Beyond the Lion's Den: The Life, the Fights, the Techniques

by Erich Krauss and Ken Shamrock

Book Overview

Inside the Lion's Den is the remarkable story of Ken Shamrock's ascent to the top of reality martial combat.

A legendary Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter and former professional wrestler, Shamrock is an inspiration to thousands. This is the story of his rise from a troubled youth to champion in the ring in both America and Asia. The first "King of Pancrase" in the Japanese fighting circuit, and the first "Superfight Champion"...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804836590
• ISBN13: 9780804836593
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 2.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.5" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Apology overdue, to everyone offended.....

I am so sorry to all whom I've upset and offended with my online blogs/rantings. This is my promise to produce heretofore no more politically oriented, morally offensive pieces of diatribe that I completly let myself get carried away with. All too often I let opinions and guesswork and self-interest overcome my actually mundane, sober personality. Please forgive me. That's all I can ask.....that's all I can ask. Good day.

What "Inside" should have been

Having read "Inside the Lion's Den" years ago, I was very happy when this book came out. It makes Shamrock's first book seem like an abridged version of this one. As in the first book, the first part is autobiographical. In it, Shamrock goes in depth about his troubled childhood, his time on the American pro-wrestling circuit (including a detailed description of the Nasty Boys incident), his time in Japan, and his return to MMA fighting up to his fight with Kimo. Without a doubt, some of the accounts are embellished or one-sided, but I think any fan of MMA, especially the early days, will be pleased at the insights Shamrock gives. My biggest complaint, as a pro-wrestling fan, is the constant misspelling of wrestler's names, but I don't think that'll effect most readers. The second part of the book is on submission fighting. This is MUCH more detailed, technique-wise, than "Inside", but is noticeably missing sections on training, strategy and nutrition which were found in the first book. This section starts with stance and mobility and moves on to striking, including basic defenses, combinations, and striking from the clinch. Next he addresses takedowns, both offensively and defensively. He covers shooting, takedowns out of the clinch, takedowns off of the wall, takedown defense, takedowns to counter strikes, and many of his techniques end in a submission hold of some sort, allowing the fighter to finish his opponent off. After that is groundfighting, which is really Ken's specialty. He addresses, by chapter, the top guard position, side control and it's variations, the mount, the rear mound (including variations), and the bottom guard. In each section, he gives striking and submission options, proper positional control, and usually a bit on mobility and escapes. Fans of leg locks will love this part of the book. Considering the length and cost of the book, I'd recommend it primarily for those interested in both the history and techniques of MMA. Though he's lost a few steps in the ring, there's no doubt after reading the instructional section that Ken still knows the techniques that work in an MMA fight. An excellent follow-up to his first book, and a very good book overall.

There's no better place to learn about his competitions and the stories behind them

Ken Shamrock is a legendary martial artist and fighting champion best known perhaps for his WWF superstar fame: there's no better place to learn about his competitions and the stories behind them than in his autobiographical Beyond The Lion's Den: The Life, The Fights, The Techniques. Packed with color photos throughout, Beyond The Lion's Den captures not just the high points of Shamrock's career, but provides plenty of movement-by-movement discussions of basic fighting techniques which lend to martial arts lessons.

If you are a Ken Shamrock fan it's worth checking out!.

This book contains a brief autobiography which is 64 pages long which is OK especially if you read "Inside the lions den" because that was a fairly detailed autobiography so this is mostly recap of that with some new details that you didn't get in the first one. The rest of the book is a "How to" guide on submission fighting. The Good: The auto biography was better written than "Inside the lions den" which at points made you think you were reading Clark Kents Auto biography instead of Ken Shamrocks. There are clear pictures of the fighting moves along with step by step instructions on how to do them which was pretty cool if that kind of thing interest you. The Bad: Nothing memorable. I wish he would have elaborated on where all the lions den fighters are now and whether or not would could expect to see all of them fighting again in the near future. Overall if you are a Ken Shamrock fan you will enjoy this book and even though it is a little pricey it's worth picking up and checking out.

Good Biography...Great moves

Where 'Inside the Lion's Den' Leaves off, this book picks up. Beyond chroniciles shamrocks early pro wrestling days along with his reign in the UFC, his move 2 WWF, and finally his return to MMA. Written in first person, Shamrock comes across much more humoriously than 'Inside.' Of the books 278pages, 212 of them R NHB technique instructions. Having practiced MMA on a much more amature level, I can say that the techniques contained in it are both effective and basic. Shamrocks descriptions get to the heart of each move, teaching the most important parts of ever technique, and explaining them thouroughly. All in all, this has to go on the shelf of any MMA of UFC fanatic.