Book Review: Practical Karate 3: Defense Against Multiple Assailants

The Cover of Practical Karate 3: Defense Against Multiple Assailants

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Authors: M. Nakayama and Donn F. Draeger

Reviewer: Mark Groenewold

Date: March, 2002

This text, the third of a six volume set, is one that has some hits and some misses with this reviewer. There are things in this book which, like the first two are excellent, and then there are some things that seem a little strange and out of place. At times I wonder if Master Nakayama has ever really seen much of a real multiple attacker situation when I see some of the responses that he suggests to some of the arranged attacks he has laid out in this book.

Let's start with the good stuff first. Pages 29-40 have some seemingly very practical responses to attacks where one assailant has a grip on you from behind and another attacker is threatening you from the front. Elbow attacks are used throughout, and the body shifting of moving into your attacker to unbalance them is also excellent. I also really like all the material of the attacks that may happen while you are seated in a chair (and not in seiza!). I think that the responses and combinations are quite plausible and look natural as well (83-102).

But now the bad stuff. Pages 15- 28 have sequences where two assailants have gripped your arms. Such cases may happen when a couple of bouncers are throwing you out of a bar. In such a case, you should just leave the bar without starting a brawl. But if your health and well-being is being truly threatened, here are some techniques to deal with bouncers. Frankly, I think that the techniques used as responses are a little advanced, and if you are able to do such advanced technique, you probably would never have let yourself be grabbed and restrained in such a way to begin with. If someone grabs you by the hand, you should already be instinctually stepping into your attacker and using your elbow as leverage against his wrist to free your arm. For two guys to suddenly grab you simultaneously in such a way, and for an experienced karate-ka to let it happen in the first place, you would either have to be quite inebriated, or your assailants are working in perfect synchronicity. It just seems a little odd, and other situations would be much more interesting and practical rather than this one.

Pages 41-50 have a very strange sequence that depicts a very young C. W. Nicol grabbing Master Nakayama by the crotch from behind, while the second assailant attacks from the front. The attack is just too odd to even consider as a “typical” attack. In a real fight, I have never seen one man try to grab another man by his privates in order to subdue him. Furthermore, it is quite a reach to do so from behind. I just find the whole sequence too bizarre to really justify in such a book. Please do not try this at home. In a more realistic altercation, the attacker from behind, if he was working with a co- conspirator, would probably push the victim from behind, round-house punch to the head, or even kick. But testicle grabbing? Not likely.

Some of the other questionable sequences are related to some wishful fusion of kata and self-defense in some of the situations. For example, on page 74, Master Nakayama is using yamazuki in response to being grabbed by the collar. I suppose that it could work, but it seems a bit of a stretch. Also, the mawashi-geri attacks from a lying position (from the kata Unsu) also seems to be a bit of a reach. I would have much preferred to see technique that was less flashy, perhaps a bit more boring, but more effective for the person who may be fighting for their very life.

The last thing that I did not like about this particular text is the sequence where Master Nakayama has been knocked to the ground and is defending himself against two guys planning to stomp him. Where some of the blocks seem all right, there is one maneuver (page 112) where he twists the attackers knee to spin him out of the way. I think that this move in particular is extremely questionable. Should the attacker simply shift his weight and drive down with his knee against the victim, Master Nakayama would have had his head smashed into the wall directly behind him. This technique is not recommended at all! Don't hold onto people's legs who want to stomp you. Block, strike back with everything you got, and then get up!!

I don't know what happened with this book. I really like the first two but this one has some serious problems with it. I think that we should be training in these situations, but we need to be more creative than what this book has to offer in terms of our responses to violent attack. I strongly suggest building a short, but effective repertoire of techniques to use when defending yourself, and then test them against situations, expanding your tools to fit those new potential altercations. I realize that this was a rather critical review of Master Nakayama's work, but the next review of Practical Karate 4: Defense Against Armed Assailants will be even more so. Stay tuned until next time. There is much for us to learn and do when it comes to self-defense so we must continually search for the best and most effective means possible to make karate applicable, real, and life-preserving.

Until next time, be safe, and train with purpose.

Mark Groenewold
Ishikawa-ken, Japan

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