Mixed Martial Arts Instruction Manual: Striking

Before I begin my review I would just like to apologize in advance. Anderson Silva is my favorite fighter. Watching the graceful and smooth manner in which he dismantles and breaks down opponents in his matches is absolutely beautiful. Because of this I may end up digressing a bit more then I would like to when I am breaking down the book. Again, my apologies in advance.

For those readers out there who may be unfamiliar with Anderson Silva, I just want to take a moment to explain who he is. He is the UFC Middleweight Champion, ranked number one in the world at middleweight and arguably ranked number one on many people’s pound-for-pound best fighter lists. He is undeniably the best fighter on his feet (in terms of striking) in MMA. He lands shots basically at will against some of the best fighters in the world; he makes himself seem like he deserves to be in a class all his own. Any type of instruction by him can assuredly be considered to be world class, which makes it extremely easy to critique. With all that being said, let’s begin the review.

Introduction
The book begins by giving a pretty interesting background biography on Anderson, which explains how he got into martial arts, his family life, and a discussion about many of his recent matches which the majority of the readers of his book should be familiar with. Something that stood out as particularly compelling was the fact that he was never some sort of prodigy martial artist like many (BJ Penn, Marcelo Garcia, etc.) other fighters were. His interest in martial arts came from movies. That interest, combined with unbelievable dedication and work, allowed him to become one of the best fighters in the world. There is not very much content to judge here considering it is just a bit of interesting information. However, I found it to be pretty intriguing none-the-less.

Included Content
The table of contents divides the book into five main areas of instruction: Stance & Footwork, Countermovement, Striking Techniques, Attacks, and Counterattacks. Every section is divided into further subcategories, which provides for quite a lengthy read and provides a nearly endless amount of techniques to digest. This is probably the only fault of the book; Anderson seems to teach literally everything he knows about striking in this book. At first, the reader might seem a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material covered (I know I was thinking something like, “Whoa… There is so much I DON’T know about striking). However, if you put the time into every technique, I promise your striking game will increase quite noticeably. A few corrections I’ve made to my stance alone has helped my balance significantly. Let’s look at each of the covered categories in a bit more detail.

Stance and Footwork
The name of this section basically explains itself. It is pretty straightforward, but, as Anderson himself says in the book, it provides the foundation from which the rest of the techniques flow from. He divides this into a stance section, which covers two types of stances, and a footwork section which covers a lot of movement techniques, pivots, and so forth. I can’t complain about much here; very solid information from which the rest of the information builds on.

Countermovement
This is where the book begins to get pretty interesting. Anderson breaks down quite a significant amount of great defensive and elusive techniques. It is divided into Evasive Techniques, Parries and Blocks, and Checking Techniques. The “Evasive” section teaches techniques which utilize the footwork, pivoting, and shuffle-stepping learned in the first section to avoid strikes. The “Parry” section teaches techniques which utilize the arms to deflect and absorb strikes (as opposed to avoiding them with movement). The “Checking” section uses the legs to thwart the kick attempts of your opponent. Overall this is really a useful section which covers a topic which is an asset to any fighter’s game.

Striking Techniques
In this section, Anderson explains probably the most important aspect of the book (and likely the reason one would buy the book): the striking section. Here, we are instructed in quite a bit of detail about all the ways you can use your limbs to dismantle an opponent. I was really blown away by what he covers. He goes way above and beyond what you normally see in instructional books in terms of striking. You usually see things like the typical “Jab” and “Straight Right”. Here you will see all of the basics, as well as some super advanced techniques such as spinning back fists/kicks, superman punches, and uppercuts using the elbows. The topics that are covered are punches, kicks, elbows, and knees. Honestly, I am pretty sure darn near every practical strike has been covered here; every strike I have ever thrown or seen thrown is found in this book.

Attacks
Remember all those techniques I talked about in the last section? Here you learn how to apply them in devastating combinations that will absolutely wreak havoc upon your opponents. This is where the book really begins to get interesting. Anderson breaks down how to set up big combinations using the movement and striking techniques learned earlier in his typical easy-to-learn manner, which is excellent for anyone trying to learn. If you considered the “Striking Techniques” section to give you the tools you need, here you will learn how to use those tools in a practical manner. The best part about this section is Anderson gives you combinations to use for when your opponent has the same stance as you AND for when the opponent has the opposite stance. Fear not, you will be covered in every situation!

Counterattacks
In what is probably the most lengthy chapter of the book, Anderson basically pulls everything together (if you haven’t noticed by now, every chapter takes the information taught in the previous chapter and builds on it, which is a great way to remember things in my opinion). First he teaches you how to avoid incoming strikes using the techniques learned in the first two chapters, then follow it up with strikes learned in the third and fourth chapters. While it may seem like information is just repeated, I assure you it is not. The difficult aspect about striking is that two strikes are never the same; you can’t catch somebody with the same EXACT right hook twice in row (unlike BJJ, where you can theoretically catch someone is the same exact submission). Thus, in chapter three you might learn to throw a rear power hook but in chapter five you will learn to throw it after slipping a jab of your opponent, which requires you throw it in a different way due to your different positioning. For almost every strike one can throw, Anderson demonstrates a good way of avoiding and countering the strike. This is probably one of the most useful and complete sections of a MMA instructional book I have ever read.

Overall Impression
I really, REALLY liked this book if you couldn’t tell by the review. It is without a doubt the most complete striking book I have ever read, for both MMA and Kickboxing/Boxing. Something of particular importance that the guys at Victory Belt included that has been neglected in many other instructional books is the use of arrows in the photographs. They use arrows to represent the exact direction and distance one should step (a dot represents where the foot originally was and the arrow points in the direction it moved). This is very, very useful for clarifying just what is being said in the descriptions; I imagine describing how to move the body in terms of striking is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks in instructional writing since the body is so complex and there are so many different variables. Every bit of clarification is thus very useful. I like how really everything about striking is covered in a very systematic, gradual fashion. Anderson has really developed one of the most dynamic systems of fighting on the planet and he explains it to you in hard, textual fashion in his book. The only really negative thing I can say about the book is that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. However, if you take it slow and use the gradual process laid out for you, everything will build on itself.

Conclusion
Pros: Beautiful, complete system of fighting; Presents techniques in a very easy-to-learn fashion; Answers every question you ever had about striking; Quality instruction by one of the best fighters in the world.

Cons: A bit overbearing at first glance, especially considering the relatively small books on striking that have been published in the past; May cause you to envy Anderson Silva for his unbelievable talent.

Overall Rating: 9.8/10