starting point and can be readily changed up as one's fitness progresses. So looks to be exactly what I need. Pages lay out flat for the most part, which is good. Spiral bound would have been a nice touch for this type reference.

This book was definitely a good buy. Great sections on the theory of stretching and flexibility, and a good section on kinesiology. Lots of great stretches and it was great that they told you which stretches would benefit a certain muscle group. I was also really excited to find a section on improving kick height (the main reason I bought the book). Towards the end it gives lists of stretches the are good for certain kinds of martial arts (light-contact, full-contact, grappling, weapons, MMA, boxing, nd the author's favorites). Overall this book is very good.

I have chosen to replace the stretches from the Mike Reeves book "Ultimate Combat Conditioning for the Street Warrior" with the entire litany of stretching work prescribed in this book "Ultimate Flexibility for Martial Arts." I'm keeping all the power & endurance training knowledge from Sensei Mike Reeves' book, and his follow up book "Power Breaking" which is about physical conditioning for breaking wood, stone and bones for martial arts. But I'm also combining that with the martial flexibility knowledge & skills from this one. In my view and experience thus far, this produces the truly ultimate physical conditioning program for hardcore martial arts training - the best of both arenas in terms of physical fitness and conditioning for hand to hand combat. And you know what, I'm nothing less than satisfied with the results op to this point. Thank you.

This is really a nice text with photo plates on a number of stretches (basic to advance) for almost anyone, but geared especially for those practicing some martial art. Although it's an older book, the information is still solid, readable with key points, and in one bound volume. Dr. Kim's organization and simple teaching method is great, bearing in mind, with these types of books you're generally learning on your own. If you're in a class, talk with your co-students and teacher to supplement Dr. Kim's instruction. They can agree or disagree. All in all, an excellent resource to browse and refresh one's memory of stretches for various parts of the body.

I'm using the kindle version of this book and find it exceptionally poorly designed which ultimately makes it very frustrating to use. The first half on the book is informative giving the basic physiology etc behind stretching and I enjoyed it very much. The stretches themselves seem rather basic and and explained a little too simply. It would have been nice to have the science mixed in so I could understand what I was doing with my body with each stretch. I feel there is little here in terms of stretching that I haven't already tried. The best parts are where some of the stretches have easier and more challenging variations. Going back to the poor design each stretch is not on a fresh page and at times you don't realise that you have moved on to the explanation of another stretch. There are suggested routines at the back which list stretches and pages numbers. There are no links back to the pages and flicking back and forth is very annoying and incredibly time consuming. Ultimately I wouldn't encourage anyone to buy this as a kindle version though the physical book maybe less frustrating.

this book is insane it has step by step instructions for beginners and pros it also shows warmups for mma, boxing, weapons, splits, grappling, and high kicking I highly recommend this book

awesome book for working on your flexibility. All the exercices are presented in the beginning of the book, both beginners version and advanced versions. Then are some workouts for some flexibility training for high kicks, boxing, full contact, etc. A book I really am glad to have to give me new ideas on the flexibility/stretching side of my training

Simply brilliant. Unfolded everything for a serious minded Sportsman.

Es un buen libro de referencia si no sabes nada sobre el tema o si no entiendes la teoria. Sin embargo, si ya tienes algo de entendimiento de flexibilidad no te aporta nada novedoso.

Spiegazioni interessanti riguardo le tipologie di stretching nonchè bella selezione di esercizi mirati all ottenimento di un determinato obbiettivo inerente il campo delle arti marziali

I brought this book as I want to increase my flexibility. I'm not a martial artist and basically use exercise DVD's so was a bit hesitant. I headed to this as I have been using the Billy Blanks Tae-Bo DVD's (great!) that involve roundhouse and side kicks and wanted to increase the height of my kicks. However...the book is written in very plain language - no jargon and not intimidating. It talks about what influences your flexibility, and the different types of stretching. It then has sections on different stretches for each body part. The most useful section for me were a range of suggested workouts - each one working all body parts. These ranged from a basic core workout, a warm-up and cool down workout (and I have noticed a difference in my flexibility using these)and a range of suggested workouts for different types of sports. Even better, there is a section focusing on each body part listing page numbers for those exercises to respectively begin, maintain and increase flexibility in each part. This also includes 'shortcuts' for those body parts where you are experiencing short-term tension i.e. in the neck.that have also helped me. Whilst some of the pointers may be said to be basic, as I have forgotten my school days I found these extremely useful. There is also a good section on how your body works and the muscles and how increasing flexibilty works. I think the details in this book can be applied to anyone regardless of their sport, from complete beginners, to those more experienced. If there are any downsides to the book, I was personally not overkeen on the pictures for the stretches - these consisted of two black and white photo's with a brief description on how to perform it with a picture of how to start and how you should look when the stretch is performed, but that is such a minor quibble. I have not regretted buying this book as I think it is relevant, useful, and I am beginning to notice a difference having performed the core workout (15 mins)each day.