Cold Steel

Cold Steel
by John Styers

Cold Steel
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Book Summary Information

Author: John Styers
Photographer: Louis Lowery
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1974-06-01
ISBN: 087364025X
Number of pages: 179
Publisher: Paladin Press

Book Reviews of Cold Steel

Book Review: Five books in one, and three of them are very good!
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a military training book, and it has five modules. All are short, simple, and straightforward.

The five modules teach bayonet, knife fighting, unarmed combat, stick and knife throwing.

The modules concerning bayonet, unarmed combat and stick use are uniformly excellent for training front line troops or folks who are going to be in harm's way and who worry more about living until tomorrow than they worry about juries.

There is an emphasis on relentless attack, because reaction is slower than action. The techniques shown for bayonet are simple and direct, and work just fine. Ditto unarmed combat (which is not a martial arts or sporting approach) and ditto stick work.

The module on knife fighting is controversial, for a few simple reasons. One is that it supposes that there will be two opponents, both armed with BIG knives, and that both will have 'em out and ready for action. Based on those premises, the fencing-type approach to knife fighting makes some amount of sense.

And frankly, the knife-throwing module makes little sense to me, because unless you're working for a circus, you're unlikely to have enough knives to throw one and deprive yourself of a weapon.

But given the modest cost of the book, and the substantial value of the three discussion areas, and the easy readability, I'm perfectly happy to give it five stars.

Look at the module on knife fighting and if you prefer a different approach (you may not have a big bowie in your hand when a problem arises), no problem! And ditto unless you really want to throw away your knife as to the throwing section of the book.

But even without the two iffy chapters, the book has substantial historical value, and the techniques presented are valuable. Bear in mind, of course, that if you use the techniques in this book you may need to defend your actions in Court, because this is military-grade h2h; very simple, direct, and brutal.

Summary of Cold Steel

Paladin has obtained exclusive reprint rights to this classic (originally published by Leatherneck magazine), which was the Marine bible of unarmed combat. Emphasizing the practice aspect of bayonet, knife and stick fighting, this rare volume also provides short courses in unarmed combat and knife throwing. For academic study only.

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