Special Forces Unarmed Combat Guide: Hand-to-Hand Fighting Skills From The World's Most Elite Military Units

by Martin J. Dougherty

Teaches unarmed self—defense skills for everyday situations Learn strikes, locks, and controls Learn how to deflect kicks, grabs, and punches detailed illustrations ..

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Martial Arts

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2010

About the author

Hailing from northeast England, Martin J Dougherty is a professional writer specialising in military history. He has been at times a games designer, an engineer, a self-protection instructor, a teacher and a defence analyst. Martin has published a range of books covering topics as diverse as self-protection, medieval warfare and space flight, and has addressed international conferences on anti-shipping missiles and homeland security issues.

Martin's interests include martial arts and fencing. He has coached Fencing, Ju-Jitsu, Self-Defence and Kickboxing for many years at the University of Sunderland, and has competed to national level as a fencer. As a martial artist he holds black belts in Combat Ju-Jitsu, Nihon Tai-Jitsu and Self-Defence. Martin is a Senior Assessor with the Self-Defence Federation and an IL1 instructor/assessor with the Britsh Federation for Historical Swordplay, specialising in the Military Sabre and the Smallsword.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a work of literature, obviously, but a really pretty good book. Complete with some very handy diagrams, this book manages to be very useful, especially for experienced martial artists. It probably isn't much good for the layman without someone to practice its techniques on and with, but even so I'm impressed.

Probably my favorite thing about this book is how often it emphasizes that fighting is usually not the best way to deal with a difficult situation. People get hurt, people get killed, and feeling tough is not a good reason to risk either possibility. The little bit of philosophy the author manages to throw in is solid, as is the simplicity of most of the moves this book details. It's a self defense book, not a martial arts book. That said, if you practice this short catalog of moves, and practice the mental preparedness the book advocates, you'd probably win most fights.

For more on comics, horror, humanity, morality and the world check out The Stupid Philosopher, aka a place where I put my words.

[TΞΞL❍CK Mith!lesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art of weaponless combat has finally been condensed into a single resource. This relatively recent manual simplifies the various methods available for dealing with armed opponents. Basic diagrams provide easy instruction for all students that want to work in the security profession. The book serves as a perfect reference for handling any unbalanced predicament. There is a pronounced emphasis on deflection techniques, which are exceedingly useful in defensive occupations.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since my characters know more about fighting than I do, I'm reading this for unarmed combat experience in my writing. Very simple and easy to understand. Instructional especially in the ways to avoid fighting and everything surrounding it.

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Special Forces Unarmed Combat Guide attempts to demonstrate hand-to-hand combat techniques that are practical and easy to use. The main problem is that when it comes to self-defense or any martial art whatsoever, it requires you to be able to practice and prepare. You can’t be thrust into a crazy situation and expect to be able to handle it perfectly merely with the aid of a book, though it does help in some ways.

The book begins by addressing the psychological aspect of fighting and the preparation required to defend yourself. If you want to try a martial art it makes some suggestions for ones that might be useful. The main ones suggested are arts that are widely available and taught the same all over. Take Boxing for instance. The book states that it is good for striking skills, footwork, stance, and strike defenses. The real thing to watch out for are Specialized Martial Arts like Judo and Taekwondo since there are strikes and techniques that are considered illegal in a match and you might develop a blind spot for those situations. It doesn’t say these arts are bad or worthless, just that they are incomplete for full self-defense. It even tells you how to discern a good class from a bad. If there is a lot of air-punching, belt ranks, over-complication, too much devotion to some ancient spirit, a certain-death technique, or any other mumbo jumbo then it probably isn’t that good. It covers the legality of your actions in self-defense as well. The idea is to merely incapacitate and even then, it is better to fight without fighting. It should really be your last resort to fight the opponent. The final part of the preparation section is training. Your own body might be the only weapon you have in a situation so you should keep it running smoothly.

The book covers a lot of topics and is quite useful for preparation, but real practice is necessary for self-defense to work. It covers the basics of a solid guard, good posture, and effective movement. Furthermore, there are tons of images and graphics that demonstrate the techniques talked about in this book. So I would say it is a good starting point but a lot of work would need to be done for full self-defense. I give it four out of five stars.

[Diana Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief, concise, generously illustrated

I wanted a good reference for self-defense and fighting for my writing. My initial impression was favorable: I have studied the martial arts and competed in college. Some of these techniques were familiar with me. The rest of the information was excellent and will come in handy.

The writing style is clear. The comments at the end were very good.

As another reviewer said, reading this will not make you a candidate for being dropped behind enemy lines to fight your way out. It is, however, an excellent introduction.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for learning basic "dirty" fighting techniques that may help you in certain situations.

[Justin Parris · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like combatives, you will like this book.

[Jose Varela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the original cookbook Kombat pretty good. Bruce Lee Combat good but this one is the best.

[Andrew Shapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If you are in a fight and do not know what to do for the best, hit the other guy in the head as hard as you can…keep doing it. You cannot go too far wrong that way.”
If just for that quote alone.

[Jennifer Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read of different techniques organized by type and style. An effective illustration if you're into self defense or want to get started.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great summary of all the basic psychology and techniques that the student needs for effective self-defense. If you are a traditional martial artist like me, you have the tools and skills to defend yourself -- but not always the framework or the application knowledge to do so. Studying self-defense as a subject unto its own -- devoid of the assumptions of your martial art -- is extremely helpful in learning how to defend yourself intelligently and effectively...removing the stigma that traditional martial arts are useless!

Dougherty is actually quite friendly towards traditional martial arts and recommends that you train at a school to keep your fitness and skills up. You can't just copy some techniques and expect to be able to use them. You can't do a short self-defense seminar (or program) and expect the same, either. You have to keep training for a long period of time and keep those skills up.

Overall, excellent read. Excellent primer on the basics of self-defense.

P.S. Funny enough, this doesn't actually have a whole lot to do with military combatives.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great guide for self defense and full of practical advice. It covers many basic techniques to defend yourself and avoid/identify threatening situations.

[Nic Plume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and easy to understand with lots of illustrations. Great reference to help with my own writing.

[Mark Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stuff, mostly overlapping what I've already learned. Don't remember anything new, but was a good visual guide for general self-defense techniques.