Customer Reviews

Cold Steel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My one-line summary might seem a bit exaggerated, but it is true. This book covers many life saving skills. Although not a lot of techniques are covered, it is a mistake to think of that as a negative. The skills that are covered are all vital skills in hand to hand combat or self-defense. The skills taught for the use of the stick are excellent. The empty hand skills are likewise. One area that seems of concern (judging by other readers comments) is that of knife fighting. Although some may disagree with Styers method of knife combat, I will say that if one was to train hard in those skills and be aggressive, the odds of prevailing in combat would still be high. The truth is, that not many people are skilled with a knife. If you train hard in Styers method you'll cut a person to ribbons before they know what happened. Hard training will always give you more than a fighting chance. You can study this book over and over again and always find more applications for what is taught between it's covers! This book is highly recommended.

This is a complete fighting book, in that it REALLY tells you everything you NEED to know about fighting for keeps. What I like best about it (besides that fact that the techniques work, are easy to learn, the book is inexpensive, etc) is that the stance and many of the movements he teaches are the same for knife, stick, and unarmed combat. Most people who buy these books think that by merely owning them and flipping through them from time to time they automatically become qualified to judge the material. Hence some of the negative reviews. Amazingly enough, you actually have to read, study, and then practice. One review questioned the knife fighting techniques on the basis that they were developed from fencing- as if that is somehow an invalid form of short blade combat. Seemed to work fine for Jim Bowie and his ilk back before the revolver became affordable and reliable. I guess all of the people who died in knife duels using these techniques can get back up now. Another complained that you had to be quick to utilize them. Well, duh. If you actually read the instructions and THEN look at the pictures you will see why these techniques were effective against the Asian martial arts trained Kommies in Korea. Simple, brutal, and devastating. See also "Bowies, Big Knives, and The Best of Battle Blades" and "Everybody's Knife Bible". Combined with "Cold Steel", these three books will teach you everything you need to know about knives and their proper uses. One caveat- don't throw your knife in combat!!! Don't throw any knife unless it is designed for throwing!!! The knife throwing section of this book is novelty fluff, for people with too much time on their hands. Also, his knife grip on page 43 is obviously a misprint, so disregard it. Also also, don't lean your rifle against a tree where you can't get to it,like in the scenario he describes on page 37. If nothing else, your rifle will fall over and you will damage the finish.

I gave this book a 4 star rating, not 5, simply because the knife methods in it are not, as presented, perfect.
The knife work, obviously heavily influenced by Styers instructor A.J. Drexel Biddle (Author of Do or Die), is very duelistic - that is to say it stays entirely within the realm of two combatants knife on knife, at long range, vying for the right cut or hack to open up the opponent for a kill shot. Now, it's not quite as bad about this as Biddle's work, using a more combative platform (less of a stylized fencing platform), but it's still duelistic. Now, if real fights with knives happened this way, this would be the method for doing it - but, they don't. Most fights involving knives will start unarmed, at close range, and be a drag race between adversaries to get to a weapon first - if that weapon is a knife, you have a fight with a knife. Most knives easily carried and accessed will be small. Range is close, there is very little baiting and dancing around, there is simply up close hooking, cutting and hacking to clear limbs and stabbing to end it.
That said the knife material presented in Cold Steel contains many things you can extract for more modern, closer range, knife combatives. Targets; the hands/limbs, the throat, the chest and heart and the back, are excellent. Use of snap cuts, bi-directional cutting (using both primary and sharp back edges), body mechanics and footwork to improve power are all very good. Also of interest is the attempt to develop physical mechanics for using the knife that directly translate to using empty hands - very progressive concept for the age of the book.
Take the knife work out of the box its presented in, put it with what you do, take what works, discard the rest.
For the big knife practitioners, a big blade does dictate some degree of range and the work in Cold Steel will apply there very well, but it may still be an un-equally armed fight, the same unarmed beginning and "drag race" to achieve superiority with a weapon.
The knife throwing segment is the only part of the knife work I have no use for - throwing your weapon is losing it, and the likelihood of doing any good with a thrown knife under extreme stress, in the mad rush and clash of combat, is slim to none.
The segments on Unarmed Combat and Stick Fighting are great. The Unarmed segment makes excellent use of Elbows, Feet, and Body Mechanics as well as the "combative classic" Edge of Hand blow, the Chin Jab, and a few chokes, releases from holds and a little work from the ground. Very simple, and concise material.
The stick material is fantastic, both the Long End and Short End techniques as presented. Very realistic, directly applicable, material for both close and longer ranges. Simple and direct attacks and defense with the stick/baton, that are easy to practice and learn, and easy to apply with great brutality and force, for great success.
The bayonet material also seems very good - although of limited applicability to anyone not military, or not issued a bayonet and a solid rifle to put it on. It seems practical, and effective when viewed with common sense by someone who's never done it.

This book is extremely worth having as a combatives practitioner, soldier, police or security officer, or self-protection minded citizen. You will learn something from it if you open your mind, take what you can use and discard the rest.

Cold Steel is considered a classic book on close combat, and rightly so. It covers many aspects of the subject, including knife and bayonet fighting, stick fighting, knife throwing, and unarmed combat.

The book's weakness is its section on knife fighting techniques. Based on classical fencing, these are deadly. For the person using them. They are totally unworkable in a real-world situation -- whether on the battlefield or on the street.

On the other hand, the stick and unarmed techniques are easy to learn and brutally effective. These two sections of Cold Steel are well worth the price.

The knife fighting section on this book seems to be misundertood by many. Yes, knife duels are hard to happen these days, as they probably were as the book was written. BUT, given the MANY lousy books on the matter of "knife vs knife" confrontation published, the system presented by this one is relevant. Because it's simple. If you want to learn to "duel" with knives, try several sparring sessions and try this method. The single "maybe" would be the advocated saber grip, but try and change for yourself. I've seem many friendly matches being won by newbies using this method against more seasoned "knife duelists". And believ, friendly matches is probably the only environment this kind of confront will occur. C'mon, it's 2005!
Oh well... if you do not believe in "knife vs knife", like myself, you could skip this one.
But there's more in it than knife dueling.
The H2H chapter is very good, as is the short baton section. Those two alone are worth the money invested.

This is one of the classic books on close quarter combat. The techniques shown are rather simple and brutal. Knife fighting approach is more a knife duel mindset to me, and you have to be very lucky and very fast to make the techniques work right: they may led to a double kill otherwise (some photos show it clearly, though they didn't intend to) . Anyway, the other sections are more realistical and down to earth.

This book was originally published by the United States Marine Corps magazine "Leatherneck". This treatment is one of the only "classic" works on unarmed hand-to-hand and close combatives. The book is divided into three major areas of military combatives; bayonet fighting, knife fighting/defense, and unarmed combat. Also there is a small subsection on stick fighting that is very good (better then some full titles on the subject), one of the books highlights among many other nuggets of information.

The knife fighting/defense methods that Styers advocates in this book is based on the techniques taught by Anthony Biddle (author of "Do or Die) in World War II. The section on unarmed hand-to-hand combat in its day was one of the best treaties to be published, and a lot of the techniques hold true today. This section is brief but simple and direct and immediately applicable for the untrained fighter.

Styer advocates three rudimentary attack methods. All the attacks utilize an immediate devastating follow-up. When applied with surprise, speed and aggression these techniques are almost foolproof. On defensive techniques no time is wasted on the fancy or complicated methods that could possibly get the defender killed, instead Styer focuses on time tested techniques used in combat in two major conflicts.

Overall this is an incredible historical text that should be looked at by the professional combatant.

I originally purchased this book about 30 years ago and recently pulled it out again for a refresher. It provides an interesting snapshot of a period in American history when we believed in ourselves and saw those we battled as ignoble savages. Perhaps that was naive, but it sure helped to keep life simple. The preface is a great example:

"To Americans, who fight fair and clean by heritage - when they can - we dedicate this book...That they may save their own lives by confidently engaging their enemy with his own unprincipled principles."

Although I do not have a lot of knowledge about knife fighting, many of the techniques appear to be practical and resemble those taught in the few courses I have attended. Since this book was oriented towards soldiers in combat, some of it would not be relevant (i.e. bayonet drills) to the average person on the street who is interested in personal defense training.

A classic that should be read by anyone interested in military history and/or close combat techniques.

This book is the best of the WWII styles. Influenced more by the existing traditions of the Marines rather than judo, it is mostly a weapons based bayonet system. It is easy to teach, yet retains a great amount of credibilty for a hasty boot camp system.

The sections on bayonet, stick, and unarmed techniques are simple and brutal. The knife fighting techniques are fanciful, as they are based on fencing technique. The section on knife throwing is interesting, if impractical for close combat. This book has its merits for those wishing to study the development of combatives during WWII.