Rating: 
Summary: Title is misleading....
Review: As a student, and instructor, of practical self-defense techniques I must say that I'm very disappointed in this book. If you only read the "blurb" at the top of the book, "It doesn't matter why it works. It only matters that it works!", you'd be under the impression that this book is a direct, no nonsense approach to learning what points to attack during self-defense. Well you'd be wrong. This book is more for someone who is interested in "discovering" self-defense techniques that are "hidden" in traditional kata. First of all, someone who is interested in learning "pure" self-defense skills does not practice traditional katas, if they practice any katas at all.Next, the "blurb" at the bottom of the book, "Simple step-by-step instructions for how and when to use pressure point fighting to your best advantage." should ACTUALLY mean "Simple, step-by-step instructions". Well they are "simple" if you have an "higher than average" knowledge of anatomy, both Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. There were NUMEROUS anatomical terms that I didn't understand at first until I read further into the book, where there was a more "common" desription of the point. As far as the "techniques" in the book, there were too many demonstrations of "hidden self-defense" techniques in kata and not enough images of the points being attacked. I was expecting to see at least ONE image of a human body showing all the different points to attack. But no such luck. In general, this book is not for someone who is interested in ONLY practical self-defense skills, like myself. If you want a book that's more practical, I recommend Bruce Tegner's "Self-defense Nerve Centers and Pressure Points". It is far more practical and informative than this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A must for any martial artist
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book and found it very informative. I found it alot better than other books on this subject because the techniques just seemed more realistic to me. It brings Bunkai into the 21st century. A couple years ago I had the honor of attending a seminar featuring Professor Clark in Hartselle,AL and was even the uki for alot of the techniques shown and I can tell you from first hand knowledge that what he teaches absolutely works and has been a great inspiration in my own development as a martial artist. Thank you Mr. Clark for all your hard work.
Rating: 
Summary: good coverage of naihanchi bunkai
Review: I have bought this book, because I wanted to extend my
knowledge about pressure points.
if you are a NOVICE in martial art, then this is a very good book for you because it explain in a celar and in detail,
how to do what and illustrate it with a photo. But if you already have knowledge about this subject then don't throw your money away.
At the end of the book there is [Appendix A: Vital Points List],
which is a very nice to have, But it doesn't have any illustration that can tell you where to hit exactly.
How many of you know where is in the human buddy is the [philtru], or [windpipe] or [solar plexus].
Rating: 
Summary: if you are a NOVICE Buy it, if not, Don't Buy
Review: I have bought this book, because I wanted to extend my
knowledge about pressure points.
if you are a NOVICE in martial art, then this is a very good book for you because it explain in a celar and in detail,
how to do what and illustrate it with a photo. But if you already have knowledge about this subject then don't throw your money away.
At the end of the book there is [Appendix A: Vital Points List],
which is a very nice to have, But it doesn't have any illustration that can tell you where to hit exactly.
How many of you know where is in the human buddy is the [philtru], or [windpipe] or [solar plexus].
Rating:
Summary: Good detail!
Review: I really enjoyed the content of this book. It's good in that anyone from any syle of martial arts can benefit from Professor Clarks approach.
Rating:
Summary: Misguided author, fabricated techniques, lots of B.S.
Review: I saw Rick Clark's book at Borders. I flipped through it and decided within moments that it was not worth the paper it was printed on. From the photos contained within it is obvious that the author spends more time playing a martial artist than practicing like one because he is fat, in horrible shape and demonstrates poor posture and technique. Unfortunately, there will undoubtedly be misguided victims out there buying this book because of the 'secrets' that are supposedely contained within. Perhaps purchasing this book can serve as a reminder to serious martial art students to continually re-evaluate ourselves and our behavior so that we stay on track and don't end up like Rick Clark -- taking ourselves too seriously, believing our own hype, creating 'secret techniques' and chasing illusions like a mirage in the desert. I strongly urge people to practice great caution when reading anything by this author. He is not the master level martial artist that he claims to be. It is highly unlikely that the author and his work would be judged favorably by any reputable martial artist. The only thing that this author is a master of is b.s. He would have made a great salesman for Snake Oil.
Rating:
Summary: Misguided author, fabricated techniques, lots of B.S.
Review: I saw Rick Clark's book at Borders. I flipped through it and decided within moments that it was not worth the paper it was printed on. From the photos contained within it is obvious that the author spends more time playing a martial artist than practicing like one because he is fat, in horrible shape and demonstrates poor posture and technique. Unfortunately, there will undoubtedly be misguided victims out there buying this book because of the 'secrets' that are supposedely contained within. Perhaps purchasing this book can serve as a reminder to serious martial art students to continually re-evaluate ourselves and our behavior so that we stay on track and don't end up like Rick Clark -- taking ourselves too seriously, believing our own hype, creating 'secret techniques' and chasing illusions like a mirage in the desert. I strongly urge people to practice great caution when reading anything by this author. He is not the master level martial artist that he claims to be. It is highly unlikely that the author and his work would be judged favorably by any reputable martial artist. The only thing that this author is a master of is b.s. He would have made a great salesman for Snake Oil.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I've been a student of the Martial Arts for 20+ years. I bought this book as the title and synopsis suggested it might have information on pressure points and their applications. This is a new publication that I was hoping would build and improve on what has been done before. I was looking for significantly more than "hit someone in the nose and it'll hurt them" type of information. Chapter 1 covers Mr. Clark's Core Principles - easy reading on general concepts, ideas that most martial artists would agree with. Short chapter, no real useful info on pressure points. Chapter 2 covers some info on Eastern & Western medicine and seems to allude to the notion that both are good sources of information, but not necessarily for pressure point fighting. Mr. Clark also elects to use terms such as "Triple Warmer 17" and "Gall bladder 20" instead of common terminology that most would understand. Short chapter, no real useful information on points. Chapter 3 - Analysis: "The intent of this book is [to] help you look at Kata from a different viewpoint...". I would agree with that statement, not that it's evident from the title. Short chapter, no useful info on points. Chapter 4 - Kata Applications: Very long chapter. Mr. Clark, in my opinion, strives to force fit Kata movements into applications, with some (not overly useful) information on points. Mr. Clark repeatedly states that the suggested application fits are not necessarily what was intended by the creators of the kata, just some of his ideas on how they could be interpreted. I found his "out of the box" ideas interesting, but my experience suggests that some of the techniques pictured/explained would work only with a willing victim, specifically some of the throws and entry into some of the locks - my opinion, I could be wrong. This kata application, while interesting, was not the information that I was looking for, nor expecting in this book. Some info on a very few strike points - nothing new or revealing. Chapter 5 - The Points. Finally, but what a disappointment. No references to drawings or pictures, most points had no illustrations throughout the book. No alphabetical (or any sorted) listing, only a couple of lines on location of the points. No info on how hard to strike, muscular coverage, effect, or revival techniques. In fact, earlier in the book, he specifically states that revival techniques are not covered, and that you shouldn't try these points unless you know how to revive - so why would I buy this book if I wasn't planning to try some of it out?? I went to this chapter first, was stunned with how little information there was, and ended up reading the whole book in an unsuccessful attempt to find anything useful on points. Appendix A - Vital Points List. A bunch of lists of point names, with minimal description, if any, from a bunch of other authors. Definitely only useful as a semi-bibliography. A detailed bibliography is presented in Appendix B. My conclusion: There's so much more that this work could have been, judging from the bibliography. Having read the book, I would not recommend it if you want to learn about pressure points to any depth. If you want to have cool discussions on what kata movements could be interpreted as, then you may want to read Mr. Clark's book.
Rating:
Summary: The cover is lying!!
Review: On the cover of this book, it is printed "Simple step-by-step instructions....". Let me tell you, I have read a few "simple-step-by-step" books. These books are often leafed through in an hour, giving at best one or two useful ideas. This book has much more substance than that. The amount of knowledge contained within these 194 pages is overwhelming. Buy the book, read it, and carefully work through the techniques. You will find the work to be very rewarding. It is difficult to find good books on martial arts that you can truly learn from. This book is one of the very few.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly a guide to pressure point fighting
Review: Personally, I find this book is good only for beginner Karatekas or martial artists who are sport oriented and wanted to have a glimse of how to approach the martial art training for real and practical self-defense. Serious martial artists who wanted to gather more information on the direct application and result of pressure point fighting will be disappointed. In its entirety, Sinsei Rick Clark provided a very useful and practical advise of how one should approach the practice of forms or kata with pressure point in mind and that's all. Pressure point cativities are poorly described and illustrated. Most of the pressure points been discussed are common and known to experienced martial artists (I am refering to people who train for martial value and not sport). If you are looking for a book that directly points to the location of each pressure point, where to hit, what is the result of hitting a specific points and recovery techniques, you are looking at the wrong book. However, if you feel practising forms or kata has little meaning in helping to improve your martial skill and looking for advise or guidance on how to benefit from the same practise, you are looking at the right place. Though I gave a low rating to this book, it is in no way to imply that the book is not informative. In this book, Sinsei Rick Clark successfully widened my perspective, in which I am very grateful. However, the content of this book does not relate directly to its title Pressure Point Fighting-a guide to the secret heart of Asian martial art. Merely by looking at the title, a would be buyer will pressume the book is a no nonsence direct approach guide to pressure point fighting, it turns out not.
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