Blade Master : Advanced Survival Skills For The Knife

Rating:
Summary: Who thought knife fighting could be boring?
Review: I think my review title says it all. Maybe it's just me but I read this and really didn't come away with anything. I found the writing style somewhat pompous and the material presented somewhat "academic"-i.e. not a product of the real world. The author does have some good words to say about the military stance (though he doesn't offer any real counters to it-which was his point) and the use of newspaper targets has some merit, but none of this is rocket science. There are better instructive books out there.

Rating:
Summary: Who thought knife fighting could be boring?
Review: I think my review title says it all. Maybe it's just me but I read this and really didn't come away with anything. I found the writing style somewhat pompous and the material presented somewhat "academic"-i.e. not a product of the real world. The author does have some good words to say about the military stance (though he doesn't offer any real counters to it-which was his point) and the use of newspaper targets has some merit, but none of this is rocket science. There are better instructive books out there.

Rating:
Summary: Fairburn Sykes knife fighting
Review: This is a practial guide to fighting with a Fairburn Sykes or Stiletto knife. This is a short and to the point. It could have been made better with addition of Kali and routines

Rating:
Summary: Fairburn Sykes knife fighting
Review: This is a practial guide to fighting with a Fairburn Sykes or Stiletto knife. This is a short and to the point. It could have been made better with addition of Kali and routines

Rating:
Summary: A lot packed into one little book
Review: We all learn in different ways. Perhaps my bias comes from this perspective, but honestly I think that Sanchez's book is more for a person that learns largely by reading only. It might sound childish of me, but I prefer photographs, and not black and white illustrations.

I have spent a lot of time considering the written works of "Hock" Hockhiem and I must confess the knife material is much better. As well, there are photographs illustrating exactly the technique.

But, I must say that there are chapters in Sanchez's book which were well worth a second read. In particular, I enjoyed the chapter on Deviant Styles. There were a few new pieces of practice equipment which were new to me, and while I use alternative methods, I enjoyed reading that as well.

BUT, if you are interested in a small pocket manual, and have not studied much knife fighting, then Sanchez's book, Blade Master, is a good buy. He does methodically take you through practice schedule, and gives you a lot of good techniques.

But don't believe that after reading this one book, you will actually BE a Blade Master. If there is a book beyond this one, I will certainly buy it as well. But in a choice between Hoch's Encyclopedia of Knife Fighting and this one, it is clear to me that the former is much more comprehensive work. Perhaps I need to read all of Sanchez's works to be completely fair.

So, in conclusion, I am not upset I made this purchase, but I was not overwhelmed either.