Company: Hi-Impact
Tape Name: Winning Tactics, Vol 2 - " How To Win Any
Fight "
Tape Cost: $59.95 (sold in a 3 tape set - only)
Length of Tape/Time:
Approximately 75 minutes
Number of Moves/Techniques: 20 techniques + variations
Return
Policy: Refund on damaged or defective tapes only
Experiences in dealing with
this company:
The Instructor: Bill Shaw
Company's Address: 8002 NE Hwy. 99-254,
Dept.W - Vancouver, WA 98665
Company's Phone Number: 360-576-5182
Web Page:
http://www.hi-impact.com
E-Mail: newsoffer1@hi-impact.com
Primary Grading Criteria:
1. Production/Tape
Quality: 8
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 9
3. Comprehension Score/Immediate
Understanding: 9
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better Martial Artist:
9
5. Score on delivery vs hype: 8
6. Degree to which we would recommend this
product: 9
7. Wasted Time ( The higher the number, the less " fluff"
/repetition ): 9
8. Playback Score/Watching if over-and-over again: 9
9. Would
I purchase more of this company's products:9
10. Overall grade based on cost vs.
Value: 9
Grand Total: 88% ( Fair = 2.0 Stars )
Secondary Grading Criteria:
1. Beginners
benefit: Good
2. Intermediate benefit: Fair
3. Advanced benefit: Fair
4.
Time to benefit: Immediate for most
5. The need to buy additional tapes to understand
this one: None
Written Summary:
This volume is the
second video in a series called " How To Win Any Fight " by Bill Shaw.
This video is definitely an improvement over the first volume in this series. There
is some good information with fairly good detailed explanations on how to perform
certain techniques. In fact, from a technique standpoint, this is pretty good video.
However, the quality of the production is second rate and looks like it must be
about ten years old, judging from the look and feel of the video graphics. Mr. Shaw
spends a lot of money advertising his videos in Black Belt magazine ( and maybe a
few others ). If I were him, I would invest some of my money in redoing some of
these videos and less on the full page super hype advertisements.
I will ask
this question again. If I watch this video, will I indeed know how to win any fight
? The envelope, please. And the answer, once again, is still no. Mr. Shaw obviously
knows martial arts. That is obvious from watching the video. But the biggest problem
with this video is the huge hype to content ratio. The more claims a video makes
in it's ads, the more I expect to see. And while the material on this video is above
average, it is definitely not the answer to learning how to win any fight. If you
are going to talk the talk ( advertising ), you better be able to walk the walk (
video content ). This video, like the previous volume, is a series of excerpts from
other videos by Mr. Shaw. At times, I felt like I was watching a long commercial
for Mr. Shaw's other products.
So what is on this video ? We are shown a
fairly in depth look at the knee drop. Next is a decent segment on leg wrenching
followed by a very good segment on applying arm bars. The section on the leg choke
is not that great if you know anything about grappling. I did like the way Mr. Shaw
taught the use of the step through armbar. His "sword kick " which is
a hybrid low line crescent/ oblique kick has good street applicability. The hair
pulling tactics are mundane ( there only so many ways to pull someone's hair ) but
the choke defenses are good as are the bear hug escapes. As you can tell, the techniques
deal pretty much with the garden variety attacks seen in the usual martial arts class.
Probably the best advice from Mr. Shaw is that you cannot learn a technique to fit
every situation. Instead, you must learn to improvise and take opportunities as they
present themselves. Of course that is obvious to anyone who has been in the arts
( or done any real fighting ) for any serious length of time. The real question
is " How do you learn to improvise and take the opportunities that present themselves
?" It's a great question and a very important question for anyone who trains
in the martial arts. Only a few videos even attempt to answer that question and
even fewer come up with workable solution. Unfortunately, this video, like so many
others does not really train the viewer how to react spontaneously. Mr. Shaw does
give a bit of fleeting advice on learning how to improvise. But it is very fleeting
and if you blink, you might miss it.
So who needs this video ? If you are
a collector of techniques, then you will probably like this video, maybe even like
it a great deal.. If you are still on a never ending martial art safari, collecting
technique after technique, then you will probably love this video. If you are a lover
of concept training, then you won't like this video at all. I ended my personal
" technique collecting safari " long ago. Because of that, I am not crazy
about this video. But it really is a pretty good collection of martial arts techniques.
CJ
