Rating: 
Summary: Solid on the basics; could be better
Review: Pressure point techniques, nerve manipulation, and vital area attacks are advanced, commonly misunderstood subjects in martial arts. Clarks book covers this complex topic in a well laid-out manner but is not as comprehensive as I would have liked. Though it is not be deep enough for advanced practitioners, I did find a lot of useful information in the text that beginning and intermediate students could benefit from. Chapter 5, which covers the points in detail, would be massively better with illustrations to enhance the text. I think that is the biggest oversight in the book or at least the most easily corrected.
Every kata includes vital area strikes and most utilize pressure point techniques. Everyone is wired differently, however. When done properly, most people (more than 80%) will react strongly to pressure point techniques. Some, perhaps 15% will react to some if not all pressure points. There are also a small number of individuals who will not respond at all. Rather than relying solely on such techniques to stop a determined attacker, I believe that practitioners should consider them "extra credit," to be combined with other types of strikes.
I think that Clark overstates his case a bit. Further, I will argue with a few of his interpretations, such as blocking a kick with your hands (side kick - leg takedown on page 144). If you miss the pressure points or they prove ineffective you would be in a whole world of hurt attempting this movement.
All in all, it's not a bad book. Unfortunately it is not great one either.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Introspective look at the arts
Review: Rick Clark has taught seminars worldwide, and is in greatest demand for his knowledge of attacking kyusho, or vital points, of the human body. Though many instructors now teach, or claim to teach this information (and some of these instructor's students seems to have given this book a poor review above !), many present this information as if some magic bullet - learn vital points and there is no need for anything else. Anyone who has known Rick Clark, and studied for more than a simple seminar with Rick Clark, will have learned that his art does not rest on vital points, but utilises vital points to make it simpler, and more effective. With a broad range of martial arts experience, Sensei Clark is able to make sense of the nonsencical movements in martial arts, extracting not the differences, but the similarities.Though the title of this book perhaps implies "everything you need to know about pressure points", it would be fairer to advise the potential buyer that you are in fact buying a whole lot more. Only those students fortunate enough to train regularly with Rick Clark have been able to extract not only the techniques, but the philosophies, the mindsets, the principles and the understanding which Sensei Clark has extracted from his numerous years studying martial arts, which lead him to teach simple, brutal and effective enhancements to participants core martial art. For those students who have piqued interest in learning vital point methods, this book will do well to present a sensible framework in which these points should be used. You will not become a master of pressure points, but then any book that claims to make you so, should be avoided at all costs. The book will simply open your eyes in such a manner that you will be encouraged to seek instruction. For those martial artists however, who are tired of the hyperbole, tired of the bullish claims about vital points, knockouts, and unlocking the hidden secrets.....buy this book. Perhaps the simple, honest and pragmatic approach presented by Rick Clark will be enough to convince you that vital points, and the associated introspection of the subtleties of your own art, ARE worth further consideration, and need not require box sets of videos, giving up your old art, and studying the latest scientific method of fighting. Sensei Rick Clark has picked up a following of serious, pragmatic martial artists of the highest calibre, who question everything, and take nothing at face value. This calibre is testament to the way in which Sensei Clark teaches people; his book may just be the shove along the path that senior martial artists questioning where the road ahead goes require.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener to say the least!
Review: The book starts with a VERY in depth analysis of learning and management concepts (notably Pareto's 80-20 law) and then builds on this to underline his concepts of kata analysis. Extremely well written and well researched, as can be seen from the extensive bibliography and appendices at the back of the book. I would strongly recommend this book to any martial artist, and particularly to those who have stopped completely accepting the traditional kick/punch bunkai so often spoon fed to us.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD BOOK
Review: This book gives information about pressure points and using them to do certain techniques. I recommened this book for any martial arts enthusiastic.
Rating: 
Summary: Well organised & very useful book
Review: This book is a useful addition to any martial artists library. It is an excellent introduction to the subject of pressure points in martial arts. However, it's not just an introductory text for the uninitiated. The experienced practitioner of kyusho, dim-mak etc. will still find plenty of ideas that are new to them (I know I did). The point of this book seems not to act as a catalogue of techniques, but to teach you how to think for yourself and apply a number of principles to your breakdown of kata/forms. So you learn how to get more out of your own forms. It doesn't contain detailed information on the location of pressure points, that is not its purpose. The photos are not great quality, but they are sufficient for you to see what's going on. Its real strength is that it makes you think and analyse your martial art in ways that you may not have done before.
Rating:
Summary: good coverage of naihanchi bunkai
Review: this book is very good. CLark writes very well and also gives some excellent applications to naihanchi kata.
Rating:
Summary: A must for all stylists interested in pressure points
Review: This book is, like Prof Clark's first book, both in-depth and easy to understand at the same time. Clark doesn't waste time using terminology that is hard to understand, rather he makes his points using a turn of phrase that is easy to understand whilst getting his message across. The techniques that he has drawn upon, can be found in many diverse styles and so demonstrate just how pressure points and their applications can be found in styles that have lost these vital aspects over the years. This is the best book so far that I have found on this subject and I look forward to reading Clark's next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Basic Joint Locks, Little of Value
Review: This is a book about some VERY basic jointlocks and some other "bunkai," or applications, found in some specific japanese kata. Little to no value for anyone with any experience, and little to no content on what are commonly considred pressure point or vital point strikes (i.e. blood vessels, nerve plexes, cavity presses.) A good primer for beginning japanese stylists on the value and methods of dissecting kata... little more than this. Also, photos and diagrams were very poor and of little help.
Rating:
Summary: A good read!!!
Review: This is a great book that covers a lot of information of pressure points and how it can relate to most styles. It breaks down some of the well known katas and puts them into good applications. The one thing I liked about this book was the first part that went through "Core Principles"--ie. Lateral thinking, out of the box thinking etc... One review that I read about this book seems to take a personal jab at this author. This to me is ashame because as an experienced martial artist that type of verbage is unprofessional and disrespectful to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Useful book
Review: This is an excellent book by Mr. Clark, although I agree with some of the other reviewers here that the title isn't exclusively a book on pressure-point concepts and their application. The book's real strength is in illustrating some of the bunkai implicit in the katas, and in clarifying some applications that might otherwise seem mystifying. This is certainly valuable as the bunkai aren't practiced enough in many schools (and even in my own school), and this book goes over a number of these in detail. My only criticism is that the connection between the actual bunkai and the pressure point information isn't as clear or relevant as it could be. For an experienced instructor like myself this isn't a problem, as I can extrapolate, for example, in the case of a throw or takedown, several pressure points that might be useful to apply along with the throw or takedown. But a beginner or intermediate student might not be able to easily make that connection. Also, Clark had some applications I hadn't thought of myself and I found those vaulable. The author discusses both eastern and western medical theories and concepts and how they relate to pressure points. I noted the author doesn't uncritically subscribe to the Chinese theories, which are best regarded as pre-scientific metaphors for later scientific analysis of the underlying anatomy and physiology, but he discusses these concepts presumably for completeness, and besides, every other book on pressure-point fighting accepts these ideas as received truth, anyway. Even Dr. Yang Jwing Ming, who I consider very knowledgeable and educated in several arts and in Chinese medical theory, ascribes to these ideas in his Eagle Claw kung-fu book and other places. Well, Dr. Ming's doctoral work was in engineering rather than physiology and neurobiology, which was my field, so although an educated man it's not exactly his main scientific strength. The problem is that there are too many martial artists who aren't well grounded either in western anatomy and physiology (let alone the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, which can get quite technical), and so they naively accept lock, stock, and barrel the Chinese theories for which there is no scientific basis whatsoever. Of course, people can say, "Well, science doesn't know everything." That's true. However, the fact that science doesn't know all of the truths out there doesn't mean we don't know that certain things are simply false and are nonsense, and the Chinese theory of meridians and chi and how pressure points work (especially how certain pressure points are more vulnerable at certain points of the day) is an example of this. Not to beat a dead horse, but my kung-fu instructor would occasionally say that a certain point was vulnerable in the afternoon. Well, being a polite student (and his senior student) I never contradicted him on this, but this is now 25 years later and now I'm the teacher. The simple fact is that almost any pressure point strike could have a greater effect later in the afternoon than in the morning since that's when many people reach their physiological low during the day, and things like blood sugar and circulating catecholamines (such as epinephrine and norepinephrine) reach their lowest points and people just don't have as much energy. Furthermore, neuroactive chemicals that can cause drowsiness build up in certain areas of the brain. Furthermore, the brain, which can only digest glucose, is sensitive to a drop in blood levels. But the ancients who devised these theories had no knowledge of blood chemistry, neurobiology, or any other modern medical science area. One interesting aspect of the book that I really liked is Clark's drawing from writers as diverse as Klauswitz, the 19th-century German military strategist, William of Ockham, the medieval philosopher and logician, and economist Wilfredo Pareto (the "80/20" rule) for concepts to illustrate different concepts in the martial arts. Since the only military stratetgist that most martial artists seem to be familiar with is Sun Tzu (who gets too much press in my opinion), I was pleased to see something a little different in that regard and I give Mr. Clark points for that. I found this quite useful and shows Mr. Clark to be educated beyond the boundaries of the martial arts as well. The author illustrates and discusses about 30 different techniques specifically drawn from Okinawan and Japanese katas. These include attack combinations, self-defense, takedowns, and throws. There is some excellent material here on the application of some otherwise obscure and hard to understand movements. For example, Clark shows how the double mountain blocks in the kata Jutte (which is spelled "Jitte" in the book) could be used as a striking and throwing combination, which had never made much sense to me before except as a double blocking movement. The author uses mainly Heian (or Pinan) 4 and 5 Naihanchi 2 (or Tekki in Japanese karate), Bassai Dai, and Kwanku (or Kusanku in Okinawan karate) as the main source of examples, but a couple of throws from Jutte and Empi are also shown. Finally, there is an appendix listing the pressure points and systems of about a dozen different writers, some out of print, and an appendix on the pressure points with a brief description and definition of each. All in all, I found this a good book although as I said, it might only be useful to someone with enough experience to connect the pressure point information with some of the alternative applications. But the book would still be useful to beginners for its useful illustrations of how to apply many of the bunkai.
|
