Knives, Knife Fighting, & Related Hassles - review
"Knives, Knife Fighting, & Related Hassles: How to Survive a Real Knife Fight" by Marc "Animal" MacYoung is not his best book, but it does contain some gems of information that just might save your life if you ever face a knife. It is a rather short book, especially compared to some of MacYoung's other works. This book is only 116 pages long. But in this short space, MacYoung introduces some important topics related to knives and fighting with them.
Being a friend of Marc, sometimes I can't help but read things into his books based on training, working, and sharing together. Reading some of the things he has written makes me remember other things we have done or that he has shared in person which make the lessons more relevant. I find that true with this book, since reading it makes me remember the hours we spent out in the back yard in California practicing with knives. I point this out to let readers know that as a friend and someone who has trained and worked with MacYoung, I have a bit of bias.
As for "Knives, Knife Fighting, & Related Hassles," it is one of the earlier books that MacYoung wrote, and you can tell he was a bit closer to the streets at that time than he is now. (which is reflected in his later books too) The book by no means contains everything about knives and knife fighting, but then what book does. This book is a very good introductory piece on knives and knife fighting, and for some it may be all they need. After all, knife fighting is not something most people do on a regular basis, and even those who train in martial arts or self-defense systems should be focusing on staying out of knife fights rather than looking for them. Fighting is ugly, and when you add blades it multiplies that ugliness a thousand times.
This book contains eleven short chapters:
1. Knives and Related Hassles sets out a few of MacYoung's qualifications and what he is attempting with this book. He admits he doesn't know everything about knife fighting, but I guarantee you that if you read this short book you will know more than many people out there.
2. Nuts and Bolts contains some basic information about knives in general. He quickly covers some types of blades and points out that you should get a good one and keep it sharp.
3. Mental Homework is a chapter on how serious knife fighting is and suggests some good information on mindset, awareness and such.
4. Mobility and Balance are extremely important in anything physical and in any kind of fight they are especially important. This short chapter gives you a couple things to think about and practice to improve yours.
5. Guard is a very short chapter where MacYoung describes some Chinese based slap/whip blocks that he prefers.
6. Grip, Heft, and Balance describes ways a blade can be held and used. MacYoung covers some basic ways to hold a knife as well as a few that are more obscure and less practical. But it is good to be familiar with them, the information never hurts.
7. Stance obviously is how you stand and thus move in a knife fight. MacYoung covers some various ways and teaches his preferred way. Your stance will vary with the kind of training you do, but this chapter is a good introduction.
8. Quickdraw is a chapter that points out that having a weapon is not always the same as being able to get to it. Some good concepts here.
9. Draws covers some various ways to carry and draw a blade.
10. Fighting is a chapter with some good practical information. As is..
11. Combat
Overall, this is a quick read with some good information on knives and knife fighting. It is not my favorite of MacYoung's books, but for the price not bad to pick up and learn something. As I mentioned earlier, MacYoung was closer to the street when he wrote the book. His language and clothing reflect that. For people who have only read his recent works, this might surprise people. I think one thing is shows is how far MacYoung has come since those days. I for one am very glad he has evolved and shared his knowledge along the journey.
Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author, speaker
Hard-Won Wisdom From The School of Hard Knocks, Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, and The Lock On Joint Locking series
Being a friend of Marc, sometimes I can't help but read things into his books based on training, working, and sharing together. Reading some of the things he has written makes me remember other things we have done or that he has shared in person which make the lessons more relevant. I find that true with this book, since reading it makes me remember the hours we spent out in the back yard in California practicing with knives. I point this out to let readers know that as a friend and someone who has trained and worked with MacYoung, I have a bit of bias.
As for "Knives, Knife Fighting, & Related Hassles," it is one of the earlier books that MacYoung wrote, and you can tell he was a bit closer to the streets at that time than he is now. (which is reflected in his later books too) The book by no means contains everything about knives and knife fighting, but then what book does. This book is a very good introductory piece on knives and knife fighting, and for some it may be all they need. After all, knife fighting is not something most people do on a regular basis, and even those who train in martial arts or self-defense systems should be focusing on staying out of knife fights rather than looking for them. Fighting is ugly, and when you add blades it multiplies that ugliness a thousand times.
This book contains eleven short chapters:
1. Knives and Related Hassles sets out a few of MacYoung's qualifications and what he is attempting with this book. He admits he doesn't know everything about knife fighting, but I guarantee you that if you read this short book you will know more than many people out there.
2. Nuts and Bolts contains some basic information about knives in general. He quickly covers some types of blades and points out that you should get a good one and keep it sharp.
3. Mental Homework is a chapter on how serious knife fighting is and suggests some good information on mindset, awareness and such.
4. Mobility and Balance are extremely important in anything physical and in any kind of fight they are especially important. This short chapter gives you a couple things to think about and practice to improve yours.
5. Guard is a very short chapter where MacYoung describes some Chinese based slap/whip blocks that he prefers.
6. Grip, Heft, and Balance describes ways a blade can be held and used. MacYoung covers some basic ways to hold a knife as well as a few that are more obscure and less practical. But it is good to be familiar with them, the information never hurts.
7. Stance obviously is how you stand and thus move in a knife fight. MacYoung covers some various ways and teaches his preferred way. Your stance will vary with the kind of training you do, but this chapter is a good introduction.
8. Quickdraw is a chapter that points out that having a weapon is not always the same as being able to get to it. Some good concepts here.
9. Draws covers some various ways to carry and draw a blade.
10. Fighting is a chapter with some good practical information. As is..
11. Combat
Overall, this is a quick read with some good information on knives and knife fighting. It is not my favorite of MacYoung's books, but for the price not bad to pick up and learn something. As I mentioned earlier, MacYoung was closer to the street when he wrote the book. His language and clothing reflect that. For people who have only read his recent works, this might surprise people. I think one thing is shows is how far MacYoung has come since those days. I for one am very glad he has evolved and shared his knowledge along the journey.
Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author, speaker
Hard-Won Wisdom From The School of Hard Knocks, Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, and The Lock On Joint Locking series
posted by Alain at
11:46 AM
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