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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Combat sports & self-defence
Kicking ass and taking notes-what it's like to be a woman in the
ring. Alison Dean teaches English literature. She also punches
people. Hard. But despite several amateur fights under her belt,
she knows she will never be taken as seriously as a male boxer.
"You punch like a girl" still isn't a compliment - women aren't
supposed to choose to participate in violence. Her unique
perspective as a 30-something university lecturer turned amateur
fighter allows Dean to articulately and with great insight delve
into the ways martial arts can change a person's - and particularly
a woman's - relationship to their body and to the world around
them, and at the same time considers the ways in which women might
change martial arts. Combining historical research, anecdotal
experience, and interviews with coaches and fighters, Seconds Out
explores our culture's relationship with violence, and particularly
with violence practiced by women. "An important addition to women's
martial arts scholarship, Dean provides personal insight into the
radical space women occupy in sport fighting. Seconds Out is a
must-read for all fighters looking for mentors in the complicated
world of martial arts." -L.A. Jennings, author of Mixed Martial
Arts: A History from Ancient Fighting Sports to the UFC "Dean
brings a fresh new female voice to the topic of combat sports."
-Trevor Wittman, renowned MMA trainer, UFC analyst, and founder of
ONX Sports "Trained in the discipline and art of both fighting and
literature, Dean combines both with style. She honors the fighters,
writers, and historians who have come before her and definitively
ends the idea of women fighters as a novelty. Seconds Out is a
must-read for anyone who feels the call of the bell and reverence
for a good fight." -Sue Jaye Johnson
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Austin 3:16
(Paperback)
Michael McAvennie
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There's more to winning battles than fists and feetFor
world-renowned professional fighter Georges St-Pierre, the greatest
asset is not physical strength or athleticism--it's a sense of
purpose. From his beginnings as a small, mercilessly bullied child
first discovering karate to his years as a struggling garbage
collector who spent all his free time in the gym, his hard-fought
rise in the sport of mixed martial arts, and his long, painful
recovery from a career-threatening injury, Georges never lost sight
of his ambition to become the greatest martial artist of all time.
In The Way of the Fight, Georges for the first time reveals what
propelled him not only to become a champion but to embrace
obstacles as opportunities to build character.Georges's story is
interwoven with fascinating insights from those who know him best:
his mother, who tells of his drive to master new skills, even as a
child. His mentor Kristof Midoux, who describes a young fighter
with an extraordinary sense of discipline. His Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
teacher John Danaher, who witnessed the development of an
indomitable work ethic. His coach Firas Zahabi, who worked
alongside the champion through a potentially career-ending injury.
And his longtime friend, training partner and manager, Rodolphe
Beaulieu, who may understand this intensely focused athlete more
than anyone.The Way of the Fight is an inspirational look into the
mindset of a master. To Georges, all life is competition, and
there's no more perfect metaphor for competition than the life of a
fighter. He explains the value of discipline, risk and even fear,
with the wisdom of one who knows that nothing is assured--his next
fight could always be his last. Drawing inspiration from fighting
legends, Eastern philosophy and a trusted inner circle, The Way of
the Fight is a powerful, life-changing guide to living with purpose
and finding the way to accomplish your loftiest goals.
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Knuckle
(Paperback)
James Quinn McDonagh
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Irish travellers live in a closed community. What we think we know
about them is based on hearsay, rumour and stereotype. But not any
more. Knuckle is the true story of James Quinn McDonagh - clan head
and champion bare-knuckle fighter. It's a journey from his
grandfather's horse-drawn caravan at the side of the road to the
country lanes of Ireland where he stood, fists bloodied and
bandaged, fighting a clan war that he never asked for. Two men, two
neutral referees, a country lane. No gloves, no biting, no rests.
The last man standing wins, takes home the money, and more
importantly, the bragging rights. Caught in a brutal cycle of
violence that has left men dead, houses burned and lives destroyed,
James tells a story that opens up a hidden world - revealing why
history repeats itself, and why he can never go home...
At the intersection of sport, entertainment and performance,
wrestling occupies a unique position in British popular culture.
This is the first book to offer a detailed historical and cultural
analysis of British professional wrestling, exploring the shifting
popularity of the sport as well as its wider social significance.
Arguing that the history of professional wrestling can help us
understand key themes in sport, culture and performance that span
the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it addresses topics such
as: attitudes towards violence, representations of masculinity, the
media and celebrity culture, consumerism and globalisation. By
drawing on a variety of intellectual traditions and disciplines,
the book explores the role of power in the development of popular
cultural forms, the ways in which history structures the present,
and the manner in which audiences construct identity and meaning
through sport. Wrestling in Britain: Sporting Entertainments,
Celebrity and Audiences is fascinating reading for all students and
researchers with an interest in media and cultural studies,
histories and sociologies of sport, or performance studies.
HEALTH / MARTIAL ARTS The techniques of Chi Nei Tsang evolved in
Asia during an era when few physicians were available and people
had to know how to heal themselves. Many people today have symptoms
that modern medicine is not able to cure because a physical source
for the problem is not easily found. The energies of negative
emotions, stress, and tension--all common in modern life--and the
weight of past illnesses accumulate in the abdominal center,
causing energy blockages and congestion. When this occurs, all
vital functions stagnate and myriad problems arise. By practicing
the techniques of Chi Nei Tsang, this stagnation is removed and the
vital organs surrounding the navel center are detoxified and
rejuvenated. Master Chia teaches readers how to take full charge of
their health using the self-healing techniques of Chi Nei Tsang. He
offers fully illustrated exercises that show how to detoxify the
internal organs and clear the energy (chi) channels throughout the
body. He also presents methods for balancing emotions, managing
stress, and observing the body in order to recognize, ameliorate,
and prevent maladies before they become a problem. A student of
several Taoist masters, MANTAK CHIA founded the Universal Healing
Tao System in 1979 and has taught and certified tens of thousands
of students and instructors from all over the world. He is the
director of the Tao Garden Integrative Medicine Health Spa and
Resort training center in northern Thailand and is the author of
twenty-six books, including the bestselling The Multi-Orgasmic Man.
Neil Leifer is the best-known sports photographer of the past half
century. Beginning in 1960, his pictures have regularly appeared in
every major national magazine, including the Saturday Evening Post,
Look, LIFE, Newsweek, and, most often, Sports Illustrated and Time,
and his photographs have run on over two hundred Sports
Illustrated, Time, and People covers. Leifer has photographed
sixteen Olympic Games, fifteen Kentucky Derbies, countless World
Series, the first twelve Super Bowls, four FIFA World Cups, and
every important heavyweight title fight since Ingemar Johansson
beat Floyd Patterson in 1959. He has photographed his favorite
subject, Muhammad Ali, at thirty-five of his fights, including all
the big ones. Now, in Relentless, Leifer takes us behind the scenes
of some fifty of his most iconic pictures. Starting with his shot
of Baltimore Colt Alan Ameche scoring the game-winning touchdown
against the New York Giants during sudden death overtime in the
1958 NFL Championship game at Yankee Stadium-taken on Leifer's
sixteenth birthday-he tells enthralling, often hilarious stories of
getting to the right place at the right time to capture many of the
legendary athletes of the twentieth century, including Mickey
Mantle, Arthur Ashe, Willie Mays, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Namath,
and Arnold Palmer, as well as shooting presidential and celebrity
portraits and covering a variety of subjects for Time. Recapping
both an incredibly successful career and the transformation of
photojournalism since the era of the great photo magazines,
Relentless effectively chronicles fifty years of American popular
culture..
As well as looking at the training environment Kandhola focuses on
three established figures in boxing: Julius Francis, a four-times
British Heavyweight and Commonwealth champion, who Kandhola first
photographed in 2000 just before his fight with Mike Tyson; Robert
McCracken, who won the British Light Middleweight title in 1994 and
the Commonwealth title in 1995 - currently McCracken is Performance
Director for the British Olympic team, and personal coach to Carl
Froch; and Howard 'Clakka' Clarke who fought at Madison Square
Garden for the IBF Light Middleweight Title - he lost, after which
his career took a significant nose-dive with him winning only one
fight out of his next seventy. He retired in 2007.
Former World Heavyweight champion Smokin' Joe Frazier and
William Dettloff, senior writer for The Ring magazine, present a
complete guide to the fight game - from the history of the sport to
how to throw a crushing uppercut and take a punch without
flinching.
Drawing from the experiences of one of the masters of the
sport, "Box Like the Pros" is a must-have for anyone pursuing
boxing as a hobby or who is interested in training to become a
professional boxer. Frazier, with longtime boxing writer William
Dettloff, presents a complete introduction to the sport, including
the game's history, rules of the ring, how fights are scored, how
to spar, the basics of defence and offence, the fighter's workout,
a directory of boxing gyms, and much more. "Box Like the Pros" is
an instruction manual, a historical reference tool and an insider's
guide to the world's most controversial sport.
The official illustrated guide from the US Army on the best ways to
fight and win when you are reduced to going toe to toe with an
enemy: fundamentals, vulnerable points., holds, and escapes, and
more. This manual was created to teach American solider
hand-to-hand fighting techniques. It describes blows, holds,
footwork, armwork, and other maneuvers that can be used to disable
or kill an enemy. It explains how to us all available objects as
weapons, and stresses aggressive tactics. You can subdue an
opponent only through offensive measures. What will you do if you
are attached by an enemy with a knife? What are your vulnerable
points? How will you disarm him? United States soldiers have been
involved in those kinds of fights for centuries. This is what
they've learned. This is how to fight. This is how to win.
Beast. Monster. Savage. Psycho. The glowering menace of Mike Tyson
has spooked us for almost two decades. And still we remain
fascinated. Why? Ellis Cashmore's answer is disturbing: white
society has created Tyson as vengeance for the loss of privilege
produced by civil rights.
Cashmore's eviscerating analysis of Tyson's life and the culture
in which he grew up, rose to prominence and descended into disgrace
provokes the reader into re-thinking the role of one of the most
controversial and infamous figures of recent history. Told as an
odyssey-style homeward journey to Tyson's multi-pathological
origins in the racially-explosive ghettos of the 1960s, Tyson's
story is part biography, part tragedy and part exposition. His
associations with people like Al Sharpton, Don King and Tupac
Shakur shaped his life; and events, such as the O J Simpson trial
and the Rodney King riots, formed a turbulent background for the
Tyson psychodrama.
Over the course of an epic boxing career, Tyson was transformed
from the most celebrated athlete on earth to a primal, malevolent
hate-figure. Yet, even after being condemned as a brute, Tyson
retained a power - a power to captivate. Cashmore reveals that the
sources of that power lie as much in us as in Tyson himself.
This absorbing book unravels the reasons for the enduring respect
and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his
athletic career. It will appeal to those teaching and studying
cultural studies, social theory, sports studies, and sociology, as
well as to general readers interested in Muhammad Ali.
A probing account of Muhammad Ali's life, which also examines the
man's celebrity and his importance in global history.
The first book to unravel the reasons for the enduring respect and
reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his
athletic career.
Traces the key controversies and significant events, from Ali's
first announcement of his membership in the Nation of Islam,
through his courageous refusal to fight in Vietnam, to his
spiritual calm in the face of crippling disease.
Offers an original and compelling theory of the celebrity in
postmodern society.
In "Atlas", Teddy recounts his incredible life, from juvenile
delinquent, to his induction into the legendary Cus D'Amato's
Boxing Camp and his first major challenge - training 14-year-old
Mike Tyson. An amateur boxer trained by D'Amato, Atlas captured the
Adirondack Golden Gloves title at 139 pounds in 1976. Forced out of
competition because of injury, Teddy turned his talents to training
fighters, including Mike Tyson, Barry McGuigan, Tracy Patterson,
Joey Gamache, Simon Brown and Donny Lalonde. In 1994, in a
memorable performance as trainer and corner man, Teddy inspired
Michael Moorer to beat Evander Holyfield for the world heavyweight
championship. Teddy has also employed his talents outside of the
ring appearing in 2 films and choreographing fight scenes for the
television series "Against the Law". "Atlas" is the remarkable
story of all of these achievements, told in Atlas' completely
inimitable voice. As you'd expect from a boxing memoir, it pulls no
punches.
Qigong is an aspect of traditional Chinese medicine that involves
coordinating breathing patterns with physical postures to maintain
health and well-being. Yi Jin Jing/ Tendon-Muscle Strengthening
Exercises is an accessible, fully-illustrated guide to a particular
qigong exercise that focuses on turning and flexing the spine.
Based on the twelve traditional routines of Yi Jin Jing, the
exercises covered in the book feature soft, extended, even
movements that invigorate the limbs and internal organs. In
particular, practice of the Yi Jin Jing exercises improves
flexibility, balance and muscular strength, and has a beneficial
effect on the respiratory system. Each routine is described
step-by-step and is illustrated with photographs and key points.
The authors also point out common mistakes and offer advice on how
to correct these. Complemented by an appendix of acupuncture points
and accompanied by online material, this book will be of interest
to Qigong and Tai Chi practitioners at all levels, students of
martial arts and anyone interested in Chinese culture.
Completed in 1482, Johannes Leckuchner's Art of Combat with the
"Langes Messer" (Messerfechtkunst) is among the most important
documents on the combat arts of the Middle Ages. The Messer was a
single-edged, one-handed utility sword peculiar to central Europe,
but Leckuchner's techniques apply to cut-and-thrust swords in
general: not only is this treatise the single most substantial work
on the use of one-handed swords to survive from this period, but it
is the most detailed explanation of the two-handed sword techniques
of the German "Liechtenauer" school dating back to the 1300s.
Leckuchner's lavish manuscript consists of over four hundred
illustrations with explanatory text, in which the author, a parish
priest, rings the changes on bladework, deceits, and grappling,
with techniques ranging from life-or-death escapes from an armed
assailant to slapstick moves designed to please the crowd in public
fencing matches. This translation, complete with all illustrations
from the manuscript, makes the treatise accessible for the first
time since the author's untimely death less than a year after its
completion left his major work to be lost for generations. An
extensive introduction, notes, and glossary analyze and
contextualize the work and clarify its technical content. JEFFREY
L. FORGENG is curator of Arms and Armor and Medieval Art at the
Worcester Art Museum, and teaches as Adjunct Professor of History
at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Winner - Prix Bushido French Book Award Qigong training can improve
your health, cure illness, and help you overcome the stress of
daily living. Qigong is the study of Qi, or vital energy, that
circulates in the human body, and it has been practiced by the
Chinese for thousands of years. Qigong is a unique and
comprehensive approach to health and longevity, and can be trained
by anyone. Get the most from your practice by understanding the
principles and foundation of this ancient science. Dr. Yang teaches
sitting and standing meditation, demonstrates massage techniques,
and explores the Qi pathways in your body. He explains correct
breathing methods, shares secrets for quieting the mind, and
discusses how to increase your body's Qi supply. In addition, he
also explains important concepts such as the Three Treasures and
regulating the body, breath, and mind. Whatever style you practice,
you'll find the keys to successful training in the Root of Chinese
Qigong. * Improve your health with Qi (vital energy) training.*
Relieve stress with simple breathing techniques.* Learn the secrets
that will advance your practice.* Discover the foundations of
Chinese medicine.* Eliminate tension with soothing relaxation
exercises.* Includes more than sixty detailed photos and
illustrations.
Some survival guides explain the basics of how to make primitive
tools. But do you know how to actually successful hunt with spear,
throwing stick, bola, or primitive bow? Making tools that you do
not know how to hunt with will not get you to meat. If you're
hunting with primitive weapons, especially crude survival weapons
you've made in the field under actual survival conditions, you must
adapt your strategy to the weapons available or go hungry. Author
James M. Ayres grew up in the Midwest hunting squirrels, rabbits,
and other small game with bows, spears, atlatls, and bolas he made
myself. He has hunted with bow, spear, net, and other primitive
weapons with the Lacandon in Yucatan, the Igorots in the
Philippines, the K'iche' in Guatemala, the Sasak in Indonesia, and
others. In Survival Knives, he shares his knowledge so you, too,
can survive using such tools and weapons. It's not enough to have a
knife and know how to make basic hunting weapons. That's
craftsmanship-not survival. Nor is it enough simply to have a knife
when trapped in an emergency situation, like a collapsed building.
You need to know how to conserve your knife and use it properly to
escape so that it will not break and you are not injured. Learn how
to use survival knives, and how to use the tools and weapons you
can make with the knife-not only in wilderness, but also in urban
areas, foreign countries, and disaster zones such as earthquakes,
floods, fires, and civil insurrections.
'Sonny Umpad's Eskrima' provides insight on Santiago 'Sonny'
Umpad's life, philosophy, and teaching methods, as well as the
structural underpinnings of his system. Born with the soul of a
warrior, the intellect of a scholar, and a zealot's devotion to his
art, Sonny Umpad forged an enduring contribution to the rich and
colourful history of Filipino martial culture.
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