Martial Arts Book Review: A Guide to Bar Fights by Peyton Quinn

Being the author of several books on martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for exceptional quality books to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it’s definitely worth having. One such book is Peyton Quinn’s “A Bouncer’s Guide to Barroom Brawling.”

The most important thing to remember when reading this book, or any book dealing with self-defense techniques, is that the principles behind the technique are far more important than the technique itself. Again, Peyton does a great job with this, and you would do well to sit down and read this book from cover to cover a few times to understand what it is trying to teach you.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

1. The ambush: awareness and avoidance

One of the important points that the author tries to convey to you in this section is that fighting has serious legal and medical consequences and should be avoided as much as possible. Remember, nothing is easy to do unless you are willing to do it first. Also, learning to avoid potential conflict is perhaps the most important “technique” you can learn. It is vitally important and should be considered his first line of defense.

2. The reality of the fight

These are just some of the items of interest covered in this section.

A. The strongest assets of the dumb puncher he uses are as follows; confidence, experience, competence and tactics.

b. Some of the very real features of “Real Fights” such as; real fights are actually very sloppy compared to what’s shown in movies most fights only last a few seconds most fights are decided by blows to the head most real fights involve some kind of grappling, kicking (particularly above the waist) is not very effective in a real fight.

Now I must admit that I’m not very fond of claims like the last one that seem to undermine the effectiveness of kicks in a real fight. I for one have trained extensively in kicks and used them successfully many times in “real fights”. Having said that though, I freely admit that the point the author is trying to get across here is actually a very good one. Most people not only don’t know how to kick correctly to begin with, they have no idea how to actually apply them in a “real fight”.

vs. The author’s observations on martial arts vs. actual fighting; Peyton, in my opinion, is one of the most realistic self defense authors out there today simply because he takes a realistic and practical approach to the effectiveness of traditional martial arts when it comes to the subject of self defense. Unlike other authors who seem to criticize any type of formal martial art that exists, Peyton freely admits the importance and value of it not only in self-defense, but also in all other aspects of his life. In this section he provides some really good “food for thought” and it was a real pleasure to read.

3. The toolbox

This section begins with some great advice: “It is more important to learn how to avoid being hit effectively than it is to learn how to hit effectively.”

The author then describes several different hand strikes and how to execute them. This particular section is really good and offers some very useful and useful advice.

I particularly enjoyed the author’s moving story of a training session he had with a fourth degree Tae Kwon Do black belt. This is quite a funny and interesting story, and from which you can learn a lot, if you know how to read between the lines. The author then ends this section with a bit more discussion of hand, elbow, and knee strikes.

4.Principles of Defense

The most notable piece of advice that the author has put into this book is simply this: “The principles and concepts behind the techniques are more important than the techniques themselves,” or something similar. This is something I’ve been saying for at least 20 years, ever since I started teaching. Various principles of blocking and hitting are discussed in this section.

5. Mobility, Posture, Orientation and the Finer Points of Staying Out of Jail

This section covers a lot of ground covering the topics of proper posture, the use of footwork, and maintaining the proper distance between you and your opponent.

6. Grab, Throw and Escape

This section covers a lot of very good information on the subject of grabbing and throwing. I really enjoyed the information in this section and it alone is worth the price of this book.

7. Selection of an appropriate martial art for your personal study

This struck me as one of the best sections of the entire book. Here the author takes a fairly honest and knowledgeable look at the various martial arts and the many factors one must consider when trying to decide which ones to study.

Overall, I found Peyton’s book outstanding and am proud to have it in my personal library. I find Peyton’s approach to the subject refreshing and honest and personally hold him in high regard.

I strongly recommend that you buy this book and read not just the words that Peyton has written, but perhaps more importantly, the ones that were written between the printed lines.