Customer Reviews

The SAS Self-Defense Handbook: A Complete Guide to Unarmed Combat Techniques

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a book by a good writer who has a remarkable amount of specialized knowledge. His other books- on survival, for instance- display an encyclopedic knowledge of things which will help keep you alive in trying circumstances.

This book is flawed by two problems; one is the misleading hype of the publisher (this is not, as the subtitle suggests, "A complete guide to unarmed fighting techniques"); it is also flawed by the difficulty the author had in deciding what to teach and what to withhold because it was too dangerous to teach a civilian population.

If the book had been subtitled "a basic guide to self-defense", it would have lived up to it's title. And if the author had been able to decide what level of damage was "okay" for what level of threat, it would have been a better book. While he withholds the "dangerous" techniques, he suggests fingers to eyes as a solution to "unwelcome attentions" when a man puts an around her shoulder in a bar.

If that's not dangerous, I misunderstand the effect of fingers thrust into the eyes with the hips rotated for more power.

The publisher should go to Mr. Wiseman as ask him to write a different book, which actually teaches the syllabus with which he is familiar. Since Applegate has published, and reprints of the hand-to-hand combat manuals of the army and marines are easily available, Mr. Wiseman should not feel inhibited about sharing his vast knowledge because the techniques are too dangerous or violent.

In general, this book is a good basic self-defense book if the reader has the sense to realize that the eye-gouges should be restricted to situations of extreme provocation.

If a reader wants to review the spectrum of military self-defense, the reader will be better served with the reprints of the Applegate or Fairbairn books, or reprints of Army Field Manual 21-150, or the Marine hand-to-hand book.

I hope Mr. Wiseman writes another book which fully sets out his knowledge and extraordinary practical experience. I would happily buy it.

I really enjoyed this book, partly for nostalgic reasons. The line drawings and illustrations showing the self-defense techniques reminded me of an earlier generation of martial arts books back in the 50s and 60s and before, such as Kyose Nakae's Police Jiu-jutsu, the Ratti brothers Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere, Donald Hepler's Self-Defense, Simplified in Pictures, the infamous Ketsugo book ubiquitously advertised in the back of comic books in the 60s, and others.

If you're an experienced martial artist you will probably already be familiar with many of these techniques, but if you're a beginner and looking for a good introduction to the field, this is a good place to start.

Before I get into my own comments, I note the extremely negative review by one writer who says the book was a complete waste of money and the author mistakenly assumes these techniques will work against larger, stronger, hopped up, homicidal, or psychotic opponents. That's probably true, but that is not a valid criticism. As a self-defense instructor for 35 years myself who's trained in a number of styles and methods, there is no system I've encountered that is guaranteed to enable you to prevail under any and all circumstances and conditions. If they do make these exaggerated claims then they're probably selling you snake oil.

I've also read the Perkins book the reviewer says is far better and am quite familiar with Fairbairn's book and methods, and although these are also fine books and I would recommend you get these also, they don't resolve these issues entirely either although they admittedly have their advantages also--the Fairbairn methods are more vicious, but if you just add the groin rips and strikes, eye gouges, strikes to the throat and temple, and clapping the hands over the ears to break the eardrums (a technique which Fairbairn favored) to these techniques--you'll basically have the best of both worlds. But, contrary to what the other reviewer says, you'd better have a serious self-defense situation if you end up injuring or maiming someone for life or killing the attacker using those techniques--especially if there are witnesses.

Of course, there are many legal complexities and sides to this issue that I can't possibly go into here, but if you're a 100-pound girl or old lady and you cripple some 250-pound guy for life who attacked you, well, even if you get prosecuted by the district attorney, the jury is likely to go easy on you, and you may get off. But if you're a young, 200+ pound, athletic-looking guy with a dubious or disreputable past and you cause serious harm or injury, or worse, well, you can expect to do some jail time. For some reason, the law frowns on the excessive use of force and violence in self-defense even if the two parties involved are admitted scumbags. :-)

But getting back to the issue of survivability against adverse odds, the most that can be said is that a good self-defense course will increase your chances of survival and give you options that you didn't have before. The way I explain it to my students is that in a low-risk or low-level threat or attack situation you should be able to defend yourself fairly well; in a medium-level threat or attack situation you'll hopefully be able to fight the attacker to a draw and at least avoid serious injury, whereas before you might be completely helpless; and in a serious life-and-death situation with a determined opponent who may be bigger and stronger and better skilled or equipped, or have other advantages, you'll at least have a fighting chance whereas before it would have meant passive acceptance of death or serious injury. Remember, your goal in a potentially lethal street encounter is not necessarily to win, which might require more risky techniques and methods, but to avoid losing and escape with your life.

The self-defense techniques shown are simple but effective, and can be learned by most people with a minimum of training. Effective training for self-defense need not be technically difficult or long and arduous in terms of the training, but it does mean that techniques must be kept simple and complex and flashy techniques must be avoided. The self-defense techniques come from many disciplines, including karate, boxing, judo, jiu-jutsu, wrestling, and even tai chi. There's also some good info on nerve centers and pressure points.

But perhaps the most valuable parts of the book are the chapters not on the physical techniques themselves, but on the mental and psychological and other aspects of self-defense. There are separate chapters on What is Self-Defense?, Positive Thinking, and Spotting Trouble. These chapters discuss many other useful and valuable topics, such as self-defense and the law, preventive measures, practicing assertiveness, streetcraft and being streetwise, avoiding many types of risky urban environments and dangers, calming down a confrontation, the eyes and character, the will to win, gangs and drunks, travelling on public transportation, distraction techniques, the effect of alcohol, the elements of surprise, and many others.

I note the author was also the chief SAS instructor for several years in survival tactics. All in all a very well written, thoughtful, practical and well-illustrated book on self-defense and close-quarters combat as taught to the feared and respected SAS commandos.

The SAS are tough, and want to be alive after they complete
a mission. So, they should be great at writing a book
on self defense. In this case, it was mostly true. I thought
the book was excellent, but take it (the book) with a grain
of salt. If you truly want to learn self defense, join
the marines, or go to a dojo. Sparring with instructions from
a book won't prepare you for the real life situation of
panic, fear, and chaos.
The reason why I give this book high marks is for that reason:
Lofty wants you to focus more on avoiding the situation than
fighting in it. The first half of the book is devoted to avoidance. This is a book everyone should read... if you want to
learn more about fighting, get a 2nd book after this one.
This is the start of learning self-defense, not the end all solution.

This is easily the most inferior book regarding self-protection I have read. It basicaly incorporates watered-down military Close Combat and incorporates it with mediocre awarness strategies. Wiseman's biggest mistake, as another reviwer noted, is his belief that non-lethal combat and compliance techniques are going to work with a criminal who may be bigger, stronger, high on drugs, psychotic, (or all of the above) is pure lunacy. He repeatedly makes statements regarding how important it is not to get too violent as to not get sued, when such matters such as lawsuits become trivial when one realizes that his life may very well be in danger. Also, I'm not a lawyer or a cop, but I've really never heard of rapists and muggers who magically find their escaped victims later on and launch civil suits against them.

If you are interested in learning real-life self-defense, then I suggest "Attack Proof" by John Perkins, a former NYPD cop who's seen and experienced first hand how fights occur and how to prevent crimes such as rape, muggings (usually it would be best to give the mugger(s) whatever he/they wants as quickly and politely as possible), carjackings etc. If you are looking for a book that is purely military hand-to-hand combat, I would suggest "Get Tough" by W.E. Fairbairn, "CLOSE COMBAT" by USMC, and "Commando Fighting Techniques" by Jim Wilson and Paul Evans. Whatever you choose, don't make the same mistake I did and purchase this truly horrible book. The only reason I did not give this book 1 star was because the book does contain bits and pieces of useful information--all of which can be found in the books I just listed.

After reading the book I have to say it did not meet my expectations at all. Sorry! From the title, you would expect something like a (light) version of the SAS hand-to-hand fighting manual, currently used by the SAS to prepare its soldiers for possible self-defense situations. This is absolutely not the case!
The main connection between the book and SAS is more or less the author's former employment as an SAS instructor!
The book includes some general tips for civilians on how to prevent getting into possible conflicts but they are mostly psychological.
The book also includes some self-defense techniques but it would be risky to base your safety just on them.
The author indicates that these techniques can be practiced at home, but, for example, warm-up exercises are completely missing.
In addition many techniques are described in one or two pictures, which is not really sufficient for correctly understanding the involved movements. The explanations for these techniques are kept rather short.
Overall I have to say that the book should be called ""Everyday Conflict Prevention and modified SAS Self-defense techniques for Civilians" or something like it because that would give readers a much better understanding of what they can expect for their money.
Don't expect too much - the title sounds great but that's more or less it!!!

This is the perfect book to prime yourself for self defense. Understand that one does not need a thousand techniques to protect oneself. In fact to be and feel safe one only needs to be aware and cautious of their surroundings, and have the mastery of a few techniques. In this book the author presents a simple effective way to defend oneself from just about every situation they can get in. Defiantly a good read and a nice addition to my library.

The book at best was not bad. Some decent info on dealing with adrenealine dumps. Some good self defense techniques. It was definatley a watered down version. If you want to learn the real deal old school style the buy Carl Cestaris tapes they are by far the best ever produced bar none. Get books on the real WW2 combatives. They contain everything that you could possibly need.Some of the title include Kill or get killed,get tough, Arwrology, Lethal Unarmed Combat,Cold Steel especially the part dealing with unarmed combat.Close Combat Files of Applegate,Deal the first Deadly Blow I like the 1954 eddition 300pgs, Any of the Armys FM-21 1971,1992,1942. The current one called Combatives 2000 is 100% Gracie jujitsu,Barekills by Oscar Diaz Cobo and some of his other books are informative,anything that Bradley J Steiner writes.I am sure Lofty knows his stuff but he definatly doesnt share it.

As woman, who recently escaped a domestic violence situation, I found the tips in this book quite inspiring. I found a lot of ideas for keeping myself safe whenever I go out. If only I had known when I was with my ex boyfriend!!!

The author is well qualified also. Some of the chapters seemed to ramble a bit and I would have liked to hear a little more about the domestic violence end of things. Also, some of the techniques used would only p*ss the person off more than the woman would have to use her good judgment in certain situations. In all Mr. Wiseman has written an excellent guidebook for unarmed combat and I hope he writes more books.

Well, I better start off this review by stating that I was fortunate enough to have been able to read through this book without having to purchase it first, and I am very glad about that. Not that this is a horrible book by any means, but it really didn't live up to its title and actually you could make the case for blatant misrepresentation.

I mean really now, any book that states that it is the "Complete" or "Ultimate" or even "Bible" had better be able to live up to the title. The vast majority never even come close, and I only know of a few that do, and those don't even use those statements in their title. Doesn't that tell you something?

Anyway, there is some very good basic information in this book but I felt that it was way too brief in a lot of important areas. I think the author could have provided a lot more detailed explanations in these areas and it would have improved the book tremendously.

Another detractor for me was the lack of photographs to help show the different techniques the author was trying to explain. However, I thought that the large illustrations in the book were very well done and showed the techniques quite well.

Overall I was pretty disappointed in this book and it really is a shame as the author if obviously very knowledgeable and has written some other books that were quite outstanding. Perhaps he should consider putting out a revised edition that corrects the inadequacies of this one.

If I had purchased this book, I would have been a bit upset that I had spent money on it.

If you are looking for some good books on self-defense, I would recommend taking a look at some of these that I have listed here.

Cheap Shots, Ambushes, And Other Lessons: A Down And Dirty Book On Streetfighting & Survival

Fists, Wits, And A Wicked Right: Surviving On The Wild Side Of The Street

Violence, Blunders, And Fractured Jaws: Advanced Awareness Techniques And Street Etiquette

Surviving Armed Assaults: A Martial Artists Guide to Weapons, Street Violence, and Countervailing Force

Just to name a few!

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

I purchased this title for a civilian friend of mine who was interested in the unarmed combat techniques I was taught while serving with this Regiment in Rhodesia during the 1970's. While I agree with another reviewer that remarked that the laws in The United States and Great Britain (where I also served during the Faulklands campain with The 3rd Para) are rather draconian with respect to self-defense, the book is very informative regarding the basic tactics and pressure points of the human frame, i.e. body, and is indeed a wonderful primer for the lay-man.

A small bit of inside information regarding The Regiment: Unlike the films, which portray every fighting soldier as 6'4" 280lbs, the average height and weight of a member of the SAS and The Parachute Regiment is 5'7" 150lbs, only showing that it is not size that determines a man or woman's strength but their Will to Survive, Endurance and Skill in unarmed combat that determine the outcome of any situation. My Instructor was a 5'2" 48y.o. man who had jumped with The Regiment in the jungles of Malaya (today Malaysia) and I feared him more than any of our oppenants during the war in Rhodesia!

To my fellow American Service Veterans whose reviews are listed and speak disparagingly of this book: "Get Buggered!" The Regiment pre-dates The Green Berets, DELTA and Navy SEALS by nearly 20 years and most of the techniques they were taught were offered by The Regiment to it's American Cousins during their formation. And we are still in close contact with these units to this day in the area of COIN Operations.

Those who Brag Don't Do. Those who Do Don't Brag! Who Dares Wins!

And finally, to all my Mates, those who have past and those of us who remain, "Peter sends his regards and he'll be seeing you soon."