Martial Arts Book Review - Deadly Karate Blows by Brian Adams


by Shawn Kovacich - Date: 2007-04-21 - Word Count: 537 Share This!

The subject of vital/vulnerable points and how to strike them is a very serious matter and one that should never be taken lightly. I personally am very leery about teaching people about them and usually only give a generalized description of them. There are two books that attempt to tackle this subject, both of which I currently have in my own personal library. One of them is Brian Adam's, "Deadly Karate Blows."

Now before I get started on writing the actual review of this book, I am going to take this opportunity to give you a bit of insight into my reviewing process. I will rarely if ever give a bad review. This isn't meant to imply that I think that everything is good, it's just that if I don't care for a particular book or DVD that I have, I simply will not do a review on it. What I primarily look for in an instructional book or DVD is its ability to teach me solid relevant information on the particular topic being addressed, which should be the primary focus of the material being presented. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

Now depending upon your own personal knowledge on the subject, and your own personal perspective, you will either love this book or revile it. While I myself readily question some of the material presented in this book, I do find a lot of it to be very informative in both a positive and a negative way. Rather than dwelling on the negative aspects, I will instead focus on the positive aspects of this book.

The basic format for this book starts out with two to three photographs with captions and two subjects demonstrating a particular technique whose attack is focused on a particular vital/vulnerable point. This is followed by some pretty good illustrations and description of the various possible injuries that can accompany a blow to the particular vital/vulnerable point being discussed. Each section starts out with the weapon used, the target (vital/vulnerable point) attacked, and the possible medical implications of an effective attack. The only real detractor to this is that it should be updated to provide more current and relevant information.

One could easily argue that a lot of the information provided is sketchy at best and not very detailed at all. This is a legitimate point. However, and this is just my opinion, I think the author was just trying to give the reader an overview of the subject, rather than a detailed analysis.

During the introduction to this book, the author is adamant about making it clear that, "…I have just barely scratched the surface of a subject that will continue to regain its status in the martial arts." The author also makes it very clear that, "One must remember that whenever the human element is involved, there is no such thing as absolute perfection. This is why in many of the sections it is indicated that there is more than one possible result, because the blow may be slightly off target or because of other existing conditions which might be hindered by unforeseen circumstances."

Although this book is definitely not an "authoritative" piece, it still holds value especially when combined with another book called, "Gray's Anatomy."


Related Tags: book, review, self, martial, arts, karate, defense, vital, shawn, kovacich, deadly, blows, anatomy, brian, adams

Shawn Kovacich has been practicing the martial arts for over 25 years and currently holds the rank of 4th degree (Yodan) black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Shawn has also competed in such prestigious full-contact bare knuckle karate competitions as the Shidokan Open and the Sabaki Challenge, among others. In addition to his many accomplishments, 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 Crescent Kick the fourth volume in the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence™ series. of martial arts books, and is currently working on several additional marital arts and self-defense books. Which are due to be released in 2007.

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