Health and Fitness in the Martial Arts, by Dr. J. C. Canney

here are an abundance of opinions on how the martial arts affects us one way or another, and that's all well and fine. As long as there's interest, arguments, different views, exchange of opinions and friendly debates all is well - that's a system built for progres. How utterly boring things would be if everyone agreed on everything, don't you agree :-)? Anyhow, it is always good to get information from someone truly qualified to have an opinion - that is from people with real knowledge and experience. You can sense that they have a keen interest in the subject also, they don't just say something to hear their own voice...

Dr. James Canney is a retired doctor of medicine. He has been Dr. to the British National Karate Team since 1981. He has children and grandchildren who train budo on a high level, and he has a vast experience in treating elite competitors. Dr. Canney was also one of the founders of the Medical Commission in World Union of Karatedo Organisations (WUKO, now: WKF - World Karate Federation). From this it shouldn't be too hard to guess that he is well qualified to present the subject: "Health and Fitness in the Martial Arts".

Training in the martial arts and fighting sports does give you potential benefits - physical as well as mental. At the same time there are many demands, requirements and prerequisites. This all of course depends on the level you're aiming at/working on, and degree of efforts you put into it. The purpose of this book is to make your training more focused and beneficial, by better understanding the outcomes and the requirements.

In this official book from "The Martial Arts Commission" in England, the author talk about fitness (being or getting in shape), as well as about health. According to Dr. Canney there's a difference to these two concepts. Here he gives the students and teachers/trainers factual knowledge about the body - something that makes it possible to better match the mental and physical fitness with the desires, goals and needs of the individual student (or fighter).

In the various chapters Canney goes through a balanced diet, the function of heart and the loungs, the muscles, the skeleton, the joints, the nervous system, the glands, and the psychological factors. In the final chapter he present you to the issue of teaching/training children.

If you're serious about your art/training or your teaching, and you wish to know more about the effects of training strength, speed, endurance etc. you will find this here. The book covers injuries, motivation, vizualisation, relaxation, aggression, the importance of a balanced diet, rest, and many more vital subjects. This is simply a book you ought to to read if you wish to become better at what you do!

And if you do wish to get it then I suggest you take a look at: Abebooks, or from E-Bay! Naturally you may buy it from Amazon also (there's a link in the left column).

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