A few weeks ago I was very pleased to receive a review copy of Sensei Lori O'Connell's new book, When the Fight Goes to the Ground. This is an excellent text on counter-grappling.
It is common knowledge among martial arts folks that you want to avoid going to the ground if you can - especially against multiple opponents or armed opponents. But it is also common knowledge that pretty much all fights go to the ground. A few years back someone asked one of my instructors, "Is it true the rule of thumb that says 80% of fights end up on the ground?" and that instructor responded, "No, 100% of fights go to the ground - at least one guy or the other - sometimes both." I also recall a great quote from one of the Gracies - I want to ascribe it to Rener but I couldn't find where I'd heard it, when asked about fight strategy on the ground, he responded, "My ground strategy in a real fight is get off the damn ground!"
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That's where Lori O'Connell's book comes in. Everybody knows that they're going to end up on the ground and that they are going to want to get off the ground - that's common sense. But how do you do it?
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O'Connell spends nearly 20 chapters poking holes in the most common situations that you can end up in on the ground, whether against Joe Blow on the street or against a jujutsu trained fighter. She demonstrates the use of tooth and claw and everything in-between for biting, cuffing, gouging, pinching, crushing, butting, grinding, and breaking small joints and vital points.
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In other words, playing totally unfair against the weaknesses in the assumed rules in ground-domination situations.
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And as such, this book also represents a VITAL lesson for ground grappling artists as well as folks that want to defend against that sort of potential aggression. For the grappler this book exposes potential weaknesses in your favorite techniques - things that you need to consider when you think you're going to put someone in a controlling position and apply a submission.
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192 pages of clear and concise explanation, beautiful and clear photography, excellent binding, and a DVD full of bonus video explanations make this a great book for grapplers, stand-up artists, and self-defense enthusiasts.
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Highly Recommended.
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Patrick Parker
www.mokurendojo.com
