Customer Reviews

No Holds Barred Fighting: Savage Strikes: The Complete Guide to Real World Striking for NHB Competition and Street Defense (No Holds Barred Fighting series)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again, Mark Hatmaker has put together a book that focuses on the most essential techniques for No Holds Barred fighting, providing the reader with expert advice. His 21-page preface may be the most concise, useful, and insightful one ever written on the striking arts. Alone, it covers which side to put forward in a fighting stance, how to get maximum power into the punches, some tips on timing and how to take a punch, and how the 80/20 rule applies to the fight game... and his explains all of it clearly and thoroughly. Amazing. His first actual chapter lays the groundwork, on a physical level, for a good NHB striker. He explains how to roll a propper fist and which knuckles you REALLY want to hit with; assuming the propper stance, including some common errors to avoid; upper body mobility, including the pull, the duck, the slip, and why the bob and weave is a poor choice for NHB fights; and foot work, such as the pivot, slide-shuffle, shift, and mistakes to avoid. The second chapter is on the basic boxing arsenal, covering hooks, uppercuts, straight punches, and the overhand. Following that is a chapter on inserts, which are little hammering and forearm blows that can be done off a missed punch. His section on elbow shots is much the same. By the end of the fifth chapter, we've seen elbows both on thier own and as inserts, as well as a sample combination using forearms, elbows, and punches in concert. The next two chapters diverge a bit, showing low blows and then "self-defense strikes", which consist of shots to the eyes and throat. Next is a chapter on headbutts, including the propper striking surface and how to sneek one in from the clinch. Then he goes over "clinch inserts", including basic stomps, some more forearm shots, shoulder shots, and how to cut of a guy's air while in the clinch. Following that is how to break a clinch, a neccesary tactic for those who feel more comfortable striking. His chapter on leg work is all strikes to the shins and thighs, which include the rear "purring kick". The next two chapters are on free and clinching knees, respectively, which can be very damaging blows. Chapter fourteen starts his section on defense, beggining with basic boxing defensive blocks. Next is a chapter on elbow defense, which includes several drills. A short headbutt defense chapter follows, after which is a very good chapter on knee defense (including foiling clinched knees), leading into a chapter on kicking defense, which blends well with the punching 'd' chapter. After that is a chapter on 'pick offs', also called weapons distructions, which is essentially how to make someone pay for throwing a punch or kick at you. The chapter on "Ground and Pound" is very good, showing strikes from the mount, side control, and guard (do you know how to use heel kicks? THere's a better target than the kidneys!). The chapter on combinations shows how to combine all the various tools, from kicks to punches to clinching, and show 24 different combos, ranging from two to seven moves. Mr. Hatmaker concludes the book with a chapter on drilling with pads, mitts, the heavy bag, and shaddow boxing. At the end of the book is a list of various books, videos, and websites with which to augment one's training. Overall, a very detailed book, showing great, high-percentage techniques. I'd recomend it to anyone who wants to learn how to strike, whether it's for sport or self-defense.

I must confess right away that I am very impressed with everything I've ever read or watched on fighting that Mark Hatmaker has put out. This book is no exception. First off, Mark is an excellent writer/teacher. The book is very well structured and clearly laid out so that the concepts presented flow together seamlessly and build layer upon layer. The interested reader will find a ton of useful offensive and defensive techniques (and some that are both - e.g., "pickoffs" wherein a defensive technique is used to inflict pain and damage - what the Filipino martial arts refer to as 'defanging the snake') that can be put into practice. Much of it is essentially derived from what is termed 'dirty boxing' because it includes things that were made illegal by the Queensbury boxing rules for pure sport boxing application. This is NOT a book about the sport of boxing (or kickboxing, for that matter), although a sport boxer who sought to bend the rules when possible could certainly derive benefit. However, the information is presented from the more familiar/traditional boxing framework. Beyond just specifying the creative use of more traditional tools (jab, cross, hook, uppercut) and less traditional tools (elbows, knees, gouges, stomps, etc.), Hatmaker lays out the concepts such that the reader is encouraged to be a bit innovative and improvisational in the application of the specific strikes and patterns/combinations - which is what you need to do anyway when in a real fight or match. This work is not just a re-hash of Muay Thai handwork (e.g., using fist and elbows), either. There is a lot of stuff on 'how' you use your fist, elbow, forearm, etc. to create specific strike variations. If you think about it (and Mark mentions this in his video series on the subject - see below), adding in the less traditional boxing tools with the more traditional creates a very large number of possibilities.

I would suggest the person to whom this type of approach seems logical/interesting look at the practice of Panantukan from the Filipino martial arts - some overlap with the 'dirty boxing' or 'old style boxing' framework, but relatively more in terms of grabbing and controlling your opponent and using imbalance and directional force to augment the power of strikes. There is some information in the book on using the legs for strikes (and as the target for strikes on your opponent), but its emphasis is much less than on hand strikes. Hatmaker is clear on this in the text, and his rationale is pretty solid, I think. I would suggest that the person interested in augmenting this text with other information on legwork search on information on Dumog (learn especially about foot trapping!) and perhaps Pananjakman/Sikarat from the Filipino martial arts, which, in my opinion, blends well with the hand and upperbody work presented here.

Hatmaker has two separate video series that each contains two VHS tapes: "Extreme Boxing" and "Illegal Boxing". Between the two videos, much of what is in the book is demonstrated and elaborated upon, so these are great supplements/companions to the book. The lowest price I found for these tapes was actually on Mark Hatmaker's own website (search for 'extreme self protection' and 'Mark Hatmaker' and you will find it).

Finally, the book is an outstanding value. You get a ton of useful information for the money, and it is worth a price much higher than is charged. Although I didn't check specificaly, I would imagine one could find a used copy for very little (that is, if someone were willing to sell such a great book!).

I do not know Mark personally, but my familiarity with his work shows me that he is one of the very best teachers on the fighting arts out there. Great stuff - check it out for yourself.

I was lucky come across this little gem at the book store the other day. I quickly flipped through it and new I had to have it. This book is packed with good information and photos all in a convenient and affordable package. It's just what I've been wanting: a boxing based martial art. I thought I'd have to mix the stuff in my boxing books with some good tricks from some of my other books and then hope for the best, but it's all right here. The techniques are tried and true. The book is like a blend of Ned Beaumont, Jeet Kune Do, and Muay Thai. I think this book goes great with Beaumont's "Championship Streetfighting" and "The Savage Science of Streetfighting". Beaumont's books are seriously lacking in illustrations, but are very interesting reading. "Savage Strikes" simply doesn't have room for a lot of text, it's just straight to the point. Mark Hatmaker has brought back Western martial arts from before boxing and wrestling had so many rules, when wrestling was about submission. He calls his self defense system "Extreme Self Protection". I couldn't be more pleased. I can't wait for his upcoming "Boxing Mastery" and I'm looking forward to getting his grappling books as well. Thank you Mr. Hatmaker.

I have read dozens of books about martial arts and self-defense, and this one totally stands out in its complete lack of BS and filler! Not just for the NHB student, but for anyone interested in realistic self-defense tactics. The photos and instructions are wonderfully concise and practical, telling you exactly what you need to know---nothing more, nothing less. No self-aggrandizing, overbearing machismo like that commonly found in most allegedly "reality-based" self defense books such as Marc McYoung's (I like his books overall, but sometimes his verbal swagger gets a bit annoying), just straight, to the point, economical and efficient writing...ah, the sweetness of SIMPLICITY!

In all seriousness, you still need a competent instructor or at least a training partner if you want to really pick up these techniques, of course. But if you absolutely can't have either, this book is the next best thing and simply wipes the floor with all other books on this subject.

Ten stars!!!

I have read and reviewed many of Mark Hatmaker's books and videos. Like all his material, there is no B.S. involved in his approach to fighting. Having been involved in numerous martial art and combative systems, I found the material in this volume most relevent for beginners; however, even experienced people involved in combative systems need to review the basics. In my opinion, the real value of this book can best be appreciated when used in conjunction with actual hands-on training with a competent boxing and/or martial arts instructor. One thing the author and I can agree on is the fact, that in most cases, boxing has the most effective punching techniques of any other martial art. In conclusion, this is a book that one must actually study and practice the techniques in order to learn the material.

Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Monadnock Defensive Tactics System, MDTS)

I bought this book after my last street fight. My game had deteriorated a lot over the years, and it showed in this fight. I pretty much got jumped and hit in the head with a bunch of key-loaded haymakers (though it surprised me; it didn't hurt at all because I remembered enough to close distance and let him hit my hard skull with his soft hands). I actually ended the fight by picking the guy up and throwing him. Effective, but not very stylish. I was unprepared, and wanted to think about how to end such things with science rather than going back to my rote martial arts training. This was one of the books I picked up to remind myself of how to mix it up with proper manly panache.

The book is very much coming from a boxing mentality. This is good, as boxing is the most effective form of fist fighting. This is bad in that a lot of stuff is illegal in boxing, and insanely street effective. And a lot of those "illegal in boxing" things are missing from this book. It's not all missing, and he gives a lot of excellent "dirty punches" (the Louisville slugger is indispensable, as are hammer fists) but there are a few obvious ones missing. As an example of something missing; the straight back fist is a hugely effective technique. It's extremely quick and whip like; faster than a straight jab, and if you do it with a good foot shuffle, you can lay your opponents out flat with it. Another example is the uppercut elbow, which is a total show stopper. MIA in this book. Oh, he has some "up elbows," but they're all very boxing-like, and not what I'm talking about. Another weakness is the lack of transitions from striking moves to locks or a ground game. There are a lot of positions shown in the photos which were obvious lead ins to arm bars, guillotine chokes or just plain take downs. Since this is a striking book, he never points this out, though he does have an excellent section on ground and pound (sans takedown: I guess you need the author's other book to learn how to get him on the ground). Man, I'd be embarrassed if I tried one of his clinches and got my elbow broke by an arm bar. Some of the defense drills strike me as silly also; the elbow defenses for example. Maybe I just think they're silly because I never tried them. Just my call on that one.

Now, there are also some excellent things here, taken from boxing. My favorite, which justified the price of the book, is the section on head butting. I was never taught to head butt by a real fighter; only clowns from high school. Clown head butts are done with the forehead. Fighters use the top of the skull. This is extremely effective. I've done it by accident; it's the type of thing that comes natural in a boxing situation. Doing it on purpose would rule. The photos and explanations are all excellent, top notch stuff. You're not going to learn to fight from reading the book, but his observations are valuable, and they can serve as a quite memory refresher on the subject of striking game. Just reading the section on how to throw a solid blow ... excellent stuff. I really can't think of a better book on striking (haven't read Beaumont's books yet either), but I can see a few ways in which it could be improved.

This is truly an excellent book. Ive purchased all of Mark Hatmaker books and think he is truly an excellent instructor.
His explanations and teaching skills make it very easy to learn and understand all his techniques. I encourage all serious Martial Artists Students & Instructors to buy all of Mark Hatmaker books. Ive learnt a lots of new tactics and my skills have improved a 100 percent. Buy the book!

Mark Hatmaker is one of the best technicians of NHB I have ever seen. This book is one of the best books written on the subject of NHB. Hatmaker's approach is easily understood and can be readily applied in the ring or on the street. I would definitely recommend his material to both beginners and seasoned fighters alike. This book has something to offer everyone

I've only formally trained in Eastern Martial Arts, but I can't help but love the empiricism of the Western arts. Every punch, every kick, every throw and every hold has been experimented with and tested over the years in training, competition and the street. The simplicity of the Western arts is backed up by lots of physical conditioning, which ultimately forms a strong system of fighting which will affect other areas of your life far more dramatically than the Eastern arts.

Don't discount the Eastern practises - there is a lot of good stuff out there. But I believe that for a foundation, the West is the way to go.

Mark has done a fantastic job in this book, giving you a broad arsenal of practical techniques, and showing how to seamlessly transist between them. I love the potency of the material and Mark's no-nonsense attitude.

I could go on all day, but I won't. Buy this book!

With this fine manual, Mark Hatmaker introduces the scientifically sound, or rather, the kinesiologically correct principles a human must understand in order to properly use specific anatomical appendages for striking another human being with devastating results.

As I have said elsewhere, while healthy humans possess a head, a set of arms and legs, and limited physical capacity, the neurologically precise physiology that coordinates the over all individual, provides this human with quite a wide variety of maneuvering capabilities. And when it comes to one individual utilizing his or her unique kinesiology to strike another, I do believe Mark Hatmaker has covered the vast majority of these potential applications within this 256 page black and white photo-book.

Consistently concise and precise, the book is information rich and instructionally explicit, explaining just what skills and how one needs to develop and drill said skills to acquire an expanded empty-hand/feet striking repertoire.

Stances, footwork, maneuvering, covering, evading, and striking are all included. These subjects are demonstrated and supported with a text that clearly explains what is required of the practitioner in order to pull these techniques off successfully under the duress of competition or "battle."

Pragmatic in its entirety, the book's striking lessons are simple yet diverse, incorporating the use of the hands, elbows, feet, knees and head, with their subsequent defensive frames and postures against such strikes.

There will be specific applications found in this manual, that for those who come strictly from a Karate or other similar Eastern martial discipline will seem awkward and incorrect. I will assure those who do find this material different, the differences are not bad--just different--because the techniques have been developed from a different, more experientially Western approach to this curriculum.

I have learned both the Western approach to striking and the Eastern approach. My personal experiences have demonstrated over and over to me that my preference for the Western approach to striking, if you will, is not ill-conceived, nor is it incorrect.

As for being able to learn from this or any of Hatmaker's manuals, I find that I learn something new every time I pick these books up. And I have been engaged in the combatives and martial arts arena since 1961. His materials are also great for reviewing and refreshing current skills to a higher, more refined level.

I recommend this book highly...and encourage my students to acquire said manual (all of his manuals) as a direct and useful learning aid.

Rev. A. Bodhi Chenevey, RM, DD
Hikaze Learning Corner