Company: AttackProof
Tape Name: AttackProof (original)
Tape Cost: $34.95
Length of Tape/Time: 90 minutes
Number of Moves/Techniques: too many to count
Return Policy: ?
Experiences in dealing with this company: Non-Responsive
The Instructor: John Perkins
Company's Address: Mad Squirrel Productions Inc., P.O. Box 163, Croton, NY, 10520
Company's Phone Number: 1-877-288-2258
Web Page: http://www.attackproof.com
E-Mail: attack@attackproof.com

Primary Grading Criteria:

1. Production/Tape Quality: 7
2. Instructors demonstrated skll level: 8
3. Comprehension Score/Immediate Understanding: 8
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist: 8
5. Score on delivery vs hype: 8
6. Degree to which we would recommend this product: 8
7. Wasted Time ( The higher the number,the less " fluff" /repetition ): 8
8. Playback Score/Watching it over-and-over again: 7
9. Would I purchase more of this company's products: 7
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. value: 8

Grand Total: 77% (Good = 3.5 Stars)

Secondary Grading Criteria:

1. Beginners benefit: Very Good
2. Intermediate benefit: Good
3. Advanced benefit: Good
4. Time to benefit: A few days
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand this one: None

Written Summary:

I've had my eye on this Perkins material for awhile now, primarily due to alot of the advertising hype on it. FYI - Mr. Perkins and his staff all ignored repeated email requests to send us some review copies of his materials! Based on what I felt were "certain similarities" in other materials we like, I think I understand why! Thanks goes out to the gentleman who sent us this and 39 other videos! Without him having done so, we likely wouldn't be bringing you this review anytime soon! Also, this isn't the only Perkins tape you'll be seeing us review, as that individual sent us several other Perkins titles based on this "AttackProof" system of his.

This appears to be the first-and-original AttackProof tape Perkins created, of what since seems to have become a series of them. Perkins whole premise seems to be "many aspects of traditional Martial Arts don't really work in a Street Fight, let me show you what does". He basically teaches CQC/H2H, modern military type combatives, by using a mixture of things like: Palm Heel strikes to the head, Eye Gouges, Face Rakes, Elbows, Knees, Front Kicks, and Headbutts. You could say it looks alot like the David James stuff with a slight mix of Paul Vunak's Wing Chun/JKD influence. What I found oddly coincidental was Perkins actually used some of the exact terminology/concepts used on David James' tapes. In fact, Perkins techniques looked similar in many respects to James'. Hmmm....Perkins is in NY like James, yet I believe James likely had his Vee tapes out alot longer than Perkins has. Don't they say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"?

This tape basically goes through numerous mock-type-attacks, or responses to the standard type self defense situations one is taught in a dojo (bear hug, etc), and the victim responds with a flurry of: Palm Heels to the face, Eye Gouges, Front of the Throat Strikes, Side of the Neck Strikes, Face Rakes, Elbows, Knees, Front Kicks, and Headbutts. Just like David James' stuff, it seems students of Perkins are taught to deliver about 6-10 strikes non-stop, using any of the main weapons mentioned, before letting up on an attacker.

Perkins later in this video makes reference to Wing Chun type sensitivity type drills (you know the Pak Sao, Chi Sao, type) as we've seen on Vunak and even Simonet's materials. Speaking of Simonet, Perkins showed a technique to the face while simultaneously stepping through a persons knee, something I saw demonstrated for like 10 minutes at the beginning of Simonet's last video (who by the way does lots of Wing Chun type drills too).

In general it was good stuff, although I had slight issue with some of his fundamentals. Perkins on a couple of shots was reaching for a head shot, when in my opinion it wasn't the best target, due to his body position. In one of those, the attacker had an outstretched arm, and Perkins came up under that arm for a long stretched-out shot to the head. Worse though were the choices Perkins made with regard to Knife Defense. Perkins insists on continuing with your attempts to strike a persons head before securing the hand/wrist holding the knife. He insists that a person won't be thinking about using the knife while you are hitting them in the face. Yet I say what if one of your shots misses, and the attacker uses that opportunity to slash or stab? To me, I want that knife secured right-off-the-bat. Perkins leaves out a very important James concept I love, which is the "High-Low Attack". That concept basically states that after a couple of attempts at striking the head, your opponent will focus on protecting his head, then you should attack what he's not as highly focused on protecting by going low to areas like: the groin, knees, shins, and thighs. Other than an occassional groin shot, Perkins and his staff didn't go low very often, they seemed to primarily be head hunters. Sorry Mr. Perkins, but I tend to agree with David James, after 1-2 of those shots to the head, your attacker isn't going to just stand there and take those. He will somewhat be focused on protecting his head, and once he does why not focus on low attacks, which when they land may likely open up the head area once again for more shots that get through!

Assessment: I'd say its a little watered-down compared to the devastation/mutilation James delivers. However, if you are a fan of David James and Paul Vunak's Street Safe # 1, this could show you ways to bridge-the-two, and might be worth having for that purpose. Most of it was good, but just keep your eyes open for a few questionable shots/techniques.

EM

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