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Loren W. Christensen

Fighting Power: How to Develop Explosive Punches, Kicks, Blocks, and Grappling Paperback – January 1, 1996

by Loren W. Christensen (Author)

4.7 17 ratings

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Find out how to combine the latest techniques with centuries-old secrets, resistance exercises and proper body mechanics to make your punches, kicks, blocks and throws more powerful, as well as to defend yourself against explosive power. Double your fighting power by following this proven training regimen.

Print length

248 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Paladin Pr
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

5.75 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
ISBN-10

087364901X
ISBN-13

978-0873649018
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Ashley Kalym
622
Paperback
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Paladin Pr; First Edition (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 087364901X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0873649018
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,437,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,047 in Martial Arts (Books)
- #36,156 in Exercise & Fitness (Books)

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4.7 17 ratings

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Loren W. Christensen

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As a professional writer since 1978, Mr. Christensen has penned over 70 published books with six publishers, dozens of magazine articles, and edited a police newspaper for seven years. He has written on the martial arts, the paranormal, missing children, street gangs, school shootings, workplace violence, riots, police-involved shootings, nutrition, exercise, prostitution, and various street subcultures. Of late, he has been writing an award-winning police thriller fiction series called Dukkha. His short stories—OLD ED, BOSS, and Parts—are popular among fans of gritty action.

His books have been translated into five languages. Policing Saigon and On Combat are also published as audio books.

The Masters Hall of Fame inductee began training in the martial arts in 1965 and continues to this day. Over the years, he has earned a 1st-degree black belt in arnis, a 2nd-degree black belt in jujitsu, and in 2018, the American Karate Black Belt Association awarded Loren a 10th-degree black belt in karate. As a result of his tour in Vietnam and nearly three decades in law enforcement, Mr. Christensen's focus in the martial arts—writing, teaching, and training—has always been on street survival, not competition. He has starred in seven martial arts training videos.

I

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M. Cowles

Mostly Solid And Practical Information

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2009

Verified Purchase

What I like about Loren W. Christensen is that he's the real deal: He's been both a military and civilian policeman and has had plenty of violent encounters. Unlike many non blooded martial arts experts, he tells you the truth of actual combat i.e. forget all the flashy moves and keep it simple. As a student of Krav Maga, that's a philosophy I can wholly relate to.

In this book Christensen lays out a wide variety of exercises and techniques to bring power to your martial arts moves. I liked very much that he points out that not every exercise is likely to be beneficial to you, and that he encourages experimentation to see what kinds of variations you might come up with. There's quite a bit of valuable information related, everything from an expose of martial arts "superhuman" feats, to sections on shin toughening and even Bruce Lee's legendary one inch punch. The writing is clear and concise. A few times I wished for more photos, but with effort you can work everything out from the words alone.

There are a few things I wouldn't try and I wouldn't advise anyone else to try, but to his credit Christensen does give warnings of exercises that can be damaging. As another reviewer noted, much of the information is old, but it's still valuable in my opinion to have it so carefully and clearly brought together in one book. I'm a firm believer in muscle confusion, and this is the kind of book you can flip through and easily find something new to add to your training which will keep your muscles challenged and guessing.

My only quibble with the book is the author's attitude in regards to forearm training. Bruce Lee believed that forearm development was a vital ingredient in powerful punches, and worked at it accordingly. Christensen says that forearm training is important, but insists they needn't be trained more than any other muscle group. I think one need only look at Mr.Christensen's forearms in comparison to Bruce Lee's to see a decided difference. I would have to side with Mr.Lee on the question of how much to train the forearms.

All in all, this is a great book for the martial artist looking for techniques to improve his/her power. Much of the material really got me excited and has certainly put some variety in my training sessions. I also love the way how at the end of the book Christensen reminds us that ultimately we study the martial arts for self defense, and shouldn't get too lost in the pretty moves and flashy nuances. Something we should all keep in mind.

3 people found this helpful

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G. Klimanis

Good coverage but training information is old

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2003

Verified Purchase

I have to start this review by complimenting the author on his
enthusiasm and depth, his coverage of breaking tricks and his useful coverage of an unrelated topic: fighting strategy. For that, 5 stars. For the propagation of old information, 1 star.
Most of the "strength" training information provided is actually that used by body builders to increase muscle mass: medium high
weight, 10 reps/set, 30 secs rest between sets, train to failure. Powerlifters do not train this way, but narcissists do. The author mentions a few descriptions of strength
training, such as the paragraph on Gracie's weight lifting
and another instance of low reps/high weight/big rest training
program. Also, he mentions fast twitch muscle fiber development, but usually in the wrong training context,
such as endurance training. Fast twitch fibers deliver a high
force output over short durations and are quickly exhausted.
You can't train for endurance *and* power without sacrificing
the other.
The author also presents a forearm exercise routine
to increase grip strength. That's just mean. This makes me doubt that this book was written from personal experience.
He does write one paragraph on brick holding to increase
pinch grip power, but WAY more should be written on
finger and hand strength in a book on power training.
Check out John Brookfield's book on grip training.
Wrist weight and dumbbell air punching is just plain ol' backwards and dangerous. You really want to avoid training
muscles to slow down additional weight. So, you would train
either to throw the weight or have it decelerated by a target
such as a heavy bag. This external deceleration is the entire value of heavy bag training, and the author should know better.
Dumbell punching is the opposite of heavy bag training. To give him credit, the author does mention the use of punching weights into a heavy bag and throwing weights.
The routines provided will increase your power, but not as
efficiently as other methods. The author should
study modern strength and conditioning and update his book.
_Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning_ by Baechle and Earle . I anxiously await his second edition.

60 people found this helpful

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Peng B. Goh

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2014

Almost good as new.

Practical REAL-world training skills!

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2012

A book that I keep going back to for ideas, Fighting Power has plenty of advice to improve your performance in martial-arts.

Mr. Christiansen has attained 11 black-belts in his practice of Karate, Jujutsu, and Arnis. He has even MORE credibility than MOST instructors for the fact that he has REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE: 30 years as a police-officer, and as an Army M.P. deployed to Veitnam. Whether the topic is martial arts or police-science, Mr. Christiansen's books are always full of useful insights.

Fighting Power begins with an introduction to Ki power.
This is a REAL phenomenon, ...its NOT some sideshow sham of "Eastern philosophy". Some uninformed people dismiss it as such, but "Ki" is in fact a quasi-indefinable focusing of energy and bio-physics that ANYONE can "learn", so to speak. The author describes the various "circus-acts" that unscrupulous practitioners use to dazzle ignorant audiences, as well as identify the true signifigance of Ki.

A good quantity of the training techniques in this book have been utilized for decades, or even centuries. Some people might call it "old information", ...but we STILL use those skills because THEY WORK. The author cautions against certain ancient practices which have been proven by modern sport-medicine to be harmful. You will not find THOSE skills in this book.

Amongst the numerous topics covered are:
Weight-training, plyometrics, isometrics, dynamic tension, push-ups, and so much more.

Certainly a book on developing explosive power in martial arts mentions Bruce Lee, ...and he does so in Chapter 4: Weight-Resistance Exercises. Bruce Lee used weight-training quite conspicuously to develop his unbelievable level of martial athleticism. A list of some of his amazing feats of strength and power are listed on page 88!

I used this book as a reference when I was an instructor in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. Results were quite noticeable for my students!

2 people found this helpful

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K.H.

Great Advice for the Novice

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2005

While, as one reviewer states, some of this information is old, does not mean that the information is useless. I am still so surprised to run into martial artist, of all ranks, who do not crosstrain their bodies by adding heavey bag workouts and weight training.

While I do have some minor disagreements, all in all, this book is worth five stars for those who have traveled down the road to increase one's martial skills outside the dojo. Often I find martial artists, at the gym I attend, lazyly working on a heavy bag and in no way increasing their power, speed or stamina. This book may enlighten some of these more lazy or ignorant karateka and provide them some extra tools to train harder and smarter (I do not use the word ignorant here as a pagorative - we all have learning to do).

The chapter on weight trainingg is still needed. Yes, progress has been made in the last 25 years (I grew up in the era that weights slowed you down mindset), but we still need to spread the word that weight training is beneficial for martial arts. I have ran into many people, although less than during my initial training, who do not value any kind of resistance training. Many of them are surperb athiletes - how much more they could excell with this author's advice.

Other chapters are good as well and after one reads this book, I hope they will continue to train and read other texts to increase their martial skills and add to the material presented here.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Powerful advice

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2005

Miyamoto Musashi, arguably the greatest swordsman who ever lived, advocated quickness and power as superior to strength and speed. Exceptional martial artists in every style demonstrate both quickness and power in all their applications, overwhelming opponents with seemingly little effort. Mr. Christensen's best selling book Speed Training covered the quickness aspect. This outstanding book covers power. As always it is well written, easy to follow, and easily incorporated into your martial training.

Subjects covered include ki power, ancient (traditional) exercises, modern weight resistance training, plyometrics (elastic strength/explosiveness), isometrics (resistance training), dynamic tension, developing a powerful neck, pushups, abdominals, kicking power, punching power, bag work, timing, and defending against power. You will learn how to use proper body mechanics and hip rotation to markedly increase your power. Even Bruce Lee's famous 1-inch punch is explained with sufficient clarity that most martial artists will be able to perform it themselves.

Christensen really knows his stuff. He began his martial arts training in 1965 and over the years has earned 10 black belts, 7 in karate, 2 in jujitsu, 1 in arnis. As the author of 29 books, he has received high praise for his easy-to-read, informative writing style from readers and book reviewers in the United States, France and Russia. He is a retired police officer with some 30 years experience in military and civilian law enforcement.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

7 people found this helpful

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Fighting Power: How to Develop Explosive Punches, Kicks, Blocks, and Grappling Paperback – January 1, 1996

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