Martial Mechanics: Maximum Results with Minimum Effort in the Practice of the Martial Arts

"Martial Mechanics: Maximum Results with Minimum Effort in the Practice of the Martial Arts" by Phillip Starr is a simple book about complex topics. When I say simple, I mean that Starr has simplified these topics to make them easier to understand and incorporate into your training.Starr has been practicing martial arts for more than a half century, and his studies include Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Taijiquan, Shao-lin Kung Fu, Kyokushinkai karate, and Filipino arnis. Something common to these arts, and all martial arts, are the physics and kinesiology of movement. Starr explains the science behind martial art techniques and provides a guide for developing more speed and power. In short, he explains how to make your techniques more effective.As I stated, Starr simplified his instruction to make it easier for the reader to understand the concepts he describes. He did a very good job at explaining, and the accompanying photographs and diagrams are clear and illustrate what he is teaching.Right up front, Starr tells the reader that this book does not contain any "silver bullets" or "secret techniques." This book is about principles upon which traditional martial arts are based and how you can utilize the principles to make your own techniques faster, stronger, and more effective.Some of the topics Starr covers include: principles of power, types of impact, speed, stance, footwork, breathing, spinal alignment, and combining all components into a technique. Starr also includes additional chapters on topics such as strength, density, blocking, and training exercises and equipment. Some of these chapters are very short, and don't provide everything Starr knows on the topic for sure. (Starr is one of those people who has probably forgotten more than most people ever learn, and to put all of his knowledge in a book would be a tomb that many could not carry.) Even though short, each chapter does contain practical advice and something each martial artist could use in their own training.I don't think this book will be appreciated by those that are only interested in all flash without much bang. It seems some of the martial arts today have gotten away from the basics that made them fighting arts for more flashy tournament spectacles. Some have thrown out the traditional for more physical training to compensate for body mechanics. This is too bad, because the traditional arts have so much more to offer than sometimes taught. The basic principles Starr teaches in this book are some of those "gems" that are sometimes ignored but should be the foundation of training.I recommend this book to all martial artists that want to further incorporate traditional principles of speed and power into their training to make what they do more effective.Reviewed by Alain Burrese, author of the DVD set Hapkido Cane.

I agree with Mark Andrews. On explaining on a technical level how the moves work, it confused me trying to read through some parts because info. the author wrote was butchered or left out.One quote in the book is, "Correct martial arts technique is capable of generating enormous power. One of the strongest punches ever measured was executed by a small, 110-pound Okinawan karate practitioner. He was able to generate approximately 2,000 pounds of force with his thrust! Compare this to the legendary Muhammad Ali's punch, which produced about 1,000 pounds of force!" And when i read this I was flabbergasted and went through the whole book then realized afterward's that with no bibliography, no sources, i have to trust the words of everything the author says and can't find or effectively verify anything for myself, which to me is definitely the worst downfall of this book.Either way i still don't doubt that the techniques when practiced and used properly could actually do that kind of damage, I've noticed my punches at least have certainly improved off of reading this book. If you want this book to learn how to develop power and speed in your martial arts techniques i would highly recommend it. Just don't expect to win an argument about martial arts technique using this book.

As someone who has spent 13 years of consistent martial arts training (Karate, TKD, BJJ, Kickboxing), this book takes a lot of things that are difficult to understand and simplifies them. Breathing, movement, stances, weight distribution, strikes, body mechanics, and more are covered. Whether you are a long time martial artist or brand new, hard style or soft, this book will definitely benefit you in terms of understanding. There were topics in the book that I already put practice but never truly understood until I read this book, such as reverse breathing. So even if you feel you are a great martial artist, it never hurts to study and fill in some of those potential gaps!Happy training, people!

This book helped me with some concepts I was struggling with in my class. I especially liked the information on linking breathing and balance, but generally there is a lot of good information. Also the photos are clear and helpful. I will probably purchase more books by this author.

This book provides a very accessible, no-nonsense introduction to the body mechanics of internal (and external) martial arts. What's more, it manages to do this in a way that is not really specific to any system. For these reasons it's a very useful resource.I didn't give it 5 stars because I found some of the explanations to be a bit dodgy. In some cases the physics seemed a little fuzzy, and in one or two cases the anatomical explanation wasn't convincing to me. This is a relatively minor quibble because, from a purely practical perspective, believing the right thing for the wrong reason is more helpful than believing the wrong thing for the right reason.Read it, think carefully about the content, and improve.

Martial Mechanics is a good introduction to martial arts basics, a good reminder of what's important for those who have trained awhile, and is good material to supplement the syllabus of teachers of the MAs. Sprinkled liberally with anecdotes and humor, the book is easy to read and contains many excellent photographs to illustrate the points being made. While written from an internal martial artist's slant, I found it easy enough to substitute my external training/practice and keep going (for example, when the idea of reverse breathing is mentioned). The material on posture and alignment equaling power, relaxation adding to speed, and how force is generated, are especially bright spots in the book. I would recommend this book to all practicing or aspiring martial artists.

Well worth the money. Fills in the gaps in your knowledge irrespective of what martial art you are studying