Footwork Wins Fights: The Footwork of Boxing, Kickboxing, Martial Arts & MMA (Win Fights Series)

I wasn't too sure about this book. Mostly because I'm not an experienced fighter. It did, however, inspire me to watch some of the boxing and MMA matches, and I was able to understand a little bit better. I'll definitely have to revisit this book a few more times as I gain more experience, but overall, it is very informative. Nicely done. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get into contact sports and definitely watch some MMA and some boxing matches to get a good view at some of this material in a real match.

Coming from heavily martial footwork dominated schools, this is an awesome work of research and time on the discipline of Martial Footwork. When most think of Martial Footwork they tend to gravitate that thinking of styles like Capoeira, Baguazhang, Aikido, Silat, Shaolin, and others. Boxing, Kickboxing, Savate, Western Fencing and now MMA also possess tactical and strategic footwork. However, only a small fraction of practitioners have mixed and closed the gap between the two. As Sun Tzu would state that everything is of a duel nature, it important if your an Eastern Martial Practitioner to know the methods of a Western Martial Practitioner, and vice versa. This would be the first step in Sun Tzu's system "Laying Plans," in which you would discuss opponent Philosophy, Climate, Leadership, Ground, and Methods to see where you can win and where you can't. This text shows you exactly that. It discusses philosophy of Western Martial Footwork, "Climate" which is really trends is given by showing or providing references to each techniques/ patterns taken from real fights, Leadership shows how the energy is led when applying the patterns/ techniques, Ground talks specifically about the Ring dynamics, and Methods are the patterns/ techniques themselves with a chapter dedicated on ways to enhance those methods. As a strategist, and adept of the martial way this is an awesome book to add to one's collection of knowledge; to digest, to assimilate, and foster evolved growth in your combatives game and strategic thought. To the author, you mentioned that you put many hours into the crafting and shaping of this text, well It definitely shows. Thank you for your contribution to the Martial World and I look forward to any future work you might be contemplating.

This is a good tutorial on footwork, and I especially liked the historical references (available on video to those willing to search for them) which move the concepts from "theoretical" to "practical". The narrative explanations are clear enough to be of value. My only criticism (thus the 4-star review) is the black & white photos used to illustrate the techniques. They are a bit grainy and out of focus. I understand that these may be stills captured from video, and the reference points on the ground plus overlayed directional arrows help better understanding of what's being demonstrated, the focus could be better, or a high-speed camera used to get better shots. If a 2nd Edition ever comes out with better photos, I will definitely buy it. Otherwise, a solid edition to my "Fighter's Library".

Five star book for your collection must have

I've followed David Christian's YouTube channel (ModernMartialArtist) for a while and his videos are always thoughtful, informative, and valuable to the fighter developing his craft. This book breaks down the mechanics of footwork for fighting with the same meticulous, studious approach that defines his videos. I've felt for a while now that mobility is the key to winning any fight, regardless of scenario, and Mr. Christian breaks down the fundamentals in easily understood language, with examples are provided to further clarify the techniques described. Whether you're beginning your martial arts journey or have been practicing and simply need a handy encyclopedia of steps, pivots, shifts, etc., this book, at the current price, is an absolute steal.

This book has been helping me understand footwork and test a variety of different techniques, which I've really liked being able feel the difference between a a high mobility rebound step and the weight transfer that comes from a drop step. Overall the book is useful as it is helping me understand what kind of footwork works with my strengths and helped me understand the strategy of footwork a whole lot better. I highly recommend to anyone having trouble with their footwork.

A really excellent book. Well written. Good solid information. Excellent photography. A good reference book.

First off, If you're looking to better your footwork in any martial art this will of course help you. But don't think its a substitute for an actual coach, it should only be used to compliment actual training. The book covers many topics, but doesn't have much time to discuss them in depth very much. The photo's are very grainy and dark, but the information is all there. A good book for quarantine or when you're unable to train.

Some writers have one good idea and pad an entire book with it. Others have excellent information, but don’t include enough of it for you to put it together by the end of the book. And then there are writers like David Christian who give you heaps of useful, actionable info. Take your time with this book. Play around with the contents, find out what works best for you. You could happily spend years mastering all the ideas here. If you enjoy watching martial arts fights or boxing, this will also give you a deeper appreciation for what’s going on.

the images are not always easy to understand and the book is not well structured.

I first found the author of this book, David Christian, on his YouTube channel (ModernMartialArtist) where he provides in-depth breakdowns of fights and fight strategy. His YouTube content is phenomenal and this book does not disappoint. It provides the reader with a breakdown of the fundamentals of movement, footwork techniques, fighting strategy, gives example of what positions are superior and which are less so, and finally provides examples of basic and advanced footwork sequences which you can copy. All of this comes with great photos and fight examples which you can pull up on YouTube. I was able to directly apply the techniques taught in this book immediately and with great effect. Learning is a long curve, but it was great to immediately see some small results straight off the bat.

Very big book with diagrams with in-depth explanations of footwork.

Imaginad un trabajo de instituto escrito con un procesador de textos al que se le han insertado fotos de pésima calidad y se ha impreso con una impresora de inyección de tinta en blanco y negro (a color la portada) con la tinta al 50 o al 60%. A todo esto, que no es poco, añádele una cantidad incontable de erratas que te hacen perder el ritmo y la comprensión de la lectura. Estoy hablando de la edición original en inglés en tapa blanda. Creo que ya he dado motivos suficientes para justificar el título de mi reseña. Es una pena que un libro con una información tan completa y detallada y al que se le nota un trabajo de investigación bastante laborioso haya sido editado de una forma tan inmisericorde. Pese a todo esto, mi intención (siempre y cuando no encuentre mejor alternativa) es seguir comprando el resto de libros del mismo autor ya que la información contenida en estos -una vez descifrada- sirve de manual de consulta y guía para entrenador@s y/o quienes practican deportes de combate; de ahí mis tres estrellas.