Customer Reviews

Dynamic Stretching and Kicking

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Bill Wallace, Full-contact Karate's most famous kicker, wrote this book as an introduction on his particular kicking method which revolves around three kicks: Roundhouse, side, and hook kicks. Wallace fouces his attention on the method and make-up of his system that made him a champion. The book dosn't try to be a book on sparring or fighting methods.

2/3 of the book is devoted to warming up, stretching, and footwork exercises. This is helpful and concise - great for a begginer. The photos are well done and his movements and mechanics are clear and therefore, allows someone to easily copy Wallace's movements.

The book's strength is its accessibilty and easy to learn format - which is what I believe Mr. Wallace is after. This book is not on karate or martial arts, but instead, a specific aspect of American karate: Wallace's kicking and strecthing method.

Im not sure why the other two reviews here gave this book praise, but only gave it 4 stars. I have taken martial arts for nine years and this book still offered alot of useful information. Bill Wallace has a masters degree in kinesiology, so he doesnt just tell you how to stretch. He also tells you why to stretch that way, what muscles you are stretching, the physiological benifits, martial arts benefits, and pointers to make sure you do everything correctly. On top of this, he gives in depth demonstrations on how to perform his most fasmous kicks which earned him many championships in full contact karate, they dont call him superfoot for nothing. Any hard core martial artist knows that in the world of full contact karate, that Bill Wallace falls into place with Joe Lewis, Mike Stone, Chuck Norris, and Ron Marchini, as a legend in karate. And this is apparent in his book.

Several years ago I developed severe back pain, the kind I'm sure many people suffer from. I hadn't experienced any type of back trauma or anything, my back, especially the lower back, felt tight and brittle and hurt all the time. I didn't know from yoga but i did think that some kind of stretching might help me a bit. I bought the book and did the workouts to loosen up my back.It worked! because of the great response my body showed to this program my back pain vanished and I'm now a practicing martial artist. If you never intend to throw a punch or kick this book can still help you become fitter. If you are a martial artist you must read this book. It's full of good,practical advice,including one of Wallace's mantra's:"Basics,Basics Basics!" It's also inspiring, especially when Wallace talks about how he overcame injuries he sustained early in his life. Well worth reading.

Dynamic Stretching And Kicking is a great book for martial artists and non martial artists alike.Wallace explains how having flexibility can really improve the quality of your life and make you perform better in any sport or activity.His chapter on sparring was very insightful and proves just how great a fighter you can be if you can just master the basics.Now I know why he is a legend among martial artists.

Okay, I have to admit that the author is and always will be one of my inspirations for starting the martial arts and perhaps in that regard my review of this book may be slightly slated in his direction. However, once you read his book, and then compare it to my review, I think you will see that I am right on the money. I give this book 4.5 stars.

STRETCHING

Wallace starts off with a great introduction into basic anatomy and kinesiology in regards to the human body and the act of stretching. Not highly detailed, but simple basic easy to understand information that really gets the point across. This is followed up by superb section on warming up and stretching in which Wallace demonstrates numerous different full-body techniques designed to warm-up your entire body and get it ready for the stretching sessions to come. The accompanying text for each exercise, although brief, is dead on and to the point with simple and easy to understand information on what you are supposed to be doing and what parts of your body are being effected by it and why. Simply stated, a very good section.

The warm-up and stretching section is followed up by two short but very well done sections on balance and footwork. Two key components to the effectiveness of any kicking technique, not just the Wallace Method of kicking.

KICKING

"I believe that it is important to develop your own personal style based on your strengths and weaknesses, limitations and potentials." This quote from Wallace is one that seems to elude the vast majority of martial artists the world over. Not every technique is going to work for everyone. What may work well for you, may not work well for the next guy or gal. You need to find out what works for you and then incorporate it into your repertoire of techniques.

As the author states clearly and numerous times throughout this book, this is "My Style of Kicking," which may or may not work well for you. The three (3) kicks that Wallace uses are as follows:

Side Kick
Roundhouse Kick
Hook Kick

He explains his method of executing these kicks very well and in an easy to understand manner. Some might fault the lack of detailed description to go along with the kicks he demonstrates, and perhaps I should too, but I found that his explanations were adequate for all but perhaps the most novice of students so I am going to pass on this one small item.

Wallace follows up this section with several sections covering a wide range of techniques from kicking combinations to various training methods to improve your kicks, using your hands to set-up your kicks, distancing (a very useful technique by the way), and how to use kicks defensively as well as offensively, and finally, jamming.

If you are looking for a good book that covers a lot of the basics of stretching and kicking, then this would be the book for you. However, you must keep in mind what the author states numerous times throughout this book, "This is My Style of Kicking." Keeping that in mind, it may or may not be yours.

Shawn Kovacich
Martial Artist/Creator of numerous books and DVD's.

I am a huge fan of Mr. Wallace. Growing up, he was my favorite kick boxer. Unfortunately, this book dates back to 1982, and I'm afraid it's showing its age. The stretching section consists of a good stretch routine, but there's not much explanation to go with the stretches. The kicking section primarily contains kicks that require the extreme flexibility for which Mr. Wallace is known. As a fan I enjoyed the book, but I did not get much new information that I could use.

This book is a good introduction and a well prepared suplemment for those who are entering the world of martial arts. It will teach a series of stretching, strengthening, and kicking technics following a philosophy of patience, control, knowledge and perseverance which are very important elements to the beginners. Another important feature of the book is at the beginning where it tells you how to strecth avoiding injuries. One example is to avoid bouncing, which is a very common mistake commited by many sport instructors and Sensei alike.

Wallace's book just demonstrates some basic and advanced stretching techniques but doesn't give you any routines to follow and how to put them together in your workout. This book is not an exhaustive book on stretching. At the end of the book, Bill gives some demonstrations on his kicking combo's which I liked and thats why I gave it 2 stars.

I am an adult that has returned to martial arts after several decades off. This is the best book that I have found to explain how to become a more effecient kicker. Wallace explains and shows the techninques that one will need to improve their kicking. I believe that this book should not only be in every karate library but any good stretching library should have this as well. A must own book.

Bill Wallace knows his stuff. His book is educational, concise, and well illustrated. It'll teach you some things whether you're a beginner or advanced student of the martial arts.