“COMBAT JUDO TO KAJUKENBO: The Evolution of Martial Arts Systems in the Military 1943-1970 is a great book. The detailed examination of the period manuals with Barron’s modern photographs and explanations is great. I can’t think of another such combination of history and practical H2H. An instant classic!” – Lance Gatling
“Barron Shepherd’s new book, “Combat Judo to Kajukenbo”, is a tough as nails book. Barron is a hardcore dude, he’s skilled and disciplined at what he does. You can see that with this book, everything is well thought out (instructional photos, layout, text) and I can’t think of a better person to teach the stuff.” – Bob Sabet
“Combat Judo to Kajukenbo is the latest book from Barron Shepherd. Barron’s in-depth martial arts training (4th Dan Judo, 7th Dan Kajukenbo and certified boxing trainer and coach, amongst others) shows in his ability to describe in simple terms the techniques in this book. While he takes the liberty of expanding and revising the curriculum of the Restricted Judo course, it is done in a logical and concise manner.”– Cris Andersen
“Barron Shepherd’s second book Combat Judo to Kajukenbo takes the momentum of Real Combat Judo and delivers to an even higher and broader level. Combat Judo to Kajukenbo is as inspiring as it is informative. There is a lot of information in this book, but it is well presented in bite-size chunks. There is a clearly thought-out learning sequence where each set of techniques builds on from the one before. For the judoka, there are huge learning opportunities to broaden their skills, particularly within the detailed sections on boxing, striking, blocking, and knife work. These are areas we are often least familiar with and possibly avoid due to simply not knowing how. What Barron presents gives us the opportunity to rectify this gap. The drill sections provided are therefore very useful for practice and later application.
The chapter on Dirty Judo is intriguing in itself and flows perfectly from the previous chapter, The Science of Hitting Someone with the Planet. Dirty Judo brings together many of the methods in the early sections of the book and takes it up another notch to deliver a full-on combat system – Dirty Judo and Dirty Boxing. The merging of these systems into one is the book’s masterstroke.
Kajukenbo is introduced in the final chapter and is a system I was largely unfamiliar with. It has an interesting history and combines the most effective self-defense techniques from Shotokan Karate, Judo, Kenpo, and boxing (‘Kajukenbo’ is the acronym of each). This chapter could be a book in itself and left me wishing there was a club nearby I could join!
Barron has again shared his extensive knowledge of a historically fascinating, effective, and legitimate combat system so it can live on through our own training. This is a gift worth the sweat and application required. The key message is in the foreword by Robert Sabet and introduction by Barron – train, drill, experiment, and make it your own, don’t merely copy as a set of techniques.” – Jeff Simpson PhD, The Combat Lab, New Zealand