Unarmed Combat: A Complete Manual of Self-Defense, Groundfighting & Joint Locks [Paperback]

Steven S. Iverson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

For military and law enforcement personnel, this book based on Brazilian Jiu-Jistsu explains a full range of unarmed combat options.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Spartan Submissions, Inc. (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971413320
• ISBN-13: 978-0971413320
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,168,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Paid too much for it., July 22, 2004

By 

Joseph M Burtner (Kennesaw, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unarmed Combat: A Complete Manual of Self-Defense, Groundfighting & Joint Locks (Paperback)

Having enjoyed Mr. Iverson's "Submission Fighting Techniques", I was rather disappointed by this book. My primary objection is that it's marketed as being an instruction manual for military-style combat. However, there's no striking techniques covered, and much of the work is on groundfighting, which, while important, shouldn't be the primary focus in a situation where multiple opponents could be involved, such as a battlefield or peacekeeping mission. On the up side, when it comes to groundfighting, Mr. Iverson is at his best, and this book includes gi/jacketed techniques that couldn't be included in his first work. Also of value are many of the takedowns and some prisoner/body search techniques. However, the club, knife, and gun disarms are unimaginative, and in some cases, risky-looking. I also had a problem with some of the 'stand-up submissions' where Mr. Iverson is shown actually falling to the ground. This seems like a decent tactic on the mat, but certainly not on the street, where asphalt and concrete provide little padding against a fall. Finally, I'd like to say that when he's good, the author is *very* good, but when he's bad, he's awful, and most of this book falls into one of those two categories. I think it would be particularly useful to competitors in grappling or MMA environments, and probably to law enforcement personell to a degree, but it's overly complex and too single-minded for me to recomend it as a primary text for military personell or people interested in street defense.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book!, December 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Unarmed Combat: A Complete Manual of Self-Defense, Groundfighting & Joint Locks (Paperback)

This is an excellent book which delivers what it says it does. It has the same quality as the previous Iverson book with many improvements. The stand up chapter is in depth with many self-defense techniques, submissions, takedowns, defenses, etc... The groundfighting section is very throrough and complete with good explanations. I am in the military and liked the section on weapons and search techniques. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase...I highly recommend this work.

4.0 out of 5 stars Has a Little more than Just Grappling, December 16, 2011

By 

Troy A. Lettieri "Professional Warrior" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unarmed Combat: A Complete Manual of Self-Defense, Groundfighting & Joint Locks (Paperback)

This book is focused predominantly on grappling techniques, even to the point that in the "standing" section of the book the techniques revert back to ground fighting. Other reviewers have already hit on this fact so I am not going to elaborate any longer on this topic.

What I did like about this book was its coverage of "special situations" that was tucked into the last 100 plus pages of the 470 total page count. This sectioned covered prisoner control/search, various weapons disarms/retention, and sentry removal. This section was quite good and I believe to be the highlight of the book. I do not imply that this book is the end all to these discussed techniques but it does have some interesting options for the military combatant and martial artist.

This book is a large format book at approximately 8.5"x11.5" profusely illustrated with B&W photography. Some of the photos are grainy but do not detract from the book as a whole.

Overall I think this book is good addition to your combatives training library.