Power Body

"Power Body: Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Sports Performance Enhancement" by Tom Seabourne, Ph.D. is a book that belongs on every martial artist's shelf, and should be read and used to do just what the title suggests, prevent injuries, rehabilitate injuries that do occur, and enhance performance in martial arts and other activities. While there are tons of "martial arts" books out there, and I should know, I have quite a collection, there are not as many with the focus of this book, and that's why I believe it belongs in the library of all martial artists, regardless of any other books collected and read.That last point is crucial. You need to read this book and implement the knowledge Seabourne is passing on into your own training regimen. If you do, you will be able to train more efficiently and effectively, minimizing injury and allowing yourself to train well into old age.The book isn't long, just under 150 pages with a number of photographs throughout, but it still contains some very good information for the martial artist. After brief section of Foreword, Preface, Acknowledgments, and Introduction, Chapter One focuses on Balance in Your Training. Seabourne addresses topics such as living well, goal setting, training, flexibility, substrate usage, and martial arts cross-training.Chapter Two, Understanding Your Body, is a good primer on basic anatomy for training. Sure, there are more in depth books on the topic, but Seabourne does a very good job of outlining the basics to provide enough information to help you train better. He covers your back, elbow, shoulders, osteoarthritis, ankles, blood, and muscles. (He also addresses other body parts in different sections.) However, you can see that this is not a complete text on your body, and it isn't supposed to be. There are some good basics as related to martial artists. The third chapter is on strength training and again, there are many books that go into depth on this topic, but this chapter provides some basics on training and nutrition to help you get stronger.Chapter four is a short chapter on injuries, and chapter five is on other considerations such as focus, mind/body psyche, stress, overtraining, footwear, sleep, martial arts cross-training for fitness, kids training, and older adult martial arts training program. (I sort of thought the footwear section was out of place, but do acknowledge that it is an important element of training.) The appendix has some plyometric exercises and there is a short suggested reading list and index.Again, there are more in depth texts on some of these topics, but this is a nice handy and quick read to help you with your training. It might just peak your interest to read more on some of the topics.What I really like about Seabourne's "Power Body" is that is contains simple, practical information on training safely, with balance, to achieve your best. If that's what you want with your training, read this book and follow the guidelines. Train safe and train smart.Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials DVD series.