Filipino Combat Systems

Martial Arts Book Review - Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey

Author: Shawn Kovacich
Date Posted: December 13, 2007

If you want to learn how to really punch, and if you can find a copy of the following book in either its original hardback version, or the reprinted paperback version, I strongly recommend that you purchase it and read it. However, be advised that it has been out-of-print for sometime and can be quite expensive if you are lucky enough to find one to purchase in the first place. Just exactly what book am I referring to, well it is the book called "Championship Fighting" by Jack Dempsey and it was originally published back in 1950. The edition I have is the 1983 paperback edition published by Centerline Press.

Jack Dempsey, as you may or may not know, was the heavyweight boxing champion of the world in the early 1900's. Being rather small for a heavyweight, Dempsey more than made up for it with the devastating power he had in his punches. Over numerous years both during his boxing career and after, Dempsey kept meticulous track of just exactly how to develop punching power not only through his own training and experience, but also through numerous others. What he discovered is contained within the pages of this book.

Now if you keep in mind that this book was originally written over 50 years ago, you will be even more amazed at how profound and relevant the information contained within is to our current day and age and with a little adjustment, is even relevant to perhaps any and all martial arts and combative systems in one form or another. That is perhaps the one single thing that stood out and impressed me the most about this book and its author, and that is the fact that the information provided was and is way ahead of its time and soundly based in fact and principle.

Dempsey starts out his book by giving you some background into his punching prowess and his reasoning behind writing this book and supplying you the reader with such a treasure of punching information. Dempsey teaches you all of the various components that you will need to learn and practice in order to improve your punching power and give you the ability to knock out your opponents. These various components include; the different types of punches, the correct stance, how to drop your body weight, proper body movement, etc.

Being a practicing martial artist for over 25 years, I saw a lot of relevant information in this book that could be applied to the martial arts with just a little bit of modification for the technique being used. Even though Dempsey is talking about punching, a lot of the principles he teaches can also be applied to kicking, throwing, grappling, etc.

Here is a list of the chapters that are included in this book.

1. Explosives at Toledo
2. Good and Bad Toledo Aftermaths
3. Punchers Are Made; Not Born
4. Why I Wrote This Book
5. Differences Between Fist-Fighting and Boxing
6. You're the Kayo Kid
7. What is a punch?
8. The Falling Step
9. The Power Line
10. Relaying and Exploding
11. Stance
12. Footwork
13. Range
14. Straight Punching from the Whirl
15. Purity in Punching
16. Hooking
17. Uppercuts
18. Punch Ranks First
19. Your Sparmate
20. General Defense and Blocking
21. Deflection
22. Evasion
23. Feinting and Drawing
24. Training
25. How to Watch a Fight

No matter what your own level of expertise or experience is, you will benefit from the information contained within this book. Do yourself a favor and locate a copy of this book and purchase it, and then read it from cover to cover numerous times and practice the information contained within after reading it and you will see a noticeable increase in your punching power. Don't take my word for it though, buy the book and see for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

About The Author

Shawn Kovacich is a high ranking black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Shawn is also a two time world record holder for endurance high kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Shawn is the author of Wheel Kick, volume two in the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence™ series.

Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of Book Review articles.

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