Customer Reviews

Science of Martial Arts Training

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

 

 

"In my over twenty years of instructing martial arts and close quarters combat to some of the world's top military special operations personnel, I have seen countless ways very dedicated fighters waste time with useless drills and questionable training methods. Few have learned the true secrets of effective fighting. In the world of hand to hand combat there very few gurus whom I would ever send any of my people to train under; Charles Staley is definitely on that short list.

Charles' training methods not only rapidly accelerate your skills, dramatically increase your striking power, and keep you in incredible shape, but more importantly he'll actually cut your training time significantly while achieving these spectacular results. I found by working with Charles that my old methods of combining strength training and mat time produced limited results for the time spent. I have now cut my training time by almost 50%, yet I get more quality results using his training methods.

The Science Of Martial Arts Training is a must have for today's combat fighter. Reading this book you'll see why some of the top competitive fighters train under Charles Staley. Use the straightforward principles and methods in this book and you'll see why his clients REMAIN top competitive fighters."

In The Science Of Martial Arts Training, sports science expert and accomplished martial artist Charles Staley draws upon his decades spent studying the training techniques of successful athletes and martial artists to present a competent, insightful, effective, "reader friendly" text covering such issues as strength development, flexibility, speed and quickness, tournament strategy, mental preparation, avoidance of injuries, and proper nutrition for the student of martial arts, regardless of which form or branch is being learned and practiced. The Science Of Martial Arts Training is a superb addition to any personal, dojo, or community library martial arts reference collection.

As a forty year old man who has lifted weights and trained for sports since high school, I thought that I knew how to design my own training program. This book showed me that I had been wasting my time and achieving sub-optimal results all those years. I took up karate at 37, and quickly realized that I needed to improve my conditioning to be able to safely practice the martial arts. I picked this up two years ago and found it to be a valuable resource. I am as strong or stronger today than I have ever been (including my time on a college varsity team), and feel like it as improved my ability to effectively and safely study and practice the martial arts.

The negative reviewers have a point, this book does have an emphasis on strength training. That is mostly because it is the easiest thing for most people to improve, and makes the biggest difference in your performance. If you understand the principles of modern strength training, you will get less out of this book than I did. However, most weight lifting books that I have seen are focused on the bodybuilding community, and will not teach you how to train to improve your strenth while maintaining your fighting weight, or how to train to improve your speed, the way this book will. (Some of the weight training books that are focused on training for athletic performance are referenced in the book.) The discussions of endurance training, stretching, and nutrition are shorter, but were still very useful to me, and provide a good basis for designing a training program to improve your performance in your martial art.

This book is definitely designed for someone who wants to be a more competitive athlete, not a body builder. I use the ideas from this book to guide my conditioning training, I use my sensei to guide my karate-specific training, and I have been very happy with my results.

There may well be a science to martial arts training, but this isn't it. Rather, this is a sensible, thorough, and seemingly well-researched formulation of an overall fitness program for athletes. A few important points are touched upon that don't get enough discussion in most fitness and martial arts books -- like dynamic stretching and powerlifting. Reference to specific arts, though, is scarcely to be found. Nor is there much discussion of the different requirements of different fighting arts (grapplers, for instance, won't need as much kicking/punching power as tae kwon do practitioners, let alone the leg flexibility).

The book divides the science of martial arts into several parts, including (I'm going by memory) physical conditioning, the skill with which techniques are performed, psychological readiness, and the tactics chosen. Yet physical conditioning is the main focus of the book: actual techniques, psychological training, and tactics are neglected.

If you're a martial artist or athlete, you might benefit from this book -- it will certainly help you design a good fitness program. But it's no better than any other good and up-to-date book, and it's not terribly specific to the martial arts either.

The other reviews of this book are fair. It is not anything new, or very original. I found it interesting though. I think that there are a lot of Martial Artists out there that have no backgroun in athletics or sports science, and as such don't know much about Physical training outside of "do more" . For the less than gifted, this is a sure path to a major plateau in performance, and an eventual boredom w/ martial arts. This book covers periodization, recovery and alternative stretching techniques better than any other book "for martial artists". Who was the greatest Martial Artist ever? Most would say Bruce, and he is best known for his physique and his use of weight training and other non traditional training methods. TO ANY MARTIAL ARTIST JUST GETTING STARTED IN REALLY TRAINING- this book will save you countless hours of confusion and frustration, and will giude you to further learning if that's what you seek. The bibliography of this book changed my life! Check it out. If you were a jock in highschool or especially College, you don't need this book. Get more advanced stuff. But otherwise, GET THIS BOOK!!!

Staley doesn't give you fighting drills, he doesn't give you a set, long-term repetitive exercise program. What he does do is lay the foundation and shows how to build yourself while taking into account all the different aspects of how to effectively adjust your own training cycle to your body. I don't know what else to say.......get it..........now!

I wish I had this book when I started karate. I wouldn't have been injured so much from improper training. This book covers exactly what is lacking in most martial arts schools. It covers the science of the physical training needed to be your best and achieve it safely and efficiently.

It won't teach you specific stances or blocks, but that's what schools and sites like combastics are for. I don't know of any other book that provides such a complete physical training regiment (not just weight training) tailored specifically for martial artists to develop strength, speed, and flexibility.

Some people might find the detailed explanations of physiology too technical and above their heads as I did at first. But, I think it's better to have the information available than to not. They weren't kidding when they put "Science" in the title.

If you should be wary of anything, then beware of taking fitness advice from well-meaning karate instructors not certified in personal fitness or training on your own uneducated.

Among the most important books on human performance... I'm partial, I'm one of Coach Staley athletes. I cannot help but rave about the principle and tennets of this book which took me from state level to qualifying for Nationals in one year of training! How could I be impartial?

Myself the Director of Education for the International Sports Sciences Association, I will recommend this book as a core supplement to our intense curriculum. The key information on sport training, periodization, and assessment make it an invaluable tool to my students.

This book transcends the martial arts. It is an understandable text for ANY athlete who ever wanted to be better.

Like the reader from Walnut Creek says, this book is essentially a weight training book, and frankly, not a very interesting, thorough, or original one. I was sorely disappointed. There was really no information that hasn't already been published a hundred times before in a hundred other similar books and magazines. Nothing cutting edge or inspiring or anything that makes you stop and think, wow, now that's a good idea, I can't wait to try that. I've enjoyed some of Staley's writings in the magazines and on his website, but this was just a real let down.

I bought this book expecting to find information on how to develop & build certain attributes for a martial artist. I am very disappointed, this book is mainly based on "Weight Training" sequences. You can probably find most of the training information provided here in any good book on weight training. And it will probably be more complete!