Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #204166 in Books
• Published on: 1979-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 190 pages

Customer Reviews

Very good and very effective
This is a great book, covers most aspects of flexibility for kicking. It has in depth information on the science of the muscles and of the martial art benefits of each exercise. The stretching warm ups and exercises are very very good, and very effective. If you warm up before attempting the exercises (short jog, aerobic etc.) Also put good emphasis on the hip exercises and you'll find your stretching is much better. Don't try too hard though, I've had sore hamstrings sometimes through pushing too hard with some of the exercises. The Balance exercises are also very good, some of the best I've seen. Excellent book, I recommend it to anyone who wants to become more supple or a better kicker

Hit or Miss for Most - In My Opinion, Don't Bother
I had heard of the legendary Bill "Superfoot" Wallace and the kicks he could achieve, and so bought this book with excited expectation on the back of the Amazon reviews.

However, when I finally got hold of the book I was very diasppointed. It is very sparse and very basic, to say the least. The detail on muscle functions that the other reviewers commend is interesting, but ultimately not that significant when, like me, you are simply looking for some truly innovative stretching techniques in order to eventually achieve the wonderfully high kick Wallace is pulling off on the cover. Unless you are a physiologist or are interested in such detail, these descriptions seem to be just padding.

The book is very well illustrated, though, but this is let down by the very sparse descriptions covering the manoeuvre. Contrary to a previous review, I found Wallace's super-flexibility an encouragement, often saying to myself "I want to kick like that!" - however, Wallace neglects the processes involved in getting to that stage of flexibility, beyond "take it slowly". My favourite example of this was for "Leg Stretch #2":
1. Stand erect with right side facing the wall. Your partner holds your left leg.
2. Your partner begins pushing up on your leg
3. Relax as your partner continues the pressure
4. Eventually your foot should touch the wall

That's about as exciting as the descriptions get I'm afraid.

But what disappointed me most was that the exercises that are most effective must be done with a partner. Of course this is very necessary, but not what I was looking for I'm afraid. Also, about half the book is taken up with very very simple warm-up and stretching exercises that you will be doing in your martial art school anyway, and seem to be here just for padding or the sake of completion, but for me seemed to be wasting space.

Looking back over my review I find that I have been a bit too critical - Wallace's book is indeed very good for those wanting to attain super-flexibility, or for those wanting a thorough record of every trivial stretch - but for amateur enthusiasts like me who are looking to simply *build up* my flexibility from a partially-flexible starting point, this book wasn't right for me: the basics are too basic and the advanced are too advanced (and need a partner). I have found L. Christensen's excellent book "Solo Training" perfect for this purpose.

In all it's best to try and get your hands on someone else's copy before you buy to see if this book is for you.

A great book for martial artists who want kicking ability!!!
In my opinnion this is a great book for those who want to get high whip snappy kicking combinations. It explains a lot of the science behind the muscle structure which also tell you why some methods work and why some dont. It then takes you through a warm up of the joints and muscles. It then takes you through some upper body exercises to stretch and strengthen the upper body and then moving on to a lot more lowwer body exercises to strech and strengthen. It also contains balance and footwork exercises. Finally it takes you through Bill Wallace's style of kicking which is very detailed. The thing I like about this book is that it is well illustrated and by each stretch it give both a physical benifit which tells you which muscle you are stretching and it also gives you a martial arts benifit which tells you what techniques it will help you with. By each stretch it also gives you pointers which tell you how to increase your stretch a how to keep away from any dangers or chances of injury. This book is not an all round book for martial arts training it is mainly focused on stretching and kicking. The best book I think the best for all round martial arts training is "Training and Fighting Skills" by world champion Benny"The Jet" Urquidez and I consider it a bible for all martial artists. Another good book for stretching is Jean Frenette's "Complete Guide to Stretching" but I personally think that this book is better by 1 star.