Martial Arts Book Review: Knife Fighting a Practical Course by Michael Janich

Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it’s definitely worth owning. One such book is Michael D. Janich’s, “Knife Fighting a Practical Course.”

Michael’s book is one of those gems that are so hard to find in the vast sea of waste that seems to be so prevalent especially in the self-defense and martial arts literary field. His easy to understand and simplistic approach to this very important subject is in and of itself a thing of beauty to behold. Michael gets right to the point on every subject that he coves in this book, and every subject is a vital piece to learning how to use a knife in combat.

This book starts off with an introduction which covers the basic principles and concepts that you need to consider when dealing with knives in a combat situation. These concepts are numerous and include such things as; the moral implications of taking someone’s life, or having yours taken, the legal implications of the aforementioned actions whether someone dies or not, etc.

The next several chapters go over the basics on:

1. Proper Grip
2. Fighting Stance
3. Footwork and Mobility
4. Zones of Attack and Defense
5. Basic Cuts and Thrusts
6. Defensive Responses
7. Defensive Strategies and Counters
8. Targets
9. Example Techniques
10. Counter Defenses
11. Training Methods

Each one of the chapters in this book is well thought out and offers that which every person interested in the subject needs to have in order to start practicing with a knife, and that is good solid basic information covering all of the above listed subjects. This book does all that and more.

One point in this book that Michael stressed, that I found very memorable was a point from the chapter on example techniques. This point stressed that the examples being shown in that particular section were just that examples, and were not to be taken as gospel.

Now I am going to give you a spoiler here on what Michael considers the two most important things to remember in a knife fight. They are:

1. If at all possible, avoid a knife fight.
2. If you aren’t able to avoid a knife fight, turn around and run!

Very sound advice indeed. The book then concludes with a really terrific section on knife fighting and the real world. Sure to be an eye-opener for those readers who have watched a few too many movies and have very little or no practical experience on the subject. Now that you’ve taken the time to read this review, don’t wait any longer before buying and studying this book. You won’t be disappointed. I surely wasn’t.

Shawn Kovacich has been practicing the martial arts for over 25 years and currently holds the rank of 4th degree (Yodan) black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Shawn has also competed in such prestigious full-contact bare knuckle karate competitions as the Shidokan Open and the Sabaki Challenge, among others. In addition to his many accomplishments, Shawn is also a two time world record holder for endurance high kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Shawn is the author of the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence� series and can be reached via his web site at: http://www.kickingbooks.com

You can reach Michael via his web site at: http://www.martialbladeconcepts.com