Customer Reviews

How to Defend Yourself: Effective & Practical Martial Arts Strategies

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Actually, don't. A true martial artist deliberately avoids causing harm.
Having had the privilege of attending several of Dr. Ming's seminars, I believe he would not consciously write a text which was so impractical that the only harm its techniques would cause would be to the reader when they naively used them. Dr. Ming's background is in mechanical engineering and that serves him well in his other volumes dealing with the classical Kung Fu styles (demonstrated by the exaggerated stances his models used in "Practical Strategies") or Tai Chi Ch'uan. While Dr. Ming's Chin Na (joint manipulation) techniques could be applied if one should wind up grappling with an attacker, the tactics he shows in this book are a danger to anyone who feels they are now "trained" to defend themselves. A true assault, be it on the street or in a hallway, is usually a flash attack leaving no time to drop into a low, deep stance and then attempt an awkward block. Dr. Ming's Chin Na books, in conjunction with a good instructor, may be effective adjuncts to years of study of a practical art. This volume, regrettably, is worse than useless since it will probably produce a false sense of competence, a situation guaranteed to lead to an unfortunate conclusion.

I have been involved with martial arts for more than 30 years and now have a small school of my own that my own children attend. I highly recommend this book by Dr. Yang. Simply look at the high level materials he has created and his reputation in the martial arts community. I am astounded by the lack of respect and misrepresentation found in the reviews for this work. For example, Dr. Yang does advise not to engage a gunman at long range, he than advises prolonged practice if you must defend against a gun at short range. Very reasonable advice to someone who would actually read the section. Yes Dr. Yang's system emphasizes a low horse stance. The purpose of the stance is to develop strength in the legs and balance in those first starting out. If you have even a basic understanding of this than the photos make sense. I am constantly amazed that books claiming to give people advanced Kung-fu power simply by absorbing the reading material can get high ratings and then you find an example like this where a reputable master is attacked by those without knowledge. It takes practice, timing, and training to defend yourself on the street. Dr. Yang's system as presented here is one of the top systems out there. Look at the masters reputation, look at the schools that he has, look at the material that is produced, and than go with the best.

This book is mostly on using traditional kung-fu movements for self-defense. The first chapter has little to do with defense, but is mostly on "Martial Morality"; nothing wrong with that, I just think it's a little out of place. It also includes basic history and principles of White Crane and Long Fist styles. The second chapter is on psychology of both an attacker and a victim. I'm not sure that the author conveys quite what he meant here, as far as the criminal's psychology goes, and he advises not to fight against a gun, and doesn't seem to take into account that the defender may have no choice. Chapter three covers hand-to-hand encounters, and includes pieces on distance, jointlocks (chin-na), blocking, kicking, and footwork. The last chapter is on knife defense. At the end is a glossary of Chinese terms. Overall, though I think a practitioner of Chinese arts could use this book as a way to apply the movements he already knows, and a beginner would certainly learn some valuable lessons, but there are much simpler self-defense books out there. Used with Dr. Yang's Long Fist and Chin Na books, one could get a very complete system, but it's hard for me to let this book stand alone.

This book will not teach you how to defend yourself. I am not street fighter, but I have some experience. And I know that the material presented by Dr. Yang will not work on the streets. However, there are some interesting information contained in this book - mainly about psychology of attacker. But - again - as a self defence book... NO!

... I reserve that wording for really bad stuff.

Yang Jwing-Ming may know a lot about Chinese martial arts, but he demonstrates no knowledge whatsoever about self defense.

The criminal psychology part is abysmally ignorant - more like the villains in bad kung fu movies.

His advice is terrible. "Talk to your attacker" "Find out what sort of person he is." Give me a break. When the attack has started it's been past time to stop talking and start fighting long ago. Staying far away from the attacker is nice work if you can get it, but people who really want to do you won't stay at a gentlemanly range. And a larger attacker has a longer reach. Stay out at long range and he can hit you without you being able to hit him.

The technique is deadly. Deadly to the defender, that is. It's all very classic Chinese stuff out of wide, deep stances and relies on being extremely precise in a stress situation. It requires that you be significantly faster than the attacker. It assumes that one punch or kick will end the encounter. All of these are suicidal things to rely on.

He even, as G-d is my witness I'm not making this up, advocates taking off your shoes, putting them on your hands, and blocking a knife. Presumably the attacker will let you take time out to do all of this. Considering that all the other attacks involve the bad guy striking a pose with the knife or punch extended motionless at full range, I suppose this isn't much more of a stretch.

In short, this book is a complete waste of money if you are interested in protecting yourself. But there are worse ones out there (Simon's "Anti-Rape and Total Self-Defense", Storaska's disgusting and repellent "How to Say No to a Rapist and Survive", etc.), so it doesn't deserve the lowest possible rating.

This book looks and sounds like practicle self defense for everyone using kung fu, but it's really a more traditional kung fu self defense approach. The picture on the cover is nowhere in the book. In fact, there are no pictures in the book that show everyday people in street clothes. Their all martial artist in traditional dress. I was very disappointed in this book. If you have a background in martial arts, you might like the book better.