Tennis has a wonderful tradition, especially when you factor in that it is known as the “gentleman’s game”. That tradition is exhibited in modern times by the play, grace, and demeanor of today’s great champion, Roger Federer.
Now the game has changed significantly. There are still gentlemen, but the technology of tennis is much enhanced from the time of my playing days. Racquets are more evolved, string technology has enhanced, and finally the tennis athlete himself is evolving. Modern tennis players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. So which athletic discipline can accentuate these new players? Martial Arts.
Martial Arts are the most complete of the athletic disciplines. They have a tradition that dates back thousands of years. Furthermore, their structure, presented gradiently, allows the student to accomplish fantastic levels of performance. What I have done is borrow various movements from some of the Martial Art disciplines and isolated them for inclusion into Tennis.
The modern “open stance” for example is easily identifiable and used in several martial arts. The modern player uses the tennis racquet today much like a martial artist yielding a sword.
Another point is that the “new age” or modern tennis player is to some degree “aerial”. This matches up quite well with certain Kung-fu and Karate movements.
Martial Art theory and practice have been used by many athletes in many sports, for decades, as a cross training method for enhancing skill, flexibility, and reaction time. With its standardized inclusion as I have done with BBT, it will permit a whole new expression in and for the game of tennis.
