training

Kurz's book is probably the best book on stretching available. It explaines how muscles work, what you do to them by stretching and the correct order of stretching exercises which is very, very important to get any results from stretching. I'm using his method (warm-up, dynamic stretching, work out, active static stretching, passiv static stretching and finally isometric stretching- in that very order!) for 3 months now and I'm very close to the full side split. His method works, believe me. It's not true you can't see what routine to choose, the exercises are divided into stretches for different parts of the body. So if you desire the side split use the routines leading to the sidesplit daily as described. I'm pretty sure anyone can do the full split in less than one year using Kurz's advice.

It is obvious once you are done reading this book that the author has a strong grasp of the science of stretching. There are good stretching techniques mentioned in the book, complete with exercise plans depending on your sport and an Question/Answer section.

However, the book reads more like a technical thesis than something intended for a non-medical audience. For a book that is past its third revision, the pictures HAVE to be updated from grainy black-and-white and confusing stick figures. Finally, one can't help thinking less of the author when he peppers his writing with comments that show a lack of understanding of existing martial art stretching techniques.

There is much that can be improved in this book. If you don't mind spending the money (it's more expensive than it should be) then you'll find some helpful ideas, but not much more.

*** This review is for the 4th edition, superceding my 3rd edition review.

Buying this new edition, especially since I thought the third edition was a good enough start, was a matter of integrity. I'd blistered the editors for not organizing the book well, and took the author to task for some vagaries in his descriptions and the lightness of graphical assistance, i.e. crummy drawings and mediocre photographs.

I can say that the editors improved the book significantly. The organization of the chapters is now more-logical, and it also begins in a very direct, simple manner that gradually adds complexity as you read. Which is fine, since concepts introduced earlier are laying a foundation of knowledge required for the later , extremely scientific chapter on how muscles, tendons, and ligaments work together to move your body in three dimensions.

I enjoyed the new edition more than the third, and I was very pleased with the updates and corrections. I believe you still need to invest some sweat to extract any value from this, but I would surmise no one is picking this up for light reading: this is an owner's manual for your body in some respects, and it requires hands-on application.

The fifth star is not forthcoming, and I don't think a fifth edition will change this. The photographs and stick figures you loved to hate from prior editions are still here, and I can't help wonder why the publisher didn't just run a contest at SVA or Pratt for book illustrators.

Still, there's less excuses for readers to employ if they can't figure out a good routine after reading this book, and Thomas Kurz's admonishing commentary is hilarious: I can actually see him as a professor taking some of the dimmer student body to task for not fully reading the relevant material. The FAQ section alone is worth the price of admission.