Customer Reviews

Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling: Dealing with the Sucker Puncher, Streetfighter, and Ambusher

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There's a lot of good things to be said for this book. The author has been exposed to a handful of very different martial arts styles, and has worked as a bouncer, and so has field-tested a lot of this stuff. He emphasises principles over technique, a concept that makes the techniques actually easier to apply. The author goes into the "fight interview", which a lot of "saloon warriors" will use to determine whether or not a victim is ripe for attack. He goes through some techniques to avoid the sucker punch, which is something missing from many self-defense books. While I don't think that all of his stuff is a good idea (one of his avoidence techniques is to act crazy... but in public?), I think that it is worth looking at. The actual techniques are drawn from Wado-ryu Karate, Wing Chun and White Crane Kung Fu, Judo, Aikido, and a little boxing. He doesn't cover grappling too well, and completely avoids the subject of ground fighting, but the idea, I guess, is to make sure you never go to the ground. Any wrestling or BJJ book will teach some good reversals and escapes, and can be used to suplement this book. The overall idea of this book is that real fighting is messy and technically ugly, so it's best to have a handful of high-percentage techniques, as well as a good grasp of the principles behind them, but realize that "anyone can get their [booty] kicked". This book has valuable chapters on distancing, facing, and footwork, how to recognize a sucker punch, and choosing a martial art that's right for you. For those that practice at home, there are a number of drills included to help one function under high-stress scenarios. I'd say that for someone who's really interested in good self-defense, this book and it's system would be a good foundation, especially if you've got experiance in a "hard" style. But as I mentioned earlier, I think the program needs to be suplemented by a groundfighting/grappling program, and probably some weapons training. Overall, though, I'm glad I bought the book.

The literature of martial arts and self-defense is filled with hype, and with books that fail to deliver the real goods. This gem of a book is one of the rare exceptions.

Mr. Quinn is knows a great deal about how violence actually occurs. He clearly describes what you can do to avoid violence in the first place, and how to prepare for those cases where violence cannot be avoided. The first chapter, which explains the author's "stay out of prison plan" is, by itself, worth the price of the book.

The book is informative, well thought out, well written, and even entertaining. Mr. Quinn is a natural story teller, and illustrates his arguments with very interesting personal anecdotes.

If you've read this far, you are likely considering whether you should buy Bouncer's Guide. Yes, you should.

Quinn's writing style is very similar to Marc MacYoung's, right down to the expletives. Similarly, his no-nonsense advice is hard hitting and right on point.

This excellent book begins by pointing out that avoiding violence is an essential technique in and of itself, just as valuable as knowing how to throw a good punch or deliver a strong kick. The fundamental elements of avoidance tactics section is important information. There are also solid sections on the realities of fighting which, as experienced warriors understand, is nothing like what you see in the movies. It's ugly stuff best avoided. Even when you triumph there are legal (and medical) ramifications that can come back to haunt you. The author's stay out of prison plan is excellent. Advanced practitioners should appreciate this information but won't get a lot out of the rest of the book.

The principles of defensive and offensive techniques are fairly basic, but well written and comprehensive. He covers striking, grappling, and movement in good detail. Don't forget, however, that you really cannot learn this stuff solely from a book. It should be supplemented with a hands-on instructional program. Chapter 7, which covers how to select an appropriate martial art for your own personal safety is an outstanding overview for beginners that can help you find one.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Peyton Quinn's, "A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling."

The most important thing to remember when reading this, or any book dealing with self-defense techniques, is that the principles behind the technique are far more important than the technique itself. Once again, Peyton does a great job of this, and you would do well to sit down and read this book from cover to cover several times in order to grasp what he is trying to teach you.

So without further ado, let's get started.

1. The Ambush: Awareness and Avoidance

One of the important points that the author tries to get across to you in this section is that fighting has serious legal and medical consequences and should be avoided if at all possible. Remember, nothing is easy to do unless you're first willing to do it. Also, learning how to avoid a potential conflict is perhaps the most important "technique" that you can learn. It is vitally important and should be considered your first line of defense.

2. The Reality of Fighting

Here are just a few of the items of interest that are discussed in this section.

a. The sucker puncher's strongest assets that he uses are as follows; confidence, experience, competence and tactics.
b. Some of the very real characteristics of "Real Fights" such as; real fights are actually very sloppy compared to the ones portrayed in movies, most fights only last a few second, most fights are decided by punches to the head, most real fights involve some form of grappling, kicking (particularly above the waist) is not very effective in an actual fight.

Now I have to admit that I am not too fond of statements such as the last one that seem to knock the effectiveness of kicks in a real fight. I for one have trained extensively in kicking and have used it successfully many times in "real fights." However, having said that, I freely admit that the point the author is trying to get across here is actually a very good one. Most people not only don't know how to kick properly to start with, but they have no idea on how to apply them practically in a "real fight."

c. The author's observations about the martial arts versus real fighting; Peyton, in my opinion, is one of the more realistic self-defense authors out there today simply because he takes a realistic and practical approach to the effectiveness of traditional martial arts when it comes to the subject of self-defense. Unlike other authors out there that seem to knock any and every kind of formal martial art there is, Peyton freely admits there importance and value not only in self-defense, but also in every other aspect of your life. He does provide some really good "food for thought" in this section and it was a real pleasure to read.

3. The Tool Box

This section starts out with some great advice, "It is more important to learn how to effectively avoid getting hit, than learning how to hit effectively."

The author then describes several different hand strikes and how to execute them. This particular section is really good and offers some very practical and worthwhile advice.

I particularly enjoyed the author's poignant tale of a sparring session he had with a Tae Kwon Do 4th degree black belt. This is quite an amusing and interesting story, and one that you can learn a lot from, if you know how to read between the lines. The author then finishes this section with some more discussion on hand, elbow, and knee strikes.

4. Principles of Defense

The single most noteworthy piece of advice that the author has put into this book is simply this, "The principles and concepts behind the techniques are more important than the techniques themselves," or something along these lines. This is something that I have been saying for at least 20 years, ever since I first started teaching. Several principles of blocking and striking are discussed in this section.

5. Mobility, Stance, Facing, and the Finer Points of Staying Out of Jail

This section covers a lot of ground covering the subjects of proper stance, the use of footwork, and keeping and maintaining the proper distance between you and your opponent.

6. Grappling, Throwing, and Escapes

This section covers a lot of very good information on the subject of grappling and throwing. I really enjoyed the information in this section and it alone is worth the price of this book.

7. Selecting an Appropriate Martial Art for your Personal Study

This I found to be one of the best sections in the entire book. Here the author takes an honest fairly well-informed look at the various martial arts and the numerous factors one should consider when trying to decide which ones to study.

Overall I found Peyton's book to be outstanding and one that I am proud to have in my own personal library. I find Peyton's approach to the subject refreshing and honest and one that I personally hold in high regard.

I strongly recommend that you purchase this book and not only read the words that Peyton has written, but perhaps more importantly the ones that were written between the printed lines.

I have mixed feelings towards this book. On the other hand, the author uses a sizeable portion of the book to teach several techniques to a reader. But then, he also discusses the fundamental principles behind the techniques. There is also discussion on the nature of combat, what works and what doesn't work in real fight, and so on.

In general, I'm very suspicious towards books that try to teach the reader hand to hand combat techniques. That's because it is very hard to teach a new physical skill to a reader by just using text and pictures, without the reader having a teacher to point out the inevitable mistakes. To succeed in such task, there would be a need for huge amount of pictures, and some very detailed explanations of each portion of the technique. With some techniques, this book accomplishes the task as there may be as many as eight clear pictures on one technique, with very detailed captions and discussion in the text. But on some techniques, there may not be even a single picture, and the technique is not explained in a very detailed manner. The techniques seem very simple and realistic, but still there is a need for detailed explanation of each technique. Because of this, I think that the reader should be familiar with at least some martial art form before trying to learn these techniques, to fully understand the mechanics of each technique.

There are also some drills to help you develop the skills needed for the techniques taught. The drills seem pretty simple and don't require any special equipment to carry out.

The parts I like best cover the principles that form the foundation of the techniques discussed in the book, and handle the reality of fighting in general. If Quinn would have concentrated more on these sections, this book would be worth at least one extra star. However, Quinn has had trouble explaining some of the principles, and he simply states that you have to try this out with a training partner, and essentially discover the principle yourself.

Quinn tells several stories on his street fights to illustrate a point. These stories may offend some readers and give an impression that Quinn is on an ego-trip. They didn't bother me, however. While I think that they were somewhat interesting to read, they were not very important additions to the book.

Overall, I think that there is too much emphasis on techniques. Had the author used more pages on the reality of fighting and the principles, and less on separate techniques, this book would have been better. Still, three stars is not a bad rating.

Don't be misled by the title---this book is first and foremost about surviving a bad situation by never letting it come to a physical confrontation. Quinn gives an excellent profile of what motivates attackers, allowing the reader to recognize them before they are physically attacked.

Also, he emphasizes again and again the importance of being aware of your surroundings. He debunks the idea that if you know the right techniques or are armed, that you are safe. Techniques and weapons won't save you from an attack you never saw coming.

Okay, I know it seems odd to talk about wisdom in connection with a book about fighting.

But the first eighteen pages of the book are well worth the price of admission.

That's because our friend here, like Lofty Wisman, SAS hand to hand instructor, has been in a fair number of fights and has reached the conclusion that being in fights is a bad idea if you can avoid it. Ditto Gichen Funakoshi. Ditto Marc "Animal" MacYoung.

This is a wonderful book for a beginner or an experienced martial artist. If you're a beginner, the book will give you insight into real physical conflicts and what they are like, as opposed to sparring matches with referees.

If you're an experienced marital artist, this is about as entertaining as a book can be; Peyton Quinn has a dry sense of humor and an eye for the sublime and the funky, and the mixture is just plain funny.

Note that his language is pretty salty, which will help convince teen-agers that he knows what he's talking about. The rest of us can tell that he knows what he's talking about just because of the quality of the advice he gives.

The particular self-defense and fighting techniques he favors most aren't the important part of the book. A lot of different sorts of techniques work well for different people. His choices are just that, his choices. Fairbairn made different choices, and those are also good. But it's clear that both men agree that having some techniques that you a very, very good at is much better than being okay at a whole lot of techniques. Both men agree as well that pre-emptive striking is a good idea if a fight can't be avoided.

In my view, the greatest value of this book is its portrait of an ambush attacker; Quinn points out that even though such an attacker may have little in the way of formal martial training, he may still be very effective because of his (unknowing) embrace of Musashi's approach to fighting.

Frankly, Quinn is a Musashi-quoting, Harley-riding bouncer who is the real-life incarnation of the bouncer in the movie "Road House", complete with philosophical musings about the broader implications of fighting and avoiding fights, including his stay out of prison plan.

And that makes for a darned entertaining read.

This book is a bit broader than it's title implies. It has some very good self defense advice that extends beyond barroom encounters.

In spite of that, it is certainly not a book for a beginner. It is much better for one who is very familiar with many self defense techniques. The author does cover a few basic moves, but not to the extent that a rookie could benefit much from it. Of course, that is true with virtually any book as practical, hand on training is an essential for anyone seeking competence in self-defense.

The strongest parts of this book are the methods of avoiding legal entanglements (the author's 'I'm not going to prison plan') and awareness and avoidance of violence. Avoiding a bad situation is always the most fool proof self defense plan and this author realizes that.

He also includes some very good strategy and tactics. Once again, these are not likely to be much help to a self defense novice. He is also very good at highlighting effective techniques and critiquing problematic ones.

He does tend to write in street talk language (lots of expletives). It is not nearly as bad as Mark MacYoung, but he still overuses these to a significant degree.

Overall, I recommend this book as a practical guide to defensive tactics.

Too much text. Great information, but text exceeds by far the amount of pictures, so it will take a long time to get a real idea of the instruction.

Text provides interesting insights into barroom fighting. practical advice and thorough explanation of the various and likely attacks in a barroom fight. also good explanation of the various types of attackers. a good read for anyone who wants knowledge of street fighting, without picking fights in a bar.