Customer Reviews

The Ancient Art of Life and Death: The Book of Dim-Mak

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First off, let me preface this review and recuse myself to a degree. I am the co-author of this particular book. After much consideration, I decided to post something to Amazon.com, to help give the reader a general idea of the scope and content of this book, since none is currently included with this listing. The Ancient Art of Life and Death: The Book of Dim-Mak, took a considerable amount of time to write. Conservatively, Mr. Walker and I spent almost four years writing the text; roughly equating to 15,000 man-hours of highly specialized research, review, and work. As part of the review process, we submitted large portions of the text to a number of Doctors in the medical community. The intent of this project was to provide the advanced martial arts reader with a host of important facts and information, concerning the effects of martial applications to the acupoint centers of the human body. The major chapter areas of the book include:

1. Historical Overview of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2. The development of Dim-Mak, Dim Hsueh and Dim Ching
3. The Mechanism of Acupoint Strikes
4. The Medical Risks Associated with Acupoint Strikes
5. The Three Ways of Dim-Mak
6. Introduction to the 36-Chamber Training Sequence
7. Overview of the Classical Acupoint System
8. An Introduction to Herbalism
9. Herbal Formula Preparation and Pharmacology

The section covering the classical acupoint system covers all the points on the 12 major meridians, including both medical and martial information, and health and restoration information. This information is derived from Mr. Walker's extensive martial arts training and professional background, under the direct study of Matsuetsu Kushubi. The coverage of the points will hopefully serve to augment / complement the high quality information previously published on this subject: most notably, the extensive catalog of material of Mr. Erle Montaigue, as well as Dr. Michael Kelly. The book also includes general anatomical drawings and TCM charts of the main meridian acupoints.

As a notation: the two midline collaterals are NOT covered in this book. There are some specific reasons for this. Most importantly, the physiological processes of striking the midline channels (the Governing Vessel and the Conception Vessel) are different than the triggering mechanisms of the main meridian points. The centerline points will be covered in the follow-up book, which Mr. Walker and I are currently in the process of writing.

I am proud to call Rick Bauer a friend and his prescence in my martial art life has always been positive, informative and influential. His long tireless work to bring this superlative book to fruition, on a deeply intricate and little known art, Dim Mak, is commendable. This collaborative effort with Master Flane Walker has long been needed and I am now able to clearly state that this is the book the internal martial arts community has been missing.

The subject matter, contents and layout of this work have been given keen attention which benefits the overall aesthetic. It is both easy on the readers eye and informative without alienating the layman. It does not play down the depth of these arts for those who frequent it's heights but rather strikes a perfect balance which comfortably caters to all; no mean feat!

In refering to my University manuals on Chinese Accupuncture Point Locations, I made a comparison with this book which did not leave me wanting. My University manuals were a largely dry affair which
catered to the medical TCM fraternity while the Book of Dim Mak covers all bases and then some. Among some of the most delightful aspects of the book is the martial applications of the points as an adjunct to the medical; very important in my view.

The subject of Dim Mak has been given lavish treatment in a most concise fashion, would it were that all books were so accessable when dealing with obscure subjects such as these. I have already found this to be the number one go-to book when requiring detailed information on Dim Mak, and while Erle Montaigue has had his own excellent works out for some years now, I can safely say that this work is an important addition to the study.

I couldn't recommend this work more highly for those with a vested interest in truly understanding the intracies of Dim Mak from tip to toe.

The book of Walker and Bauer is a welcome futher information besides the works of Erle Montaigue. The authors have deep insights into the art of acupuncture. For this reason it was easier for them to go into the secrets of DIM Mac. Nevertheless without medical knowledge it remains difficult to understand all details of this theme. There are some mistakes in the book, but it not so important. For example the paintings and the text of the bladder meridian use different systems. Therefore some acupuncture points do not correspond between figures and text. A lot of fighting combinations in Dim Mac remain hypotheses, because a scintific analysis is not possible or mandatory. Such combinations may result in damage of individual health, experiments have to be forbidden. Nevertheless this book is an exellent work of ancient chinese martial art.
Helmut Kogel M.D. Professor of surgery
regional director IMAF ( international Martial Art Kokusai Budoin)
5.DAN Karate Renshi, 5.Dan Kobudo, 2.Dan Nihon Jujutsu, 1.Antas Arnis

The Book delivers almost exactly what it promises ,so I will not mention its good points .One thing I didnt like much was the lack of clear photos for the points ,inside the chambers section of the book .Although you get a rough idea on where each point is ,I had to use my older bibliography in order to pinpoint the exact location of most points .
Also I find unacceptable that the authors did not give extensive information on Governing Vessel and Conception Vessel .Although they mention the points at the last section of the book where they present a sum of combinations and points ,there is no analysis of GV and CV .That was a disappointment .

This book is a must have for all Martial Artist or anyone wanting to study and learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine and the points used for both Acupunture and Presure Point Control or Striking.

Wonderful book that delivers more usefull information than any other I've seen. Terrific illustrations throughout to make learning easy. Outstanding!

Collaboratively written by A. Flane Walker and Richard C. Bauer, The Ancient Art Of Life And Death: The Book Of Dim-Mak is an intense, thorough, authoritative, and holistic study/presentation of all aspects of the martial art of Dim-Mak, which was originally created as a blend of medical and martial arts with the goal of being used to heal. Cycles of rebirth and destruction permeate the teachings and philosophy of the art; The Ancient Art Of Life And Death presents both basic information and higher-level overviews by combining modern-day interpretations with reproductions of classical texts. Analysis of acupoints, the fabled 36-chamber training sequence, herbal pharmacology and much more fill this seminal reference for dedicated martial arts practitioners who are interested in learning more about this ancient practice.

I didn't like the illustrations. They didn't seem too precise as far as I had previously studied the subject.

the text itself is ok, but I missed some explanations of the techniques the authors proposed, because they sometimes spoke of tsukis (Japanese) and sometimes about tai chi techniques (the horse mane this and that). Damm, I went to tkd classes!