I am still convinced that we need to know the why to make things work in chaos when things can go wrong but that doesn’t mean a good book with clear techniques can’t teach us things. My next recommendation is just that, a book of techniques that are clearly explained and can hold a great deal of learning.
I am recommending: “No Holds Barred Fighting – The Clinch: Offensive and Defensive Concepts Inside NHB’s Most Grueling Position” by Mark Hatmaker.
Mark Hatmaker has a number of books out and they are all worth a read.
The clinch is an up close and personal position which makes it applicable to assaults and Mark covers this position very well.
The book starts with a number of skill sets required for the techniques presented, then it goes into striking within the clinch, the clinch takedowns, countering clinch takedowns, and ends with the back cast.
The details of how each technique is to be done are clear and concise and well illustrated.
While the book is focused on techniques if you look at what is being done you can see and learn a great deal more than the techniques.
When I was looking for techniques to illustrate the use of empty space in self defence for my book “Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Using empty space in self defence” I used one of this book’s techniques because they all make excellent use of empty space.
While techniques aren’t my thing, if you would like to learn more about what can be done in the clinch then this is an excellent recourse.