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[Momonga]

Hi, everybody!

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Jack Slack and his work, but if striking is part of your training, reading his work regularly should definitely become a part of your weekly to-do list.

If you take a look at my previous posts, you'll see that I registered here mainly to find information about good striking instructional books/DVDs. In this thread (http://www.kyokushin4life.com/forums...ad.php?t=16249) I was generously advised to get Born to be the Strongest Kyokushin series to reinforce my kickboxing/striking skills, and once again I'd like to thank the members for giving me the best possible advice at that time. Born to be the Strongest is a magnificent resource, I love it. So as you see, I'm largely a self-taught fighter and I really depend on good electronic resources. However, there is a lack of really good resources that come at a reasonable price, so I'd like to write a short review about one of my favorite books about striking (and I own a fair share of these already).

If you don't know who Jack Slack is, just follow this link and check his blog: http://www.sbnation.com/users/Jack%20Slack
While searching for some tips about striking, I accidentally found that page and I was really blown away by the quality of his work. Anyone who is into boxing/kickboxing/MMA striking should spare some time and read all the entries, as he writes some nice tips and really breaks down your favorite fighters' style to small details. After closely following Judo Chop series, I found a completely new appreciation for my favorite fighters.

So, let's get straight to the book. After reading all of Jack's entries, I was tempted to get his book. I thought that nothing but a great book can come from such a talented striking expert. I wasn't wrong. Jack breaks down signature moves or striking masters with perfection. To be honest, I expected him to focus a little more on kicking than he did, but the quality of breaking down hand strikes really makes up for it. I'm not sure if Jack has a long boxing background himself, because there's a lot of focus on hand strikes and they're explained very nicely. Every chapter of the book is dedicated to a particular fighter, and every sub-chapter deals with a specific combination. The reason why I think this book is so special is because you finally realize things that you don't normally pay attention to. It spans from all the little hand-trapping games to genial footwork. All the explanations are very trenchant and followed by high quality pictures. Here's a sample page from the book, explaining Alistair Overeem's uber-knee!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B-e5GOEa2C...nee+Sample.jpg

Maybe I expected from this book a little bit to help me in creating my own strategy for kickboxing/MMA, but I guess that really isn't the purpose of the book. The purpose of the book is to explain exactly what is said in the title - Tactics of Boxing, Kickboxing and MMA Masters. Especially boxing! Wonderful job done there. If you're interested in that kind of striking, this book is definitely a must have.

Please note that I don't think this book would be particularly useful in Kyokushin sparring, but I see that many people here are interested in a little more aggressive striking, so this is the book for these guys. If you're not sure about whether buying this book would be a good investment, I once again urge you to take a detailed look at his blog and see for yourself if Jack Slack is a good person to learn from.

Of course, the price is also one of the good things about this book. It's 13 GBP for 111 well-written pages full of high-quality photos. To learn more about the book, follow this link: http://www.fightsgoneby.com/p/books.html
I'm not 100% sure about it, but I think I read in one of his blogs that the book might also end up on Amazon.com. But don't take my word for it, contact the author himself. He's very quick with replies.

Finally, if you'd like to check the table of contents before you even consider buying this book, here it is: http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f11/ad...-book-2068621/

I hope I helped at least a little bit to people who like me try to find good striking resources online. Follow Jack Slack and keep an eye on his future work - his work has helped me bring my striking game really high.

[sandman]

Osu! Looks like I've got a new book on my wish list! Repped!

Thanks for the review

[Momonga]

I'm very glad you like it, friend!

Osu!