How to Fight Tough

by Jack Dempsey

Paladin is pleased to present this rare reprint of a little-known hand-to-hand combat classic. At the outset of World War II, boxing heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey was appointed as a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard and given the job of director of physical fitness. His orders: "Make 'em tough!" His task: to teach rookie Coast Guardsmen how to fight down and dirty in the face of the very real threat of enemy troops infiltrating American shores. Get in the ring with "the Manassa Mauler" as he gives 18 fully illustrated lessons in the art of bashing and brawling on the battlefield, including Subduing an Armed Enemy, The Unbreakable Strangle, Beating the Punch, Hammering Your Way Out of a Stranglehold, The Belt Trick, Fooling the Smart Knife Man, Turning the Tables with a Bayonet and Breaking a Standoff. All students of nasty close-quarters combat in the tradition of Sykes, Fairbairn, Applegate and other giants of the World War II era will thoroughly enjoy this fascinating piece of CQB history.

Genres: Martial Arts

136 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Chris Gruber]

This book is certainly interesting from an historical perspective. The book is short and to the point. The techniques and mindset showcased may seem to modern self defense practitioners to be dated but for its time and intended audience they represented a good primer that was sure to produce repeatable results under pressure in very little time. All key requirements for armed forces training which required men to enter into the combat theater only weeks after having been plucked off the streets.

One wonders if Jack Dempsey was trained in these tactics by Lt. Colonel William Ewart Fairbairn himself or one of his students. There is a fair bit of similarity to Fairbairn's Defendu in these maneuvers but Dempsey and the authors deliver a straight forward, easy to understand, primer on how to fight tough.

From a practical standpoint those wondering if they can learn advanced fighting techniques might do better to seek out more modern publications. However, this reviewer (me) suggests that the techniques found in this book will still prove effective against the novice fighter. The book also does a good job in encouraging the fighting man's mindset which is really the key ingredient needed in surviving a deadly encounter.

I really enjoyed the photos and the straight forward, no-nonsense, writing style. Very interesting to learn what Jack Dempsey was up to during World War II.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was put out by the Coast Guard during World War II as a commando fighting manual. The lead on the project was heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey, aided by a small team of others -- all with varied bona fides in Combatives.

This is a fun book to read. It's loaded with 1940's slang, over-the-top reminders to fight tough and mean, and jokes that -- while dated -- still amuse with their quirky language. Seriously, the voice in my head was playing in Trans-Atlantic dialect (1940's radio announcer voice) or as James Cagney playing a gangster the whole time I was reading this book.

That said, while the text was campy, the actual techniques are solid. The book consists of eighteen lessons that are built on well-established grappling and submission techniques such as hadaka jime (rear naked choke.) Also, while there is often only one (or -- at most -- a few) photos per technique, they seemed to put some effort into doing them conscientiously. (And they are almost full-page shots, so one can actually see a bit of detail.) The techniques include: unarmed v. various unarmed attacks, unarmed v. knife, unarmed v. gun (holstered, and front and rear approaches,) and unarmed v. bayonet.

I'd highly recommend reading this book. It's a quick and amusing read with some useful techniques inside.

[Adrian Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look back into a ww2 historical document. Nothing wrong with the technical advice delivered in the book either. The imagery and the language are very much of their time but overall an interesting and educational read.

[Eric]

So many books...this one was funny. Must have read 100 martial arts books. The outlook on the world was so different at the time.