They fought one-against-one in an octagonal cage where they could punch, kick, knee, elbow, head butt and choke. "There are no rules!" proclaimed the organizers. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was born-and the mystique of traditional martial arts had died.For thousands of years, the fighting arts had been shrouded in mystery and deceit. Secrets were jealously guarded, while blood-curdling claims were made of lethal techniques and even supernatural powers. Each style or system asserted that it was the best, its masters unbeatable.By matching experts in different arts against each other, the Ultimate Fighting Championship exploded many of these myths. Black belts and flashy moves proved no match for the skill and technique of a new breed of athletic warrior.In just over a decade, no-holds-barred fighting-otherwise known as mixed martial arts-has gone from a novelty spectacle to a worldwide sport. It has produced its own superstars like the Gracie family, Ken and Frank Shamrock, Maurice Smith and Randy Couture. It has also attracted massive condemnation from the media and run the gauntlet of police raids and banning orders. Its critics labeled it "human cockfighting." It was pursued from state to state, excoriated by campaigners and banned by politicians. Through it all, the sport has continued to thrive, spreading across the globe.Author and journalist Clyde Gentry has interviewed more than 100 key figures to produce the definitive account of the world's most controversial and misunderstood sport and of the fighting men who dare to enter the octagon.

    This is the story of his rise from a troubled youth to champion in the ring in both America and Asia. The first "King of Pancrase" in the Japanese fighting circuit, and the first "Superfight Champion" of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Shamrock also founded the Lion's Den in Northern California, a facility that has trained many champion MMA fighters.Readers and fans will learn the secrets of Shamrock's ultra-efficient submissions fighting system and the training regimen that he and his trainees followed. With over 150 dynamic photos, Inside the Lion's Den is both an inspiring portrait of the fighter known as the "World's Most Dangerous Man" and an invaluable guide for the martial artist, novice and master alike.

    Because Jens was the oldest, the one constantly running upstairs to protect his mother in the middle of the night, his father placed the barrel into his mouth first. Fear taught Jens how to attack with his fists. Fear taught him how to get what he wanted, by any means necessary. Fear put him on the path toward becoming a world champion fighter, to prove wrong all those who claimed he wouldn’t amount to any more than his drunk old man. It was this path — the one that would make him the most intimidating pound-for-pound fighter in the ring — that eventually let him put his childhood demons to rest and find an inner peace. But it was a long and painful battle. Little Evil is a gripping and true tale of father and son, of what betrayal does to the young and drives them to do, and of how one determined man shattered the chains of his childhood and rose to the top, becoming the lightweight champion of the UFC.

    The narrative follows “Big” John through his 22-year career as a Los Angeles police officer, where he taught recruits arrest and control procedures as well as survival tactics, then his 15-year career as MMA’s premier official in the chain-linked cage. A fixture of the sport, “Big” John started refereeing at UFC 2 in 1994 when MMA was in its infancy and went on to officiate at every major UFC event but two until 2007. Following a one-year hiatus as a color commentator and on-camera analyst for MMA and boxing events, he returned to MMA refereeing in 2008. In his own words, "Big" John relates his insider’s perspective from the midst of many of the sport’s greatest moments—from Tito Ortiz–Ken Shamrock I at UFC 40 in 2002 to Randy Couture–Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in March of 2007—along with his account of the birth of the sport in America, its evolution, and MMA’s ongoing struggles for acceptance.

    In Ancient Greece, they called it Pankration, a no-holds-barred battle. Over time, one complete combat system was replaced by a variety of limited ones like karate, boxing, and wrestling. In the modern age this created an eternal question: who was tougher? Could a boxer beat a wrestler? Could a kung fu artist dispose of a jiu jitsu man? The Ultimate Fighting Championship answered those questions emphatically in 1993 -- and Mixed Martial Arts was born. Early stars like Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie propelled this new sport into the North American public's consciousness while pro wrestlers Nobuhiko Takada and Masakatsu Funaki led a parallel evolution in Japan, where cultural forces led to fighters becoming mainstream celebrities. With no television contract and little publicity budget to speak of, the UFC was forced to adopt an aggressive marketing scheme to get public attention. The potential for carnage and blood was played up and a predictable media outcry soon followed. Politicians, led by Arizona Senator and Presidential candidate John McCain, were able to ban the sport in most states and even managed to suspend pay-per-view broadcasts. While the popularity of MMA was at an all-time-high in Japan, MMA failed to thrive in America until Spike TV finally took a chance on the controversial sport and The Ultimate Fighter thrust mixed martial arts back into the mainstream, creating new mega-stars like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans, and breathing new life into old favourites. For the first time, Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting arms you with all the history and information you need to know to understand the contemporary world of Mixed Martial Arts, where the backroom deal-making is as fierce as the fighting.

    This work outlines his revolutionary system of fighting, detailing techniques, fight against the cage and formulate strategies based upon your personal attributes and strengths.

    

    It’s not a grab-the-lapel-with-your-left-hand kind of book. There are no techniques in it; it’s not an instructional text. Those books already exist, and some of the most brilliant masters of jiu-jitsu have written them. This is a book about the everyday jiu-jitsu, the lessons that we learn on and off the mat, lessons we absorb from not only our professors, but also our peers, lessons about BJJ and life.Section Titles include:Alligator Arms Cooking Your Opponent: A Recipe for Meathead Soup Jiu-Jitsu as Mistress If the Bone is Poking Through the Skin, it’s Broken Wipe your Bum Technique: The Great EqualizerAn Expensive Gi will not Improve your Jiu-Jitsu There is no Dim Mak Technique Freaks+23,000 words

    Robinson – a former body–builder, one–time bouncer, and lifelong fight connoisseur – takes readers on a no–holds–barred plunge into what fighting is all about, and what fighters live for. If George Plimpton had muscles and had been choked out one too many times––this is the book he could have written.When Robinson and his fellow fighters mix it up, they live completely for the moment: absorbed in the feel of muscles slippery with sweat; the metallic tang of blood mingling with saliva in the mouth; the sweet, firm thud of taped knuckles impacting flesh. They fight because it feels good. They fight because they want to win. And even if they get their asses kicked, they fight because they love fighting.Fight is part encyclopedia, part panegyric to fighting in all its forms and glory. Robinson's narrative – told in his trademark tough–guy, stream–of–consciousness noir voice – punctuates this explanatory compendium of the fighting world. From wrestling, jiu–jitsu, boxing and muay thai to bar fighting, hand–to–hand combat, prison fighting and hockey fights, from the greatest movie fight scenes to how to throw the perfect left hook, Fight is a scene–by–scene tour of the bloody but beautiful underworld that is the art of fighting.With his aficionado's enthusiasm and fast–paced, addictive voice, Robinson's Fight combines compelling text with beautiful photographs to create an illustrated book as edgy and interesting as it is gorgeous.

    Victory, after all, could come down to choosing between the supposed sleeper and the overrated prospects who won't be able to fool people in the Show like they have down on the farm.    Nearly every major-league team has sought the advice of current or former Prospectus writers, and readers of Baseball Prospectus 2014 will understand what all those fans have been raving about. "If you're a baseball fan and you don't know what BP is, you're working in a mine without one of those helmets with the lights on it."—Keith Olbermann "The first time I saw the PECOTA projections, I realized that someone out there understood." —Jeff Luhnow, General Manager, Houston Astros "For me, every year baseball begins with the big, brilliant, beautiful book you are holding in your hands right now."—Joe PosnanskiBaseball Prospectus 2013 correctly predicted:*Disappointing performances by Albert Pujols, Dan Haren, Michael Bourn, Justin Upton, and Tommy Hanson.*Breakouts by Paul Goldschmidt, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Seager, Matt Moore, Shelby Miller, and Jason Kipnis, as well as bounceback seasons from Jayson Werth and Shin-Soo Choo.*That Max Scherzer would be a Cy Young contender and Michael Wacha ace-in-waiting for the Cardinals.*That Wil Myers would be a middle-of-the-order bat for Tampa Bay and Josh Donaldson would finally win the Rich Harden trade for the A's.*That CC Sabathia's velocity drop could be a problem, but Felix Hernandez's would not be. *That Joaquin Benoit, Kenley Jansen, and Koji Uehara were better bullpen bets than pre-season closer picks Bruce Rondon, Brandon League, and Joel Hanrahan.

    Pavel took the guesswork out of strength training and honed in with an elegant simplicity on what really worked to get stronger—and continue getting stronger. The war on weakness is a war we wage our whole lives. There is no final victory in the quest for extra strength. Only hard-fought gains—born of skill, will, and right knowledge. Losses and set-backs are a constant in this see-saw struggle of adaptation and survival. Pavel’s great contribution has been to research and identify the proven “battle” strategies that give us the best chance to keep making those strength gains—whatever the odds. And in this, Pavel has succeeded admirably, thanks to his access to the best training secrets not only in the West but in Russia—justly famous for its history of achievement in the world of strength and powerlifting. And thanks to his ability to ground theory in the proof of hard experience and earned results. In Power to the People Professional, Pavel broadens and deepens this knowledge base to encompass a vast range of little-known but highly effective methods to keep tricking our stubborn bodies into ever-greater strength gains. Some of the chapters are straightforward coverage of “how they do it in Russia”, others represent Pavel’s own original work based on years of research and experimentation. While elite athletes and powerlifters are those most likely to benefit from the advanced training information contained within Power to the People Professional, there remains a wealth of cutting-edge tips and tactics that intermediate lifters, athletes from various power sports, and power bodybuilders can use to immediately enhance their strength and power. “This is a graduate program in getting strong. If the RKC is the "School of Strength," this is the special ops class. Honestly, just pick the book up and pop open a chapter. Here are the programs, the thought process, and the actual systems used to produce stunning lifts in the three powerlifts. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. As my "Must Have" collection of books spirals higher each year, I am comfortable in saying that this book will quietly show the door to one or two of the books on my previous lists. It is that good.”—Dan John, author of Never Let Go “Intelligent intensity and total dedication along with stimulating variety is the theme among numerous training strategies featured in Pavel’s new Power to the People Professional. Top notch Russian powerlifters, exacting coaches, and meticulous research studies point to strength building schemes that absolutely PRODUCE! Since an original Russian all-rounder, George “the Lion” Hackenschmidt, established long-standing weightlifting records at the turn of LAST century, Pavel’s latest compendium of Soviet methods is way past due! Learn to freely borrow from the diversity of detailed systems discussed, and delight to the insight behind their creators’ mindsets. Then set aside Pavel’s Professional, head directly to the gym with extreme motivation, and follow the lessons toward suggested serious GRINDING!”—John McKean, Former I.A.W.A.

    And it takes another kind of person to stand out from all the rest as both a wild man and a rock star. Chris Leben, otherwise known as “The Crippler,” is that kind of person.Leben’s reputation started when he appeared on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, a reality show and competition where hopeful fighters live together and vie for a UFC contract and a path to greatness. He quickly made a name for himself with his controversial and abrasive behavior. During his subsequent ten-year career in ultimate fighting, Leben became one of the most recognized figures in the sport, enthralling audiences around the world with his wild, head-first style of fighting as he took on some of the world’s best fighters, including Anderson Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Wanderlei Silva.But Leben’s success in the ring and international fame hid a troubled background. Abandoned by his father at a young age, Leben’s mother worked long hours to raise him and his two siblings, and Leben learned early he had to be tough to fend for himself. For most of his life, Leben struggled with alcohol and narcotics, and he was suspended by the UFC for nine months for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The Crippler is not just an exciting account of his rise to prominence within the UFC; it’s the incredible story of a renowned wild man dealing with his personal demons and learning that the toughest opponent is always yourself.Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

    Forrest Griffin is the light-heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and was the winner of the first season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter; in Got Fight?, he shows you how he did it. With Erich Krauss, Muay Thai fighter and co-author of “The Prodigy” B.J. Penn’s Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge.

    Single-handedly Miletich has transformed a gritty town on the banks of the Mississippi into an unlikely hotbed for his sport.He has also transformed many an average Joe into a walking weapon of destruction. Wertheim intertwines Miletich’s own life story, by turns tragic and triumphant, with the larger story of the unholy rise of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, from its controversial, back alley roots to the fastest-growing sporting enterprise in America. For fans of Jeff MacGregor’s Sunday Money and Sam Sheridan’s A Fighter’s Heart, Blood in the Cage takes readers behind the scenes, right down to the mat, from a punch in the kidney to the ping of the cash register, as Wertheim brilliantly exposes the no-holds-barred reality of the blood sport for a new generation.

    This book celebrates the Japanese grand masters who effectively defined the modern sport, examining the Samurai history that has shaped judo's unique sensibility.