Black Medicine: The Dark Art of Death Paperback – January 1, 1978

This book is just great. It's very technical at some points (I don't know very many anatomy terms). But the author explains everything very simply and with diagrams. If I wasn't taking martial arts though, I wouldn't know what he meant by "knife hand" or "hammer fist". He does not explain (from what I could tell) how to preform these strikes. This is not a book on how to take someone out with a flick of the finger. It's for the martial artist to know where to strike and what damage you could possibly do. This is very important to know in a real life or death situation. Very empowering.

It is a brief book (92 pages) mainly covering many various weak points of the body for hand to hand combat and some information on points of aim for gun fighters. Not quite as dramatic as the name and the picture imply. Good for the person who has had a little training with no education in the weak point of the body or street fighting. Some points require a blow from a trained person, but still useful for the novice with a weapon. Did I learn stuff? Yes I did. Was it worth the price? Yes I think so.

For anyone interested in self defense this manual is vital. It not only teaches how to do. But it teaches the quickest ways to stop an aggressor without them recovering to keep attacking. Extremely useful for eomen.

Great BOOK ...

This book by Mashiro is an interesting presentation and study of the human anatomy focusing on the body's vital targets and how to exploit them in unarmed combat. Do not let the title of the book dissuade you, this is NOT a "Death Touch" Dim Mak manual. I am afraid however that quite a few of these "target" areas that are indicated for exploitation would be very hard to target and engage in a fluid and high-stress combative confrontation. This is not to say all the techniques are useless for defensive employment. Overall this text is worth the study for a different perspective on pressure point and joint manipulation attacks. This book is ideal for study by combative instructor and practitioner, if only for its historical value. This is volume one of four volumes, if this book interested you then look into the authors other works in the Black Medicine Series;Black Medicine: Weapons At HandBlack Medicine: Low BlowsBlack Medicine: Equalizers

Very informative highly recommend the whole set

Most of the techniques in this book don't require much practice or training...The others are HIGHLY specialized, and circumstances forTheir use do not seem likely to occur outside of the Dojo.That being said, if those circumstances did arise... The movesShown would be very effective!This is a good book (and series) but I would recommend reading with the figurativeGrain of salt, because while every move described is technically effective,They're not all practical, and some have better alternatives...

good deal