Rating: 
Summary: A Complete Exploration of the Subject!
Review: "Richard Ryan has written an in-depth book on knife fighting that every martial artist and knife practitioner should read. It augmented and affirmed much of what I have been taught about knife fighting from martial arts masters and is a key addition to my martial arts library!"
Rating:
Summary: A Complete Exploration of the Subject!
Review: "Richard Ryan has written an in-depth book on knife fighting that every martial artist and knife practitioner should read. It augmented and affirmed much of what I have been taught about knife fighting from martial arts masters and is a key addition to my martial arts library!"
Rating:
Summary: The Tactical Folder Advantage
Review: "The first rule of weapons combat is to have one with you" (Richard Ryan)Yet handgun owners rarely carry their weapons all the time. Too cumbersome, too hard to conceal, and too fraught with legal considerations. The always-with-you tactical folder and the knowledge provided by Ryan's book greatly increases your chances in a violent encounter. The guy with the gun may not get the automatic submission that he is accustomed too. Indeed, he may find that his gun hand just dosen't work anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: Good coverage of a bad subject
Review: Anyone interested in a good overview of practical knife fighting and defense against bladed weapons would benefit from this book. Ryan obviously knows his subject well and offers excellent instruction and advice.
Rating:
Summary: Good coverage of a bad subject
Review: Anyone interested in a good overview of practical knife fighting and defense against bladed weapons would benefit from this book. Ryan obviously knows his subject well and offers excellent instruction and advice.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but not very useful
Review: I haven't read this book and I don't plan on it. A previous review stated that Richard Ryan "seriously dissed Master-at-Arms James Keating". This is not a good sign of a real martial artist. I have personally trained with James Keating. He has been trained in Kali, Jeet Kune Do, a traditional Karate system (the name escapes me right now), and has developed his own Combat Technologies system. Anyone who badmouths a martial artist with so much talent, dedication, and recognition from other well known martial artists is most likely a hack trying to get his name out thereby playing the politics game. He may have some good information, but there are also guys with good information and some tact to go with it. Instead of buying this, get a book or video from someone else.
Rating: 
Summary: Badmouthing...
Review: I haven't read this book and I don't plan on it. A previous review stated that Richard Ryan "seriously dissed Master-at-Arms James Keating". This is not a good sign of a real martial artist. I have personally trained with James Keating. He has been trained in Kali, Jeet Kune Do, a traditional Karate system (the name escapes me right now), and has developed his own Combat Technologies system. Anyone who badmouths a martial artist with so much talent, dedication, and recognition from other well known martial artists is most likely a hack trying to get his name out thereby playing the politics game. He may have some good information, but there are also guys with good information and some tact to go with it. Instead of buying this, get a book or video from someone else.
Rating:
Summary: Badmouthing...
Review: I haven't read this book and I don't plan on it. A previous review stated that Richard Ryan "seriously dissed Master-at-Arms James Keating". This is not a good sign of a real martial artist. I have personally trained with James Keating. He has been trained in Kali, Jeet Kune Do, a traditional Karate system (the name escapes me right now), and has developed his own Combat Technologies system. Anyone who badmouths a martial artist with so much talent, dedication, and recognition from other well known martial artists is most likely a hack trying to get his name out thereby playing the politics game. He may have some good information, but there are also guys with good information and some tact to go with it. Instead of buying this, get a book or video from someone else.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING ILLUSTRATIONS!
Review: Mister Ryan has compiled quite a book here. The information is accurate, the techniques are viable, and the illustrations are incredible. Ryan is a gifted artist, and the pen & ink cartoons he has drawn are like nothing I have seen in any other martial arts text. Furthermore, he has utilized movie FX in some of the still photography -- the use of a "cut-out" blade in two different shots brutally illustrate a large knife sunk deep into an opponent's neck and arm, and digital imaging on a third photo graphically shows a blade literally "fileting" a man's forearm! ...There are only a couple of minor criticisms which prevented me from giving this fine book 5 stars. First, although I agree completely with Mister Ryan's assessment of the realistic combat effectiveness of commercialized martial arts -- as well as the unsubstantiated claims of their unblooded "masters" -- he seriously dissed Master-at-Arms James Keating, who everyone knows has paid his dues and learned his art the hard way. True, many alleged knife-fighters are nothing more than poseurs, but Keating is a serious piece of work whose skill with the blade is legendary -- show the man some respect. Secondly, among Ryan's selection of "advanced cuts" -- a couple of which had never seen print before -- was some silliness he calls a "dicing cut," in which one uses one's blade as if it were a kitchen chopper to "slice to ribbons" the forearm of an opponent who grabs one's shirtfront! In theory this sounds nice, but in reality no-one is going to stand there and let you carve on him without doing something to interfere with the effectiveness of this alleged "technique!"...
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING ILLUSTRATIONS!
Review: Mister Ryan has compiled quite a book here. The information is accurate, the techniques are viable, and the illustrations are incredible. Ryan is a gifted artist, and the pen & ink cartoons he has drawn are like nothing I have seen in any other martial arts text. Furthermore, he has utilized movie FX in some of the still photography -- the use of a "cut-out" blade in two different shots brutally illustrate a large knife sunk deep into an opponent's neck and arm, and digital imaging on a third photo graphically shows a blade literally "fileting" a man's forearm! ...There are only a couple of minor criticisms which prevented me from giving this fine book 5 stars. First, although I agree completely with Mister Ryan's assessment of the realistic combat effectiveness of commercialized martial arts -- as well as the unsubstantiated claims of their unblooded "masters" -- he seriously dissed Master-at-Arms James Keating, who everyone knows has paid his dues and learned his art the hard way. True, many alleged knife-fighters are nothing more than poseurs, but Keating is a serious piece of work whose skill with the blade is legendary -- show the man some respect. Secondly, among Ryan's selection of "advanced cuts" -- a couple of which had never seen print before -- was some silliness he calls a "dicing cut," in which one uses one's blade as if it were a kitchen chopper to "slice to ribbons" the forearm of an opponent who grabs one's shirtfront! In theory this sounds nice, but in reality no-one is going to stand there and let you carve on him without doing something to interfere with the effectiveness of this alleged "technique!"...
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