Power train: Red Sox reliever Rudy Seanez throws hard and works out harder--much harder.(SPECIAL SECTION)

Pitchers and catchers report in about six weeks. To get ready, most major league pitchers will be running and lifting. Rudy Seanez, on the other hand, will be doing four butt-kicking martial arts workouts every week. Then he'll run and lift.

Seanez is a baseball rarity: a 37-year-old reliever coming off his best season. His arm is the healthiest it has been in a long time, and his endurance is the best it has ever been. He has a serious slider and even more serious heat. He hits 95 mph consistently and can hump it up to 97 on occasion. "I don't necessarily throw faster, but I throw better longer," says Seanez, who signed with the Red Sox two weeks ago after excelling for the Padres in 2005. "I don't get tired like I used to."

Seanez's secret is a blend of martial arts administered at the San Diego Fight Club in El Cajon, Calif., where he straps on, well, whatever guys strap on to do Jiu-Jitsu (the highly evolved Japanese/Brazilian wrestling), Muay Thai (kickboxing, the national sport of Thailand), wrestling, judo and traditional American boxing.

Seanez does them all under the tutelage of Charlie Kohler, whose clients include pro athletes ranging from football players to surfers, plus dancers and others. Here's what Seanez has gotten out of it since getting more serious about it three years ago: The most innings he has ever pitched in consecutive seasons (106 in 2004 and 2005 combined), a 10-3 record over that span and, best of all, no serious injuries (he did miss a month last season with a strained shoulder). And this was a guy who had had some hefty injury problems, including a fractured elbow, ligament damage that required elbow surgery and a herniated ...