Martial Arts - Combat Fitness: Books, Videos

The U.S. Marine Corps knows how to prepare its men for the physical rigors of combat. Here is the entire classic USMC combat conditioning course as taught at the Officer Candidate School. Besides the Marines' demanding PT program, it includes complete instruction in unarmed combat; use of knives, clubs and silent weapons; pistol disarming; bayonet drills; and more. In the foreword, USMC chief historian Charles Melson gives an insider's history of the development of Marine close-combat programs from the turn of the 20th century to today. He provides little-known details on the contributions of such well-known figures as A.J. Biddle, Fairbairn and Sykes, and John Styers as well as more obscure but equally important contributors Stephen Staver, Dermot O'Neill and "the Three Sams." No library of close combat is complete without this classic manual.
$35.00
Softcover 978-1-58160-253-1 368 pages 6" x 9" photos, illust.

Grappling arts claim to rely on angles, technique, and leverage to achieve victory, but when you're in a real fight for your life, you want to be able to hit, and hit hard. In this video, master martial artist and world breaking champion Mike Reeves extracts the most combat-effective elements of his experience in the dojo and as a former corrections officer, combining them into a conditioning program that will teach you how to develop the one shot, one kill striking power that will give you the edge in the ring and on the street. Using kettlebells, weight plates, and inexpensive items like cinder blocks, Reeves shows the muscle groups involved in the most street-effective strikes and how you can vastly increase your strength, toughness, and power to make every punch a knockout blow. Most fights are won after the first punch is thrown, so make your strikes fight-stoppers from the get-go. For information purposes only.

Sensei Mike Reeves is a nine-time International Sport Karate Association World Karate Champion, as well as a four-time Guinness-certified world record holder in breaking. He has worked as a professional bodyguard as well as a martial arts instructor to key members of both local and federal law enforcement agency SWAT teams and other special operations units.

Professional freelance writer Robert G. Yetman Jr. is co-owner and vice president of Lone Wolf Personal Defense Systems, Inc.
$19.95
DVD-R 805966 062938 35 minutes

Find out how to combine the latest techniques with centuries-old secrets, resistance exercises and proper body mechanics to make your punches, kicks, blocks and throws more powerful, as well as to defend yourself against explosive power. Double your fighting power by following this proven training regimen.

Loren Christensen began his law enforcement career in 1967 when he served in the army as a military policeman in the United States and in Vietnam. He joined the Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau in 1972 and retired in 1997. During those years, he specialized in street gangs, defensive tactics, dignitary protection, and patrolling the bizarre streets of skid row. He now writes full time and teaches martial arts.
$24.00
Softcover 978-0-87364-901-8 248 pages 5.5" x 8.5" photos

Using an ordinary heavy bag, Mark Hatmaker teaches you a variety of lifting exercises that will develop the grip and strength you need to dynamically maneuver an opponent at close range. He then teaches you how to tune your grappling skills on the bag, using it to drill fundamental techniques as well as specific submission moves and combinations. Finally, Hatmaker shows how to use the heavy bag for techniques that are too dangerous to drill with a live partner, including power throws and slams, chokes, stomps and hamburger rides, as well as high-speed drills that combine all these skills into a nonstop, heart-pumping workout. For information purposes only.
$39.95
DVD-R 805966 041230 85 minutes

Gladiator Conditioning
Fitness for the Modern Warrior
with Mark Hatmaker

Get the ultimate combat fitness package with Paladin's exclusive Gladiator Conditioning Course! The course includes Mark Hatmaker's Gladiator Conditioning DVD and his 88-page Gladiator Conditioning Workbook.

Gladiator Conditioning is a DVD version of Hatmaker's best-selling video – with a twist. In addition to providing all the advantages of the DVD format, this DVD features an all-new 30-minute bonus workout. In this segment, Hatmaker leads you through a heart-pumping, nonstop session of his "Eight to Hate" workout that is sure to take your combat fitness to the limit.

The Gladiator Conditioning Workbook completes the Gladiator Conditioning Course, a scientifically sound progression of strength, endurance, and flexibility exercises specifically designed to meet the needs of the hard-core combat athlete. In addition to providing a convenient training reference that you can take with you anywhere, this unique workbook contains bonus supplemental material that will supercharge your personal combat fitness training, including:

* The key scientific principles of the Gladiator Conditioning Course
* The real meaning of combat fitness and how to achieve it
* Breath control secrets that will significantly increase your fighting endurance
* How to develop mental toughness for training and combat
* Variations on the core Eight to Hate, Grappler's Dozen, and Sandbag Workout exercises
* No-nonsense nutritional advice for the serious combat athlete
* Customized Gladiator Workout schedules for athletes of all levels, including "pro" training routines and Hatmaker's patented "shock" workouts for ultimate fighting fitness

Whether you battle on the mat, in the ring, or on the street, this phenomenal fitness program will help you develop the targeted strength and endurance you need to win. Take the Gladiator Conditioning challenge and you'll be ready to take on all challengers.For information purposes only.
$49.95
1 Workbook + 1 DVD-R Set softcover/ 88 pages 1-58160-428-3 8.5" x 11"/ photos one DVD-R/ 100 minutes 805966 031132

In the ugly reality of a street fight with a determined attacker, you'll need to get vicious as quickly as possible to keep yourself alive. The last thing you want is to run out of gas in the first few seconds against a thug on meth. John Garman, the Crucible's fitness expert, distills years of research and personal experience of real-world violence into a video designed to teach you how to develop long-term cardiovascular endurance, fast-twitch muscle fiber, and the kind of cold-shot power that will put an attacker on the ground, hard. This isn't a spinning class or a run on the treadmill with the TV on, but a combat-focused conditioning program that combines calisthenics, weight training, plyometrics, and more into a system that will make you fit and ready for any encounter on the street. Includes a special bonus disc with four brutal, hard-core workouts that are not for the faint of heart. For information purposes only.

John Garman has worked in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan with operational forces and special mission units.
$49.95
One DVD-R + one bonus disc 805966 061733 105 minutes

Whether you have practiced Mark Hatmaker's best-selling Gladiator Conditioning course and are ready for something tougher, or are in elite condition already and need to push yourself to the limits and beyond, this video production and spiral-bound companion workbook from Paladin Press have what you're looking for. This workout regimen is designed to make you into the strongest of the strong, focusing on building functional muscle and developing incredible endurance for any realm of combat, from the ring to the octagon or the street. The exercises taught in this video require a minimum of equipment, but a maximum of commitment. From the variations on pull-ups and chin-ups that will not only launch your upper body strength into the stratosphere but also vastly increase your grip strength to the push-up and squat variations that are grueling enough to make a strong man cry, this challenging workout has what you need to keep yourself in top fighting condition. Included are a core workout done in real time and a neck and back grinder for those elite grapplers interested in performing a perfect suplex. For information purposes only.
$49.95
1 Workbook + 2 DVD-R Set softcover/ 88pages 978-1-58160-701-7 8.5" x 11"/ photos two DVD-Rs/ 130 minutes 805966 060132

There's an old saying in the brutal, lightning-fast world of Thai boxing: "A good pad man is worth a million dollars." In Pad Man: A Video Guide to Full-Contact Partner Training,master martial artist Wim Demeere teaches you how to join that "million-dollar" league, no matter what combat art you practice.

In this comprehensive four-disc DVD set, Demeere uses focus mitts, Thai pads, and kicking shields of all sizes to show you how to train your partner for anything from a high-powered MMA match to a street fight. Using the tricks of the trade that he learned the hard way, he'll teach you the body mechanics that will let you avoid injury and prepare your partner to strike and kick his hardest against a reactive and rock-solid target. If you can't stand up to your partner's toughest moves, you're only giving him half a workout.

Demeere will train you to handle high-line and low-line punches and kicks, ground fighting techniques,shoulder slams, stomps and rising strikes—basically every move that your partner needs to burn into his muscle memory to compete at the highest level.

There's more to being a good training partner than just standing there and taking a hit— that's what dummies are for. Wise up and learn things about pad training that you don't even realize you need.
$59.95
DVD-R Set 805966 061337 390 minutes 4-Disc Set

Arguably the most brutal mixed martial art practiced today, catch wrestling's devastating arsenal of strikes, takedowns, throws, flesh-tearing rips, and bone-shattering hooks has been copied by many, but mastered by only a few. In this extraordinary video series from Paladin Press, expert catch wrestler Tony Cecchine teaches you catch's most street-worthy techniques, combining hard-core grappling with brutal striking to provide you with a turnkey self-defense system that will make you unbeatable on the street.

In Volume Seven: Drills, Pain Tolerance, and Mental Conditioning, Cecchine gives you the skills you need to survive any street encounter whether you're on your feet or on the pavement. He starts with a series of drills designed to condition your body and burn in catch's fundamental techniques. He then teaches you how to withstand the searing agony of such submissions as the double wrist lock and heel hook long enough to effect a counter or reversal. Finally, he talks about the mental conditioning and mind-set of a true streetfighter, and how you can develop the will to win any street confrontation. For information purposes only.
$29.95
DVD-R 805966-061030 80 minutes

Speed is the most important asset a fighter can have. Find out from a top martial artist and police officer how to develop instantaneous reflexes and explosive speed for punching, kicking, grappling and police defensive tactics. Improve perception, polish timing and double your speed by using these sure-fire techniques.

Loren Christensen began his law enforcement career in 1967 when he served in the army as a military policeman in the United States and in Vietnam. He joined the Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau in 1972 and retired in 1997. During those years, he specialized in street gangs, defensive tactics, dignitary protection, and patrolling the bizarre streets of skid row. He now writes full time and teaches martial arts.
$24.00
Softcover 978-0-87364-859-2 256 pages 5.5" x 8.5" photos

Learn how to "cheat" speed by improving your timing and accuracy in both punching and kicking through a series of dirty tricks that will have your opponent wondering what hit him. Includes drills, exercises and principles that will increase your natural fighting speed and help you develop not only instantaneous reflexes but also explosive quickness and power in all of your strikes. For information purposes only.
$49.95
DVD-R 805966 038032 130 minutes

In one session on the heavy bag, you can develop all the attributes you need as a martial artist or fighter: power, form, speed, timing, endurance, and explosiveness. What other training tool can make that claim?

Throughout The Fighter's Guide to Hard-Core Heavy Bag Training, Wim Demeere and Loren Christensen show you how to master the critical skills needed to survive a fight. From these acclaimed martial artists, you will get solid information on how to choose the right bag for your needs, how best to hang it, and how to care for it so it lasts for years. You will also learn the types of impacts and how to make the best use of them for specific situations; innovative drills to maximize your fitness level and fighting ability; creative ways to grapple a heavy bag, including chokes, takedowns, and armbars; and how to avoid the most common mistakes in heavy bag training.

Whatever your fighting art or goal, you can benefit from the hard-core drills in this book.

Wim Demeere has practiced a variety of martial arts for over 20 years, studying mainly Chinese systems and several full-contact fighting styles such as sanshou and Muay Thai. He won four national titles and a bronze medal at the 1995 World Wushi Championships. He is the former national coach of the Belgian Wushu fighting team, and still trains fighters for international competition.
$29.00
Softcover 978-1-58160-640-9 262 pages 5.5" x 8.5" photos

In this Paladin Press video production, Wim Demeere shows you how to make a heavy bag come alive so that you can master the critical skills needed to survive a fight. Learn:

* The five types of impacts and how to make the best use of them
* Proven, innovative drills to maximize your fitness level and fighting ability
* Creative ways to grapple a heavy bag, including chokes, takedowns and armbars
* The 10 most common mistakes people make in heavy bag training -- and how to avoid them
* Solid information on how to choose the right bag for your needs, how best to hang it and how to care for it so it lasts for years

Whatever your fighting art or goal, this dynamic DVD will take your fighting and martial arts skills to a whole new level.

Wim Demeere has practiced a variety of martial arts for more than 20 years, studying mainly Chinese systems and several full-contact fighting styles such as sanshou and Muay Thai. He won four national titles and a bronze medal at the 1995 World Wushu Championships. He is the former national coach of the Belgian Wushu fighting team, and still trains fighters for international competition.
$69.95
DVD-R 805966 053639 264 minutes 2-Disc Set

What better defense from assault is there than the development of a physical body so tough that striking it actually causes more pain and injury to the attacker than to you? And what better instructor to help you attain this ultimate combat conditioning than Mike Reeves, a nine-time International Sport Karate Association World Karate Champion and a four-time Guinness-certified world record holder in breaking?

In Ultimate Combat Conditioning for the Street Warrior, Reeves reveals his conditioning secrets, including what "Superman" conditioning is and how you can achieve it; how to harden your outer body to withstand the most powerful kicks, punches and blows; how to develop the proper mind-set for the rigors of street combat, how natural weapons development can be channeled to build explosive speed, power and strength; the best cardio routines to give you the heart and lungs of a warrior; how to maximize flexibility to avoid injury; and key kicks and strikes to end street fights quickly and decisively.

The exercises in this book can be done anywhere and don't require an expensive gym membership or high-tech equipment. Whether you want to break boards or bones, train with world champion breaker and street warrior Mike Reeves.

Sensei Mike Reeves is a nine-time International Sport Karate Association World Karate Champion, as well as a four-time Guinness-certified world record holder in breaking. He has worked as a professional bodyguard as well as a martial arts instructor to key members of both local and federal law enforcement agency SWAT teams and other special operations units.
$19.95
Softcover 978-1-58160-464-1 112 pages 8.5" x 11" photos

The best way to prepare yourself for real combat is to train hard, to train like a warrior. In this video from Paladin Press, International Sport Karate Association World Karate Champion Mike Reeves teaches you the secrets he's learned over the years that will not only get you fit to fight but also give you that one-strike, one-kill power that will make you virtually invulnerable on the street. Sensei Reeves begins by showing you how to maximize your flexibility with a punishing regimen of stretches that will prepare you for the movements of real fighting. From there, he teaches his "Superman" conditioning system that will launch your cardio health into the stratosphere and help you develop truly explosive speed and power. Then, he shows you how to develop natural body armor that will protect you against some of the most vicious strikes and kicks your enemy has in store. For information purposes only.
$29.95
DVD-R 805966 043630 65 minutes