Principles, Analysis, and Application of Effortless Combat Throws

Tim Cartmell's books are always a great reference. He has long experience and training in an authentic lineage and is very realistic thoughtful in his approach to training. His breakdown of principles and application is solid. If you are interested in shuai jiao techniques, this is a solid reference. The only criticism I have for this book is that the pictures are a little dark and can make details hard to see. If you are reasonably familiar with shuai jiao or other throwing technique, not really much of an issue. (if you are not, you probably need a little more than a book...)

The best part of this book is that Tim broke down the essence of the “internal” martial arts into plain understandable English. Tim Is a fluent speaker of Chinese and can read and write Chinese as well. He breaks down all the mysticism into easy to digest chunks. In terms of the throws, those are hard to learn from a book unless you have experience.

As a practictioner of Yang Ben-Hou based taijiquan with 27 years experience, I would recommend anybody with an interest in the internal martial arts to buy, read, study and then work at applying the materials presented in this book. This is clearly one of the best expositions of internal martial arts theory written in readable English that I have encountered to date. One of the problems Americans have in learning the Chinese martial arts is that there is very little written material available that is readily understandable and practically applicable to the average student. The "Tai Chi Classics" are written in terse and frankly arcane Chinese, and are then translated into a stilted style of English which communicates little in the way of immediately useful information. My own taiji teacher, a 79 year old practictioner from China who learned taiji beginning at the age of 16, and who is fluent in most of the Chinese dialects as well as in English, essentially says that the books out there are "useless" to learn from, and up until I read this book, I basically agreed with him 100%. Now I have an exception to state to my teacher's rule of thumb. One thing I should state about this book: the techniques illustrated here are more from Chinese wrestling (san shou) than they are from conventional taiji or tui shou (push hands). I personally wasn't as interested in the second section of the book detailing the throws than I was with the first half of the book detailing proper setup and body alignment principles. No matter. The book is excellent. Buy it!

Tim Cartmell has been my neijia teacher and now BJJ teacher for over a dozen years. He's smart and his knowledge of all martial arts in general is both broad and deep. The first two chapters of this book are brilliant essays on body mechanics and the need for discovering and holding your center. The rest of the book is the definitive manual on how to set up and execute a wide range of throws. As such, it is a necessary addition to every serious martial artist's library.

Excellent commentary on throws. This book is not for casuals; it goes very in depth, and is not a book where you can just casually glance at and extract its principles. You have to really read it word for word and think about it, and study every single throw that you have ever learned and see how these principles manifest [or don't manifest, in which case you need to correct your technique] themselves for optimal growth. This book cannot be read only once (this coming from a guy who usually only reads a book once and gets everything he needs) because there is just so much in here. Truly a gem.

This book illustrates the proper body mechanics needed to skillfully throw an opponent rather than relying on strength. I practice both Bagua and Yoshin Ryu Jiujitsu and found it to be a great resource for throws of both arts. The black and white photos may not be the best, but as people come in various sizes the photos do not need to be the best. Practice is what will allow you to learn the correct technique. This book is just a guide, an excellent guide, but just a guide.

Cartmell's skills and clear instruction make this quite a useful video. His Chin Na video is equally good. Enthusiastically recommend both.

This is the best book I have come across on this topic. The book is really not for a novice though, as some of the principles described must be practiced repeatedly to be understood. If you have a combative arts backround, this book will certainly bring a measure of clarity to some of the concepts related to combat throws. The author clearly knows his topic inside and out and does a brilliant job of presenting the information here. Bravo. If you are looking for reality based self defense and tactics training in the New England area, check us out at [...]

I have been very impressed with this book.Whether you are an experienced martial artist, or a beginner looking for some help, this is a book that has something for you.While there is not a massive amount of throws and techniques in the book, the material is good.The throws are well explained and the diagram good, although not exhaustive. For me, I found a few of favourites in here, as well as several that I had not come across before (I have studied several Martial Arts over 15 years). What did impress me was that the throws did work well, and several of my sparring partners have been suprized to find themselves heading for the floor after excuting one of these throws.I would recommend this book. It does what it says in the title.