Boxing Day Books

Jim Cirillo's book is very informative, especially to those who are actively involved in the law enforcement/security field. This is a must read!

Jim Cirillo talking about three topics, as described in the title; Guns, Bullets and Gunfights. This is not a "how to" book on tactical shooting

The Guns and Bullets sections were filled with interesting technical stuff interspersed with self-promotion. The Gunfights section, on the other hand, is chock full of real world advice and stories with quite a bit of humor thrown in.

My favorite exchange;

Lieutenant - "Jim, did you warn them? Did you tell them to drop their weapons and that they were under arrest?"
Cirillo - "Yeah, but I don't think they heard me because of all the shooting."

Hopefully there are other writings of his that may get published in the future. I would guess he had many important and useful things to say, but this book only gives a small sample.

Anyone who would describe Jim Cirillo as a "bloodthirsty killer" is beneath contempt. If you were threatened with violence by some street thug, you would pray that a man like Cirillo might intercede on your behalf. You may have no idea of the senseless, violent crimes that led to the formation of New York's Stakeout Unit. Storeowners were being brutalized and executed for no reason after being robbed. I understand that that reality is hard for some people to grasp. As Orwell wrote, "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

Some other, more reasonable critics have described Jim as coming off as arrogant. Having had the privilege of getting to know Jim in the last few months of his life, I can assure them that he was not arrogant in the least. He was a warm, open, and vibrant man, extremely gregarious. He did like to talk about his experiences but the effect was not arrogant. He simply took pride in his accomplishments, but at the same time he would talk about his own mistakes and laugh at himself. He was also very interested in what other people had to say.

I don't think there is anyone who knew Jim who did not regard him as a fine man and a great friend. He will be missed.

This book is outstanding! First of all...it is short! It is less than 120 pages, much less in text. That is a good thing. Keeps it easy to get through.

Secondly it addresses the psychological aspects of gun fighting better than most books of its era.

Thirdly, it doesnt try to cover motor movement skills like some books. If you want to know how to move, stand, hold the gun and aim...I recommend finding an instructor in the flesh. He doesnt waste 50 pages with wire diagrams of people going around corners and stuff. His book is better without that stuff. Dont try to learn physical skills from books.

Finally, the book unlocks new things to me each time I read it. I read it the first time when I knew nothing of shooting. I found it interesting and something to think about. It was short so it was worth my time. Later, as I grew as a shooter and a person I would reread it about once a year and notice things I hadnt seen before. New insights I had gained would allow me to comprehend things better and it made certain parts of the book more illuminating.

The book isnt perfect but for its cost and length it is well worth your time and money.

During Jim Cirillo's years with the legendary New York City Police Stakeout Unit (strangely enough, everyone I've ever seen or heard refer to this unit, in print or person, calls it the "Stakeout Squad" - except Jim Cirillo who tells me it was actually called the "Stakeout Unit") he participated in many of the most harrowing of its 252 armed encounters. Later, Cirillo spent more years as a firearms instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). Since retiring from law enforcement, Cirillo has conducted periodic firearms training courses on an itinerant basis. I feel privileged to be a graduate (with a 100 percent "survival rating") from Jim's Close Quarter/Tactical Handgun Course. Cirillo has also penned numerous articles for gun magazines. Much of the content of Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights was first published as magazine articles.

Subtitled "Tales and Lessons from a Modern-Day Gunfighter" this book includes chapters covering all of Jim Cirillo's many areas of firearms expertise. Cirillo is one of the few men in the modern era with a depth of experience sufficient to have a legitimate claim to the title "master gunfighter" so his thoughts are of significant interest to anyone who owns and/or regularly carries a gun for self-defense.

"Part One: Guns" includes two chapters, "Averting the Unintentional Shot" and "Hybrid Weapons" addressing, respectively, how to safely practice with and store guns in the home, and Cirillo's experiments over the years customizing a variety of handguns in search of maximum performance.

"Part Two: Bullets" includes "The Two Primary Functions of Handgun Bullets" and "Are Hollowpoints the Way to Go for Stopping Power?" It's interesting to note that the opinions of this master gunfighter, who's "been there and done that" more times than most people have shot gelatin blocks, is quite at odds with conventional wisdom on these topics.

"Part Three: Gunfights" includes five chapters, stories of Cirillo's days in the NYCPD Stakeout Unit and the lessons he learned from those experiences:

"Selection of the Gunfighter" details the qualities Cirillo believes are most essential both to survive a gunfight and deal with the emotional aftermath, based on his personal exposure to many people who both could and couldn't hack it in the Stakeout Unit. It's fascinating reading.

"Shooting for Score or Survival?" critiques the forms of "combat pistol" competition, compared to what's needed to survive a gunfight.

"Firearms Training and the Gunfight" gets into Cirillo's recommended training procedures, including his Weapon Silhouette and Geometric Point aiming methods. This chapter is also noteworthy in that it recounts the story of Cirillo's most famous gunfight, in which he was forced to shoot three armed robbers...only two hours into his very first stakeout!

In "Stress of the Gunfight" we get a few more facts about this incident (based on which Jeff Cooper created an IPSC course of fire called "The Cirillo Drill"), as well as Jim's ideas on how mental perceptions change and are affected by the stress of a life-or-death defensive emergency. This is firsthand experience talking here.

"The Bizarre NYCPD Stakeout Squad" was for me the most enjoyable part of the book, in which Cirillo recounts many hilarious stories of his fellow gunfighters from the Stakeout Unit. I've been fortunate enough to be there when Cirillo's told many of these tales in person, and believe me, you do lose a bit of the effect when you're not hearing them in Cirillo's heavy New Yawk accent. Still, even in written form some of these stories are so funny they verge on slapstick. I defy anyone to read about the gunfight titled "Marty and Benny" without smiling - maybe even breaking into hysterical laughter.

Finally, in the book's postscript, Cirillo reduces down to a set of rules his advice on preparing for a deadly encounter involving firearms. This is all really good stuff, gang.

This book is being TORN UP here on Amazon.
Seems like most people have a beef with Jack Sabat's character rather than the book itself.
Yeah, he's kind of a macho stereotype. So?
Much of his over the top macho battles ring true to my own martial arts experience. I've known many guys this aggressive and "manly" to the extreme in several dojos.

An interesting read by someone VERY different from me, but I'm not going to claim it's great literature, either. It's a good story with some lessons in determination and fighting spirit.
Why didn't those other reviews get it? I have to wonder if they are non-martial artists.
Jack, if you read these reviews, don't take those terrible ones too hard!

This books takes you into true life. What budo is truly about, self knowledge. This book discribes his quest for self inlightenment, and must be understood that way. Sensei Sabat is one of my Sensei's and is truely a great human, and role model. Like his training, supurb, his teachings go far beyond. He has trained great fighters such as Sensei "The Iceman" Chuck Liddell (UFC contender), and Sensei Tony Bacerra (national champion in Karate). I cannot stress enough that when you read this book you understand the point I have made that it is about HIS quests/trials. It may seem self centerd, but remember the book is about him.

BTW he would win in most all fights on the street. He is a very powerfull fighter. Also... A gun can take care of anyone so please dont say that if somebody came up to him with a gun he'd lose...

Full Contact, no excuses, no applogies. The author describes how he arrived at a level of expertise few of us will ever know.

It seems many of these readers miss the message this human Sensei is attempting to document. It is not a story about how great a man Jack Sabat is, nor is it about how much he can suffer and endure. The point I received is that Karate is a way of life, and as with most worthwhile pursuits, great sacrifice, dedication and effort are required to obtain greatness.

Stupid book supposedly about the silly subject of street fighting. But there are almost no street fights in it! Poorly written. If the author had trained in a Mixed Martial Arts gym and taken his beatings regularly via sparing, he probably would have been alot more humble than what he comes across in this book. Why the publisher went with this book is beyond me. Do not buy it. However, if you want an unwitting expose of alot of the things wrong with traditional martial arts, this would be a good.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited over to Lyle's house for dinner for some weird Canadian holiday called "Boxing-Day". When Lyle first called me and asked if I wanted to come over I was a little hesitant to make myself public again because I might have to talk about the Jack-Russell-Terrier. After listening to that Dog-Rat bark over and over, I decided it was in my best interest to go over to Lyle's and regain some of my sanity that the Jack-Russell-Terrier has been stripping away from me since it's un-holy insulting arrival to MY house. I called Lyle back and told him I'd be there ONLY if no-one would mention the Jack-Russell-Terrier or Morris (unless of course they had found him).

After I hung up the phone with Lyle, I realized that I did-not know anything about this Canadian-custom of Boxing-Day. Since both mom and Dad were home I was unable to go on Dad's "golden" computer and research it, so I had to research it in my head and on Home-Box-Office's-boxing-show. As I watched two guys in a ring punch each-other merciless for a while, Dad walked in and started talking at me about something or another, so I just went up to my room and closed the door. Doesn't he know I don't want to speak with him due to his treachery against Morris?

As I sat in my room I wrote down the things I noticed about watching the boxing show:

Boxing Gloves
Robe
Shorts
Angry-Faces

Due to my time limit I was forced to prepare my outfit for the Boxing-Day celebration quickly. I snuck into Mom's room and grabbed a robe that closely resembled what the gladiators wore to the ring. There was a problem though. I noticed some loop in it that said some-thing about some-one named Victoria, I ripped at it until it came off, tearing a hole in the robe in the proccess. I was upset with the robe at first, but I figured that the hole probably made it look like I've used it before in other Boxing-Day celebrations. I wanted to fit in.

Now with that taken care of I ran to the basement to get my boxing-gloves that I use on my Sock'em-Bop-Buddy inflatable punching-man. I wanted to make sure I still had some of my old moves, so I punched at it for a while (mental note: tape picture of the Jack-Russell-Terrier to it when I'm done with this review). I snuck past Mom and Dad to return to my room to grab a pair of addias-soccer-shorts. I'm pretty sure Lyle and his family won't mind, due to me being American and all, and not having a real pair of boxer-shorts. I put the outfit on. I looked pretty good for a First-Time-Boxing-Day-Rocky. I looked over my list again, and noticed I still needed the angry-face to complete the out-fit. I stared at my mirror until it was time to go, practicing my angry-face. MAN did I make some angry-faces! You should have seen them! Watch this, I'm gonna make one now! GRRRRRRRRRRR! AAArrrrrrrrRRR! Oh man, you guys should see this! ARARARARRRRR! Now THAT was a good one! Okay, here I go watch---Oh yeah, the review. Anyways, I threw my coat over the out-fit so Mom and Dad wouldn't want to take my picture, or some other weird parent thing.

When I arrived at Lyle's, (oh yeah, for my fans knowledge, it's really hard to drive with Boxing-Gloves on), any-who, back on track. When I arrived at Lyle's I walked in and threw off my coat to show them my Boxing-Day out-fit. I thought they would be really impressed with my respect for their culture. They sat there wide-eyed for a moment, so I thought I would further impress them and I threw out some jabs and a hay-maker style air-punch. Lyle's father and brother started to laugh, Lyle's mom told Lyle to get me some "proper-attire". I followed Lyle to his room confused, I spent all that time on this out-fit to impress them and I got laughed at. Maybe I was too pre-mature, and we would switch after dinner.

Lyle gave me some clothes to put on, and informed me that it wasn't that type of Boxing... He did note he was pleased with my enthusiasm though. We walked down to the dinner-table and Lyle's Dad called me Sugar-Ray for some reason. What the HECK!? Is that how Canadians do Boxing? With verbal-punches? I thought I'd join in and made a comment on his HUGE bald spot. Lyle and Lyle's Mom and Brother laughed. I said "how'd you like that verbal upper-cut?". Then I layed into him with some verbal jabs about his chronic-alcoholism. Lyle's Mom quickly interjected by lecturing me about how Boxing-Day did not have aaaannnyyy-thing to do with Boxing, physical or verbal. She then went on with some snore about church donations and this-and-that. What I thought was a great idea for a holiday, just pulled a one-eighty. For some reason though, Lyle's dad continued to call me Sugar-Ray for the rest of the evening. What the HECK kind of thing is that to call a GUEST in your house!? What's next, Honey-Bottom? Candy-Striper? Cinderella-Man!? He was probably just drunk.

In Conclusion, I blame the turn-out of this evening on my own Dad. Since he doesn't allow me on the computer all that much, it didn't allow me the time to do the proper research. I might have to invest in a book on Canadian customs so this won't happen again. They have this Thanks-Giving prequel type thing that I don't want to get embarrassed about either. Pfffft. Those Canadians LOL! Whatever, leave me alone. My dog ran away and you should stop reading this and go help me find him you lazy Americans. Later.

howardtuttleman.com

While Jeff Wells does an excellent job capturing the tenor of the times he does Tommy Burns a grave disservice in treating him as the bad guy of his story, and Johnson the great hero. Burns could have done what previous holders of the heavyweight championship had done, and flatly refused to give Johnson a shot at the title. But, unlike the others, he allowed Johnson, a black man, his big chance. It was Johnson who turned his back on his race and denied similar opportunities to Sam Langford, Joe Jeannette, and Sam McVea. Jack Johnson was a talented fighter, but not much of a human being.

As I am not a fan of this journalist, I must admit I was a bit prejudiced when it came to reading this book. Credit where credit is due though, this book is very good. It reveals an insight into the world as it was in the early part of the 20th Century and especially Australia, the scene of the Burns - Johnson World Heavyweight title fight in 1908. The author brings to light the personalities of these two boxers and how the public reacted to these personalities at varying times. Overall it is a well-balanced and entertaining read.