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 Marc "Animal" Mac Young's, "Floor Fighting."

As you may well know from my previous reviews of Marc's books, one of the things that I absolutely love about his style of writing is his no-holds barred direct approach to getting his point across. There is never any sugar coating or politically correct terminology is his books. He simply tells it like it is, whether you like it or not.

Once again, Marc gives you a no-holds barred look at the reality of fighting and surviving on the street. This book focuses on the subject of fighting on the ground, which as most of us know, is where the vast majority of fights end up. As with all of his books, Marc really gives you an in-depth look at the principles behind the techniques that he explains in his books. This is one of the true tests of a quality martial arts or self-defense book.

The Basics:

In this section, Marc goes over with you the four laws of surviving a trip or fall to the ground. He also goes over the techniques for rolling backward, forward, to the side, and over your shoulder. As always, the principles behind these techniques are gone over in great detail.

Breaking Grips:

This section not only shows you the techniques for breaking someone's grip on you, but also the four things that are likely to happen if you don't break their grip. One unique item I found very practical was that if you aren't able to break free from someone's grip, punch out of it. This is very practical and useful information. Marc also includes a brief section on how to deal with advanced grips.

Spoiling the Dance:

If you do end up falling down to the ground, this section supplies you with the principles and techniques that you can use to increase your chances of landing on top of your opponent, rather than on the bottom. Marc also shows you how to increase the damage to your opponent by using your elbows and knees on him when you fall. Also included in this section are techniques on how to roll with the impact of falling, gaining and keeping your distance from your opponent until you are able to get back to your feet, and how to deal with someone who knows how to throw you.

Floor work:

This section covers several areas such as;

1. Offensive and Defensive Ranges.
2. What happens when you hit the floor.
3. Countering, deflect the attack rather than blocking it.
4. Best floor fighting position.
5. Triangle Defense.
6. How to defend against the stomping kick.
7. Offensive Ground Techniques.

Wrasslin:

In this section Marc goes over some of the things to do and not to do when rolling around on the ground with your opponent. This includes generally speaking not punching your opponent, except for the use of hooks and uppercuts. Although you can make good use of the ground mauling techniques that Marc goes over in this section.

Keeping Your Man Down on the Ground:

Marc makes a very valid point here in the fact that once you have your opponent on the ground, make sure he stays down until after you have safely left the area or until you have ascertained that he is no longer a threat. Marc also takes a look at the very real possibility that you are the one who ends up on the ground. If this happens, he explains how not to get up from the ground and why. As well as, how to get up safely with minimal chance of getting hurt while doing so.

As with all of Marc's books and this one is no exception, it is loaded with tons of very good practical information that would be a definite asset to anyone wanting to improve their self-defense
skills. Marc can be reached via his web site.

About the Author

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 is the author of the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence
Series