Modern Fighter

 

Formidable Fighter Series

 

Each booklet is $3.99

Booklets 1, 13 and 14 are only $2.99

Click on images to order

The Formidable Fighter Series is a series of e-booklets for martial artists desiring to learn the concepts that create formidable fighters in the training hall, competition arena, and street. Each booklet is between 5,000 and 10,000 words in length and includes fighting scenarios, training tips, and illustrations. Since the advice is not style specific but explores the underlying concepts of personal combat, it is applicable to students of most martial styles.

If you follow the instruction and tips in the Formidable Fighter Series, you will learn how to develop your physical strength and mental tenacity and triumph as a fighter in the training hall, ring, and street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Descriptions and Contents

• Book 1: Mustering the Forces

Martial arts, combat, fighting, whatever you call it, goes hand-in-hand with courage, toughness, dedication, and focus. What sets the formidable fighter apart from other martial artists is that he or she approaches the training with the intent of developing a physical and psychological edge. Mustering the Forces, the first booklet in the series, is approximately 25 pages long and sets the stage for the training that is to follow, so that you can step up and break the barrier that prevents you from reaching your full potential. Mustering the Forces includes discussions and exercises on how to approach your training when coming to class, from warm-up to basics, including technique, forms, and sparring practice. It also discusses the mindset you should adopt prior to your next lesson. 

• Book 2: Physical Preparation

The greater physical shape you are in, the less likely you are to sustain an injury, because your body is better prepared to handle the stress of training. Superior strength and conditioning give you an edge that can act as an equalizer against a bigger opponent. Physical Preparation, the second booklet in the series, is approximately 55 pages long and deals particularly with how to develop strength and endurance suitable for martial artists through the use of bodyweight exercises. Physical Preparation includes discussions and exercises on upper body, lower body, and abdominal strength, as well as cardiovascular strength and endurance. 

• Book 3: Hard Hitting, Strong Gripping

Powerful punches and grips are the product of proper training and conditioning. Power also relates directly to speed and timing. Weak efforts, however, lead to half-hearted strikes and stagnation. Hard Hitting, Strong Gripping, the third booklet in the series, is approximately 80 pages long and deals particularly with how to develop power in your strikes and strength in your grip. Hard Hitting, Strong Gripping includes discussions and exercises applicable to stand-up and ground fighting, and training with a variety of impact devices as well as partners who are bigger and stronger than you. It also explores mental issues, such as how to choose a martial art that is appropriate for you, how to put intent and intensity into your training regimen, and how to make good use of visualization exercises.

• Book 4: Winning Matters

We admire certain military leaders such as Napoleon Bonaparte not because he fought an ethical battle or because he had an admirable character, but because he knew how to win. Winning Matters, the fourth booklet in the series, is approximately 60 pages long and deals particularly with how to approach a scenario with the appropriate mindset that allows one to act rather than react and beat the opponent to the punch; in short, how to be first and understand that winning is more important than how one plays the game. Winning Matters includes discussions and exercises on the need for unarmed fighting skills, how to be first when grabbed, struck, or taking balance, how to manipulate timing and stay mentally ahead of the adversary, the value of determination and playing rough also in the training hall, and how to deal with the unpredictability of fighting and not giving up.

• Book 5: Pressing the Attack

Thucydides, an ancient Greek historian, said: “Peace is best secured by those who use their strength justly, but whose attitude shows that they have no intention of submitting to wrong.” Pressing the Attack, the fifth booklet in the series, is approximately 45 pages long and deals particularly with how to create a winning strategy by taking charge of the situation and learning how to dominate the opponent physically and psychologically. Pressing the Attack includes discussions and exercises on how to establish dominance, close the distance, control the “fighting pocket,” pursue the opponent, press for positioning, press the long-range kicker, press the grappler, and press in defense.

• Book 6: Force and Single Strike Damage

Ring training and street training complement one another, but when your life is at stake you cannot afford to get into a sparring match with your adversary. Force and Single Strike Damage, the sixth booklet in the series, is approximately 75 pages long and deals particularly with how to use strikes that are intended to deliver enough power to a sensitive target to end the fight instantly. Training for the street requires an evaluation of gruesome methods, including eye gouges and strikes to the windpipe. However, martial art training in any form or way is not meant to be easy or pleasant; it is meant to be practical. Force and Single Strike Damage includes discussions and exercises on how to direct the force for maximum damage in strikes and kicks when an opponent is standing or on the ground, how to select the weapons best suited for the attack and choose targets with precision, how to attack to vulnerable targets such as the throat, eyes, groin, and tailbone, and how to make abrupt use of force in joint locks for takedowns and grappling.

• Book 7: Force Escalation

Power, or force, is a combination of good body mechanics and the proper use of the laws of physics as applicable to speed and momentum. Force Escalation, the seventh booklet in the series, is approximately 50 pages long and deals particularly with how to go from simple to complex techniques while ensuring that each successive step advances one toward the final objective of winning the fight by rendering the opponent harmless. Force Escalation includes discussions and exercises on how to increase the power of a technique by enhancing the finer points, the importance of throwing a primary technique before throwing a secondary technique, escalation of force while standing and on the ground, how techniques can fail, and what to do to remedy the situation.

• Book 8: The Bodyweight Challenge

Know how to play the cards you are dealt. Martial arts techniques are not complicated; it is the surrounding situations and how we think about them that complicate how we use them. The Bodyweight Challenge, the eighth booklet in the series, is approximately 60 pages long and deals particularly with how to use the weight of your body, whether you weigh a little or a lot, to increase the power in your techniques and bring you a step closer to victory. The Bodyweight Challenge includes discussions and exercises that will help you take advantage of your weight and momentum in stand-up fighting and ground combat, whether in the offensive or defensive position. It also examines which weapons best lend themselves to fighting techniques dealing with mass and momentum rather than speed.

• Book 9: Controlling the Counterattack

A counterattack is a response to an attack and allows a fighter to seize the initiative after the first exchange of blows. Carl von Clausewitz, the famous nineteenth century Prussian military theorist, noted that friction, or the uncertainty of battle, may be the factor that interferes the most with the likelihood that you will claim victory. Your goal is therefore to retain the initiative by interfering with your opponent’s ability to counter your initial attack or defensive technique. Controlling the Counterattack, the ninth booklet in the series, is approximately 80 pages long and deals particularly with how to attack an adversary or defend against an attack and anticipate his response, while limiting his ability to move, strike or kick with power, or otherwise remain effective in stand-up or ground battle. Controlling the Counterattack includes discussions and exercises on how to establish contact with the opponent and freeze his weapons in long and short range techniques by eliminating the pause between offense and defense, how to take advantage of three different types of timing, how to benefit from the situation by eliminating the use of the opponent’s hands, how to control the counterattack through pain compliance, how to control the opponent’s ability to counterattack in takedowns, throws, and ground battle, and how to control the opponent’s response and counterattack in a street encounter.

• Book 10: Managing Failure

Failure, when studied, brings enlightenment. When we address failure, we gain insight into how to avoid it and, more importantly, what to do should we suddenly find ourselves at the losing end of the confrontation. Good training makes allowances for failures and prepares you to win. Managing Failure, the tenth booklet in the series, is approximately 60 pages long and deals particularly with how to critique martial arts techniques to gain understanding of what works in a real scenario and when. Managing Failure includes discussions and exercises on understanding failures due to standardized training, positional inferiority, and faulty discourse about the martial arts when applying techniques in the stand-up and ground arts.

• Book 11: Managing Pain

Pain is a valuable tool in fighting. Be realistic about how you use it. The idea that you can win a physical encounter without hurting your opponent is noble but hardly realistic. Managing Pain, the eleventh booklet in the series, is approximately 40 pages long and deals particularly with how to dish it out and take it without succumbing to physical or mental pain. Moreover, if you understand what it takes to inflict pain on an adversary and how he or she is likely to react, you will have taken a big step in the direction of victory. Managing Pain includes discussions and exercises on how to use pain as a motivator to get your opponent to succumb to your will, through the use of common martial arts techniques such as strikes and kicks, blocks, and joint locks, and by attacking the inherently weak targets. It also includes a discussion on how the mind affects the body and vice versa when defeating an opponent’s fighting spirit.

• Book 12: Gross vs. Fine Motor Skills

Gross motor skills are not pretty, they are not smooth and graceful, but they do enable you to save your life right now. On the field of battle, you command the fight by force, not finesse. Gross vs. Fine Motor Skills, the twelfth booklet in the series, is approximately 45 pages long and deals particularly with how to manage the stress of combat on the street when your life or safety are seriously threatened. Gross vs. Fine Motor Skills includes discussions and exercises on how to use techniques that are uncomplicated and easy to apply under stress, such as low kicks and grabs to larger joints. It also examines fear and discusses how to shorten reaction time and block out negative reactions that hold you back when it counts, so that you can ultimately emerge the winner.

• Book 13: Fight or Flight

When signing up for martial arts training, entertain the thought that you might actually have to use your skills someday. Remember the famous theatrical saying: “If you hang a gun on the wall in the first act, you have to fire it before the end of the third.” Fight or Flight, the thirteenth booklet in the series, is approximately 20 pages long and deals particularly with how to prepare yourself mentally for acquiring the toughness and determination you need to use your skills successfully, and accepting the idea that you might have to fight. Fight of Flight includes discussions and exercises on the importance of being aware of the environment one frequents, how to determine whether one should stay and fight or flee when it is possible to make that choice, and how far to take a fight when one has the upper hand.

• Book 14: Finishing the Fight

Rather than thinking of specific techniques, condition yourself to think in terms of concepts or goals, and of what outcome you are trying to achieve. Finishing the Fight, the fourteenth and final booklet in the series, is approximately 25 pages long and deals particularly with how to know at which point the fight is finished and the opponent can no longer rise against you. Finishing the Fight includes discussions and exercises on how to determine whether to attack or wait when under threat, whether to finish the fight with strikes and kicks or on the ground, and how to finish the fight when struck by debilitating exhaustion.