Company: PFS Video
Tape Name: Anatomy Of A Street Fight
Tape Cost: $9.95
Length
of Tape/Time: Approximately 1 hour
Number of Moves/Techniques: Scenario Tape Only
Return
Policy: 45 days - 45 years
Experiences in dealing with this company: Very Good
The
Instructor: Paul Vunak
Company's Address: PO Box 50, Oley, Pennsylvania,19547
Company's
Phone Number: 800-692-9622
Web Page: http://www.pfsvideo.com/paul_vunak.htm
E-Mail:
pfsvideo@dejazzd.com
Main Grading Criteria
Production/Tape
Quality: 10
Instructors demonstrated skill level: 10
Comprehension Score:10
Degree
to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist:7
Score on delivery vs
hype:7
Degree to which we'd recommend this product: 8
Wasted Time ( The higher
the number, the less " fluff ") 8
Playback Score/Watching it over-and-over
again): 8
Would I purchase more of this company's products: 8
Overall grade
based on cost vs value: 8
Grand Total: 86 % ( Fair = 1.5 Stars )
Secondary Grading Criteria
Beginners:
Fair
Intermediate: Fair
Advanced: Fair
Time to benefit: Not a great deal
of benefit
The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: None
Written Summary:
Paul Vunak. The name
is synonymous with street self defense. Mr. Vunak is practically a one man institution
when it comes to teaching street self defense. He has been around for a while and
he is sort of like the E.F. Hutton of street fighting. When Vunak speaks, people
tend to listen.
I have seen other videos of Mr. Vunak's, and in my opinion,
this is not his best effort. That's not to say the material presented on this video
is not relevant, because Mr. Vunak, especially towards the end of the tape, makes
many good points and shows many " realistic " scenarios. But the scripting
was not logical to me and the material tended to jump around from one topic to another.
The first half of this tape has about (6) 5 minute fight sequences, in which
we see people just going at it against one another. It appears to be a free-for-all,
or more like a tournament or contest of some sort. The reason I say this is that
while these sequences are going on, there is no narration or explanation given as
to why certain techniques, concepts, or such, are being done or used.
First
we see some guys double stick fighting for several minutes, then after that, single
stick fighting for several minutes. After that, there's a long 9 minute, free-for-all,
grappling sequence, without any narration or explanation given during it. Then there
are several knife fight sequences, without narration or explanation given while they're
going on. After that the viewer is shown a few combination sequences incorporating
some of the above. Over half the tape was spent watching various people do these
fighting sequences without any explanation about technique or concept given while
they're going on. There is some brief discussion after each sequence, but in my opinion,
the brief dialog given after each, doesn't really explain what you just watched.
During these sequences, the only thing the viewer hears are grunts, groans, and the
sound of some kind of primitive drum in the background. After awhile, I began to
wonder what was the point to all of this.
Where I felt the tape shined, was
in its second half. Mr. Vunak refers to this as the "Close Quarter Combat"
portion. In it you get to watch several interesting barroom scenarios. In each scenario,
the viewer is shown the " wrong " way to handle a situation, followed by
a suggested " right " way. Now this was very interesting to me, and more
of what I was looking for, in a "Streetfighting" tape. I liked this portion
of the tape very much.
This is not a bad video tape and I certainly don't
want to imply that it is. The production quality of this tape was first rate, and
has a first class " look and feel ", as do other Vunak tapes that I have
seen. It's just that I expect a lot from a Paul Vunak tape and this tape just left
me a little bit flat for the reasons explained above.
CJ
