The result of extensive research, including an analysis of over 140 active shooter/killer incidents, Krav Maga Extreme Survival provides an apolitical view of personal safety--concentrating on practical methods to survive violent situations. In his third book, Gershon Ben Keren explains how Krav Maga techniques can be used to survive some of the most relevant, extreme situations including carjackings, home invasions and attempted mass killings. The book also details predator profiling methods to aid in the prediction, prevention and avoidance of violence. Demonstrating effective solutions that have been tried and tested in both the real world and through reconstructions of real-life events, each section of Krav Maga Extreme Survival presents detailed instructions alongside a series of photographs that show how to defend yourself and others against: Attacks in workplaces, homes and public places Instances of domestic violence including violent and abusive relationships Assailants armed with knives, handguns, long barrel firearms, explosives, and improvised weapons Attacks in cars and other confined and restricted spaces Vehicular rammings Unarmed attackers One-on-one assaults and attacks targeting a group Emphasizing a dynamic assessment of your environment, combined with a rapid response, Krav Maga Extreme Survival teaches practitioners to neutralize an assailant's advantage early, before the situation escalates.

This book is designed to guide beginning students through the fundamentals of tai chi in ten weeks. Dr. Aihan Kuhn teaches readers the twenty-four-step Yang-style form. She shares insight on warming up, healing, and avoiding injury. But tai chi is more than just a physical exercise. It is a way of life. Dr. Kuhn shows readers how this art helps us cultivate health, balance, and qi (energy). Each day millions of people around the world practice tai chi for wellness, focus, and self-defense. This is a lifelong path. For the novice, that idea can be exciting but also daunting. With all the books, videos, and websites on tai chi, where do you begin? Tai Chi in 10 Weeks is the answer. Dr. Aihan Kuhn is a master instructor of tai chi and qigong. In this book she shares the lessons she's learned in a lifetime of studying and teaching. She is warm and encouraging, making readers of all ages and backgrounds feel welcome. This book features *A ten-week calendar to guide you through your introduction to tai chi*Over 200 beautiful full-color photos*Warm, welcoming instruction from a master of tai chi and qigong With this book you will *Learn the twenty-four-step Yang-style form*Understand the fundamentals of tai chi*Discover not just the physical postures of tai chi, but also its psychological, emotional, and spiritual benefits Tai chi is a life journey," Dr. Kuhn writes. "Part of my success is from my patients and students that understand that prevention requires participation. They practice tai chi and qigong on a regular basis, which is key to their healing. That brings me to the title of this book. Can you really learn tai chi in 10 weeks? You cannot become a master, of course, but you can learn the fundamentals of this art. You can build the foundation for this life-changing journey. Tai Chi in 10 Weeks is your roadmap."

The life of the internationally famous professional wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura, from his childhood to the International Wrestling Grand Prix championship, and beyond! Before he became a star of American professional wrestling, Shinsuke Nakamura was Japan's "King of Strong Style." Follow his life and career from the amateur grappling ranks to the Nippon Budokon, thrill to his matches against such legends as Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, his reign as the youngest New Japan Pro-Wrestling Heavyweight Champion, and his success as a mixed martial artist.

In the sequel to the first volume, which introduced the long sword, Herbert Schmidt explains single-handed sword fighting techniques with a buckler, or small shield. "Single-handed sword" here refers to the sword wielded in one hand, as used throughout almost the entire Middle Ages. This book analyzes historical evidence, taken mainly from the 13th-century German combat manual Manuscript I:33, or "Tower Manuscript," the oldest and most widely trusted European sword fighting manual in existence. Find information on binds, posture, footwork, free fighting, and individual plays taken from the writings of fencing masters Hans Talhoffer, Andre Lignitzer, and Paulus Kal in this modern textbook that allows anyone interested-whether beginner or advanced-to work and improve his single-handed sword fighting skills.

Just in time for the fiftieth anniversary of The Fight of the Century (Ali-Frazier I), Sparrin' with Smokin' Joe provides a penetrating, at times brutally candid, look at legendary champion Joe Frazier. While the more flamboyant, media-accessible Ali continues to receive the lion's share of the ink on their epic rivalry, Glenn Lewis rectifies that imbalance by focusing on the man whose ferocious fighting spirit enabled Ali to be viewed as truly great. Based on several months Lewis spent in the gym, on the road, and in verbal tussles with the Frazier as part of his inner circle in 1980, the book includes compelling, never-before-heard anecdotes that give new insight into Frazier and make readers reevaluate their impressions of Ali. Lewis argues that Joe actually won their second fight and even questions whether the wrong man got the mantle as "The Greatest."

This book provides readers with an abundance of information and historical perspective as well as entertaining and memorable anecdotes about professional wrestling. Readers will also learn unusual snippets of trivia that will enhance their comprehension of the sport. This authoritative work on the history and culture of professional wrestling features the biggest names in the wrestling world since the sport emerged on the American sporting landscape. It comprises short biographies of all of the key players in the sport's evolution and rise to popularity-from old-timers to barrier breakers to household names such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Andre the Giant, and more-and includes not only men but also many women who have made a name in the sport. Surveying professional wrestling from its roots, dating centuries, to the modern era, pre-20th century and into the 21st century, the work tells the transformational stories of prominent wrestlers and the sport as a whole, in many cases bringing out the humor and outrageousness in the nature of an activity that has always straddled the line between show business and sport. Includes 100 entries featuring wrestlers, promoters, and wrestling facts Surveys the history of wrestling as a sport in historical context Identifies individuals who have revolutionized the sport Invites readers to engage with the information by presenting it as narrative

While humans have used their hands to engage in combat since the dawn of man, boxing originated in Ancient Greece as an Olympic event. It is one of the most popular, controversial and misunderstood sports in the world. For its advocates, it is a heroic expression of unfettered individualism. For its critics, it is a depraved and ruthless physical and commercial exploitation of mostly poor young men. This Companion offers engaging and informative essays about the social impact and historical importance of the sport of boxing. It includes a comprehensive chronology of the sport, listing all the important events and personalities. Essays examine topics such as women in boxing, boxing and the rise of television, boxing in Africa, boxing and literature, and boxing and Hollywood films. A unique book for scholars and fans alike, this Companion explores the sport from its inception in Ancient Greece to the death of its most celebrated figure, Muhammad Ali.

Somewhere beyond the circle of money, glitz, drugs, and controversy that characterizes professional sports in America, remnants of an ideal exist. In Iowa, that ideal survives in the form of high school wrestling.

Each a three-time state champion, Jay Borschel and Dan LeClere have a chance in their senior year to join the sport's most elite group: the "four-timers," wrestlers who win four consecutive state titles. For Jay, a ferocious competitor who feeds off criticism and doubt, a victory would mean vindication over the great mass of skeptics waiting for him to fail. For Dan, who carries on his back the burdens of his tiny farming community, the dreams of his hard-driving coach and father, and his own personal demons, another title is the only acceptable outcome.

"Four Days to Glory" is the story of America as told through its small towns and their connection to sport the way it was once routinely perceived: as a means of mattering to the folks next door.

Readers searching for an authentic American success story will appreciate this biography about Leo F. Houck, a premier middleweight boxer of the early 1900s, Penn State boxing coach, and devoted family from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Leo F. Houck became a professional boxer during his adolescence at age fourteen while many of his contemporaries started their life-long employment in the mills, farms, and factories of Lancaster County. He gave the purses he earned to his widowed mother in order to support his six siblings after his father Edward, passed away at age fifty. There was nothing overtly glamorous about Leo's boxing career until 1911, when he earned the largest payday of his career with a twenty round victory over Harry Lewis in Paris. Leo reached the pinnacle of his career in 1913, when he was poised to capture the middleweight championship title. His two hundred fights are all described in this biography making it uniquely different from most boxing biographies, which typically focus on a finite number of key fights during a boxers' career. Leo coached boxing at Penn State after his retirement from prize fighting. Over the next twenty-seven years, Leo transformed Penn State into an intercollegiate boxing powerhouse and clearly established himself as Penn State's first legendary coach.

Joachim Meyer (ca. 1537 - 1571) was one of the most influential fencing masters of the Renaissance--a prolific writer of fencing manuals. In this training guide, Robert Rutherfoord unpacks the complex and elegant art of Meyer's rapier in word and image, including over 200 easy to follow illustrations to bring the art to life. Meyer's monumental "A Thorough Description of the Free, Chivalric, and Noble Art of Fencing, Showing Various Customary Defenses, Affected and Put Forth with Many Handsome and Useful Drawings" was reprinted, adapted and outright plagiarized for over a century after his death. As a martial artist, he was both the last great master of the medieval Liechtenauer fencing tradition and a young innovator, who combined his native, German traditions with those of the Italian and Spanish fencing masters to create a wholly unique systems of fighting with a vast number of weapons. The centrepiece of his work, however, was the cut-and-thrust "sidesword" or "early rapier" which was rapidly eclipsing the knightly two-handed longsword in popularity. Meyer's synthesis not only adapted his native art to this Mediterranean weapon, but in some cases, his innovations prefigured the developments of rapier fencing that Italian masters would promote in the next quarter century after his untimely death.

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction In this groundbreaking new book, Thomas Page McBee, a trans man, trains to fight in a charity match at Madison Square Garden while struggling to untangle the vexed relationship between masculinity and violence. Through his experience of boxing - learning to get hit, and to hit back; wrestling with the camaraderie of the gym; confronting the betrayals and strength of his own body - McBee examines the weight of male violence, the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes and the limitations of conventional masculinity. A wide-ranging exploration of gender in our society, Amateur is ultimately a story of hope, as McBee traces a way forward: a new masculinity, inside the ring and out of it. A graceful and uncompromising exploration of living, fighting and healing, in Amateur we gain insight into the stereotypes and shifting realities of masculinity today through the eyes of a new man.

Reduce stress, release pain and create whole body harmony with this practical introduction to Qigong and the yin/yang balance of Tai Chi, the ancient Chinese arts of 'movement meditation'. From reducing stress and improving posture to balance and general mobility, the many physical and mental benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi are widely celebrated. In this accessible book, Mimi Kuo-Deemer offers practices, insights and wisdom on these arts, and shows us how to support our natural capacity for energy, balance and wellbeing. Qigong's approach is based on the Chinese Five Elements or Phases of wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each natural element relates to an organ and meridian system in the body, and Qigong and the Tai Chi Axis will explore each of these elements as they relate to our physical, mental and emotional health. It also will include popular and widely practiced sequences and forms such as the 8 Brocades, Five Animal Frolics, Tai Chi Qigong 18 Forms and Five Element Qigong practices and explore how these lead to wholeness, nourishment and health. Part I: Wood Element: Nourishing our Roots Part 2: Fire Element: Nourishing the Heart Part 3: Earth Element: Nourishing the Mind Part 4: Metal Element: Nourishing the Spirit Part 5: Water Element: Nourishing our Deepest Wisdom

"The Book of Five Rings " is one of the most insightful texts on the subtle arts of confrontation and victory to emerge from Asian culture. Written not only for martial artists but for anyone who wants to apply the timeless principles of this text to their life, the book analyzes the process of struggle and mastery over conflict that underlies every level of human interaction.
"The Book of Five Rings " was composed in 1643 by the famed duelist and undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Thomas Cleary's translation is immediately accessible, with an introduction that presents the spiritual background of the warrior tradition. Along with Musashi's text, Cleary translates here another important Japanese classic on leadership and strategy, "The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War " by Yagyu Munenori, which highlights the ethical and spiritual insights of Taoism and Zen as they apply to the way of the warrior.

Sean Mannion was once ranked the #1 US light middleweight boxer and in 1984 he fought Mike McCallum for the world title, only to fall just short of his dreams. Featuring exclusive interviews with Mannion, this book provides an inside perspective on his boxing career, 1980s Boston, and his present search for purpose outside the ring. In 1977, looking to fulfill a dream as a pro boxer, 17-year-old Sean Mannion flew into Boston from Ireland, straight into a world of gun smugglers, drug dealers, and the world's best boxers. By 1983, Mannion was ranked the number one US light middleweight boxer. In The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down: The Life of Boxer Sean Mannion, Ronan Mac Con Iomaire recounts Mannion's struggles and triumphs in and out of the ring. Despite dubious management and the attention of the Boston Irish Mafia, Mannion quickly climbed his way up from the lower rungs of one of the most competitive weight divisions in boxing history. Mac Con Iomaire tells the tales behind Mannion's many fights-including his challenge for the world title in 1984 against Mike McCallum-and his life after boxing, working construction and fighting the alcoholism that haunted him in the past. More than 40 years after he first arrived in the US, Mannion now looks for a new purpose outside the ring. The Man Who Was Never Knocked Down is not just about a struggling boxer; it's a personal story that also intersects with famous boxers, well-known figures of organized crime, and several pivotal moments in history. Featuring exclusive interviews with Mannion, as well as individuals such as Micky Ward, Pat Nee, Martin Walsh, and Kevin Cullen, this book provides an inside perspective on the boxer, the fighting culture of his era, and on 1980s South Boston.

Benny Leonard was arguably the greatest lightweight champion of all time. With superb boxing skills and potent punching power, he fought over 200 times and suffered just five defeats. He spent his boyhood in a crime-ridden ghetto in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was the greatest of a long line of Jewish boxers to emerge from the slums. Leonard was still only 19 when he knocked out Freddie Welsh to become world lightweight king in 1917. He defended the title eight times and retired as undefeated champion in 1925, to please the only woman he loved, his mother. But the 1929 Wall Street Crash wiped out his fortune and he was forced to make a comeback at 35. Leonard fought the best of his era: Johnny Dundee, Johnny Kilbane, Rocky Kansas, Jack Britton, Ted Kid Lewis and Lew Tendler among them. Apart from being a sublime boxer, Benny was a first-class showman who helped to put boxing on a higher plane. He died as he lived - in the ring - while refereeing a fight at age 51. This is the definitive account of his remarkable life and career.

Vividly illustrating the techniques of a legendary innovator, this definitive examination explains how to survive attacks on the street, increase training awareness, and develop body movements. Originally compiled as a four-volume series, this revised edition breathes new life into a classic work with digitally-enhanced photography of jeet kune do founder Bruce Lee in his prime, a new chapter by former Lee student Ted Wong, and an introduction by Shannon Lee. This renowned compendium once again reclaims its place as an integral part of the Lee canon and a necessary addition for collectors and martial arts enthusiasts alike.

Many books have discussed boxing in the ancient world, but this is the first to describe how boxing was reborn in the modern world. Modern boxing began in the Middle Ages in England as a criminal activity. It then became a sport supported by the kings and aristocracy. Later it was again outlawed and only in the 20th century has it become a sport popular around the world. This book describes how modern boxing began in England as an outgrowth of the native English sense of fair play. It demonstrates that boxing was the common man's alternative to the sword duel of honour, and argues that boxing and fair play helped Englishmen avoid the revolutions common to France, Italy and Germany during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. English enthusiasm for boxing largely drove out the pistol and sword duels from English society. And although boxing remains a brutal sport, it has made England one of the safest countries in the world. It also examines how the rituals of boxing developed: the meaning of the parade to the ring; the meaning of the ring itself; why only two men fight at one time; why the fighters shake hands before each fight; why a boxing match is called a prizefight; and why a knock-down does not end the bout. Its sources include material from medieval manuscripts, and its notes and bibliography are extensive.

A Social History of Sheffield Boxing combines urban ethnography and anthropology, sociological theory and place and life histories to explore the global phenomenon of boxing. Raising many issues pertinent to the social sciences, such as contestations around state regulation of violence, commerce and broadcasting, pedagogy and elite sport and how sport is delivered and narrated to the masses, the book studies the history of boxing in Sheffield and the sport's impact on the cultural, political and economic development of the city since the 18th century. Interweaving urban anthropology with sports studies and historical research the text expertly examines a variety of published sources, ranging from academic papers to biographies and from newspaper reports to case studies and contemporary interviews. In Volume I, Bell and Armstrong construct a vivid history of boxing and probe its cultural acceptance in the late 1800s, examining how its rise was inextricably intertwined with the industrial and social development of Sheffield. Although Sheffield was not a national player in prize-fighting's early days, throughout the mid-1800s, many parochial scores and wagers were settled by the use of fists. By the end of the century, boxing with gloves had become the norm, and Sheffield had a valid claim to be the chief provincial focus of this new passion-largely due to the exploits of George Corfield, Sheffield's first boxer of national repute. Corfield's deeds were later surpassed by three British champions: Gus Platts, Johnny Cuthbert and Henry Hall. Concluding with the dual themes of the decline of boxing in Sheffield and the city's changing social profile from the 1950s onwards, the volume ends with a meditation on the arrival of new migrants to the city and the processes that aided or frustrated their integration into UK life and sport.

For six decades the World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a useful tool of racial oppression--the existence of the title far more important to the white public than its succession of champions. It took some extraordinary individuals, most notably Jack Johnson, to challenge "the color line" in the ring, although the title and the black fighters who contended for it continued until the reign of Joe Louis a generation later. This history traces the advent and demise of the Championship, the stories of the 28 professional athletes who won it, and the demarcation of the color line both in and out of the ring.

Risk, Failure, Play illuminates the many ways in which competitive martial arts differentiate themselves from violence. Presented from the perspective of a dancer and writer, this book takes readers through the politics of everyday life as experienced through training in a range of martial arts practices such as jeet kune do, Brazilian jiu jitsu, kickboxing, Filipino martial arts, and empowerment self-defense. Author Janet OaShea shows how play gives us the ability to manage difficult realities with intelligence and demonstrates that physical play, with its immediacy and heightened risk, is particularly effective at accomplishing this task. Risk, Failure, Play also demonstrates the many ways in which physical recreation allows us to manage the complexities of our current social reality. Risk, Failure, Play intertwines personal experience with phenomenology, social psychology, dance studies, performance studies, as well as theories of play and competition in order to produce insights on pleasure, mastery, vulnerability, pain, agency, individual identity, and society. Ultimately, this book suggests that play allows us to rehearse other ways to live than the ones we see before us and challenges us to reimagine our social reality.

The surprising roots of the self-defense movement and the history of women's empowerment. At the turn of the twentieth century, women famously organized to demand greater social and political freedoms like gaining the right to vote. However, few realize that the Progressive Era also witnessed the birth of the women's self-defense movement. It is nearly impossible in today's day and age to imagine a world without the concept of women's self defense. Some women were inspired to take up boxing and jiu-jitsu for very personal reasons that ranged from protecting themselves from attacks by strangers on the street to rejecting gendered notions about feminine weakness and empowering themselves as their own protectors. Women's training in self defense was both a reflection of and a response to the broader cultural issues of the time, including the women's rights movement and the campaign for the vote. Perhaps more importantly, the discussion surrounding women's self-defense revealed powerful myths about the source of violence against women and opened up conversations about the less visible violence that many women faced in their own homes. Through self-defense training, women debunked patriarchal myths about inherent feminine weakness, creating a new image of women as powerful and self-reliant. Whether or not women consciously pursued self-defense for these reasons, their actions embodied feminist politics. Although their individual motivations may have varied, their collective action echoed through the twentieth century, demanding emancipation from the constrictions that prevented women from exercising their full rights as citizens and human beings. This book is a fascinating and comprehensive introduction to one of the most important women's issues of all time. This book will provoke good debate and offer distinct responses and solutions.

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.

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.