Skip Chapman: Reclaiming Strength and Mobility Through CrossFit

By Skip Chapman

November 05, 2011

Skip Chapman is the owner of JSA CrossFit in Point Pleasant, N.J. He shares how CrossFit has changed his life.

As a martial artist, Chapman sustained a shoulder injury in 2004 that led him to find CrossFit as a strength-and-conditioning program to bring back his shoulder mobility.

“After the surgery, basically they told me I’d never be able to lift any kind of weight maybe more than 5 lb., never really push anything overhead, and for me and what I did with teaching martial arts and everything for so long, that was a big deal,” he says.

Chapman says he tried many different avenues to strengthen his shoulder again, but nothing worked. Then he found CrossFit.

“I started doing a little bit of main site and I saw a lot of improvements in my range of motion and my strength, so I just got hooked right away,” he says. “It changed everything.”

Chapman implemented CrossFit into his martial-arts school and has proven his doctors wrong about the limitations of his shoulder. At age 40, he found he was stronger than he was at 20.

He compares and contrasts aikido martial arts with CrossFit and has found benefits to doing both.

“They really complement each other,” he says.

8min 26sec

Additional reading: Partnering With a Martial Arts Dojo by Matt Swift, published Dec. 1, 2007.

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9 Comments on “Skip Chapman: Reclaiming Strength and Mobility Through CrossFit”

wrote …

Yeah JSACF on the CF journal! That's our coach, great guy & great coach! We are so proud to part of the JSACF family!

wrote …

Very inspiring Interview Chip. Were there any specific movements that helped you regain strength, stability, and ROM in your shoulder? I'm 59 and I had a full thickness tear of the supraspinatus surgically repaired in January. I found that PVC pass-thrus and skin- the-cats were great for restoring ROM; handstands, overhead lockouts, waiter's walks, and get-ups were helpful for restoring stability. But it's still a work in progress. Any specifics you would like to share?

wrote …

Chip,

I'm a former student of Pierce Sensei from the NJ Ki Society. I left Jersey for the military life and found CrossFit a few years back (did my L1 in '09). I've often wondered what correlation there would be for someone practicing both. I'm glad you've put the two arts together and have seen good results. I've had some shoulder problems myself, so the recovery aspect is very inspiring.

Cheers,
-Vince

wrote …

Deepest apologies, Skip, for mis-spelling your name.

wrote …

Skip,

LOL...Sorry! Sorry! Did the same thing... 20 burpies.

wrote …

Surgeons love to say "never". Fucking idiots. Way to soldier through.

replied to comment from Ken Friedman…

Hey Ken
Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff already. I found that almost anything on the rings, pull up bar, or going overhead, had a positive effect on building rom and strength. As stability can back to my shoulder I would challenge it by continuing to increase the load. The increases in weight on the bar in addition to the body weight modalities, gave me the greatest improvements. Hope that helps and best of luck to you and your training.
Btw...no worries about the Chip thing, happens all the time
Take care

replied to comment from Vincent Girolami…

Vincent
Thanks for the comment. Yes, Crossfit and Aikido are an amazing combination. Best of luck with your shoulder and wishing you a speedy recovery.
Take care

replied to comment from brian harder…

Tell me about it Brian, and thanks for the kind words!