Materials.

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

Hi all,

In the world of multi-media it has become commonplace for martial artists to gather collections of DVD's, Books, Internet articles, Magazines and even CD's to aid in their training.

Good materials allow us access to instructors, concepts and methods we would otherwise miss out on and visual media now allows us to see those instructors, concepts and methods being applied. The next best thing to being in the room with the person in question.

This is the thread to list your favourite materials. The stuff in your collection that you would not be without and to let us know why you like it so much.

I'll start.

DVD's.

Hundreds of hours of SDF instructional DVD's, training sessions and Dave Turton seminars. My essential reference material and the cornerstone of my ongoing training. The man with the widest knowledge of martial arts I know.

Shredder/Outnumbered not outgunned/Defense against common attacks. Richard Dimitri One of the most progressive instructors in the business. Forward thinking, articulate and energetic instruction in effective pressure tested techniques.

Pavement Arena - Geoff Thompson. The ground breaking instructional video series. Showed real violence to the wider audience and revolutionised how a generation of martial artists thought and trained.

StreetFight Secrets. The SAS series. Solid and accessible instruction in the application of real world violence. The additional material on mindset and NLP is groundbreaking.

Bas Rutten Street Defense. Most enjoyable martial arts DVD I have ever watched. Hugely talented and amazingly entertaining.

Books.

"How Dangerous Men think" - Brent Stander.
"Dogs don't know Kung Fu." Jamie O'Keefe. The two best books available on female specific self protection.

Dead or Alive - Geoff Thompson. Best book on the market examining victim selection and criminal mindset as well as the steps required to combat both.

The Deadliest Men - Paul Kirchner. 50 of the most deadly men to ever walk the planet and an examination of what attributes made them so. The eye witness evidence is fascinating and the amount of knowledge it provides on mindset and the requirements for success against violence is huge.

Streetwise - Peter Consterdine. Simply the best text on how to keep yourself and your loved ones safe and secure.

Self Defence Manual - Martin J Dougherty. The most accessible and comprehensive book available for the newcomer to self protection. The ideal entry point for anyone who wants no nonsense, straight forward advise.

That's enough to get us going I think. Please add others as you see fit.

all the best
Chris

Subject: Re: Materials. Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:38 pm

Great idea Chris,

Here's a couple to begin with.

Nathan Leverton's Total grappling videos - first class material, you really can learn from these videos.

Peter Consterdine's Streetwise book and Training day DVD's -- good drills and very inspiring.

Alan

Subject: Re: Materials. Sat Mar 15, 2008 12:29 pm

Hi Chris,
Nice thread you started my friend. Here's my two cents...

DVDs:
1. The Fence-Geoff Thompson
2. The Three Second Fighter-Geoff Thompson
3. The Pavement Arena series-Geoff Thompson and Peter Consterdine
*These DVDs present the core of Geoff's and Peter's teachings on self-protection. In my opinion, absolutely essential viewing.

4. The Moment of Truth-Luciano Silveira
*Arguably, the most conceptually cohesive DVD on full-spectrum self-protection. And credit to him, he pulls it off in a one-hour production. Outstanding video.

5. Get Real-Dave Briggs
*This two-disc DVD series presents Dave's salient thoughts on the pre-fight psychological and tactical aspects of self-protection.

6. SAS Fight Secrets-Bob Spour
*This three-disc DVD series comprehensively presents Bob's take on self-protection.

7. Fight Back-Lee Morrison
*This four-disc DVD series thoroughly covers the gamut of Lee's teachings on self-protection.

8. Blitzkrieg Attacks-Peyton Quinn
*Peyton's take on effective tactics and strikes.

9. Vale Tudo series 1-Mario Sperry
10. Vale Tudo series 2-Mario Sperry
11. Vale Tudo series 3-Mario Sperry
*In my opinion, these three series' represent the best set of instructional DVDs on applied Brazilian jiu-jitsu for street fighting.

12. Muay Thai series-Rob Kamen
*I consider this nine-volume series the best treatise on muay Thai and it's done by one of the all-time best, if not the best, muay Thai fighters ever.

13. Powerstrike-Peter Consterdine
*Peter's thorough instructional on the double-hip mechanics as applied to his preferred strikes.

14. "Jim Grover's" Combatives series-Kelly McCann
15. "Jim Grover's" Situational Self-Offense-Kelly McCann
16. Inside The Crucible Volume 3-Kelly McCann
*These DVDs comprehensively showcase Kelly McCann's take on street combatives as applied with unarmed and armed skills.

Books:
1. Dead or Alive-Geoff Thompson
2. Streetwise-Peter Consterdine
*I consider these two books the "bibles" of self-protection. They comprehensively and thoroughly address practically all the elements of full-spectrum self-protection.

3. Strong on Defense-Sanford Strong
*An outstanding book that covers core survival rules for realistic self-protection.

4. The Gift of Fear-Gavin deBecker
*THE seminal book on how to read and act on pre-fight danger signs and signals.

5. The Essential Elements of Personal Combat-Bradley Steiner
*This is an aptly titled book that thoroughly covers the essential proactive attributes needed to prevail in personal combat. This is truly an essential book. It's outstanding.

6. Equal or Greater Force-Kit Cessna
*A hardcore, no-bull book that address the harsh realities of self-protection and delineates the essential mindset/attitude & tactical components needed to prevail. This is a great book.

7. Watch My Back (original version preferred)-Geoff Thompson
8. Red Mist-Geoff Thompson
*While one is an autobiography and the other a work of fiction, Geoff practically delineated all of the essential elements of effective/efficient self-protection/street fighting in a very accessible way. Through the context of storytelling, these books effectively work as instructional manuals. I almost convinced Geoff to make a special edition of "Red Mist" by adding instructional photo sequences in relation to the concepts and tactics he incorporated in the book. Man, that would've been great if he did. Anyway, at the time, he was (and remains) too busy and nowadays, his focus lies elsewhere...

9. Real Fighting-Peyton Quinn
10. Turning Fear Into Power-Bill Kipp
*These two books thoroughly delineate Peyton Quinn and cohort Bill Kipp's take on their scenario-based training methodology for realistic development of effective self-protection skills.

11. Championship Fighting-Jack Dempsey
12. Boxing: The Secret of the Knockout-Thomas Inch
*In my opinion, THE two best books on power punching. Both give a thorough dissertation on their respective methods. Both are absolutely exceptional.

13. Surviving Armed Assaults-Lawrence Kane
*A book that comprehensively addresses the essential skills (both mental and physical) needed to survive an armed attack. It covers the whole spectrum and then some.

14. The Self-Defence Manual-Martin Dougherty
*An excellent self-defense book written in the same vein as "Dead or Alive" and "Streetwise" but with its own unique flair which makes it stand on its own.

15. Combat Fitness-Martina Sprague
*A conceptually-loaded book on personal combat skills written for women but applicable to everyone.

16. On Combat-Lt Col Dave Grossman and Loren Christensen
*A fascinating book on a myriad of aspects on personal combat. This is not an instructional book per se, more of a research-and-findings book.

Anyway, these are some of my favs...

Take Care,
Lito
_________________
The essence of true love is purposeful effort.

True happiness is attained through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

Winners take chances and perceive pressure as a privilege.

Whatever you believe, it's true.

Subject: Re: Materials. Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:31 am

Hi Guys

It's pretty obvious that we are all very like minded people by the amount of doubling up on the materials that we view and read, I think that has to be a good sign.

If you haven't read get a copy of :-

The truth about self protection by Massad Ayoob

It is yet another excellent text.

Alan

Subject: Re: Materials. Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:19 pm

Hi Alan,
You're right, Massad Ayoob's book "The Truth about Self-Protection" is indeed an excellent one. I don't particularly care for what he advocates in terms of physical tactics/techniques (with the exception of the carotid neck restraint and the Dante eye attack); but fear control, ethical considerations, and mindset-wise, what he delineates is spot-on; some of the best stuff I've ever read on those topics. It's too bad the book is out of print. You have to go the used book route for it these days. I plan to post key passages from the book for the benefit of our members. It'll whet their appetite...

Peyton Quinn's "A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling" is also another excellent book. It's the precursor to his "Real Fighting" book. Anyway, it espouses many salient combat concepts (many of which are reiterated in his "Real Fighting" book). My main criticism with its content is on the crane defenses he advocates; I'm not keen on them. When I befriended him several years later and spoke to him about them, he conceded that while those defensive maneuvers were effective for him while working in a bouncer's capacity, they were inappropriately passive responses for an average citizen to employ for self-protection purposes. Like Geoff T, when it comes to the physical aspects of self-protection for the average citizen, he advocates a preemptive attack and, if necessary, an all-out follow-up barrage to neutralize the immediate threat and create an avenue for escape. If a situation necessitates a physical response, he's all about "hit-and-run," just like Geoff T...

Take Care,
Lito
_________________
The essence of true love is purposeful effort.

True happiness is attained through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

Winners take chances and perceive pressure as a privilege.

Whatever you believe, it's true.

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

Hey all,

I forgot to mention a couple of others I like.

Bas Ruttens Big DVD's of combat. - does what it says on the tin. A massivr amount of information. This is all about the personal combat. One for the guy who wants to know EVERYTHING!

Kelly McCann's Street Smarts, Firearms, and Personal Security
Situational self offense. (even though I don't agree with everything contained in McCann's material I like his style overall)

Vol 1 of the Goshinkwai DVD's prepared by Alun Williams.

The content is top-notch martial arts (not RBSD just good solid personal combat application) but what sells the DVD for me is that is has the best production values of any product I have ever seen in the MA/RBSD arena.

This should be the bench-mark of quality for anyone delivering an instructional MA DVD.

Robert Young Pelton's, The World's Most Dangerous Places. The only text you will ever need to keep yourself safe while travelling. This is NOT your average travel guide but its the only research material you will need!

more to come as I think about them.