Karim Belgacem - Thank you for taking the time to talk to me Mr Kurz.

Thomas Kurz - No Problem. I hope you find my answers useful and informative.

Karim Belgacem - Can you tell us how you first came to the martial arts and a few of your early experiences?

Thomas Kurz - As a young boy I was impressed with fitness and the demeanor of my friends who were freestyle wrestlers, so I began to wrestle with them. Then I had to move to another city and the nearest place for wrestling was a judo club. I went there to take a look and I liked what I saw. Also I had seen a great skill versatility of judoka I knew, who trained at a military sports club. So I decided to take up judo--not in that military-associated club--but in the one near my home. A couple of years later, our judo instructor had to move so I tried Shotokan karate because they were close and I didn't know of other styles in the area. The Shotokan instructor was strict on conditioning and on proper form of skills but when I had seen
his senior students easily defeated by a Kyokushin karateka of a lower
rank, I inquired about the Kyokushin style. I was told that the Kyokushin
people are brutes, stress effectiveness over esthetics (as understood by
that Shotokan instructor), spar full-contact, and even practice such
unsavory techniques as head butts. I asked where those nasties practice
(so to avoid them) and as soon as I knew where they were, I went to see.
I liked what I saw, but in the meantime I passed entrance exams to the
University School of Physical Education where I could also join the
university judo club, so I did.

After a few years I was injured (an abrasion between layers of abdomen
muscles) which made groundwork impossible and stand-up grappling
difficult. But I could do sparring, so I joined the Kyokushin.

While with the Kyokushin, I was acquainted with the North Korean
military's combat sport, Kyoksool. I trained under the chief instructor
Mr. Han Ho Un for a few months. Mr. Han Ho Un's workouts were compact,
streamlined, very effective and efficient. The exercises from a warm-up to
a cool-down were arranged in a physiologically and didactically sound
sequence. He even introduced a rudimentary form of isometric stretches--to
be done at the very end of the workout. The second method of doing
isometric stretches that I describe in my book Stretching Scientifically”
is actually his method.

Mr. Han Ho Un wanted to entice Kyokushin fighters from Warsaw to join his
Kyoksool organization. We have a saying Ucz sie od diabla” (Learn from
devil) so Kyokushin instructors did not mind if they and their students
learned Mr. Han Ho Un's methods and techniques. As soon as Mr. Han Ho Un
asked us to abandon Kyokushin and join his organization, however, we
ceased to attend his workouts and returned to full workout schedule of
Kyokushin.

Mr Kurz kicks cold!

Karim Belgacem - You are now known throughout the World as a leading voice in Flexibility training. What inspired you to write your books and pass on
this knowledge?

Thomas Kurz - Because I practiced martial arts in Poland and wanted to continue to do that in U.S.A., I read martial arts magazines and observed workouts of various schools. I noticed a lack of knowledge of training in general but the most obvious and wide-spread was bad stretching. Martial arts
magazines carried plenty of ads for stretching machines–contraptions that
have no place in training of able-bodied people, but good books on
stretching were nowhere to be found. So I thought that I could write such
a book and disseminate an efficient and healthy method of stretching. So,
in 1985, I wrote “Stretching Scientifically,” the book on increasing
flexibility quickly and safely.

In retrospect, I think I should not have written this book but rather come
up with a stretching machine. I could hawk any stretching contraption
using my splits, and no one would know that I acquired my flexibility with
my rational training method and not with a piece of expensive junk. I
could sit with a silly grin, doing a split in the contraption, and sell it
for much more money than a book. Regrettably, I had (and have) too much self-respect to do this kind of thing.

Anyway, the book sold well and in the following years I wrote new
editions. But the feedback from readers showed that they needed and wanted
more than just instruction on state-of-the-art stretching.

Many readers of 'Stretching Scientifically', who were martial artists, had
problems with kicking that could not be solved by improving only their
flexibility. The problems were very common - actually the majority of
martial artists still have them. So I wrote answers to questions on
technique of kicks, on the drills and on conditioning required for
practicing kicks. Eventually, I asked my karate instructor, Mac Mierzejewski, to show on video the method of learning and practicing kicks
that he taught to me. The method is based on using biomechanically sound
form of movement that, when instilled with the right drills, delivers
power and great height in kicks with no warm-up. Together we wrote the
script of “Power High Kicks with No Warm-Up!” and then I assisted him with
demonstration of techniques and drills.

UFC Champion BJ Penn

Karim Belgacem - What is the most important thing people new to the martial arts should consider when beginning to work on their flexibility?

Thomas Kurz - The same thing that is most important for developing all physical abilities and skills: To put it most briefly: If it hurts, don't do it.

But seriously, they should inform themselves about basics of anatomy and
exercise physiology--again, that applies to all aspects of physical
training. Knowing basic facts about the way muscles respond to various
stresses/stimuli, the natural limitations of joints' range of motion and
how those change depending on the persons age, will let them see if their
instructor is knowledgeable and can be followed or is just an ignorant
meathead to be avoided. I realize that most martial artists do not have
the inclination nor time to study expensive tomes on anatomy and on
exercise physiology. They can get the most relevant information on
flexibility, however, from my book “Stretching Scientifically”, my DVDs on
stretching, and my articles at stadion.com.

Karim Belgacem - What other martial artists from around the World do you hold in high regard?

Joko Ninomiya, B.J. Penn, Antoni Zajkowski