Book Review: No Holds Barred Fighting-Submission Wrestling

A training partner recommended Mark Hatmaker's No Holds Barred series of books to me. I'm very skeptical of martial arts instruction books, because my personal experience is that most techniques have subtleties that require both the guidance of a good instructor and repeated practice with a live opponent at various levels of resistance. However, i decided to buy Hatmaker's Submission Wrestling book to see what value it might have.

The book is well produced, with quality paper and good photographs (black and white, but clear and well composed). The progression of the material from stances and drills to positions, takedowns, and takedown defense before proceeding to submissions is very good. It would have been easy for an author simply looking to exploit the current UFC-inspired interest in grappling to move straight into submission techniques, but clearly Hatmaker is a committed teacher.

The photographs are, in my opinion, adequate to illustrate the techniques. That was one of my biggest concerns prior to seeing the book, but i didn't find many cases where the transition from move to move was not clear (the Switch Step takedown defense being an exception for example). The text is also written clearly and generally augments the photos. There are some suggestions that I find interesting and will probably experiment with (for example, Hatmaker's recommendation to try to figure-4 the legs when you have your opponent in guard rather than just crossing the ankles).

On the other hand, my original concerns remain. I think this book serves an excellent reference for someone who already has some training in some submission art, but I'm not convinced that somebody without any previous experience could become proficient using just this book (plus willing training partners). So much of grappling is learning to sense when you have the opportunity for a particular submission, or switching positions to create opportunities. For example, the book illustrates well how to do a triangle choke and you could learn the basic technique by drilling what's in this book. But it won't teach you how to create the opportunity for that triangle, or what to do if your opponent tries to stack you or lift you.

If you're a relative newcomer to submission grappling (like me), I'd definitely recommend the book as a reference. You'll probably discover some submissions you don't know, and depending on the situation in which you're learning the chapters on takedowns and takedown defense might be new material. However, if you have no grappling experience, i'd still recommend finding a good instructor first.