Inspired by an excellent post on Recovery after Martial Arts Training over on the MarksTraining blog, I thought I’d post an article on Contrast Hydrotherapy that I’ve previously posted over on the website for my dojo.

Have you ever experienced muscular soreness and stiffness following a grueling training session? Not the type caused by actually injuring yourself, but the type that reminds you that your muscles and connective tissue have been working, and that they now need to recover. If so, then you might want to consider contrast hydrotherapy as a form of active recovery.

Sometime ago I attended a 2 day kettlebell instructors course here in Sydney, Australia, conducted by Don Stevenson of Octogen Fitness, Australia’s leading kettlebell instructor. Although I’d been keenly using kettlebells for 8 months (at the time I originally wrote the article several years ago) as an augmentation of my karate training, this course worked at a level of intensity that had me feeling pretty sore and stiff.

During the training session, Don mentioned that he sometimes advises his personal training clients to undertake contrast hydrotherapy to aid in recovery. Maybe it was just me – I was in a group of fitness professionals that know a lot about this stuff – but the term contrast hydrotherapy was new to me.

Pretty much as soon as I got home I could feel the soreness levels rising, and I knew that the next day I’d really be feeling it. So, not wanting to climb the stairs to my office, I grabbed my wife’s computer and Google’d the term.

I found a couple of articles discussing contrast hydrotherapy as a form of treatment for acute conditions, but it took a little bit longer to find something discussing it as a strategy for recovery. When I did, I hit gold, with an article disucssing its merits and the protocol apparently used by the Australian Institute of Sport.

The protocol is this – alternate a period of exposure to hot water with one of exposure to cold water, and repeat. Twice.

There are 2 versions of the protocol – one where you have a bath or spa available, and the other for where you just have a shower.

Bath Protocol

• Bath for 3-4 minutes in a hot bath (37C-43C)
• Shower for 30-60 seconds in a cold shower (12C-15C)
• Repeat two more times (for a total of three circuits)

Shower Protocol

• Shower under hot water for 1-2 minutes
• Shower under cold water for 10-30 seconds
• Repeat two more times (for a total of three circuits)

How did it work? Well, for me, very well indeed. Where my soreness was around 7-8 (on a scale of 10) in several major muscle groups, immediately after the shower it reduced to around 3-4. The next day, when I would traditionally “feel it” the most, it was still around 3-4.

Now, as I understand it, there are few studies proving that contrast hydrotherapy works. And to date I can only provide personal anecdotal evidence of a single experience. So it may not work for you. But I reckon its worth a try…..

The fabulous Mikka Bouzu online comics follow the adventures of a budoka seeking enlightenment through the study of martial arts. He perseveres through hard and soft and is a bit of a hapless seeker.

Sometimes I see a bit of myself in this character.

Especially when it comes to the role that gadgetry plays in his quest.

I’m sure my wife and I have had that conversation.

Make sure you pop over and subscribe to the Mikka Bouzu webfeed.

As martial artists we practice self defense on a personal level. We work hard to avoid, diffuse and occasionally  definitively deal with threats to our personal security. Martial arts are a practice of life preservation techniques.

We know that being aware of whats going on around us, being aware of potential threats, is a vital part of self defense – more important than any technique or skill.

On a global level we also have to recognise threats. One important one is global climate change. There appears to be widespread consensus in the scientific community that the climate is changing, and that the changes are likely to have far reaching consequences. We need to take action.

One small action is to reduce our energy consumption. Earth Hour is an annual event where people around the world show their commitment to reducing consumption by switching off all lights.

Life protection means protecting our life on a personal and a global level. Visit the Earth Hour website and calculate your footprint. Its quite astonishing to see the impact we have, and great to see that there are simple steps we can take to reduce our footprint.

This website will be blacked out for one hour during Earth Hour in Sydney, Australia. From 8.30pm tonight, you’ll get an Earth Hour page instead, showing our support for Earth Hour. This is achieved using BraveNewCode’s Earth Hour Wordpress plugin.

Back in 1993, when I was living and training in Japan, I had the opportunity to attend the International Budo University’s 5th International Seminar on Budo Culture. One of the masters present was Master Hirokazu Kanazawa, head of the Shotokan Karate International Federation . A talented and dynamic karateka, Kanazawa Sensei was the perfect ambassador for Japanese karate to this international group.

A couple of weeks after the seminar, Kanazawa sensei invited me to his dojo in Tokyo where I conducted an interview for the magazine Australasian Fighting Arts. As this magazine is now sadly no more, I have posted the interview here on Essential Karate News for reference.

Enjoy this interview with Master Hirokazu Kanazawa.

Iain Abernethy Sensei recently released Issue 6 of the excellent Jissen magazine. Meaning “actual combat”, each issue of Jissen features a number of articles that discuss applied martial arts.

You can download the current issue and archives of Jissen Magazine directly from the Essential Karate News site, or you can visit Jissen directly

Issue 6 of Jissen features:

Contents: Martial Arts Scepticism: The Pornography of Reality-Based Self Defence – Never Give Up – Bouncer – How to Win a Bar Fight – Karate’s Holy Grail – Whiter Shade of Pale – Anatomy of Back Stance – Flow in Modern Karate – Oh S*it! Taking Chudan Uke to the next level – Stav – Karate Jutsu – Bunkai and the Horseman – The Innocent Walking Stick – Dave Turton Interview – Styles: Are They Killing Karate? – Transitional Aspects of Karate (Part 2) – Contact in Training (Part 2)

Contributors: Jamie Clubb – Lawrence Kane – Geoff Thompson – Rev. Art Chenevey – Michael Rosenbaum – Dave Turton – Andi Kidd – Chris Littlefair – Nikolaj Fænø Skarbye – Eric Parsons – Tony Brush – Kris Mansfield – Ron Briens – Ernest Tuff – Michael Rosenbaum – Iain Abernethy – Chris Denwood – John Titchen

How to download: Right click on the cover image and then select “save target as” (some times “save page as”). Then choose where you wish to save the file (normally the “desk top”) and download it.

To stay up to date with the latest news from Essential Karate, you can now follow us on Twitter. Our username is @essentialkarate.

New posts to our blog will be posted there, and I’ll happily join in on any conversations about news and discussion topics in the blog, newsletter or podcast.

Look forward to tweeting with you soon!

Hanshi Patrick McCarthy (founder of the International Ryukyu Karate Research Society and guest on Episode 001 of the The Applied Karate Show) has announced the release of Volume 15 of his Koryu Uchinadi DVD training series.

Volume 15 provides detailed instruction in McCarthy sensei’s two person drill that comprises the most representative receiving techniques (uke waza, also known as blocking techniques) found in karate.

Based on the premise that most attacks are “received” in predictable targets of the body, this extensive drill develops the ability to receive common attacks and setup for counter attacking.

Although I’ve yet to personally view the video, I did have the opportunity a couple of years ago to learn this drill from McCarthy Sensei. Knowing that this is an excellent drill, coupled with my experience of the excellent production values of the previous volumes, I have no doubt that this will be an excellent DVD. I look forward to receiving a copy soon.

I plan to review this DVD in detail in an upcoming issue of the Essential Karate Newsletter.

Mario McKenna Sensei (interviewed in Episode 12 of The Applied Karate Show) has released the first English language translation of Genwa Nakasone’s An Overview of Karatedo. Regarded as one of the most comprehensive texts on karate published during the golden age of karate, the Japanese version of this book has long been a primary research tool for many historians and authors examining the history of Okinawan / Japanese karate.

Available in hardcover, softcover and ebook formats, An Overview of Karatedo, is a valuable resource for all karateka interested in learning more about the origins of our art.

Visit Mario McKenna’s page on Lulu.com for information on ordering An Overview of Karatedo or other translations by Mario.

A lots been going on in my life, and unfortunately I’ve not had the chance to keep updating the Essential Karate Blog and News site.

I feel bad about this because I have a strong passion for karate, kobujutsu and strength and conditioning arts.

Hopefully the handful of people still subscribing to this site will be happy to see the site starting back up.

Please feel free to contact me and give me any tips about what you’d like to see in this site.

Oh, and yes, the Applied Karate Show Podcast will be restarting soon. But please give me a bit of time to get that going to. There’ll be a bit of work before its ready.

Patrick McCarthy, Hanshi (guest in Episode 1 of The Applied Karate Show) has posted a short (3 minute) video introduction to the International Ryukyu Karate Research Society, a style-agnostic society of karateka interested in researching the foundations of Okinawan karate.

I’ve been a member of the IRKRS for many years now, and can thoroughly recommend membership in the Society for all interested in learning more about the origins and foundations of the arts they study.