Reviewed by Java Davis for Readers' Favorite

This in-depth martial arts manual teaches the theoretical and practical basics of Krav Maga, the form of martial arts used by the IDF in Israel. Krav Maga is spreading in popularity. Edgar Fernandez, the author of Krav Maga Self Defense For Everybody, runs the Krav Maga training program in Costa Rica. For laymen who have never studied any martial arts before, and are curious, there are discussions of different defense moves to counter attacks from the front or rear, with or without weapons, and how to keep from passing out from choke holds. The moves to counter are called defensive, but many of the Krav Maga defensive moves are quite aggressive, refusing to allow anyone to consider himself or herself a victim. Readers will learn that every body part can be a participant in some way; head, feet, knees, elbows, hands of course, and even biting. Mr. Fernandez reminds us that there may be a second or even third enemy present who may also be prepared to attack.

I have strong, positive feelings for this expository training manual. The organization of the material is clean and the accompanying photographs, and there are many, perfectly illustrate each chapter and sub-heading. The text descriptions of the hows and whys of defensive and offensive moves are crisp and concise. This book is short, but dense. I found myself stopping frequently to absorb the information and trying to imagine myself in the photographs. I am disabled, but I found many things that I could still do if I ever found myself in a difficult situation. As wonderful as I found Krav Maga Self Defense For Everybody, it was obviously written by a non native speaker of English, and as a reviewer, I had to be mindful of how many mistakes there were. But as a reader with an interest in Krav Maga, I found myself concentrating on the information at hand. Congratulations to Edgar Fernandez on a job well done, but it still needs work.