Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23769 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780897501767
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

About the Author

Customer Reviews

An experience based book
Kelly McCann, also known under the pen name "Jim Grover" has produced some of the best DVDs on close-quarter self protection. His previous book Street Smarts, a collection of his magazine articles, defined his status as one of the most significant names in the field of self-protection.
Now, at last, he has written a book covering the rationale, training and application of self-protection for today's situation "whether in battle or in Boston"
Having already absorbed the previous material, I was eagerly awaiting the book, and, to quote Winston Churchill "it exceeded my expectations; which were very high".
Right from the introduction, which describes the delights of the morning after an arduous Combatives workout, the text grips you. Kelly McCann speaks with the authority of having trained thousands of government personnel to face extreme hazards, and having extensive personal experience of hostile environments from South America to Iraq.
His material on the Combative Mindset and the fight-winning attitude are spot on.
Kelly McCann is obviously a major proponent of what I termed the tactical lifestyle. He states "You should always carry a weapon or an item that can be used as a weapon. Period. Arm yourself with a weapon that can be carried legally in the jurisdiction where you live." Difficult to fault that logic.
For me one of the highlights is the section describing McCann's involvement with the current US Marines Close Combat Program, and the "show-stopping" input of former WW-2 Marine Raider Jim Smith
The book has numerous case studies to emphasise the learning points. These are taken from current activities and are a sobering look into the realities of sudden violence.
The photographs are first class, printed on high quality gloss paper.
I'm sure that this book will be a best seller, and take its place as a classic of the genre.

Good info but bad design
I am always a bit apprehensive towards anything put out by Black Belt and Ohara Publications. Many of their products strike me as being aimed at the juvenile market and the magazine itself has never been very well edited. In this case the editing is better than the magazine; still this book has a few cheap tricks to make it attractive to a younger readership. The book is softbound and roughly 8X11 in size. Just reading through my copy the first time resulted in obvious wear and tear and crease marks on the cover. The paper the cover page is printed on is not very robust and I won't be surprised if the edges become dog-eared and the pages quickly come loose from their glued-in binding.

The author makes the point several times that Combatives are efficient and effective without anything fancy, yet the editors at Black Belt felt the need to over-design a cheesy layout that is anything but efficient and simple. On every page of the book, the text and photos are centered inside a ¾ inch black frame with red uneven lines. To me it looks like a page border from Microsoft Word; it's not artistic and honestly detracts from the information in the book. This framing actually takes up a large portion of the 197 pages; space that that could have been dedicated to more text or larger photos and part of what you are paying for is a lot of black filler and cheesy design. The photo sequences are well shot and the accompanying text is clear and easy to understand, some of the photos appear to have been slapped to the book with athletic tape. Black Belt did not miss the opportunity to make you pay for a catalog as well; in the back are 4 pages advertising books and DVDs and then one additional page advertising the website where you can watch some videos. This book could have been greatly improved by streamlining the design, using a page layout that doesn't look like a carnival prize, and printing the book in hardbound. Most of the author's previous work is published by Paladin Press, and even they put out a better product that is going to last longer than Black Belt did with this one.

For those of you familiar with the work of Kelly McCann (a.k.a. Jim Grover) the material presented in this work will be familiar to you. The author has been talking and writing about this subject for a long time and has developed a style of prose that is concise and to the point. The author's personality is evident in his choice of words and the stories he uses to get his points across. The folks at Black Belt didn't entirely edit out the "street" talk and one will find the occasional F-bomb. The writing is engaging and conversational with the author speaking directly to the reader.

The book is divided into three parts and eight total chapters. A good portion of the book is dedicated to an explanation of combative principles. From chapter five the reader is introduced to physical movements and from there strikes. The photo sequences are well shot and the reader can understand the principle or technique being demonstrated. The author takes the time to explain how a strike is executed, demonstrates how to train the strike with speed and power delivery safely with a partner, and then how it is applied against an opponent. Through out the book the author recommends training to the edge of safety with your partners, but to expect your share of bruises.

Part three is dedicated to scenario situations resulting in the author demonstrating Combatives. The most valuable part of the scenarios section is the introduction and the part of each scene where pre-incident (pre-attack) indicators and avoidance opportunities are discussed. The photo sequences then demonstrate one possible way to deal with one potential "attack".

The cons: Cheap binding, waste of page space, and cheesy layout that jacks the price up.

The pros: Besides all the cons, the information in the book is well explained and laid out for the reader. I would have gladly paid more for a plain page layout in hardbound or better bound soft cover, but once you get past all that, the book is worth adding to the library.

A couples review: Outstanding!
This is an excellent read for anyone intersted in developing situational street awareness and conflict avoidance, but defending themselves if they have to! Kelly McCann's background is second to none! One of the first things that impressed us about the book were the accolades of a General and former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a five time UFC Champion, an LAPD Chief of Staff and a journalist that was the benificiary of McCanns expertise in Iraq. It's not often that kind of diversity stands behind an author!

The book helps identify and avoid situations that could lead to conflict, but if conflict cannot be avoided; how to get out of it and get home safe! Situational awareness and avoidance along with combative principles, methodologies, positions and movments, skills, strikes and situational self-offensive are all key topics detailed. There are some terrific real life stories that support the principles. Kelly McCann is effective in keeping the information simple, understandable and reproducible which is the key to any successful instruction. He is somewhat irreverant in his approach. He struck the right balance of light heartedness with dark and ominous and kept the book upbeat; not melodramatic given the subject matter.

We have had the opportunity to view the "Inside the Crucible" video series and McCann's new video "Kem-ba'tiv Knife". If you haven't seen them, get them! He is an unbelievable instructor! This book is a continuation of that excellence! We wish we could give it more than 5 stars!