Customer Reviews

Equalizers (Black Medicine)

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

 

 

Okay, now that you've secured a stick, knife, or gun to defend yourself against that goblin crawling through the downstairs window, what do you do now? The intent of this book is to instruct the typical ignorant civilian in the emergency use of weapons. As you probably are aware, an automatic pistol or pump shotgun is of no use to an individual who has no idea how to load or operate it -- this book will tell you how. This book will also tell you the best knives to choose from your kitchen, and show why it's a bad idea to attempt to stab someone with a flimsy blade designed to slice bread or filet a fish. Perhaps this may be shorter than previous volumes, but it does exactly what it was intended to do -- TEACH.

I have read the whole Black Medecine serious and thought that they were absolutly great. I enjoyed the first and the second volumes about the preasure points and the weapons at hand. I liked most of the third volume on low blows and different self defence techniques. Now this book is an exellent summary to all of them. I expected a book on how to kill someone, but instead Mashiro explains on how to use the weapons, techniques and preasure points to make your opponent submit with as little effort as posible. The techniques are effective and something that a none martial artist can use in a everyday life. They are simple and very usefull. I enjoyed the book and think it is a must in any self deffence library.

I quite liked BM4. If you've not read the previous volumes, I would highly recommend them. Especially volumes I and II of the Black Medicine series are a great help for any serious martial arts or self-defense student. As for volume 4: it is less densely packed than the previous volumes. While the amount of information you are getting for the price of the book is relatively less, it's still certainly worth the price. On the other hand, as the author explains in the introduction, "the information in this book is much more quickly put to use". This is true: where the previous volumes required more self-study, this one is basically a "How-to" manual to Mashiro's tricks of the trade.

When I first buy the complete serie of Black Medicine (Volume I to IV), I thougt that I haven't make a good deal : it seemed to me that this books were to thin... Yes they are, in comparaison with other ones BUT : N. Mashiro write only the essential (in french we say no "blabla") This is why his books are so concentrate. This forth volume contains more ready-to-use informations than the other one. In my opinion, you can't judge this book if you only have read this one. "Black Medicine" is a complete serie of self-defense fighting studies. I had gread time in reading them. As fare as I am concerned, I would always use the Volume I and the Volume II as references books. If you want to discover what "Equalizer" is all about, then you should buy all the four volumes. You won't be disapointed. In my opinion, N. Mashiro is one of the best author in the field of martial arts / self-defense. It is very unlikely that he will write a fifth volume of "Black Medicine", but if he does, I would buy it immediately.

This is the fourth book in the Black Medicine (Equalizers) series. The first volume (The Dark Art of Death) was published in 1978, the second volume (Weapons at hand) came out in 1979 and the third volume was published in 1981. This text came out in 1995. The complete four-book set completes the series and can be considered a complete course in practical self-defense. Even though volume 2 covered numerous weapons that can be used in self-defense situations, this volume goes into more specific detail on how to effectively use numerous weapons for self-defense.

The topics covered in this volume include: How to use pens and small sticks as weapons. Other chapters explain the use of spray weapons, electric shock weapons, telephones, clubs, flairs, chains, shields. staff, spears, light knives, heavy knives, throwing knives, swords, hatchets, pistols, shotguns, and rifles for self-defense. The final chapter gives important tips on fighting tactics.


In conclusion, this is a book for martial artists, police instructors and anyone else who is interested in practical tips for self-defense. In my opinion, the four book set Paladin offers is an excellent value.

Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Monadnock Defensive Tactics System)

My favourite is the tip about using a pen or similiar to jab into an attackers arm. I also liked the ground kicking. There's lots of tasty stuff to read apart from that, however,much of the weapons are illegal her in Australia to possess. I also wonder how that old lady with the walking stick would really handle herself in a real situation. Overall though, there are some very good suggestions for turning ordinary objects into weapons. I don't have a gun license so I didn't read the guns section.

Volume IV is the first volume of the Black Medicine series that I picked up. Other reviewers point out that this book is not meant to stand alone but be read in conjunction with the other books, especially the 1st and 2nd in the series. After reading the book, I can understand this perspective. Volume IV explains how to use a variety of weapons. The focus is on how to actually use the weapon--how to hold it, how to take off the safety, etc. There is less discussion of points of attack, but this is the topic that is covered in previous volumes.

How effective is the book? If you could internalize all the information in these books, it would probably give you an advantage in certain situations. What those situations are, I'm not sure. I have seen news reports of people being attacked with swords (actually, I remember a case in England where attackers were fought off by a bystander with a samurai sword who disappeared after saving the victim, never to be seen again), but what is the likelihood?

Part of the interest of this series is the authors' humor. Example: "...you pull the trigger. Nothing happens. Now what do you do? If you throw the gun at him, I will track you down and kill you myself..."

If you are on a short budget, you are probably better served spending your money on something else, like a home-security system. If not, you might enjoy this book and find it useful.