Randy "The Natural" Couture is the most respected and celebrated MMA combatant in the history of the UFC. A UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion, and a UFC Hall of Famer, Randy Couture's reputation and fighting style are among the best in the world. Now, with Wrestling for Fighting: The Sport of Mixed Martial Arts, Couture presents the techniques and strategies that allowed him to devastate the world's best strikers and grapplers time and time again. His unique fighting system, a mix of martial arts, wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu, is broken down clearly and concisely for amateurs and seasoned veterans alike. Couture also includes important information on creating fight game plans, and a variety of training tips you won't find anywhere else.

This instructional guide explains the origins of submission wrestling, the underlying fighting skill associated with such events as the Ultimate Fighting Championships and the King of the Cage. It explores its various offshoots and influences and features hundreds of photographs to demonstrate techniques and training exercises. Rules and regulations regarding associated competitions, workout programs, and match etiquette are thoroughly discussed, and resources for further research are included. Full of self-defensive skills and tips that improve physical fitness, confidence, and mental toughness, this book starts the novice on the path to proper training and provides fundamental information for all skill levels.

The Codex Wallerstein is one of the best known of the late medieval fencing treatises still in existence. Though perhaps not as widely known as Talhoffer 1467 or Flos Duellatorum, it is just as important to students of the Western martial arts. Originally written in Middle High German during the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the Codex Wallerstein has long been available to scholars in microfilm format from Augusburg University. Now with the publication of this book, the text and drawings are available to scholars and martial artists in the original Middle High German, as well as in Modern German and English translations. The translations were provided by Grzegorz Zabinski, with assistance from Bartlomiej Walczak, two of the most esteemed interpreters of medieval combat in the world. The codex offers a series of fundamental counters to common attacks, using the longsword, falchion and dagger, as well as the complete system of wrestling techniques. In this work the reader will find a great deal of instruction on thrusting at or closing in against an opponent, expanding Master Johannes Liechtenauer's art of longsword combat. For martial artists, medievalists, historians or anyone with an interest in historical arms or self-defense, Codex Wallerstein is sure to become an invaluable reference.

In Fighting for Recognition, R. Tyson Smith enters the world of independent professional wrestling, a community-based entertainment staged in community centers, high school gyms, and other modest venues. Like the big-name, televised pro wrestlers who originally inspired them, indie wrestlers engage in choreographed fights in character. Smith details the experiences, meanings, and motivations of the young men who wrestle as "Lethal" or "Southern Bad Boy," despite receiving little to no pay and risking the possibility of serious and sometimes permanent injury. Exploring intertwined issues of gender, class, violence, and the body, he sheds new light on the changing sources of identity in a postindustrial society that increasingly features low wages, insecure employment, and fragmented social support. Smith uncovers the tensions between strength and vulnerability, pain and solidarity, and homophobia and homoeroticism that play out both backstage and in the ring as the wrestlers seek recognition from fellow performers and devoted fans.

A comprehensive study of the practice of combat sports in the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome and the Near East.

San Shou Kuai Jiao (Fast Wrestling for Fighting) is the Chinese martial art of throws and takedowns. A San Shou Kuai Jiao throw can cause tremendous damage to your opponent while keeping you safely on your feet. For centuries, fighters in China have valued this art for its speed and power. Today, China's police and military forces are trained in its techniques. Chinese Fast Wrestling for Fighting presents seventy-five throws and takedowns against punches, kicks, and grabs, and demonstrates basic training methods such as stances, footwork, and strength training. Written by a gold medal winner in Chinese wrestling (Liang), this book is a complete training guide to this powerful martial art. Throw your opponent to the ground - fast! Effective for competition and self-defense. 460 action photos detail every technique. Includes a chapter on ground fighting.

Sure, you know how to punch and kick, but how well can you fight at shorter range? Can you defend yourself when the fight turns to grappling? When both you and your opponent are rolling around and wrestling on the barroom floor, are you confident that you can win the fight? If you doubt your chances at close quarters, then you are not prepared for the reality of streetfighting. That's because, as Ned Beaumont points out here, in the real world, fights frequently begin with or turn into bouts of wrestling, and the antagonist with the greater expertise in wrestling is most often the victor. The truly tough customer is the person who thoroughly conditions himself, diligently studies and practices wrestling holds and techniques, and then makes full use of them in rough-and-tumble situations. Learn to prevail in the street by reading this book!