Ingemar Johansson's right hand--dubbed "The Hammer of Thor"--was the most fearsome in boxing, and Johansson's three fights with Floyd Patterson rank among the sport's classic rivalries. Yet most fans know little about the Swedish playboy who won the world heavyweight championship with a shocking third round knockout of Patterson and held it for six days short of a year (1959-1960).During his reign, the raffish "Ingo" hit fashionable nightspots on two continents, romanced Elizabeth ...

RESPECTED, REVERED—AND EXPENDABLEPain. Getting ripped off. Watching your potential wither on the vine due to contractual disputes that arise when people view you as their property. More pain. For the upper echelon of professional athletes in mixed martial arts, like can resemble the nightmare, described by Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, of a snail traversing the edge of a razorblade.Pound for Pound traces the five greatest fighters of al...

Hapkido, "The Way of Coordination and Internal Power," is one of the three major Korean martial arts. Founded in 1963 by Master Choi Young-Sul, it is a complete system of self-defense, encompassing striking, kicking, and grappling techniques. Conceptually, Hapkido techniques more closely parallel those of Aikido than Taekwondo. In fact, as the author describes, there is a parental link between the arts.In Hapkido: Korean Art of Self-Defense, Scott Shaw presents a precise d...

Treasured for centuries by karate's top masters, the Bubishi is a classic Chinese work on philosophy, strategy, medicine, and technique as they relate to the martial arts.Referred to as the "bible of karate" by famous master Chojun Miyagi, for hundreds of years the Bubishiwas a secret text passed from master to student in China and later in Okinawa. All of karate's legendary masters have studied it, applied its teachings, or copied passages from i...

"An excellent introduction to traditional Japanese swordsmanship."-Daily YamiuriThis book introduces Kendo, the exhilarating mental and physical sport of Japan that has gained new popularity, with both sexes now participating, its own evolution and the efforts of a remarkable group of teachers it has progressed through the years to its present position as a sport.This is Kendo is a fully illustrated introduction to the traditional art of J...

A.J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" bring vividly to life the boxing world as it once was.The Sweet Science depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis's unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goin...

Lenny 'The Guv'nor' McLean has become a legend. A bare-knuckle fighter turned actor, he is a street hero whose legions of fans, since his death, have catapulted him to superstar status. His autobiography, The Guv'nor, has sold hundreds of thousands of copies in hardback, was in the top-ten for well over a year, and was the number one bestselling autobiography of 1998. Amazingly, it looks set to repeat this accolade for 1999. The Guv'nor: A Tribute is a beautifully-produced picture book cel...

They Surround me and get me in a headlock. Everyone gets a boot in. So I lean down and twist the guys b******s. He Lets go and I grab a glass and slice him across the face. A Piece of flesh goes flying across the room. 'Who else wants a visit to the hospital?' I yell as everything kicks off...Malcolm Price was born to fight. Even as a child it wasn't long before 'Pricey' had become a feared and respected figure. His reputation was sealed when he won the Welsh Schoolboy Boxing Championships...

Take taekwondo beyond just kicking and punching—discover powerful grappling moves that build on the patterns you already know!Taekwondo is the most popular Korean martial art, with over 70 million practitioners in the world. Taekwondo Grappling Techniques presents the most effective grappling maneuvers ever developed for taekwondo. With this comprehensive taekwondo book as your guide, you'll confidently defend yourself against attacks and apply your own de...

Lean the techniques, strategies and history of Japanese Shotokan Karate with this illustrated martial arts guide.Generously illustrated with over 700 clear photos, The Secrets of Shotokan Karate offers an in-depth look at the world's most popular martial art, with strategies, techniques, and drills to guide new students to proficiency and to help established practitioners excel. Sixth-degree black belt Robin Rielly provides a comprehensive guide to the fun...

Introducing a new scientific approach to Wing Chun kung-fu, this book gives a clear and detailed exposition of once closely guarded techniques.Rejecting the secretive approach that characterizes much of martial arts writing, the author draws upon biomechanical theory to explain logically and scientifically how the techniques of Wing Chun kung-fu work. After an explanation of the theory behind the various Wing Chun moves, the reader is led step-by-step through each ...

"It didn't occur to me until fairly late in the work that I was writing a book about the beginnings of a national celebrity culture. By 1860, a few boxers had become heroes to working-class men, and big fights drew considerable newspaper coverage, most of it quite negative since the whole enterprise was illegal. But a generation later, toward the end of the century, the great John L. Sullivan of Boston had become the nation's first true sports celebrity, an American icon. The likes of poet...