Self Defense Encyclopedia

Rating:
Summary: Well done
Review: First of all; I like it. Let me make that clear. It has quality production, contains a large number of techniques and Sang H. Kim is skilled. But the major issue I want to adress in this review, is that if you REALLY want to REALISTICALLY defend yourself, then this is not were you want to start. When you are being attacked you are likely to experience chaos and fear, and it happens fast and brutally. Your mind will not be reviewing the huge catalog of techniques you have seen on video tapes (or even in the dojo) in this very stressful situation, and perfectly chose the appropriate manouver for you. It just doesn't work that way. You can really just expect the unexpected. What is needed is a handful of very basic techniques which has been rehearsed many times so they become almost like reflexes (called muscle memory). They must be high percentage moves, meaning they will work in a large number of scenarios. But just as important is learning some good consepts (how to move, balance, foundations++) and training in awareness and de-escalation (extremely underrated). Paul Vunak's video "Street Safe" is a good choice for basic self-defense and Peyton Quinn's book "A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling" (a misleading title though) for awareness and common sense self-defense.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have in your dvd library
Review: I've always felt that self defense is a must for anyone to know. I also feel that it is most important for a woman to know. I see the perk to the knowledge of self defense two fold. It allows you to know what to do in situations as well as conditioning yourself to react. But the second reason is the most important to me and that is it gives you assurance and confidence, it takes away fear and empowers you. I have found to many
people, women in particular, that don't know how to defend themselves and actually hold some fear and question themselves. When put in a situation you need to know at least basics of how to react and keep yourself safe, if you question yourself or what to do at those critical moments, the results could
be very unpleasant.

I recommended this DVD because its the most thorough I've seen and covers quite a bit on essentials. It covers not just moves, but mentality and awareness, so you may prevent something before it occurs. While it is [price] , a self defense class would cost you at least this much and unlike a class you can go over the material again and again.

Have a great day and be safe

Rating:
Summary: lots of techniques
Review: The Self-Defense Encyclopedia DVD is literally crammed with information. The picture quality is razor sharp, it has flawless sound, and it's so easy to navigate from feature to feature (and there are a lot of features). Just bring up the menu, choose your topic and there it is. No winding forwards and backwards trying to find what you want to view. With DVD, it only takes a second.

Kim has done a complete job presenting valuable material for people interested in street defense. There are simple techniques for the beginner and techniques for the advanced, too.

One particularly interesting feature is one called, "Scenario Training," in which there are several situations where females are attacked by males. Most of them end up in a brawl on the ground, and the viewer is able to see what the defenders do right and what they do wrong. Afterwards, Kim talks with them about the scenario and what they learned from it.

Self-Defense Encyclopedia is a good title, as the disc contains a full range of self-defense techniques, concepts and principles. There is enough here that you can pick up valuable information every time you view it.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Defense on DVD! from Self Defense Magazine
Review: The Self-defense Encyclopedia is a fast-paced and informative collection of self-defense skills and principles. Author and host Sang H. Kim teaches you his techniques based on real-life situations, demonstrating effective methods for ending a confrontation using any means necessary. Topics include 22 primary and secondary bodily targets for disabling an attackers, tactics against various attack methods, fear-coping strategies, verbal techniques, warning-signal recognition and the psychology of violence. Various instruction levels make this DVD perfect for students, instructors and non-martial artists alike!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference for many aspects of self-defense
Review: This DVD features many stategies for defending yourself from many holds, threats, groundfighting, weapons and multiple attackers. It features psychological as well as strategical elements which need to be taken into consideration. The DVD covers alot of ground and is a good reference for both student and instructor.

Rating:
Summary: Crammed with information
Review: This film has two kinds of instruction: Instruction of self-defence techniques, and more general instruction on self-defence situations. The film starts with the latter part. There is some good, but somewhat basic information on awareness, avoiding dangerous situations and so on. Although the information is not very advanced or detailed, it is a very good thing it has been included in the film. Normally, in self defence films they teach you only the techniques, and not how to avoid dangerous situations altogether. In these general instruction chapters, they have used some material from other Turtle press releases.

When Kim gets to the techniques section, the techniques start with fundamental stuff, like proper stance, best target areas on human body and so on. There are basic techniques for people with little or no martial arts training, and also some advanced techniques. Some of the techniques are very simple, yet effective. The techniques are arranged in three chapters: Standing defence, ground defence and arresting locks. There are more than a dozen techniques on the first two chapters and few on the third, so you have to search manually, if you are looking for a specific technique. But that is the case with most of the martial arts instructional films I have seen, so that is not a very bad downside.

What really bothered me was that while Kim presents each of the techniques several times, he does not teach them very well. He gives vague explanations on what to do, but fails to reveal the details. You can probably spot the nuances yourself by watching the film several times, but if you have no clue what to look for, that can be too much to ask. And Kim does not tell what are the most common mistakes, either, so that you could pay special attention on those details. But then, there are dozens of techniques in the film, therefore they could not have devoted too much time for each technique.

There are several special features as bonus material on DVD, including general tactics against knife and gun attacks. Most of the special features are quite short, except for scenario training analysis, which is over 10 minutes in length. It is also quite interesting to watch, as it shows several film clips filmed on a self defence class. In the films, they show a male attacking a female, and the female trying to escape the attack. In the film, Kim analyzes every one of these attacks, pointing out mistakes.

There is a lot good stuff in the film, therefore it is a pity that Kim has not taken the time and effort to fully explain the techniques presented in the film, thus deducting one star from the rating.