Customer Reviews

Complete Kickboxing: The Fighter's Ultimate Guide to Techniques, Concepts, and Strategy for Sparring and Competition

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Martina Sprague's and Keith Livingston's Complete Boxing is correctly titled. First of all there are 480 pages with over 1000 photos! And the Table of Contents takes up six pages with double columns on each page. This puppy is huge but it costs only $29.95. Even if you disagreed with some of the material - not that fighters are strongly opinionated - you're still getting more than your money's worth. It's that loaded and that good.

As the title says, the book is about kickboxing, that is, full-contact fighting. Not point fighting where eight times out of 10 the technique wouldn't have had an effect. In kickboxing, the players are really hitting and trying to defeat the other fighter by hurting him so badly that he can't continue, or by knocking him out. So you're not getting foo-foo techniques here; the material in this book is designed to hurt.

The authors have been there and done that. Combining their vast experience, they have produced a tremendous book - a huge book -that will keep you reading, learning, and stealing techniques for a long time.

As a guy who has written 18 books on the martial arts and has been punching and kicking for 40 years, I highly recommend Complete Kickboxing.

As said before me this book lives up to its title. It is very complete, the author talks extensivly not only on every aspect of kickboxing I've ever heard of, but also of many I haven't. The book is easy to understand and the author has a unique style of writing and organization that keeps you interested. This is one of the best martial art books I've ever owned.

The collaborative work of martial arts experts Martina Sprague (kickboxing, modern freestyle, Kenpo karate) and Keith Livingston (kickboxing, Tae Kwon-Do, Kenpo Karate, boxing, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, and former I.K.A. light heavyweight Rock Mountain champion), Complete Kickboxing is a "martial arts student friendly" instructional guide and reference for kickboxing techniques, concepts, sparring exercises and competition strategies. Beginning with the fundamentals of movement, stance, punching and kicking, and progressing to instructions on more advanced jump kicks and sweeps, strategies for short and long range fighting, outsmarting one's opponent, and the business mechanics of competition in the professional ring, Complete Kickboxing is an indispensible resource for novice and career kickboxers alike. A well-rounded compilation of facts, advice, and insight efficiently organized for improving one's skill and strengthening weaknesses.

This is the most comprehensive stand-up fighting book I've read. The authors are not only incredibly knowledgeable but they are articulate--breaking down the moves to their most basic and understandable forms. My background is ground-fighting, so that ability to break things down in a way that even a thick headed guy like me can understand it is incredibly valuable to those of us who are looking to expand our fight game. Even if you have an extensive stand-up background, I think that you would find this book valuable because of all the information it gives on competing and on the world of pro-fighting. This is just one guy's opinion, but if you are looking to compete either in MMA, kick-boxing or some other kind of stand-up fighting I'd say you definitely need to read this book and keep it as a ready reference in your tool box.

this book covers everything that u would ever need to know in kickboxing. it shows correct techniques, drills, sparring, and strategies that are employed in kickboxing. the authors do an excellent job of explaining the methodically correct way to approach the materials discussed in the book. the book also has sections on strenght training and conditioning for kickboxing. it even contains real life stories of what the authors experienced in their years as kickboxer. a must have for anyone wisjing to train proficiently in the sport of kickboxing. 5 star effort!

I teach MMA ,THAI BOXING AND C.Q.C ,i ordered this book out of curosity and I must admit I think its a great COLLECTION of DRILLS/KICKBOXING Knowledge in one book ,the writers have really gone to great lengths to detail kickboxing,the strategy,concepts for training etc and i would receommned this to any teacher and fighter as well as student ,one of the best M.A books i have read in years.

I can't say I own all the books on stand up fighting, but I have a few. since this is about kickboxing (the ring sport), I can say it's full of tips, drills, and insights. it's like having an experienced coach, I guess.
most other books I have on the subject merley describe the tools, but there's usually very few elements on strategy, mindset etc.

well this book is full of it! ( I mean strategy and mindset stuff, and they're excellent.)

either you train in a similar sport or you want to be an enlightened spectator, this book is the most interesting I found.

They really didnt leave out to much in "COMPLETE KICKBOXING". Now anyone serious about competing or even learning knows that you can not learn how to kickbox from a book, but this one gets you close... supplementing this book with an exsperienced trainer would be a nice refinement to anyone's game no matter what the level... It is full of information and well worth the money