Western Herbs for Martial Artists and Contact Athletes: Effective Treatments for Common Sports Injuries

This book is an excellent source of information! I am now making Dit Da Jow tinctures to assist in external use for muscle aches and pains, bruising, etc. and I wanted to learn more about the ways that herbs can be processed with basic equipment to produce various kinds of healthy end forms, such as liniments, creams, salves and massage oils - but this book has all that and so much more! Extensive coverage on how to prepare the herbs into many different end forms, and how to use the herbs safely. For each of the many herbs covered, a discussion is provided on what the herb is good for, how to use it, how much to use and what you should be aware of before using it. MANY recipes for different end products and how to use them. Also, a great summary of resources on how to find acclaimed sellers of the herbs, finding an herbalist and much more information regarding herbs and their uses (including medical references). And for further research a reader may wish to do, the footnoted references to other publications is vast. I'm sure there are other books that make a great One Source reference...in my opinion, this book is definitely one of them. Highly recommended!!

I was getting ready to throw out this book,not because it wasn't good but because I just never read it and just needed to get rid of some books. But a few days ago after a yoga exercise routine I hurt my arm very badly. I couldn't decide if it was a bad strain, a sprain or if I had dislocated the shoulder but I couldn't lift anything , twist the arm, or sleep on it, I was in extreme pain, just misery. Nothing else I was doing was working and I don't have insurance so heading to the doctor was a last resort.But I remembered the book and I thought let me take a look through it, I looked under dislocation and sprains and saw some herbs and formulae for it. I didn't have all the essential oils that they mentioned but I had a few and just put them together in some coconut oil as a base. And thank God that I did. That concoction started giving relief within an hour or 2. I have since been applying the oils twice a day and the relief was phenomenal. Frankly I've never had herbs benefit me as remarkably as this, I am impressed. This saved me the expense of a medical consultation, the hundred and one tests they would have performed, the pain killer they'd give me by injection, in short order it saved me a lot of money . This testimony is as much about the power of essential oils as it is about the book. But it's terrific that the author identified so well the herbs that would be effective for minor injuries. The book is a keeper! I have some weak muscles in my right arm and hand particularly sometimes , maybe lack of exercise but it is probably a book that I will return to many times in future. A very worthy addition to your library.

This is without a doubt one of my new favorites. It contains information crucial to the average athlete for maintenance of health and mending of injuries. While the experienced herbologist might have a clear understanding of various herb attributes and the inherent danger of interaction when mixing the plants, vegetables, and extracts, the average layman does not. The reason I enjoyed the book as much as I did, is that the information presented here caters specifically to the average layman in clear concise baby steps.The author gives a checklist of what to look for in herb/extract selection, how to best prepare the herb, and most importantly what not to do. A particular point she drives home repeatedly (and in my opinion something that needs to be driven home more frequently) is not to overuse any particular plant or extract, as too much of anything could be toxic. She also makes another crucial point often overlooked by many beginners. In the author's own words, just because you are taking something for a particular ailment, does not mean it is good for the whole body. A fact many should take to heart.The list of plants and herbs is limited to the 64 most commonly found in Europe and North America. In my opinion this is both good and bad. Good, because you are given a variety of herbal stock you will most likely have easy access to, in your own language. This will spare you having to browse the local Chinatown herbal shop, and in most cases being unable to read the label, thus making an educated and for the most part less risky selection. On the other hand the limited selection means you will not be able to obtain recepies for Dit Da Jow, Qi tonification formuals, and the like.The herbal section is informative in as much as an amature hobbyist would need it to be. Without going into too much detail and losing the reader, the book presents a photo of the herb being described, the Latin and common names of the plant, a brief history and background of how the plant had been used, what the herb had historically been used for, and a 0-5 rating for how effective the particular herb had been for this purpose. The bottom section of the herbal description covers how to prepare the plant, dosage specifications, and appropriate precautions for each particular herb. The only down side here, is that the photos of the herbs are black and white. White it's true that one should not memorize herbs merely via photos, a colored description would go a long way in helping establish a better name to image association.The back section of the book goes over the various methods of preparing herbs, covering everything from decotions, syrups, tinctures, oils, poultices, and plasters, to infusions and creams. The descriptions are very helpful, and can help the average hobbyist create moderately effective treatments.The final section of the book deals with various injuries, and how to best treat them, going over the previously covered material, and the best methodology for applying the various treatments. The book has an excellent index, allowing you to search by specific injury or ailment, herb, or preparation method. The glossary at the back covers medical terminology and herbal classification used throughout the book, explaining various descriptions of herbs, such as diurrhetic, antispasmodic, haemostatic, etc.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in herbology basics, and treating martial arts/sports related injuries.

Interesting but a bit outdated

You have to be a martial artist to benefit from this book, I try to useherbs and remedies when injured, plants and trees are of the Euro/N.American varietly

Il ne s'agit pas vraiment d'un livre pour le pratiquant d'art martiaux contrairement à ce que le titre et le parcours de l'auteur laissent entendre mais plutôt d'un ouvrage généraliste. De plus ce livre semble écrit non par un praticien qui sait de quoi il parle mais par quelqu'un qui fait un résumé d'un travail de recherche sur la littérature sur le sujet ..