A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth: How to Treat Your Injuries with Powerful Healing Secrets of the Great Chinese Warrior (Fireside Books (Fireside))

First a disclaimer: I've been a student of Tom's for over 10 years, both as martial artist and a practitioner of Chinese medicine. (In fact, I became an acupuncturist partly as a result of having had my martial arts injuries sucessfully treated with Chinese medicine.) So, I am most definitely a biassed reviewer!I'll focus on a small portion of the book, one which is of primary interest to martial artists: the use of herbal training formulas (Die Da formulas) to heal and prevent injuries:A Tooth From the Tiger's Mouth includes in-depth discussion of the following external formulas:A basic Die Da Jiu (trauma liniment) for acute injuriesA formula for Tendon Lotion for chronic injuries bothered by damp and coldU-I Oil - a patent remedyChinese Massage Oil - a patent remedyBlack Ghost Oil - a patent remedySan Huang San - a herbal poultice for acute injuriesSinew-Bone Poultice - a herbal poultice for healing middle or late stage injuriesWu Yang Pain Relieving Plaster - a patent remedyYunnan Paiyao Plaster - a patent remedy701 Plaster - a patent remedyHua Tuo Anticontusion Rheumatism Plaster - a patent remedyGou Pi Plaster - a patent remedyTendon Relaxing Soak - an herbal soakWarming Soak - an herbal soakThe following internal formulas are also discussed in detail:Trauma pills - an herbal pill made with ground herbs and honeyResinall K - a patent remedy made from an alchohol extract; similar to Qi Li SanRib Fracture FormulaBone Knitting FormulaTonic formulas such as Ge Jie Da Bu Wan, etc.Individual herbs for healing sinew and bone injuriesNutritional and dietary supplementsCertainly there are many Die Da formulas available and several excellent books about Die Da formulae are available to the martial artist. However, Tom's book excells insofar as he provides very concise and accurate information about WHY and WHEN to use different Die Da formulas (based on Chinese medicine theory). Having taken many of Tom's "Kung Fu Traumatology" courses over the past ten years, I can definitively state that A Tooth From the Tiger's Mouth provides the very best, fundamental, and practical information available to the athlete and martial artist about treating sports and martial arts injuries with Chinese medicine. I remember hearing Tom talk about these formulas for the first time, making or buying them, and then trying them out on myself or on friends and training partners as we got injured during our training. The bottom line is - they work.However, Tom's book is much more than a discussion of Die Da formulas. There are detailed chapters that describe the principles of Chinese sports medicine, injury prevention with respect to excercise, diet and health preservation, the various therapies of Chinese sports medicine, (including the management of cuts and lacerations, cupping and bleeding, acupressure, massage, and moxibustion), and the treatment of common sports injuries (over 30 are described). Moreover, the book is well-written, logical, and easy to follow. This is a gem of a book and would be welcome addition to any martial artist's book shelf. The fact that all of the therapies described in the book can be sucessfully applied to the treatment of sports-related injuries, makes it that more especially valuable.

"A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth" is not only a suprisingly complete book concerning the treatment of athletic injuries, it is also extremely accessable to professional or layman alike. Author Tom Bisio comes to his knowledge not just through hard work and training, but via real life experience as a martial arts competitor and teacher. Bisio breaks down treatment into its essential, practical components which allows for coaches, instructors and competitors to actually use the information that he has to share in real time. He explains in depth why the early, proper treatment of injuries can save an athlete or martial artist from a lifetime of pain and struggle. And he does it in a no-nonsense, practical way that removes the cloak of mystery from Chinese medicine and reveals it as the practical, age-old science that it truly is.A great, in depth book that anyone who has even a remote chance of being injured should have readily at hand.

This was recommended to me by a friend of the family who is an acupuncturist. She knew that I was considering entering the field and outright demanded I buy this book ASAP. The book speaks to me in particular because of the author puts chinese medicine in the context of his experiences as a martial arts instructor/practitioner. I consider myself a martial arts nerd and this really spoke to me and really gave me some interesting ideas of how to deal with wounds sustained while training.The content is presented simply, which is great because I am not a practicing acupuncturist. However, even though the book comes off directed at the layman, my acupuncturist friend who recommended the book considers it one of her favorites. I also appreciated how the book helps explain differences between eastern/western ideas of medicine and doesn't do so in a condescending manner.The book is more than just acupuncture, it also includes dietary advice, mobility exercises, strength exercises and has a fair bit of history on the subject of traditional chinese medicine.Exercises and acupuncture points in the book are aided by simple, but effective, illustrations. Would recommend this to anybody who is a martial artist and definitely would recommend it to anybody who wants to learn something about chinese medicine.

I’m not finished reading it yet, but it’s very good so far.

There is a vast amount of information in this book. I bought this book because I have a knee injury from over 40 years ago. Although taiji has been able to stablize the knee somewhat due to fixing some posture issues, my knee continues to bother me. I saw the "tendon lotion" herbal recipe as well as the "trauma liniment" and thought it would be an interesting experiment on myself. When I tried to order the recipes from the referenced herbal companies, I found out I needed to be a "licenced practitioner" to order the herbs!Fortunately through a friend, I contacted a TCM practitioner who would order the recipes for me. He knew of Tom Bisio by reputation,I've been using tendon lotion the last 6 weeks. I still feel the storm fronts when they approach, but at a much lower level of pain (more of an annoyance now). I would like to eventually be able to take long brisk walks with my wife without pain.I hope to update this review next spring and report on my progress.