In The Principles of Unarmed Combat, Black Belt Magazine columnist Mark Jacobs breaks down the essential skills of empty-handed martial arts. Whether you train to win in the ring or survive on the street, this book will show you why some fighting skills work and why some don’t. Plus you’ll learn how to troubleshoot problem areas in your training, no matter what style you practice.

Mark Jacobs has interviewed doctors and physicists, analyzed key scientific studies and synthesized the best available information about how to make martial arts work better. The result is a comprehensive, heavily researched guide to everything you should know about striking and grappling, offense and defense, and even the mental aspects of training.

The Principles of Unarmed Combat is made up of over 50 chapters, organized into 10 information packed sections. You’ll get all of the topics you’d expect to find in a comprehensive guide to the fighting arts: posture, footwork, positioning, striking, kicking, takedowns and groundfighting. But unlike most how-to books, you’ll also get hard-to-find insider information on advanced topics like transitioning, fighting from the clinch, pain compliance, fight psychology, real world defense strategies and the dark side of sport fighting.

Mark Jacobs has combined his decades in the martial arts with his skills as a professional journalist to create one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the skills, techniques, strategies and tactics of unarmed combat.

“Bruce Lee’s The Tao of Jeet Kune Do ain’t got nothing on Mark Jacobs and The Principles of Unarmed Combat. Examining hand-to-hand combat with a keen and analytical eye, Jacobs touches upon everything striking to grappling, offense to defense, and even the mental aspect - and he does so in a concise and easy-to-understand fashion. With The Principles of Unarmed Combat, Jacobs has crafted the defi nitive text on fighting.”
~ Jim Genia, Editor Full-Contact Fighter magazine and MMAconvert.com, author of Raw Combat: The Underground World of Mixed Martial Arts

“You won’t find any magic solutions in here. You won’t get another “how to” book or any new secrets known only to the author. What you will get are the facts about every aspect of empty handed martial arts from footwork to striking to defense to grappling and everything in between.”
~ “Judo” Gene LeBell. Black Belt Hall of Fame instructor

“Mark Jacobs is knowledgeable and direct and doesn’t waste conversation on impractical concepts, techniques or teachings. His book, The Principles of Unarmed Combat, is the same way. This book is a good reference for the beginner or for the advanced instructor. I will be recommending The Principles of Unarmed Combat to all my students.”
~ Greg Thompson, close quarters combat instructor to the U.S. Army Special Forces, creator of the Special Operations Combatives Program, and author of H2H Combat.