Customer Reviews

Martial Arts For Dummies

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

 

 

Martial Arts for Dummies is a delightful and educational book that dispels many of the myths the uninitiated may have heard about the martial arts. The book includes examples of common situations you may run into when first entering the training hall. For example, how to choose a school or art that is right for you, what to look for in a good martial arts instructor, and the meaning of the belt, uniform, and rituals.

The easy, conversational tone of the text makes it difficult to put this book down. After fifteen years of everyday training in the martial arts, I read this book cover to cover and found myself thinking "yes, that's how it is." The chapters on "The Part of Tens" toward the end of the book provide an excellent quick reference whenever you need that energy boost for tonight's class. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to both beginners and advanced students of the martial arts.

Better than I expected. This book is a cogent and pithy overview of martial arts, what they, what they are not, how to get involved with them, and how to succeed if you choose to do so. It covers the basics of a good cross-section of styles including karate, kung fu, tae kwon do, judo, akido, escrima, hapkido, hapkido, muay thai, jeet kune do, and tai chi, all the major players. The author briefly discusses the martial culture, uniforms, and ranking systems so that you know what to expect. Further, she helps you understand how to pick a style and instructor, make the most of your training, know when/where you should use your martial knowledge, and how to avoid injuries during the process. It is comprehensive, well-written, and generally entertaining.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

I bought this book to learn about as many martial arts as I could to decide which was best suited for me. This book is extremely informative and showed me to make sure I am choosing an art I enjoy. Being 33 and completely new to martial arts, there was a lot I didn't know and this book guided me through it (visiting classes, talking to instructors and other students, etc.) and helped me know what I was getting in to. I have since chosen my art (Wing Chun) and can honestly say I'm loving the class! Had it not been for this book, I think I would still be talking about taking a martial arts class instead of being enrolled in one. You get a broad overview of so many different arts, their origins, what to look for in an art/a school/classmates/the instructor. Ultimately you must decide which art is for you, but man did this book help! Buy it!

This book is great if you're looking to start training in martial arts. It gives very useful tips for determining the right school and right instructor. It gives summaries of several different martial arts styles and even explains what skills, such as flexibility and endurance, are needed for a few of the styles covered.

This was a reasonable overview on a number of the martial arts. The instructional pages were more like filler and found myself bypassing them. I noticed that Jennifer Lawler gave tribute to a good number of marial artists some of who were famous such as Bruce Lee and others I have never heard of. I found it strange that Chuck Norris was given no mention in this book at all. It almost seemed that she intentionally left his name out, which I think hurt her credibility a bit here. He was a seven time world champion.

This book provides a good overview of martial arts. It is a particularly good book for someone who is just thinking about getting involved in martial arts training. The author gives a brief introduction to a wide variety of styles and what to expect from each.

Ms. Lawler also gives very helpful information to a prospective or new martial artist on ranking systems, training routines, competition, and even some self defense basics.

I think that this book is even good for more experienced practitioners of the martial arts. It covers a lot of interesting information on history and various tidbits on the martial arts culture and different styles. It is definitely a worthwhile purchase.