Customer Reviews

Weapons At Hand (Black Medicine)

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

 

 

These days, it's bad legal hygiene to carry weapons, and using them, even in self-defense, can result in compulsory participation in legal proceedings both civil and criminal. Sure, you were attacked, and you defended yourself-- but you had a gun or a knife or whatever, and so you must have been out looking for trouble. And if you fought back with an actually effective weapon, such as a firearm with hollowpoint ammunition, well, you broke the law-- guilty, case closed in a lot of states. It seems as if district attorneys are getting confused about who the victims are. Poor criminals! How are they supposed to get by if citizens arm themselves?

So most of us go around feeling defenseless and hoping we stay on the right side of the statistics column. Others carry weapons and risk getting hassled by cops or facing juries. This book changes all that by making the world your armory, and after you read it, you will never be unarmed again. Nor will you have to put your freedom in jeopardy to give yourself a fighting chance against the bad guys.

What prosecutor could go after you with a straight face for cracking a rapist's skull with a Marksalot? Or for removing a carjacker's teeth with a hair brush? Or for narrowing a mugger's reproductive options with a walking cane?

Be careful, though. This book isn't all about legal hygiene. Mostly it's about all-out scrapping for your life when you have no other choice, and a lot of the non-firearm techniques here could get you in as much trouble as shooting someone. Some of them are pretty disgusting, too.

This certainly isn't a book for ninja fans, martial arts aestheticists, or would-be tough guys. Nor is it a book for the kind of person wants to take some karate classes in order to "feel more confident." It's a book that puts weapons in the hands of nice, ordinary, law-abiding people who might otherwise be unable to defend themselves against the other kind.

This is going to be perhaps one of my shortest reviews. Why you might be asking? Well simply put, there is really no reason to go into great detail on this or any of the books in the Black Medicine series because if you have any interest at all in the subject in which is the focus of these books, then all you need to know is this, "Quit reading this, or any of the reviews on this book and buy it and study the material presented within its pages."

Although there are never any real in-depth looks at any one particular subject in these books, the author has really done a good job at presenting some very sound and realistic information concerning various aspects of defending yourself against an attacker.

This particular volume focuses on the various parts of the human body that can be used as weapons against an attacker, followed by a section on various common items that can be turned into a weapon. Some of these items are obvious, while others aren't. I personally found this section to be more useful for me than the previous one, but that is just me.

I am a big fan of the author and this series, although I do admit that there are now some other books available on the various topics that are more detailed and in-depth, but there is still something about the Black Medicine series that still keeps me reading them. Maybe it's all the good material in each book, or maybe even the cool cover.

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

In My opinion the best of this book is the section on the yawara stick or an improvised version of it.
This weapon needs little training too be very effective and will often be a surprise too the most seasoned streetfighter or martial artist!
Try it on yourself!
Point proven!

Excellent book. This is one of the best books available on the subject of improvised weaponry, although only the second part of the book covers this (it begins by discussing various hand forms, elbows, knees, feet, teeth, etc.). Mister Mashiro really put a lot of time and effort into this masterpiece, and it shows. Profusely illustrated with tons of black & white photos. You'll never be unarmed again!!!

As a life time student of the martial arts I found this book very interesting and full of good basic self-defense tips. I like the author's approach to street combat. The introduction covers various scenarios to emphasize his important self-defense lessons. Striking points of the head, arms, hands, torso, leg and foot are covered in this volume, showing where and how to strike these areas.

The second half of this manual details the many things that can be used as a self-defense weapon. As a great believer in the truth, that ANYTHING can be used as a self-defense weapon with just a little imagination, I enjoyed this section very much. Some of these I found to be quite amusing, like using your cat's claws? How about throwing excrement in the attacker's face? In conclusion, this is a book that will be of value for both experienced and new martial artists, as well as anyone who is interested in practical and realistic street self-defense.

Rating: 5 stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Use of the Monadnock Straight Baton).

First off, if you like sensationalist writing or wild claims, you will probably enjoy this book. Likewise, if you are a new martial art student, it does give you some new ways to think in different situations. That said, you should know I am a third degree brown belt myself (testing for my first dan or degree of black within a few months.) Some of what he writes is disparingly obvious - for example, did you know an AXE can be used as a weapon? Or a rifle can be used for a club once you run out of ammunition? Other points he makes can be dangerous if you tried to rely on them in a real-world application. For example, he writes how he deterred an attack by giving the aggressor an menacing stare. However, if you are able to maintain a skeptical viewpoint and really think about some of his suggestions, there are a few interesting points.