Military Manual of Self-Defense: A Complete Guide to Hand-To-Hand Combat (Paperback)

~ Anthony Herbert (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books (April 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870529773
• ISBN-13: 978-0870529771
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,779,893 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid book on hand-to-hand combat, July 27, 2001

By A Customer

This is a very extensive book on the subject of Close Combat. It contains information on unarmed and armed combat, knife fighting and throwing, bayonet use, stick combat,use of improvised/expedient weapons and a detailed examination of just how (medically speaking) the blows you deliver cause the enemy to become disabled.

This book, as mentioned before, provides the reader with quite an extensive amount of information. The main problem with this book is while this great deal of information is presented, it is not properly explained. The author just presents the reader with an EXTREMELY poorly drawn diagram and writes somehing like "bring fist to throat-TO KILL" and while that's all fine and good, the author NEVER tells us how to actually execute any of the blows he mentions (in fact, the fighting stance is only mentioned in passing and really leaves the reader little idea what to do with it).

Also, I don't think have of the moves in this book would kill, which is not to say they're not effective. I'm sorry, as painful as it is to be kicked in the genitals or elbowed in the spine, it just isn't going to kill you. Trust me, I've experienced both (one of which by a black belt in Karate). The author also assumes that one blow will finish of your attacker, even if its to a place like the knee.

Herbert borrows heavily from masters of Close Combat such as Fairbairn and Styers; he actually even uses diagrams that appeared in Fairbairn's "Get Tough" and Styers' "Cold Steel." That's a good thing, because Herbert realizes that it is might be needed to put down an attacker with extreme, possibly even deadly force. He also kept a minimum fancy moves with throws, sweeps, locks, and foolish ground fighting, all of which would not work in a life-or-death encounter.

Overall, a pretty good book for those seeking self-defence/hand-to-hand combat tactics. Its not the best, and Herbert should have been much more detailed and not emphasized on the carrying of weapons for civilians to use. I'd like to give this 3 1/2 stars, but I think I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and round up instead of down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new here..., December 11, 2001

By	"weaponhead88" (Wash, DC) - See all my reviews

This book is a compilation of 4 other books (which the author admits), two of which I am familiar with. Certain sections (bayonet, knife,stick)are just out and out copies from Cold Steel....except where Cold Steel uses photos this book uses drawings. Also, quoted is Cassidy's The Complete Book of Knife Fighting, though not so blatantly. The book also borrows rather heavily I would imagine from Black Medicine Vols 1and 2...I am not familiar with these two. So (...) you basically get a glimpse into four manuals.Some of the info was new to me and its hard to go wrong (...). My interest in this book stemmed from an article on the relevance of bayonet usage in the modern day. It was dismissive of the bayonet as a weapon but lauded the novel uses found in this book.....novel only if you haven't read Styer's Cold Steel.

3.0 out of 5 stars A good H2H intro at a good price., August 3, 2006

By	A Reader (BOSTON, Ma United States) - See all my reviews

Its basically a manual that contains Cold Steel,Get Tough, Black Medicine Vol&2,Deadly Karate Blows by Brian Adams,Close Shaves,and Dragon Touch and Deal the First Deadly Blow FM21-150 all rolled up in one volume. It has pretty decent line drawings and is all Close Combat Techniques,nothing fancy, but will get you out of a jam if practiced religiously. Has a breif intro to the Dos and Dont's of H2H thats pretty good. Its a good primer if your looking to get into the Military H2H methods, and the price is right.