Customer Reviews

Against Armed Assailants (Practical Karate) (Bk.4)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the only book I know of devoted exclusively to the subject of defense against weapons attacks. The author includes a large number of situations using just about every weapon you can think of. For example, besides the usual standard things like club, knife, and gun defenses, he also includes defense against a straight razor and a chain. Altogether an excellent book on this specialized topic.

I am going to disagree with the previous reviewer who described the techniques in this book as somehow more dangerous then other techniques. It is always dangerous to defend against a weapon no matter what techniques or martial system you practice. There are no perfect techniques that will always keep you from getting hurt or killed. The techniques in this book are no more or less dangerous then any others in my opinion. I have practiced karate and jujitsu for 18 years and have seen many different defences against armed opponents. The techniques described in this book are no more dangerous then any other I have seen. Anytime you engage an armed opponent it is going to be a very dangerous and potentially lethal situation (if you don't think so, then you have never engaged an armed opponent in real life).

Only initial application is described in this book. Follow up or finishing applications are not given (which is why I am only giving 4 stars). As with any martial arts book, you should not be reading this book in a vacuum. You should go to class and practice, practice, practice. Then concept techniques such as follow up and finishing will be obvious. No matter what technique you try, if you are not constantly training and staying in fighting shape the odds are you will be in serious trouble-especially against an opponent with a weapon. Even with training armed opponents are always dangerous, no matter what.

This book lists some good techniques for defence against a variety of weapons(not perfect-but no defence ever is). There is nothing new in this book, but the photographs are excellent. However if you are just a "casual" martial artist, you will probably find some of the moves difficult to perform since they require a level of skill that people who only play at martial arts will not have.

This book is the 4th in the Practical Karate six book series put out by Nakayama and Draeger. I found this particular book interesting in its approach to using karate against an armed assailant. In my humble opinion, it would be difficult even for a karate expert to defend against someone armed with a weapon. As a lifetime student of the martial arts of karate, Jujitsu, and kobudo, I know how dangerous it is to defend against someone who is armed with some weapon. Nevertheless, this text is valuable to anyone who is serious about their training and desires a book to suppliment their actual karate practice under an expert. This book covers karate self-defense techniques against knives, bottles and sticks. In conclusion, this is a good book for those interested in the basic principles of defending against armed assailants.

Rating: 3 stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Shotokan Karate Self-Defense Techniques: Practical Combat for the streets)