Rating: 
Summary: No cigar
Review: As a martial practitioner since childhood, I only find a mixture of Wing chun labelled as Jeet jun do, half baked grappling and bits and pieces of phillipino martial arts in this book. There is no comparison to the latest proven Brazilian jujitsu books currently available in the market. Spend your hard earned money into an author or an art that is well proven. Do not believe in anyone of the self proclaimed street fight experts who has never put his art in open competition but rather hide it in the dark alley.
Rating: 
Summary: Can not judge a book by its cover
Review: Biting, kicking and smashing the fighters hands sounds real dumb, but when you think of it so is street fighting. I looked at this book at first and thought this was a waste of money, than I started to realize that Mr. Vunak know what he was talking about. Biting is something I would not have done in a fight, but it could save your life. The word cheat will be burnt into my mind when defending myself.
This is a real world, self defense book. I don't think even Paul Vunak knows how good this book is. In fact the book itself does not look like much, but the information inside is life saving.
Rating: 
Summary: Important Principles
Review: First, the title may mislead some. Some readers understand "streetfight" to mean a confrontation. Many envision a showdown by someone on the street ala those 1970s kung fu movies. " I hear your Kung Fu (Karate, BJJ etc) is very good! FIGHT ME THEN! " They then believe what they see in a tournament or NHB competition is effective in a real life encounter. Sadly for those individuals it won't be. So far I have yet to see any competitions where one or several of the competitors friends can jump in with a pipe or knife or gun and help out. So much for realism. Second, this book is probably better for someone with little or no martial arts background since they are usually more receptive
to practical advice. This book introduces the basics of Vunaks' R.A.T. system. It is not a martial art per se but a self defense system. It is about as effective (due to its basic nature) in a street assault as you can get. Key word is assault. Criminals ASSAULT. They don't spar, there's no tapping out. They want your money, car, dignity as easily and safely to THEM as possible. What you need are simple, quick, effective moves that require no thinking under stress and the right attitude. Vunaks system has just that. Techniques are nothing that any white belt in any art hasn't seen. Is this book for you? Try this scenario:
You visit an ATM late at night and don't see someone come up behind you. The robber demands money and begins reaching under his coat, do you: A) Go for a takedown and an arm bar while another unseen accomplice walks up and shoots you or B) Jab the robber in the eyes, hit him in the throat, knee him in the groin and flee before he or his accomplice knows what happened? Which option do you believe affords you the best chance of survival? If you chose B then try this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart guy, Mediocre book
Review: I got my money's worth with the tidbits. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Mr. Vunak knows his stuff. Somehow the book's a miss. Good state-of-mind stuff. Only place I've read about chewing on your opponent. Didn't care for the techniques offered.
Rating:
Summary: i just cant belive how people can question this man
Review: If any one is after the real deal, here is a book for you! People out there (the critics) giving this book a bad rap and saying how Pauls techniques is so basic and bla bla bla, first you have no clue and dont understand how important inforamtion like this is when there is no rules and how rare it comes around, Im giving this book 5 stars and a must in any ones collection, it will wake you up to reality and send you down the right path. good work Sifu Vunak
(bbj is not the answer --- there is a good section for you guys its called KINO MUTAI wake up and smell the coffee)
Rating: 
Summary: Not Bad But Not Great
Review: In terms of practicality it's not bad. Most people can execute an eye jab, punch or shin kick more effectively than some grappling technique so this book is more realistic in that sense.
If you want effective self defense combine this book with "Strong On Defense". If anything the practice of these techniques would build confidence in the average person. Would they allow a reader to prevail in a streetfight? Maybe. That would depend on your definition of a streetfight and level of training. In a scenario with a mugger or robber it would be stupid to fight (UNLESS you believe your life is at stake). The books' techniques seem appropriate for this setting. You should have avoided that situation in the first place though. In an alternate scenario take some idiot mouthing off in a bar or in a parking lot. Most of the negative reviewers assume that the bad guy is a Grappler or NHB champ (Why I have no idea). These techniques would work in that situation IF you hit first and hit hard. Will the fight go to the ground? Most likely YES! Why? One of the combatants will be unconscious. That's the real reason most fights go to the floor, someone gets knocked out or close to it. In a streetfight there is no substitute for awareness and commonsense. Is being a Champion Boxer, NHB Fighter or Power Lifter a substitute for these 2 things? NO! Most criminals need only enough strength and speed to pull a trigger, usually in the dark and from a safe distance.
Rating:
Summary: Be Real!
Review: Paul Vunak has given us ideas. It's these ideas that we can create from. Ever wonder how NHB/UFC type fights would be like if the people in the ring were able to eye gouge or bite? Or better yet, be in a hold and be able to reach into the other persons pants and squeeze like mad. We have to be real. This is only a book. A book that gives the martial artist food for thought...It's not an end all to fighting.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: Paul Vunak made a great series of Jeet Kune Do videos years back but this book is nothing special and not worth buying in my opinion. It is one of the worst martial arts books I own and I have bookshelves loaded with them. It is interesting at times but fairly useless to a martial artist with any kind of experience. Even as a white belt a student is better off studying his/her art and learning some boxing skills. This book would be useful to the few who will buy this one book on martial arts and learn Vunak's system from it which is incredibly incomplete. There are very few techniques shown and some of them are Filipino stickfighting techniques which are not particularly useful for street defense. Arnis or escrima are useful arts but to present techniques such as those presented by Vunak here in this book don't belong in this type of book. How often in a streetfight do both fighters have sticks or similar type weapons. Unless we are immortals from highlander, I don't think these are the most practical techniques to place in a streetfighting text. Another section on biting, which doesn't deserve a section in a martial arts text is presented which isn't very practical except as a last resort type tactic and doesn't require training excersises like seeing how fast you can knaw through a steak like a savage to be used effectively should an inescapable choke be applied to you. If someone wishes to learn just a bunch of basic techniques that are effective get a combat jiu jitsu type book such as "Get Tough" and if you want a book to enhance martial art training get "Tao of Jeet Kune Do" written by the source of the art. Other great books are Wally Jay's "Small Circle Jiu Jitsu", Masatoshi Nakayama's "Dynamic Karate" and Mark Hattmaker's two books on Submission Wrestling. The best Martial Arts videos I have seen are "Vee Jitsu Arnis Te vol.1-10 by 10th Dan Frank Galante with his teacher and the founder of the system Supreme Grandmaster Florendo Visitacion by Panther productions, the same company that produced Paul Vunak's JKD videos only the Vee Jitsu Arnis Te videos are better in many ways. Professor Galante's knowledge is unsurpassed with the ability to show the proper form and diverse techniques of the ecclectic street effective system composed of Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Aikido, Gung Fu, Combat Jiu Jitsu, Liuhobafa or Six Combination Eight Method Gung Fu which is a rare tai chi form once reserved only for elite martial arts practitioners. So...Instead of mispending your hard earned money on this book, go for something with superior quality.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: Paul Vunak wrote a great book on street fights, the one the real man has to deal with, not the... "all hits banned" he may find on a dojo mat.
When you're on the street you simply have to do one thing: NOT GET HURT, and you may do this only having developed your "killing" istinct, i.e. that state of mind in which you've reprogrammed your istinct not to be a bunny-hearted loser but a fierce fighter, a 21st century warrior.
Vunak, coming from his vast experience with SEALs and martial arts helps the reader to handle tough situations reacting well. As a self defense instructor I found that all the principles shown in this book are the real ones you use in a real fight, so I suggest all people, both unexperienced and skilled martial artist as well as women, to deeply read and understand and so APPLY those principles, if they don't want to hardly and painfully discover that real fights are mayhems and you can get badly hurt unless you fight for life.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a sport!
Review: Pride, the UFC, KOTC, RITC, ADCC, etc. are great events but the efforts by one reviewer to negate Vunak's system as ineffective because he does not compete in sport events is just plain moronic. Vunak has proven himself repeatedly in the street and with the people who protect us all. Mixed Martial Arts training (as used in the above events) will give you the strength, timing, and endurance that you need in a street encounter; however, they do not look at the specific environment and necessary tactics that you find in a street assault situation. The RAT system, and this books introduction to the RAT, focuses on assault, not sport. Concerning Vunak and Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu . . . Paul Vunak, along with Marc Denny, where two of the first major American Martial artists to pursue Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu in America. They were key to BJJ's introduction to the JKD world and have both continued to study BJJ since the early 80's. Vunak's approach to ground fighting is focused on escaping, standing up, and getting away. Paul Vunak has trained multiple Special Forces groups (including his well known experiences with the US Navy Seals), Police Departments, FBI, DEA, and other groups. The system is at once simple, progressive, and effective. The foundation of the RAT system is PAIN -- PRESSURE -- FINISH. Pain is inflicted through a destruction (ala Jeet Kune Do, Kali, Silat, Muay Thai, or even biting) and then movement into the pressure phase is determined by your attacker's response to the infliction of pain. The pressure phase allows you to gain a positional/tactical advantage on your opponent where you pull out your most brutal weapons (typically: headbuts, knees, and elbows) to finish the confrontation and make it possible to escape. The book looks at the RAT, legal considerations, some multiple attacker scenarios, ground-assault (not fighting), weapons, and even a light treatment (a couple of pages, I would have liked to have seen more) on women's self defense. To the reviewer in Colorado Springs. You are lucky enough to have one of Vunak's instructors in your town. His name is Mike Brewer (he's in the phone book). Go to his school and what you will find is one hell of a great self-defense environment that does look at all phases of street combat (even grappling, Mike's a student of Renzo Gracie). Ask to look at his book of endorsements and he'll show you a 3-ring binder full of thank you letters and pictures from Military and civilian groups that he has trained. The RAT is real!
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