Customer Reviews

To Stand on a Stone I: 50 Fundamental Principles of Martial Arts

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Excellent book. The video is even better as you can see the examples, but having both is definitely a plus and I am delighted that I bought this book.

Some people may not fully appreciate the "Story/Explanation" 1-2 format, but the idea is that the metaphor of the story portion helps embed each of the principles into your memory, your unconscious mind, and your neurology, while the explanation for each element is there for the conscious rational mind to understand more fully.

Along with the video, where you will see the examples and hear Antony Cummins give another explanation in the context of his excellent demonstrations you will learn as much as is likely possible without going hands on.

(Hint: get with your training partners and actually work each item explicitly -- even consider holding a "video party" where you watch an item, then train it as if you were in a seminar. Or, agree to read an item or several and work on them together at each training session similar to a "book club". This material definitely is worth the time and effort.)

Could the book be improved? Yes, it needs a LITTLE editing for typos etc. but this is largely not a distracting issue. Also, it could have been "100 Fundamental Principles" since it will leave you wanting even more. Like all wonderful books, it is a little bit of a let down to reach the final page.

One of my very favorite martial arts books. Definitely important to anyone studying "Systema" even though Cummins is apparently NOT a "Systema guy" at all -- he still does beautiful Systema work and offers very easy to understand examples of how Systema works. (That right there points out that his principles will work for ANY martial artc.)

Beginner or advanced, you need this book! 50 principals that are universal to any fighting art! I've been studying Martial arts for over 20 years, this book is my favorite!
The DVD under the same name is a great addition to the book too.
I recommend anything by the Author!