Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Overview of Fighting/Movement Concepts
Review: Author Bob Orlando has written something which is sadly rare these days: a martial arts book for people who think. If like many, you scan through a book and just look at the pictures, you will probably be unimpressed with the volume of techniques. If,on the other hand, you actually READ this book, you will be presented with material which cannot help but enhance the martial art which you practice. Even if the art you practice already contains these concepts, seeing them presented in such a clear and accessable form can help you to understand the "why" of many techniques, and can assist in applying these concepts to other moves in your system.
I held off on buying this book for years (primarily because of the price), but now I could kick myself for procrastinating. This book is written in a straightforward and reader-friendly style, and the photos are large enough and show enough contrast to clearly demonstrate the ideas represented. I'm kind of stingy with five star ratings, but this book is clearly deserving. If your pursuit of the martial ways is mature enough, I feel that you will truly appreciate Mr. Orlando's book. If, on the other hand, your idea of a good martial arts book is one which tells you how to kick butt like Van Damme (hint: it's just a movie, it's just a movie, it's just a movie...), this book is not for you. If you know any grownups in the arts you might want to buy it for them, though.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Overview of Fighting/Movement Concepts
Review: Author Bob Orlando has written something which is sadly rare these days: a martial arts book for people who think. If like many, you scan through a book and just look at the pictures, you will probably be unimpressed with the volume of techniques. If,on the other hand, you actually READ this book, you will be presented with material which cannot help but enhance the martial art which you practice. Even if the art you practice already contains these concepts, seeing them presented in such a clear and accessable form can help you to understand the "why" of many techniques, and can assist in applying these concepts to other moves in your system.
I held off on buying this book for years (primarily because of the price), but now I could kick myself for procrastinating. This book is written in a straightforward and reader-friendly style, and the photos are large enough and show enough contrast to clearly demonstrate the ideas represented. I'm kind of stingy with five star ratings, but this book is clearly deserving. If your pursuit of the martial ways is mature enough, I feel that you will truly appreciate Mr. Orlando's book. If, on the other hand, your idea of a good martial arts book is one which tells you how to kick butt like Van Damme (hint: it's just a movie, it's just a movie, it's just a movie...), this book is not for you. If you know any grownups in the arts you might want to buy it for them, though.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Self Defense Books Available
Review: Bob Orlando did a great job on this book. The contents of the book is primarily a blend of Kun Tao -Silat. I trained in the Indonesian Martial Arts some, by way of Hanshi Bruce Juchnik, who like Bob Orlando, studied the Indonesian Martial Arts from Willem de Thouars. Bob has also trained in many other martial arts.Guro Dennis Servaes
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Self Defense Books Available
Review: Bob Orlando did a great job on this book. The contents of the book is primarily a blend of Kun Tao -Silat. I trained in the Indonesian Martial Arts some, by way of Hanshi Bruce Juchnik, who like Bob Orlando, studied the Indonesian Martial Arts from Willem de Thouars. Bob has also trained in many other martial arts. Guro Dennis Servaes
Rating:
Summary: Principles of Effective Self-Defense
Review: Bob Orlando is that rarest of commodities: a teacher who has the analytical skills and intelligence to distill his martial art(s) into a handful of principles from which effective martial techniques may be generated. This book, and the companion video, Fighting Arts of Indonesia, are masterful communications of this material. Buy them and learn.
Rating:
Summary: Physical principles for effective in fighting
Review: Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals (IFF for short) is a different from your average martial arts book. You won't find a collection of techniques or "moves" that will make you a better fighter. Rather you will find a collection of physical principles that are the foundation of many of the techniques of Silat and Kuntoa which are the major systems covered in this book. As an example here's what you *won't* find in this book, how to punch how to kick how to block how to evade What you will find are principles to maximize the effectiveness of your techniques and more importantly (in my opinion) how to analyze and learn martial arts techniques and strategies. What also sets this book apart from most martial arts is that the bulk of the book principles are all focused on how to "in fight" i.e. what are the main principles to use when fighting is up close and personal, when you are close enough to bite, head butt, elbow, knee and trip as primary weapons and techniques. For example the foundation principle the author discusses is "adhesion". This is the principle of using full body contact with your opponent during a confrontation. For most people this principle is completely counter intuitive i.e. if your a 110 pound female the last strategy in the world you'd use is infighting with a 220 pound male. The author goes into tremendous detail on this very concept. Besides the section on principles the author spends some time on principles on learning martial arts by analyzing his personal learning experiences in learning and teaching martial arts and leads you into understanding and hopefully questioning how you learn and analyze your current training (for those that are thinking of starting up in martial arts or switching to a different "style" see the author's other book "Martial Arts America" is a must read). This book also has valuable sections on integrating principles, comparing and contrasting different martial art systems, some historical notes on Silat and Kuntoa, some basic drills to illustrate how a principle can be drilled into your physical system and even a chapter called "Learning How to Hurt Someone" which deals with some questions in martial arts which few people take the time to think about. Negatives? The book is only 180 pages and $40. The price is justified because the book is filled with large, sharp B&W photo sequences that illustrate the principles and these are expensive to produce. The shortness of the book is really a shortcoming created by the author's excellent analytical and tight writing ability that makes you sad that you came to the end of the book but for me the beginning (well actually a renewal) of my martial arts journey of discovery. The one real negative I have is the book is very sparse on "entry" i.e. how to close the gap to use the weapons/principles in this book. From a street perspective this probably is not important because most real physical confrontations are going to start when someone is in your face but I think some more detail on principles and strategies to get you safely inside would have made the book more complete.
Rating:
Summary: A great book on principles of in fighting
Review: Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals is mainly about physical principles that are the foundation of many of the techniques of Silat and Kuntoa which are the major systems covered in this book. What sets this book apart from most martial arts is that the bulk of the book principles are all focused on how to "in fight" i.e. what are the main principles to use when fighting is up close and personal, when you are close enough to bite, head butt, elbow, knee and trip as primary weapons and techniques. Besides the section on principles the author spends some time on principles on learning martial arts by analyzing his personal learning experiences in learning and teaching martial arts and leads you into understanding and hopefully questioning how you learn and analyze your current training (for those that are thinking of starting up in martial arts or switching to a different "style" see the author's other book "Martial Arts America" is a must read). Negatives? The book is only 180 pages and $40. The price is justified because the book is filled with large, sharp B&W photo sequences that illustrate the principles and these are expensive to produce. The shortness of the book is really a shortcoming created by the author's excellent analytical and tight writing ability that makes you sad that you came to the end of the book but for me the beginning (well actually a renewal) of my martial arts journey of discovery.
Rating:
Summary: A Rare Martial Arts Book That You Can Actually Learn From
Review: It's rare indeed that a martial arts book can teach a reader much that they can incorporate into their own practice: usually the techniques that they teach are too difficult to learn from a book, or so simple that any student knows them already. But by focusing on principles and logic of combat rather than on specific techniques, Bob Orlando gives the student of martial arts not only insight into Indonesian styles but methods of practice and training which a student of virtually any art can incorporate into their own. In addition, this book is an excellent companion to Orlando's video "Fighting Arts of Indonesia". They cover much of the same ground and reinforce each other. It had an immediate and transformative impact on my martial arts training. Without a doubt, this is the most useful martial arts book I have ever purchased.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best martial arts books I've ever read
Review: The book does an excellent job of teaching several important fundamental principles of Silat and Kuntao and using techniques to demonstrate how they work. Regardless of what style you study, an understanding of these principles and how to apply them will make you a more effective martial artist. I also highly recommend Bob Orlando's video, "Fighting Arts of Indonesia - Combat Secrets of Silat and Kuntao" which makes a great companion to the book.
Rating:
Summary: its about time, this stuff is held back from most westerners
Review: the other reviews i have read are obviously from those unfamiliar with kun tao/silat. infighting is what these arts are known for,and as far as entering techniques are concerned, if you need to ask then this book went way over your head
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