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real fights are short, fast and brutal. And there are no rules.
The martial artist who thinks he's trained to handle what's
coming may be in for a painful surprise. But this isn't one
of those books about bringing your martial art up to street
speed that rips on everything you've worked so hard to learn.
It's a book on taking your moves and making them fast, fanged
and fierce enough to stand up to a surprise attack. Ex-street fighter
Marc "Animal" MacYoung knows from experience that
no matter how much training they've had, most people get overwhelmed
in the first critical seconds of a streetfight. And it's nearly
impossible to get over the shock of being attacked and organize
a viable response while someone is tap dancing on your face.
With photos, illustrations and detailed instructions, Animal
brings the martial artist from the structured safety of the
dojo to the mayhem of the street, alley and biker bar. He
teaches you the quickest ways to get your attacker off his
feet; how to do bulletproof blocks and throws; how to anticipate
a strike and how to make a kicker howl. He also gives you
important tips on what to do after a brawl, because such issues
as legalities, revenge seekers and your own mental well being
last long after the fight is over. Anyone who's ever wondered
if his or her martial arts training would hold up to a real-life
attack needs to read this book.
5 out of 5 - Jan 22, 2001
I was very impressed by both the content of
this book and the writing style. Marc Macyoung starts by using
easily recognisable cultural references (such as the film
Platoon) to introduce the reader to the world of self-defence.
This is quickly followed by a debunking of the most common
myths about street fighting, that must be one of the least
painful I have ever seen. The rest of the book continues logically
from this point, each chapter covering one important self
defence topic and building on the chapter before. One of my
favourite things about this book was the degree of humour
that it contains. Despite being a very informative book, I
found that I was constantly reading out amusing turns of phrase
to others with no actual interest in the subject matter. The
many illustrations are also often humorous (with cartoon ferrets
commenting on things like errors of stance and guard) yet
still make perfect sense. I would recommend this book to any
martial artist with an interest in self-defence. Not only
is the book itself very good, but it also contains a bibliography
of reference material of a similar quality. I would also recommend
it to someone with no martial arts experience, but with the
proviso that they may want to buy some of Marc's other books
to go with it.
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