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Armor Plated - Encyclopedia of Defensive Skills For NHB and the Street With Mark Hatmaker DVD Review

Author: Alain Burrese
Date Posted: November 02, 2008

If you have read other reviews I've written about Mark Hatmaker, you know that I like him and the way he instructs. He has put out quite a number of dvds with Paladin Press and I have found them to be extremely instructional. That is a very high compliment, because many DVDs out there don't really instruct, they demonstrate only. When I make DVDs, I always make sure that I am teaching in them, and I want people to be able to learn from them. When I watch DVDs, I want them to teach so people can learn from them. Hatmaker's DVDs through Paladin do an exceptional job at teaching.

In this two disc set titled "Armor Plated: The Encyclopedia of Defensive Skills for NHB and the Street," Hatmaker focuses on teaching you his most effective defensive tactics from both stand-up fighting and wrestling. You must have good defensive skills to be a complete fighter, and this DVD set provides a lot of techniques to practice to ensure you can defend yourself from a variety of attacks both standing and on the ground.

Like all of Paladin's current DVDs, "Armor Plated" is indexed very well so you can find the parts you want to train with easily. Combined with the various angles Paladin films with in their in-house studio and their DVDs are easy to learn from.

Disc one includes a quick description of basics like stance and range before going into defenses for high jabs, high crosses, high lead hooks, uppercuts, low jabs, crosses, and hooks. There are multiple defenses for each of these including various parries, forearms blocks, moving, catching, pulls, slipping, and shoulder blocks. The disc ends with sections on pivoting and shifting and being caught on the ropes and shelling up. Based on boxing, this first disc provides great instruction on defense while standing up.

Disc two leads off with clinching drills and continues the stand up defenses with elbow defenses, headbutt defenses, knee defenses, kick defenses, and what Hatmaker calls pick-offs which he shows as punch pick-offs, kick pick-offs and knee drags. An example of a punch pick off is when you raise your elbow and use your other hand to guide your opponent's straight punch into your elbow. Finally, Hatmaker concludes the second disc with ground and pound defenses including coming to base, bridge and roll, and a number of others. Hatmaker already has a ton of DVDs out covering multiple areas of both boxing and wrestling, in fact he has a couple of the most complete programs out there on these disciplines. So the wrestling defenses here are a few basics that you really want to know to defend yourself if things go to the ground. These techniques will keep you from being grounded and pounded.

Boxing and wrestling are formidable for the ring and for the street. Hatmaker 's DVDs are some of the best around for learning wrestling and old time boxing and how to use them both in the street as well as for competition. Learning the skills Hatmaker teaches on these two discs will undoubtedly enable you to defend yourself better. These are important skills to know, and Hatmakers does a very good job teaching them to you.

"Armor Plated"with Mark Hatmaker is produced by Paladin Press and has a stated run time of 150 minutes. If you are looking to improve your defensive skills both standing on the ground, this two-disc set based on boxing and wrestling has a lot of excellent instruction and I recommend it highly.

About The Author

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a mediator/attorney with Bennett Law Office P.C. and an author/speaker through his own company Burrese Enterprises Inc. He teaches people to live with the warrior's edge through his writing and speaking on a variety of topics focusing on the business areas of negotiation and success principles as well as self-defense and safety topics. He is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks, several instructional dvds, and numerous articles. You can find out more about Alain Burrese at his websites http://www.burrese.com - More instructional books and DVDs at http://www.paladin-press.com

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

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