Peaceful Fight Reviewed Books/Video :

Martial Arts / Martial Theory

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Chin Na is generalised as the areas of seizing and locking which are encountered within many Martial arts. However, this book does a good job of isolating the base techniques from which all of the "fancy stuff" originates. For me it was a bit of a heavy read and I preferred the Yang Jwing-Ming version given below. However, it does cover all the relevant issues associated with Chin Na so would act as a "stand alone" book for any Martial Arts novice.

For me a better read than the Zhao Da Yuan version listed above. If there is a failing in the text it is that diagrams are not always as clear as would be desired. However, it gives an interesting window on how martial arts have changed after they became popular in the West. The training methods of the White crane system are also interesting to try but the 180 fist closes within 30 seconds is a misprint. In his Long Fist book, the number is given as 150 which is more easily achievable (but still worth aiming for the 180 !.

This book was a real disappointment. Its very small, quite expensive and doesn't really do what the title suggests. The main text concerns itself with the history of knife throwing which, although interesting, wasn't what I expected. From a martial perspective, I think it boils down to the fact that there is little use for throwing your weapon within martial arts unless you are very good at it and don't mind that when you miss, you have no weapon and your opponent has yours ! Long distance damage techniques are much better executed by the use of cross bow or rifle and the first is almost as quiet as a knife (and much more accurate and fast). As with all things within martial arts, if you really want to be able to do it, go away and practise. However, bear in mind that these throwing techniques will only save your life in 1 out of 10000 encounters you might have to deal with in real life. Better to train to be able to grapple, bite and pummel effectively before taking too much time on secondary, low probability and low functionality fighting techniques.

When you buy some reference materials, there's a worry about the costs and the benefits which you are likely to get from reading it. These books (and the videos detailed below) fell into that category. The main meridian text was £50 and the Extra meridian £25. Serious money to put out on books that you've never seen, didn't know how big they were nor whether the information would already be "visible" to me (ie already learned elsewhere). In some ways, this purchase (and many others at that time) were driven by a need to see if I had "missed" anything in my martial training.These books were some of the first that I invested in when I had to choose which way my life was to go and proved to be very much worth investing in. They are packed with useful information on both Dim Mak and healing applications an the only real difficulty is that there is so much to understand / remember ! Thankfully my Grandmaster had taught me well which "got me ready" to take the information on these books forward. It's likely that it will take a lifetime for me to link all of the information together but the books gave me renewed interest in both my martial and healing applications. Possibly without them (and the help of a number of senior martial artists who I acknowledge elsewhere for their contribution) I would not be on the path which I have now chosen to take. Erle Montaigue has had an (unknown to him) effect on the path which I am now following and these books helped kick it off. Contact Erle Montaigue at his website given in the "Recommended Shops" page and order the books from Anthony at kunzhi.com.

If ever there was a book which reinforced the myths and mysteries which surround martial art masters then this is it. Depending on your viewpoint, it outlines the extremes to which the human body can be stretched if you have the time and patience to study for a lifetime. The other viewpoint is that it's all hokum, made up to give masters an air of mystique and the unknown to deter many opponents from "having a go". For me, I'm somewhere in between. Some of the items in this book are certainly possible but others I'm more sceptical about. Well worth reading though as I've said elsewhere, better to concentrate on getting the basics of your style right before getting distracted from training by esoteric practises. Also, bear in mind that if you were to undertake some of these practises, you would possibly not be able to function in "normal" society. Heavily calloused hands are great for a warrior but not so good if your day job is as a typist !

Another one of those books which doesn't quite live up to its title. This book is often listed as the "Bible" of knife fighting in the US but really explains very little about the art. This possibly reflects the position that anyone competent with a knife has some very basic but very effective moves and doesn't need excessive amounts of theory to achieve success. The "MacYoung" book listed below which gives a better modern perspective of the consequences and function of knife fighting (but is rather pricey to buy) and I would choose the MacYoung book in preference.

Not a bad little book for the "non-martial artist" as it details many situations to try to avoid on the street. Some nice anecdotes are included but not really for a reasonably able student who has a grasp of the unplesantries which other people can cause when you're out and about.

At first glance these videos appear to cover the same ground within the field of Dim Mak. However, both are well worth viewing. As a pair they teach much of the subtly of pressure point technique and how / why certain points cause the effects that they do. These tapes are early in the Erle Montaigue catalogue and so are based more within basic concepts of Dim Mak rather than tying them to tightly to Tai Chi (which occurs in later tapes). However, the information shown does show why Tai Chi (when understood at this depth) truly is a "Supreme Ultimate" within the realms of martial arts. Tape MTG23 explains how pressure point antidotes work which is essential if you really want to perfect these type of techniques (you're a fool if you mess about with these techniques and don't know these antidotes, CPR and energy balancing techniques (both for yourself and for others). Without having these "healing" techniques available, its like driving a car without knowing how to brake : too late once things have gone wrong !).

My friend Anthony was kind enough to lend me this tape after he heard about my objectives for Peaceful Fight. The tape takes parts of the Tai Ji forms and explains how the moves can be utilised as healing techniques. Although trying to mesh the reasons for the healing properties of the techniques with my TCM was difficult, I've used a couple of the techniques and patients have found themselves to be "happier and less anxious" after treatment. I think some of the explanation comes from the natural, subconscious moves that we all make but there's more to it than that. However, it shows how intricate Chinese thought can be and how advanced that civilisation was for 1000s of years before Western thought took over and lost many of the "old ways". It would be interesting to see whether other ancient cultures (eg Aborigine) had similar systems of "innate" movements which they used to heal themselves. Maybe one day I'll be able to find out. The main thing this tape did do for me was to view human movement in a different way and confirmed to me that innate movement (either martial or healing) is within us all, we just have to recognise it when it happens !

Now, as you'll have noticed, I'm a big, big fan of what Erle Montaigue is trying to do within the martial arts. However, that doesn't mean I'm blinkered and assume that everything he has done is worth investing in. This tape is one of only a couple which I didn't think did his teachings justice and that I wouldn't recommend as a "must have". Fa-Jing is energy release and I thought this tape would explain the concept / function in more detail. This wasn't the case and Fa Jing is actually much better described on other tapes in the video series. The sleeper holds bit of the video was interesting but not too difficult to work out if the Dim Mak videos above have already been viewed. Leave a gap in your video collection at number 87 !

Whilst we are on the tapes which I think are less useful out of the series, this is the second one. Although very useful as a standalone video, it covers much of the ground in the Dim Mak Intricacies and Advanced Dim Mak videos without explaining the theory in as much detail. Although more expensive to do so, better to buy MTG29 and MTG23 than this single volume. However, if you are strapped for cash, this video does give an overview of the areas detailed in the title.

I'll warn you now, this video is a lot shorter than most of Erle Montaigue's work but it is still worthy of study. It covers various methods by which energy (Qi) development and control can be achieved both internally and externally to the body. They all worked for me and if anything worked too well ! After training, my body became a bit of a seething mass of energy for a few days until I got it all back under control. Don't forget to do a close down exercise else you could end up like me ! Joking aside, my experience does emphasise the importance of understanding quite a lot about yourself and energy systems (and Chinese body functioning theories too) before undertaking any of Erle Montaigues work in isolation. If you have no background in energy systems, get to understand it all first (join a Qigong or Tai Chi class in order to feel it rather than just read about it) before trying out these exercises. Your body will go onto an energetic level by following these (comparatively) simple exercises and it can be sort of "frightening" if no one is there to explain what's going on (and calm / control anything that happens which you didn't expect).

Qi disruption is where energy systems get very clever and understanding it makes the healing side of the art much easier to achieve. This tape shows a number of methods to disrupt the natural flow of energy around and through the human body and explains the Tai Chi forms which "hide" these methods within them. Once explained, it's really quite simple and I found the forms very useful for development of intent and focus. Again, don;t mess around with these techniques unless you know what to do if things go wrong (ie they work too well !). However, if you ant to understand healing techniques, it is imperative that you have an understanding of Qi disruption. A very useful tape and certainly one of my "must haves".

Thought this book was going to be a bit of a "dud" when I bought it but it was in the bargain bin, so I couldn't resist !. However, once I started reading it, I read it all in one sitting, partly because I was unsure of the focus of the work. There's some very interesting bits on the psychology of living / fighting and also some good bits on meditation and self belief but it sort of fell down by being almost excessively pro-women and anti-men. There was a dedication in the front of the book to " all the men of the world who have done their best to diminish the fear and personal insecurities in other men which leads them to cowardly violence against those of lesser physical strength than them . This book is dedicated to the men who fight violence for reasons deeper than just basic decency" but the text never seems to acknowledge that this "honourable" kind of man might be reading the text. It also seemed to ignore that there are some men who are also weak but who's weakness is not transformed into violence against women but often into self loathing, victim or self destructive behaviour. These men also need the support and concern of society in a similar way to those women who the book was aimed at. In this regard, it subconsciously reinforced the view that men "should be men" strong, hunters, violent and sexually active whilst women are passive, victims and unable to take control of their own destiny without "protection" from men. I really don't think this was the objective of the book as in other sections the concept of viewing an individual as an individual, regardless of colour, sex, background etc was emphasised. Very interesting example of how things can transform in the mind of the reader depending on their view of the World! Overall though, the book was a good read and well worth looking through. Wasn't quite sure about all of the martial bits but at least they were all "combat" based so anyone learning the whole Quindo system should be able to "chop and change" techniques to fit a given "real life" situation.

This is a really rare type of book as it is one of only a very small number which I never finished. The index looked really interesting (eg about visualisation, training methods etc) and it was fine to flick through but after numerous attempts to read it in detail, the style was just "not right" for me and sort of sent me into a dream state in which I wasn't recognising what the text was saying. As such, I'd suggest giving it a miss unless you are a top class athlete (as opposed to a martial artist) as this is who the text is primarily aimed at.

Miyamoto Musashi was a warrior swordsman of old Japan and wrote this book after numerous successful kills during combat. The book gives an overview of his views on the philosophy of his way which was the way of the warrior. Not surprisingly in this "less-martial" time in history, the book has been reinvented as being indicative of a business strategy for success. However, this reinvention would likely lose the nuances which relate to the brutality of warfare and thus this translation / interpretation by Kaufman is better suited to martial study.

For the most part, what is held within this book about warfare is common sense and would be found in most books about warfare based combat. The text further highlights the difference between combat (ie to the death) and fighting (ie a bit of a scuffle on a Saturday night) which are detailed in a similar way in the Marc MacYoung texts. Miyamoto Musashi has no "half way" point within combat; kill your opponent with honour and discipline within your swordsmanship or be killed yourself. Brutal but reflective of the times in which the book was written (and should make the rest of us thankful we live in a less threatening / violent society than in feudal Japan). If you were to apply the brutality / ruthlessness concepts within the five rings without consideration for the time / place / society in which we exist, the likelihood would be that you would be on most country's "Most Wanted" list fairly quickly as some sort of serial killer. This is not to say though that this text has no merit as it does act as a guide to deal with the concepts of prefight, fight attitude and self perception which all martial arts require. However, this is not a book for "sports" martial artists. Applying these type of principles in a sport arena will lead to significant and potentially lethal damage to your opponent solely because of the mental attitude it achieves. I think in business it would have the same negative effects. Only once you have viewed the fighting arts in the correct light and accepted them for what they are can you consider the concepts of the 5 rings and put it into the correct context. Then, if you do ever have to fight for your life, maybe you can think back to Miyamoto Musashi and understand his rationale. At that moment maybe those who see him as a cold blooded killer will see the expediency of what he advocates. A successful warrior has to perfect his art (which is destruction) and apply it effectively at the times when it is required regardless of circumstance. Outside of this time, he should give thanks for not having to apply his art and live a life of contemplation and peace. However, at the same time, when called upon the warrior must surface and never be dulled by the peace which he strives for. A difficult balance for any of us.

This is a truly great book (although quite small and so maybe a bit expensive). All of MacYoung's earlier books (some of which are detailed later) give details of the difference between martial arts and street fighting and so are a wealth of information to deal with those situations none of use would choose to end up in. This book totally changed my view of floor fighting and highlighted various serious flaws within what I had been taught to do if it went to ground. Having tried out many of these techniques, they work almost too well and you have to be careful not to injure your training partner during training. Maybe get your local library to buy this book and then keep it on permanent loan until you can do the techniques without thinking about them. Save you a few pounds and the knowledge will more than definitely save your life if you ever need it.

Most martial artists recognise that arts like Escrima and Silat have some of the best "anti knife" techniques around and MacYoung acknowledges this here. He goes through various scenarios and discusses techniques whilst dispelling some of the myths about knife fighting (like the "I won't get cut because I'm a martial artist" stupidity) and the reality of what you should be trying to do when confronted. He also goes through what to do if you have the knife and how to stop the fight without the need to kill your opponent. This last point underpins much of MacYoung's ethos of fighting, that being that combat (to the death) isn't the same as fighting (a Saturday night brawl). Choosing poor or inappropriate techniques early in a fight can graduate the little scuffle about name calling (which would have probably left either you or your opponent with a bit of a headache and maybe whiplash) into a full on, death match over your pride being hurt because your opponent said a bad word at you. I'd never thought of this issue but that's why MacYoung's books are really important for "training hall only" fighters. He points out the things that you should consider in the sociology / psychology of fighting (including the effects of after fight problems such as police, revenge, guilt etc) and the fact that you do not have to do the "manly-man" thing to get your testosterone into balance. With a name like "Animal" you sort of assume the books are going to be from an aggressive bent but MacYoung has done all of the "aggressive thing" and seen the stupidity / error of it so his books are much more reasoned and aiming towards having a peaceful life. Again, maybe a bit expensive for a small book but valuable information for anyone who wishes to appreciate the systems employed outside of the "reasonable and safe" environment of the training hall.

This book is one of the largest of the MacYoung series and sort of precis much of his other work. In this one he explains the basis of "street effective" martial arts and why certain systems are better suited to this type of fighting that others. He also details how to change your particular martial art into a "street version". Thankfully, Peaceful Fight incorporated all of the issues he thought were important so it didn't need changing but it's always worth checking ! Overall, this book was more "academic" than the others in the series and didn't show the "roughness" of the other books I'd read. In some ways this made the information in it more likely to already be known by readers as it was looking at martial arts in a structured and "nicer" way. As many arts have been built this way, they should already have considered much of what MacYoung has to say in this book. Street fighting is not structured and that's why many martial artists fail in that arena, not understanding the dynamics involved and the speed / threat / psychology involved. Other of MacYoung's books give a better understanding of the requirements of street defence to experienced martial artists than this one. Overall, some things are good for more experienced martial artists but less for those who understand the development, use and limitations of their particular system in detail. However, if you are new to martial arts and want to assess whether your particular system has a real martial bias (as opposed to a sport basis) then this is the book for you. If you couldn't deal with the situations outlined in the text, learn how to : it might save your life and you should be thankful to MacYoung for pointing out the failing of your system. Maybe write to him to thank him.

I have to admit that I didn't read all of this book and skipped to the bits relating to self defence and also the Law. The main text of the book deals with many of the inconveniences and difficulties which people encounter when trying to live in the UK and gives a lot of useful advice. The bits of self defence / Law are also well written and well referenced being firmly based in confrontation awareness / avoidance tactics but also giving enough "fighting skills" to get someone out of trouble (if they practised : reading any book to learn techniques fails dismally when compared against practising against a real opponent). Only real concern of the book is that there is almost too much to read and it's very wordy (and quite a heavyweight book); makes it slightly more likely to end up on someone's shelf rather than the text being absorbed. However, as a stand alone book, well worth its ~£19 price tag.

Another "bargain bin" book and well worth the investment. The most interesting issue in some ways was the emphasis of the differences between combat, self defence and fighting. This graduation in violence is talked about in many of the books on street fighting by MacYoung and makes sense when you think about it. The other thing of interest was how a comparatively small number of techniques are required to be mastered if the objective is to kill your opponent as quickly as possible. Don't think this small number listed was just because of ignorance or laziness on the part of the author as he seems to have researched his subject in detail. The book is aimed mainly at the "armchair warrior" who are very unlikely to ever bother to practise the techniques but isn't overly macho in its approach. Good quality line drawings show techniques in sufficient detail but they will be nothing new to most martial artists. Classic techniques achieve that status because they work so well. The military don't have the time to make fancy techniques work so they don't teach them. The breakfalling was interesting as most of us have only ever practised on flat surfaces so seeing how best to fall on uneven stone surfaces was beneficial (MacYoung also details that this is an important thing to be able to do in street fighting as there may be broken bottles etc to contend with in a real life situation).

69p from Oxfam makes any martial arts book worth looking at although this isn't the kind of book I'd normally read. It's main sections are transcriptions of discussion between Stephen Hayes and Dr Masaaki Hatsumi who is the 34th Grandmaster of Togukure Ninjutsu and this makes it difficult to "break into" the conversations. Stephen Hayes has obviously trained for many years under his Grandmaster so a lot of things that a novice would have to ask to get understanding hide behind the written text; this makes it a bit inaccessible. Better to read a "technical" book where the author is speaking to the reader (or to read a book by someone you already know an so have a connection with).

Overall, I think the book was released primarily to show the World a formal link between Stephen Hayes and Dr Masaaki Hatsumi rather than to expand what the wider World understand as "Ninjutsu". That said though, the conversations do serve to counter many of the stereotypes of the behaviour of the Ninja and give some interesting historical references. The Grandmaster comes across well and does show that all really is fair in love and war !

Out of all of the books MacYoung books which I've read (see other reviews above), this was the one which was most (pleasantly) surprising. All of his books have merit and the concepts etc he outlines should be required reading for any martial artist who has to describe or talk about issues which they have (generally, in a thankful manner) not had to deal with in real life. Very few systems can honestly claim that all of their techniques have been proven in combat and Peaceful Fight is no exception. As such, much of Peaceful Fight deals with the theoretical / philosophical requirements of the arts and tries to simulate these as closely as possible within the controlled environment of the training hall. This book deals with the "philosophy" of why confrontation may occur in different environments, all the way from biker bars to upper class drink's parties. It also outlines various trends within societies either towards or away from violence and that actions or inactions by the reader in specific circumstances can both affect the overall dynamic of the situation. MacYoung and I come from very different backgrounds but this book highlighted that most of our views on the requirements of real life fighting and awareness overlap. A very welcome surprise for me and helps suggest that, at least some, of the Peaceful Fight ethos (if applied correctly) will make sense in the real World ! We each use different language to describe issues , strategies and motivations but the underlying message is the same. Overall, given the choice of finding out from MacYoung that Peaceful Fight at least has a reasonable ethos and the alternative of fighting each weekend to "prove it", I'm quite happy to choose the former !

Not a bad book this but very much a US view of the risks involved with women's self defence. "If you are in trouble, trust no one" seems to be the underlying theme. Very sad inditement of the state of the US if this is true but possibly a reasonable strategy in some areas (and also in some areas of the UK). Useful sections on minimising risk and some OK techniques for getting out of physical confrontation. Need a bit of practise some of them but generally workable.

However, for me, the book blows it a bit by suggesting a "women should be able to do anything, wear anything and behave however they please and still be totally safe" type line. Apart form the inequality in this statement (men also need self defence but would be unlikely to be given the same advice; if they did, a lot of men would be fondling strangers to "get off" whenever they saw someone they found attractive- not a good situation for long term sexual harmony and no-one would ever see this as being a universally acceptable behaviour), maybe I'm missing the point in life but surely it can never be acceptable for a person's actions to be divorced from the consequences it causes (regardless of what section of society they come from) ? Surely how we act directly affects the wider World around us (and so solicits certain responses from those people we meet) ? Over time, what is acceptable or not on a "global scale" becomes "civilised society" and we all (generally) abide by these conventions. However, this "civilisation" is only a social convention and ebbs and flows over time and changes within different cultures (eg what is acceptable to the Royal family is likely to differ from what is acceptable to the habitual drunks you meet in the Chinese takeaway on Friday night). However, wherever you lie in the social strata, if you choose to step outside the social conventions of your "culture" then you single yourself out for an unpredictable response, some of which will not be nice. Acting in "socially acceptable" ways is one way to minimise risk and stops yourself singling yourself out for special attention from whoever you interact with. There are certain actions which can be quite easily predicted to elicit a "bad" response from other people. If you choose to undertake these actions then don't be surprised when bad things happen. Preaching a "you can do anything, wear anything, behave however you wish " type argument forgets those issues which will get a "bad" response. Suggesting that nothing bad should ever happen to you and if it does it's all the other person's fault forgets the responsibility which we all have to ourselves, regardless of age, race, sex etc. This is not to defend those situations when the opponent decides that something bad is going to happen regardless of what you are doing (eg when the opponent wants a fight with someone and you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time) as this is just bad luck. However, if you've been standing on the bar, aiming kicks at passerby's heads all evening then don't be surprised if someone drags you off and tries to break your face or 'phones the Police. It's not victimisation, you set yourself up for the consequences (ie hospital or jail). Similarly if a women wants to dress in a sexy way. In itself this isn't a problem but maybe it is if you've decided to grind your arse against some stranger's crotch all night "for a laugh". Don't be surprised if he's got the wrong impression at the end of the night and you have to deal with his unwanted advances. Hopefully he'll see the funny side and walk off (but don't bet on it). The converse if the situation when you're approached by some nutter (who you have never seen before) but he believes your breasts have been talking to him all night and requires some urgent massage. That's his problem (and he's trying to make it yours) so hit him hard and fast and call the Police as soon as possible. All a matter of getting the balance right between freedom and personal responsibility. My advice would be to live your life however you wish as long as you don't deliberately affect someone else's life in a negative way. (If you do choose to purposely affect someone in a negative way, be prepared to be judged against the social convention of your group. This is true equality when we are judged solely on what we say and do and not by some stereotypical view of our race / age / sex etc). If bad things come to you, deal with them when they arrive. Feel OK within yourself to deal with those people who do negative things against you in whatever way you feel appropriate but wherever possible don't precipitate these type of negative reactions against yourself by your own actions (ie don't make yourself the victim by not avoiding what could be seen as predictable trouble).

Another one of those "Amazon Recommended" items but doesn't quite live up to its title. It's only a very small book and most of the pages are photographs with little explanation of either "theory" or "concept". Some interesting historical background to Shaolin and hand forms an breathing techniques. Could probably develop a "Shaolin type" Kung Fu from the details given but overall not enough to guide you down any specific "line". The book (published in 1982) was possibly issued to cash in on the Kung Fu boom in the 70s rather than give detailed understanding of Shaolin Philosophy. The large section on training equipment I could really do without (always good to make up your own). Overall a "miss" at full price but worth seeking out in the second hand stalls.

This is one of those "sagely" books like the Tao te Ching which works in poem form to inspire self reflection / understanding. I liked it and some of the bits were especially poignant. Reading most of the poems, it was easy to see the overlap with the Peaceful Fight ethos / mindstate but some others helped "tighten up" my self understanding / appreciation. Amazon are having incredible difficulty getting me a copy of this book which suggests it is out of print. However, if you get the chance to read it, let your mind wander within how the words reflect your own system and I'm sure you won't be disappointed in what you find.

Beautifully printed book this and probably one of the best compendium books on martial arts I've seen. There's a fair spread of arts (both hard and soft, armed and open hand) and sufficient background to each art to give readers an appreciation of what they are about. Certainly could have done without the bits on belt / sash colours for gradings and details of the uniform (does this have much bearing on what martial art to choose to practise ? If so, my fashion sense makes Peaceful Fight a non-runner !) and I'd have used these pages to add a piece on Escrima (which is the main omission from the text). The main thing I noticed from the text was how Peaceful Fight seemed to have bits of each art within it. However, I learned some new stuff about other arts from the book (I'd never come across Iaido) so was well worth the investment (Note : there are various versions of this book, in different sizes but the same text. Well worth shopping around for as mine cost £3.99 but they can up up to £16. Not really worth having the bigger one (unless you are incredibly short sighted!)).

Very disappointing book this one and I'd certainly suggest giving it a miss (even in the bargain bins). The title (and write up on Amazon) suggests that the text might cover issues related to, shall we say, "dishonourable" fighting which would save your life better than what is taught in most training halls. As such, I thought it might add something which the MacYoung series of books did not. Sadly this is not the case and MacYoung is far better than Mashiro at passing on the realities of street fighting and what you are likely to have to do to survive a violent confrontation. Actually what you get in this book are predictable defences against "standard" attacks, many of which are not that likely in a "real life" situation (eg they are too static in application and defence). Published in 1981, the limitations of this book shows how the science and understanding of martial arts and self defence has progressed in the past 20 years. Sadly, this progression has left this book behind.

Hate to tell you this and so stop you rushing out to buy a copy of this video, but what's detailed in it will not make you a Grandmaster overnight ! In fact, it's unlikely to make you a Grandmaster in a lifetime ! The video is a bit like the Discovery channel's slant on martial arts rather than an indepth review of what makes a warrior "tick". All very slick, some good instructors and some good techniques shown but nothing really detailed about the arts. Likely to stimulate some ideas relating to different forms if you haven;t seen them before but little else. I had an enjoyable hour or so watching it and that was what it was meant to do; entertain rather than educate.

An interest into the restraint of opponents lead me to this book in our local library. Very enjoyable and I learned a lot about Ju Jitsu from the text. Some interesting moves are suggested and a number of good photos help you to follow what is being suggested. As with all of this type of thing, some of the techniques are not for me, but all of them made a lot of sense from a "natural" point of view. An excellent glossary of Japanese terms is also included which is very useful for us "Chinese types".

A friend of mine lent me these videos for review as he was interested in my views / ideas on Sistema and especially the Psychic energy part as this intrigued him and he was interested if it was "real" or not. I'd come across Sistema (at the local Bewdley school) during my "wilderness" years between leaving Hok Koon and formulating Peaceful Fight so it wasn't a complete surprise about what was on the videos. However, the review turned out to be rather a difficult one. This is because I know that Sistema can be a very effective art (one of the videos (Knife defence) shows just what a great art Sistema is) and Vladimir Vasiliev who demonstrates on the tapes is certainly a great martial artist / soldier and this shows on the knife fighting video. However the remaining three videos do not do him or the art justice and I would certainly not recommend buying these titles (but certainly invest in the Knife Fighting one if this area of the arts interests you). My main criticism is that the majority of attacks / defences (with the exception of the knife defence video) are being operated at different speeds between the defender / attacker and without any "intent" to strike the defender. The issue of different speeds is that if someone is attacking at half speed but you react at full speed, the full speed return will always look good and often work very much better than if you are both at the same speed (this is a "trick" of many instructors to increase their "aura" of invincibility / effectiveness). Sadly though, it doesn't give a fair reflection of the effectiveness (or not) of any art. On the other issue, don't get me wrong, I don't want to see attackers trying to punch someone's head off for the sake of it but I would want that the strike should follow the same trajectory as in a "real" strike and also finish close enough to the opponent for them to have to defend. Without this, the attacker is not getting anything out of the practise (ie are not striking properly) and the defender gets a false sense of security that their techniques will work without fail (as all techniques work without fail if they are not going to hit you anyway and being thrown by a "willing" opponent !). Because of these general difficulties with the videos, it was difficult to assess whether the Psychic energy bits were good or not. Yes, the opponents were deflected and fell over with very little effort from the defender but they were doing this falling over in the other videos as well. As a consequence, you have to ask yourself whether they would have fallen over regardless of whether there was any "psychic" bits going on or not. However, this part of the videos did explain these effects in a totally different way to the Qi disruption methods which I was used to and did convince me to follow it further. In order to do this, I purchased the two videos "The Master of Fighting" and "Beyond the Physical" by Mikhail Ryabko (who was Vladimir Vasiliev's instructor). Again, just as with Vladimir Vasiliev, Mikhail Ryabko is a true master of fighting and certainly a man with skills that any student should aspire to. However, the videos again suffer from the same problem as the other Sistema ones with opponents seldom having an attacking mind state during the demonstrations. The only time they do have the correct mind state is one of the only times that the "Psychic energy" isn't used. In this example, the opponent still gets pummelled (by the use of basic energy, pressure point strikes) but there is no redirection of his attack or use of the psychic bits of the system. This demonstration only served to reinforce my concerns about the work being shown. If the mind state of the opponent is realistic, I think much of the subtlety of the psychic work shown would be lost on them (or overridden by their mental / physical intent). This shows that it is not always appropriate to use these types of techniques (especially as the first line of defence). I've always said that if you only had one chance of using a technique against an opponent in a "do or die" fight, would you be sufficiently confident to use a psychic / qi disruption technique in preference to just punching his head off ? Maybe with extensive practise I'd go for the former but I'm happy to keep my right hook in reserve just in case ! Ryabko's work against a "real" attacker (ie not using psychic energy) sort of confirms this and if he can't do it, maybe no one can. As with all things, it's horses for courses and my view is that qi disruption techniques come within a fight and are not a technique in themselves (ie they are part of the natural flow). This might explain why in the "real" attack situation, Ryabko chose not to use the techniques as it was the wrong time and wouldn't have worked to protect him sufficiently. This issue of when to use the techniques isn't really explained on the tapes which might leave some viewers with unrealistic expectations of their use. Interestingly, the explanation of psychic energy on these tapes differs from that on the previous one (no "strings" concept mentioned in these ones) but focus more in terms of reflex motions causing the opponent to stop / fall / believe an attack has been completed.

However, even with my reservations about the ineffective attacking methods, in this series of videos Ryabko actually undersells his abilities, making light of much of his skill. In the social outings part of the video, he seems very self effacing and humorous which is often the mark of a senior martial artist. There is no doubt that some degree of energy flow is occurring during his work (most likely some sort of yang drainage or reversal of qi flow but other types of drainage / accentuation are also shown but not really explained) but neither of these videos really explains the theory or application in detail. However, the best thing which I learned from this series of videos is that Sistema has a heritage of healing within its syllabus and I'm glad to see that this is being maintained. To see sistema at its best buy the knife defence video and visit a local club to see it in action (but give the other videos a miss).

For those with a Chinese leaning, Hei Long means "Black Dragon" which is why the text is called dragon's touch. I really enjoyed this book as it details body weakness in terms of their Western location / understanding and so was a a very useful adduct to my Chinese understanding. I'd certainly recommend buying this one if you are interested in the "whys and wherefores" of technique and their effects. It covers similar ground to Adams' "Deadly Karate Blows" but overall goes into more detail. However, some of the bits from Adams' text are missing from the Hei Long book. As a pair, they do give a good account of Western concepts of body damage. Still think you need the Chinese understanding to have a "full "picture of what is happening within a Chinese art but this is certainly a useful book to read.

Good book this and puts to rest many of the problems with the psyche of when it is necessary to fight for what you believe in. After a while of reading / training / thinking about martial arts, things start repeating themselves and this happened for me with this book (but being a non-smoker I had never considered the differences in nicotine loaded spit and normal spit before reading this so there is always something new to learn !). It's a good one to read, especially if you have not thought about the "bigger" picture of martial arts in a real life situation. There are times when the "we're only a defensive art" theory falls down and this book explains why (and how) to deal with this if / when it happens to you.

A strange book this one and difficult to review. Essentially it is a picture archive of Morihei Veshiba who is quoted in the text as being the founder of Aikido. There is also a brief biography detailing his life and times and how he came to find himself and Aikido. Somewhere in the text, it talks about the pictures "speaking to you" and the authors being able to "feel" the spirit of the founder. Personally, I didn't get this feeling. Think the authors may have felt this because they were there taking the photos at the time (and so all the associated memories of the time / place are there too whenever they look at them). The photos do help to capture a previous age but little more than that (for me). The biography also has a bit of a feeling of being written by the "converted" but it is certainly the most interesting part of the book. At ~ £30 this book is one for devotees only.

This book was one recommended in the Jamie O'Keefe book so I thought I'd have alook. As I'm over 6' tall, its difficult for me to understand the way I might appear to shorter people and I was keen to understand it. Sadly, this book didn't really give me this insight of "why" but did go through various very good techniques for smaller defenders against larger attackers. Didn't really learn that many "new" bits but they all made sense. If you are of average or below build and starting off in the arts, it's well worth seeing what O'Hagan has to say.

Well worth the money (second hand) for the first 20 or so pages (which deal with the hara and its effects / use within Karate and also spirituality) and then tails off a bit (when it comes to training methods and specific techniques). It's written from an "old school" point of view of Karate, seeing it as a fighting art rather than a sport (although it does go into this in later stages). Being from primarily a Chinese art background, it was interesting for me to see the overlap between the Japanese and Chinese views of energy and centre movement. Seems that some of this may have been lost in more recent times (or maybe just moved to more advanced levels of the art). This book suggests that the hara and energy was (at least in the early '70s) a primary and starting point for any Karateka. Well worth finding out more about this.

Another good book in the MacYoung series. This one was strange though as it highlighted exactly why I will never be a "hard man". I won't tell you why (never reveal these type of secrets !) but I'm never going to fit the mould. Can't quite decide whether I'm happy or disappointed about this ! That said, there are a number of excellent pieces about why hard men are "hard" and also the different types of body language that show this. Very enjoyable and well worth reading.

Geoff Thompson is possibly one of the most famous martial artists of our time and quite rightly so. It's interesting to read his view of the arts and self protection as he has the background to back it up. Although it is important to understand and retain the knowledge from the "old masters", the arts should always be developing with knowledge the "new masters". Most of this knowledge would already be known to the old masters but the changes which have occurred in the martial arts in transplanting them from the Orient to the west (generally dilution and simplification) means that we have to "relearn"some of the unpleasantries of the "real World". This book (and the "Cheap shots...." MacYoung book) is a good starting point to bridge that gap between the training hall and the reality of the arts.

When I read Erle Montaigue's work on Dim Mak etc, I never really thought that any book would equal them . However, Tedeschi's truly beautiful book does this and in some instances (ie from a healing perspective) surpasses them. Montaigue's work is biassed more towards fantastic details of the the dim mak areas of the art with the healing parts being a bit of a "list" in comparison. The quality of the diagrams and text in Tedeschi's work is a credit to his work within Hapkido and in some ways more easily handled than his 1100 page master work on his art. As he explains within the text, this isn't an "easy" book as many of the concepts of TCM and Dim Mak are not that easy. However, he explains them in a very straightforward way and does a very good job of relating Western and Chinese concepts of medicine and fighting strategies. Possibly the only book of its type which deserves to be in both the healing and martial sections of this site review. If you are at all serious about martial arts (in their entirety from martial art to healing ) buy this book to go alongside the work of Erle Montaigue.

This video is recommended in various of Marc MacYoung's books and I'd been looking out for it for some time. It is available on Amazon but is one of the more expensive martial arts tapes available. Luckily for me, a friend of mine had a copy and he was kind enough to lend it to me (with his own high recommendation). It's obvious from the outset why the tape gets such high praise. Although quite famous, Pentjak Silat is not an art I'd seen before and Goru Plinck did a very good job of explaining both the complexity and simplicity of the art. The art is very fast (probably similar to Escrima speed) and works very well at close quarter or against knife attacks. Although not explicitly stated, the movement style seems to mimic the centre driven movement of Peaceful Fight but lead by hand movement rather than the connection to the centre (there is a similar type of hand driven movement within Peaceful Fight, sometimes called "alternative centres" but it has very different explanation as to how it works than in this tape). very good explanation of the "high / low" rules and how the system works against different type of attacks. A very good tape which deserves all of the praise that it gets.

Another art which I'd never seen, again lent to me by my friend Stuart. Based on wrestling submission techniques coupled with "anything goes" fighting, the brief examples of ring fighting looked pretty brutal (and seemed to dwell a bit too much on the discomfort / damage caused, almost like this was a good thing to achieve). The instructional part of the tape was mainly based on the wrestling angle of the art. Bas Rutten is very amusing in the way he puts the techniques across and their effectiveness can't be disputed. Many of them would also be applicable to "real world" ground fighting. You'd need a very experienced (an understanding !) training partner to try out some of the techniques without hurting each other but many of the technques and ideas were new to me.

Very much boxing oriented, this tape did help to show the value of mitt work if done properly. Rick Young would be a very fast and powerful opponent to face and although I decided that none of the techniques were for me, it did raise questions about how Peaceful Fight would deal with this type of strong , agile and fast attacker.

Marc MacYoung talks a lot in his books about the differences between real life knife work and the "Hollywood" version of knife fighting. This video is probably one of the best ways for him to show the fallacies associated with trying to do Hollywood moves during an attack on your way home from the local pub. Numerous techniques are described and strategies which will keep you alive (ie run away or hit and run or better still, don't be there in the first place ! ) and also many of the errors of "classical" knife defences are shown and explained (with the possible real life consequences). Before you start to say that the classics are always right (because your instructor says so), I've seen (and been taught) numerous knife defences which (in hindsight) wouldn't work. Maybe have a look at this tape before condemning MacYoung's views. The tape also describes in a basic fashion how to use a knife properly (which gives you a better understanding of how attacks are likely to come against you). Great video and acknowledges the strengths of Escrima and Silat in the realm of knife defence / attack. Everyone should watch this at least once.

Possibly the most "toned down" of all of MacYoung's work and in some ways it suffers for it. Has the tone of a public information film designed to "not frighten the locals" but to show them a bit of the problems that they might encounter. However, even with this "soft touch" as an awareness video it's very good. It describes numerous set ups, scams and tricks that criminals use to select and target victims. If you've read his books (or other similar ones) then there will be nothing new on the tape, but as a stand alone instructional video, this is probably all that you will need to get the message across about street situations.

This book came up as a recommendation from Amazon.com and in the book Bruce Lee goes though some of the basics of some of the Gung Fu styles he had encountered. However, many of the photographs are poorly reproduced and do not really get the "feel" of what he is trying to explain. If you read this book in isolation, you'ld think that Kung Fu had very few moves, the only ones of which that worked were the defence / reattack ones ! The philosophy bit is very broad brush too and would add very little to the knowledge of any Kung fu player. Overall, I doubt that the moves in this book would be what Bruce Lee would want to be remembered for as they are more "classical" than his work in Jeet Kune Do. Realistically, if this book had been written by anyone else, it would have been stopped being produced years ago; it's only the name that keeps it going. Overall, it's not a very good (nor big) book and Bruce Lee's work was much more fully (and better) documented in his later book "Tao of Jeet Kune Do" (which really is a classic and everyone should read it).

I had the great pleasure of briefly meeting Guru Godhania last year and he came across as being a really nice man (as well as a very senior and skilful martial artist). This tape shows his skill and goes some way to giving people a taster of the warrior Eskrima training methods and ideas. It's presented in a style more for those practising the art rather than for casual visitors but anyone could get a feel for the art from the tape. My only criticism would be that the tape is a bit short and might have benefited from a more in depth study of how the moves developed over time and the roots of the system. As it is, it all sort of appears "out of nowhere" and the links between stick work and open hand work is not explicit (although this is to be covered in later videos). Well worth seeing.

Published in 1963 before the '70s "Kung fu boom" it's interesting to see how the perception to the arts has changed over recent times. Throughout this book, the authors suggest that Judo is one of the best self defence systems available in the World but I doubt that many people would say that of the sport today. That said though, the way Judo is described in the text is much more as a "martial" art and mental attitude rather than just a sport. There's much about discipline and values which fill the text with more Budo / Bushido and the pursuit of the honourable way. It's so much more than a book purely on "this is how you thrown someone" and well worth reading to see how things have changed and how some of the antics of Judoka in competition (eg not paying the opponent sufficient respect in their defect) would have been seen as bringing shame onto the style / school. Something has been lost from the arts and maybe this book can help guide people back to what Judo was designed for.

Ken MacKay came across this web published article and forwarded it to me. It's a great article describing the relative values of the different facets of the martial arts to students / instructors. There are some things about the arts that are not covered but it makes a lot of sense and sort of underlines the view that there are more important things to do than learn to kick and punch ! The link is at www.stanford.edu/~bescoto/practical_ma.html

My friend Dave Hand from Warrior Escrima lent me this book and many of the following books / videos on Filipino culture and martial strategy. Much of the written work in English concerning Filipino martial culture has been written by Mark Wiley and this book is a very good one. In some ways the title is misleading as although striking methods etc of the style is discussed, the real "secrets" of the system come from the conversations between the author and contempories of the Grandmaster. Filipino culture is so little understood in the West that these interviews give more of an insight than any angle of attack or striking method could. Well worth reading as both an instruction system for this particular style and for a wider view of what things make a senior martial artist special.

This was the first book that I read by Mark Wiley and it is probably his best (of the ones I've read) to date. The book looks behind the separate and different styles of Filipino arts and tries to explain the cultural heritage that has brought the arts to their present position. Overall it shows the different perception of the arts between a true fighting culture (ie the Filipino) and the "softer" life of the West. For example, knife fighting is so important in Filipino arts because knives are routinely worn by all people. This culture mean that knife fights are the norm rather than the exception. Having this background explains a lot about the "hit first" and fight to the death concepts of Escrima ! In many Westernised arts, knife fighting has been relegated to something that you progress to after a few months of training and even then has a degree of "unworldliness" within the instruction. Attack methods that would seldom be employed by an attacker are taught as being representative of "real life" and some of the defences taught in classes are unworkable (and even worse some would be suicidal in a real confrontation !). Understanding this background and the high probability of life or death fights occurring helps to explain why Escrima is such an effective art, either armed or unarmed. There is no middle ground if you know you'll have to use your skills on a regular basis ! The book also gives some guidance on the spiritual aspects of Filipino arts which is surely an area for further study.

Unless you are a devotee of Filipino arts, this book is certainly not for you. Essentially, the author has undertaken a review of a number of Filipino arts and highlighted the subtle differences between each style in terms of methods, perceptions, basis etc. However, when you consider that most arts (from all over the World) have a very similar basis (ie we all have two arms / legs), some of the differences between the arts from a single geographic area are going to be fairly minor and this is shown in this book. Maybe a more detailed explanation of trends from North to South would have explained more about the progression of the arts would have explained their conception and evolution. Overall, the details of each style was, generally, of little interest to a casual reader and I ended up flicking through many of the later pages. Like I said, a book solely for the devoted.

A very good video describing many of the core concepts of Indonesian fighting systems. One of the things that came out from early training in Peaceful Fight was that the "natural" way of moving the lower body (ie feet / legs) is significantly more unpleasant than what most arts teach. This Indonesian arts video is the only one to date (Aug 2002) that has ever detailed a formalised stepping method that mimics this natural motion. Add to this that all of the techniques shown were very effective and well explained and this is a video that everyone should see (regardless of there you are practising an Indonesian art or not).

A video showing training methods is always a bit less interesting to work through than one that gives "knowledge" but Chris Kent does a valiant effort in keeping the viewer's interest. Essentially he goes through methods to develop speed / accuracy / reflex response/ targeting / mental attitude etc within JKD (but these methods could easily be applied to any other art). Very good video to buy if you want a "one off" video to go through most of the useful training drills an artist should use. Don't spend your whole life doing them (there's more important things to do !), but well worth seeing and understanding the drills and working them into your daily (non-martial) routine.

Dan Inosanto must be one of the most well known martial artists on the planet and these videos show that he deserves his good reputation. The techniques shown are very fast, very effective and beautifully controlled. The only problem for a novice or inexperienced artist is that there is very little detailed explanation of what is actually happening ! As such, these videos stand more to show the artistry and effectiveness of what is shown rather than as a "self teach" system for Filipino arts. For me, some of the best bits were the interview sections but that might be because I understood the movements shown. To a novice, these videos are certainly a valuable introduction to how Filipino artists move and think (even if you will have to make up your own mind why things work ! Sounds like a great way to explain anything!).

The mastery of edged weapons is one of the great strengths of Filipino arts and this work on Espada (sword) and Daga (Dagger) initially seemed very interesting. However, on watching it, it was a bit of a disappointment. The instructor showing the techniques, rather than appearing to have fully mastered the blades, seemed hesitant and stuttery in his movements when an opponent was present. The techniques themselves were effective enough but the demonstration did not help to get this across to the viewer. Although I can understand the extra care required when a "live" opponent and sharp blades are present, the techniques shown were performed at very slow speed and so I expected the precision of movement to be higher. Yes, it is all shown at a faster pace in open air but even here, the degree of control seemed surprisingly low. Add to this that there were very few techniques shown (each at three or four different views) the amount of actual espada e daga shown was very low and not beyond the ability of a reasonably experienced artist to work out for themselves. Although this work then progresses to open hand equivalents, there is comparatively little art to be gleaned from what is shown.

It's always enlightening to read old books on martial arts as it helps to show how the arts have changed over recent times. This book published in 1959 was written by a senior Judoka of the era who had no direct knowledge of Karate (!) but translated two Japanese sources to fill his own book. I wasn't really expecting to find anything new but was pleasantly surprised to learn some new issues concerning the ethos of Karate, the Japanese view of the Dantien / energy and even some unusual striking methods (one of which I think is a mistranslation unless you want to dislocate your thumb!) . Add the chapter on nerve striking (Kyusho) and it goes to show how good a hard art such as Karate can be when taught in the traditional way ! There are some other areas where I think the translation may have gone also a bit astray but overall a very useful early text on the art.

For those of you who have never come across the SAS, they are one of the elite special forces within the UK services used in extreme situations within various theatres of war. They specialise in all aspects of war from covert surveillance to specific, tactical ground clearance of enemy threats. As such, they need a lot of unarmed combat skills to maintain the element of surprise for as long as possible. As such, they are one of the best fighting forces in the world. Here, Wiseman has tried to take his training and "soften" it for application by the general populace but, for me, has failed to provide a suffciently useful range of techniques to prepare "novices" to the realities of self defence. The sections on self awareness and preventino are OK, covering most of what is required but these are better covered by Geoff Thompson in his books. As for the "physical bits", it identifies that mental attituvde is what matters but does little to help readers find this within themselves. The actual techiques which are given are often too fancy or require too much precision or practise for a novice to achieve whilst under threat and so do not fulfil their purpose. There is also little discussion on the merits of running away (which would always be my first taught self defnec strategy) and one of the knife defences (the cross block using the thumbs) looks positively self destructive (what if the opponent pulls back for his next strike ?). For me, there are much better books out there and I'd suggest giving this one a miss.

One of those pocket books published by Shambala which gives various "inspirational" quotes or you to consider. However, in this case, I found most of the quotes lacking in spirit, most likely because they have been quoted out of any context. Unlike The Light of the Kensei or the Tao de Ching, the quotes given here fail to "live" on the page and so give little for the reader to contemplate. I did like one of them "Iron is Full of Impurities that weaken it; through forging, it becomes steel and is transformed into a razor sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion" but most of the others left me cold. There seen to be a lot of these Aikido books coming out at the moment and they are all prefaced with quotes such as "Morihei Ueshiba was history's greatest martial artist" and I find it difficult to believe that he would have wished to have been remembered in this way. Surely this was of no consequence to any artist on the spiritual quest that Ueshiba accomplished ? I have great respect for all artists who perfect their lives and there is no doubt that Morihei Ueshiba was a visionary which, in turn, allowed him to perfect his life in all aspects (including the martial way). It is important that such a man is not "forgotten" (although many other visionaries will be) and so it is right that his students should try to do everything they can to maintain his memory. However, , the achievement of being the "greatest" is a transient and cyclic issue, being transferred to other artists in future years in the same way that it has resided with others in the past. Seeing the issue as solely being within a lifetime blunts much of the long term view of how life runs and so, possibly, misses the point of what the master was trying to achieve ? Even if the master was to be forgotten, the "greatness" would arise again at some time as it is a human condition, built from introspection of what makes us "tick" as human beings. We are all on the same path, just happens that Masters are further along it than most of us ! This is why we can all aspire to greatness and it may come to us at any time without any prejudice to age, sex or years training !