Kickboxing: A Safe Sport, a Deadly Defense [Paperback]

Evan S. Baltazzi (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Pub; 1ST edition (March 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804811717
• ISBN-13: 978-0804811712
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,824,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Is A Book On Savate, Not Western Kickboxing, June 17, 2008

By 

Shawn Kovacich "Shawn Kovacich" (The Greatest Little City in the World) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Kickboxing: A Safe Sport, a Deadly Defense (Paperback)

First off, this book really should have had SAVATE somewhere in the title as that is what this book is about, the French art of foot fighting or Savate, and not the western style of kickboxing, which is the misconception that I was under when I first purchased this book.

Now having said that, this is a fairly good book that gives you a pretty decent overview on the martial art of Savate. The author provides a pretty detailed description of the various techniques which he demonstrates in this book and that was a real pleasure to see when so many others seem to skimp when it comes to providing detailed descriptions in their books.

The author really does a great job on explaining the physical basics of Savate and he also provides a lot of information intended to prepare you and your body for the rigorous training that comes with learning Savate. I would recommend this book to anyone first learning Savate as a good reference manual and guide.

Shawn Kovacich
Martial Artist/Creator of numerous books and DVD's.

5.0 out of 5 stars Rational SAVATE Kickboxing +++, June 14, 2009

By 

Kevin Kiersky "oceaneagle" (Olympia, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kickboxing: A Safe Sport, a Deadly Defense (Paperback)

Evan Baltazzi, the author, states that he has a substantial SAVATE background, as well as a university academic research background. The author states that he was also involved deeply in Judo, Aikido and Fencing Arts -- even a top coach in Britain and America for Judo. He found that many interested folks in Britain and America would lose interest in such Arts as Judo and Aikido -- upon seeing how complex and "fuzzy" they seemingly are -- while still admiring such Arts in style and action. I have felt for quite some time that Kickboxing, Aikido and Judo had something quite special in common -- likely a fluid adaptation to sharp opposition deriving from their [Western or Eastern] Medieval sword-combat origins. So, it would be great if they could be directly combined somehow in a streamlined compact rational way.

As another reviewer has stated, this fine manual really covers a particular version of SAVATE Kickboxing. However, the author, Evan Baltazzi, states he spent a great effort to put his experience and understanding of Western and Eastern Martial Arts thru a detailed review and primary analysis in order to create a system worthy of modern folks wanting to learn and practice a rational streamlined discipline. Traditional SAVATE methods, such as Chasse'-Croise', do reappear -- via the "Gunsight" stance for Chasse'-Croise', for example. There are also a few "jamming" takedowns good for quickly exploiting kickboxing-openings. So, yes, a few GOOD Aikido and Judo-like movements reappear in smooth combination with the Savate Kickboxing. The manual, itself, is very orderly, sharp and clear as the author intended.

The ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman folks had fairly complete kickboxing-and-grappling Arts. There were aslo fairly complex and complete jiujitsu-like striking-and-grappling systems in the Medieval West -- such as shown in the Codex Wallerstein -- a Medieval Western "Fightbook" -- and in following Western self-defense manuals -- and in older versions of Savate and Boxing up until bare-knuckle prize-fighting. Recent full-contact sparring seems to have rediscovered such "rational streamlining" versus sharp opposition -- with various kickboxing styles doing very well for coverage and leverage versus [or leading into] close-range and grappling. "Kickboxing: A Safe Sport, A Deadly Defense" seems like a concentrated purified blend in sync with this ongoing trend +++