The authoritative book on fighting from one of the UK's leading martial artists. 'Fighting' takes the intermediate martial arts student through the fundamentals of combat, with comprehensive sections on preparation (footwork, stance, range and measure, guards) and punching and kicking attacks and defences, including elbows, knees, throws and training combinations and workouts to drill all these. There is also a very useful section on putting it all together, including strategy, timing, rhythm, the fighting timeline and scenario planning. This book goes far beyond the usual scope of martial arts books, providing a comprehensive reference for the serious martial arts student.
In January 1993, the Australian government sent just under one thousand young men and women to serve under American command in a violent, impoverished, starving society. Most males over the age of twelve either carried or had access to a gun, and most Somali men had been fighting a vicious civil war for years. Australian soldiers and their teams had to gain control of the streets of Baidoa and surrounding towns. This contest was not 'find, fight and kill' warfare. There was no decisive victory or defeat. The aim was to detect 'the bad boys' and deter and de-escalate their violence rather than escalate hostilities to success through 'body count'. This mode of operation was not community policing by soldiers either. It involved adjusting attitudes forcefully and assuring uncomfortable consequences for bad behaviour and ultimately lethal responses to armed challenges. The world looked over their shoulders. Corporals and diggers had to make split-second decisions to open or hold fire. Holding fire when provoked by punks constituted disciplined professional performance. Opening fire before understanding the situation, especially against unarmed provocateurs, constituted unprofessional conduct and possible condemnation, even criminal charges. These young Australians carried the international reputation of Australia and its army on their shoulders. Their actions would either enhance that reputation or create controversy, negative publicity and, potentially, international embarrassment and condemnation. After asserting a presence through rigorous patrolling and search-and-clear urban and rural operations, the Australians deterred a range of marauders from interfering with UN and NGO humanitarian activities, keeping expatriate staff safe and killing and wounding several Somali shooters in surprise clashes. After adjusting their own attitudes to balance aggression and compassion, fight leaders and their diggers forcefully adjusted Somali attitudes, secured a stalemate, and then took control for the time they were in Somalia Australian soldiers individually and collectively helped a traumatised society needing a 'fair go' and gave ordinary Somali men, women and children trying to survive a little bit of hope.
This history has been published to mark 70 years of service as well as the 50th Anniversary of the battle of Coral/Balmoral in Vietnam in 1968, the 25th Anniversary of service in Somalia in 1993 and the 10th anniversary of service in Afghanistan in 2008/09. It covers only the ‘wave tops’ of 70 years of history and mentions only a few individuals, mostly commanding officers or contingent commanders who had ultimate responsibility for operational success or failure; thus, deserving their prominence. Photographs and tables do their best to enhance the narrative in the expectation of, ‘A picture is worth a 1000 words’. By measures of its operational record, The 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment is one of the first and foremost battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment.
In the 1960s the Law did not punish a man for leaving a wife and four kids under the age of six years to survive by themselves. The Law did not punish men for sexual discrimination, or sexual harassment in the workplace. But when these things happened, many women punished themselves with guilt and shame. For Gwen Breen the traumas of desertion, discrimination and harassment awakened a genetic sleeping dog called 'schizophrenia'. This book is not a story of female victimhood. It is a story of how one woman turned a battle with mental illness, guilt and shame into a life of compassion and service to others
The Communist Party of China (CPC) is bullying Australia and will not stop until there are hurtful consequences for doing so. This book proposes a sovereign de-escalation strategy that does not depend on investments in ships, submarines, tanks, fighter aircraft, long-range missiles, or the US-Australian alliance. Its focus is on ingenuity rather than firepower. The objective is a return to mutually respectful relations. This is a sophisticated war-preventing, not a war-provoking strategy. The CPC has chosen to dominate using a grey zone campaign. Suppose peace is the colour 'white' and war is figuratively 'black'. In this case, the CPC's new way of achieving dominance is a range of coercive, warlike activities in 'the grey zone' that escalate through shades of grey between white and black, from non-violent to violent coercion. If political and economic intimidation fails, the destructive tactics of hybrid warfare follow. It is time to stand up with new national security instruments in the grey zone. If de-escalation fails and war becomes inevitable, these instruments will be 'game changers' at home, near region and internationally.
Duntroon to Dili' is a compelling story of a man who has committed his life to the service of others. Gary graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon and his service as a peacemaker has exposed him to considerable danger and personal trauma. Dramatic experiences in the Iran-Iraq war saw him develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Gary chronicles his own struggle and management of this illness, and his parallel ministry to other veterans similarly affected. Despite being a distinguished graduate of senior military staff colleges and with a wealth of experience as an Infantry Officer, Gary gave up his promising military career to train and be ordained as a Deacon in the Catholic Church. I n his new vocation, Gary served as Chaplain in both the Australian Army and Federal Police, with multiple deployments to Timor-Leste, The Solomon Islands, Bougainville and the Asian Tsunami of 2004. He also continued to be an active leader in a wide range of communities that he has been a part of, as well as an outspoken advocate for peace, justice and morality. Gary Stone's journey will take you through a life of adventure around the world. It is a powerful testament of a man who says 'Yes' to God's call of service to humanity; a story of a man who does not back away from a challenge regardless of the risk or magnitude.
Military force projection is the self-reliant capacity to strike from mainland ports, bases and airfields to protect Australia's sovereignty as well as more distant national interests. Force projection is not just a flex of military muscle in times of emergency or the act of dispatching forces. It is a cycle of force preparation, command, deployment, protection, employment, sustainment, rotation, redeployment and reconstitution. If the Australian Defence Force consistently gets this cycle wrong, then there is something wrong with Australia's defence. This monograph is a force projection audit of four Australian regional force projections in the late 1980s and the 1990s -- valid measures of competence. It concludes that Australia is running out of luck and time. The Rudd Government has commissioned a new Defence White paper. This monograph is Exhibit A for change.
This book recounts a journey of discovery in an area where we thought we knew exactly how the church worked - the congregation. It tells the story and explores the principles that can radically reconfigure the mid-sized expression of church to recover biblical congregation as extended family and community in mission. It also charts a course for transitional church, from inherited models to thoroughgoing missional communities that can creatively express the transforming life of Jesus in as many different forms as the diverse cultures and contexts of our plural society"--Page 4 of cover.
For more than 80 years, images of the Third Reich have appeared in newsreels, documentaries, and fictional stories--from comedies and musicals to war, horror and science fiction films. Many of these representations say as much about the filmmakers as they do about Nazism itself. Hollywood often used the brutal Nazi as an all-purpose villain in escapist adventures set during and after the war, but just as often used him to attack the evil he symbolized. Drawing on studio files, correspondence of the Production Code office and the writings of noted historians and critics, this book describes the making of many such films produced in Hollywood, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations. Biographies of several military and political figures who served as the basis for Nazi characters compare the cinematic and real-life versions.
From New York Times bestselling biographer Bob Spitz, a full and rich biography of an epic American life, capturing what made Ronald Reagan both so beloved and so transformational. More than five years in the making, based on hundreds of interviews and access to previously unavailable documents, and infused with irresistible storytelling charm, Bob Spitz's REAGAN stands fair to be the first truly post-partisan biography of our 40th President, and thus a balm for our own bitterly divided times. It is the quintessential American triumph, brought to life with cinematic vividness: a young man is born into poverty and raised in a series of flyspeck towns in the Midwest by a pious mother and a reckless, alcoholic, largely absent father. Severely near-sighted, the boy lives in his own world, a world of the popular books of the day, and finds his first brush with popularity, even fame, as a young lifeguard. Thanks to his first great love, he imagines a way out, and makes the extraordinary leap to go to college, a modest school by national standards, but an audacious presumption in the context of his family's station. From there, the path is only very dimly lit, but it leads him, thanks to his great charm and greater luck, to a solid career as a radio sportscaster, and then, astonishingly, fatefully, to Hollywood. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bob Spitz's REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life - giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations. This is no hagiography: Reagan was never a brilliant student, of anything, and his disinterest in hard-nosed political scheming, while admirable, meant that this side of things was left to the other people in his orbit, not least his wife Nancy; sometimes this delegation could lead to chaos, and worse. But what emerges as a powerful signal through all the noise is an honest inherent sweetness, a gentleness of nature and willingness to see the good in people and in this country, that proved to be a tonic for America in his time, and still is in ours. It was famously said that FDR had a first-rate disposition and a second-rate intellect. Perhaps it is no accident that only FDR had as high a public approval rating leaving office as Reagan did, or that in the years since Reagan has been closing in on FDR on rankings of Presidential greatness. Written with love and irony, which in a great biography is arguably the same thing, Bob Spitz's masterpiece will give no comfort to partisans at either extreme; for the rest of us, it is cause for celebration.
In examining the careers of communist and liberal actors, screenwriters, playwrights, and directors in Hollywood from the late 1920s to the present, this book uses studio and PCA correspondence, FBI files, film and theater reviews, and other sources to reveal how all of these artists were concerned with and active in the cinema of social protest. It covers the works of those liberal stars and directors who collaborated with communist artists in New York and Hollywood, including John Garfield, Canada Lee, Frances Farmer, Paul Robeson, James Edwards, and Paul Muni; liberal filmmakers like Philip Dunne; and ex-communists (and HUAC-friendly witnesses) like Elia Kazan, Edward Dmytryk, and Robert Rossen. It also looks at the activities of the Communist Party in Hollywood and the far-reaching influence of the Soviet Union.
This book deals with film depictions of Imperial Japan from the time it was a totalitarian power to the productions of recent years. It especially covers wartime depictions, as well as the historical events that inspire the stories behind these productions. In the 1930s, Hollywood gave us the likeable Mr. Moto at the same time Japan was set on its expansionist course. When war broke out, both the Allies and the Axis produced propaganda films that increased hatred for the enemy. In the postwar years as the Cold War took hold, the U.S. government encouraged friendship with their former wartime enemy. This book details correspondence between studio personnel and the Production Code office, as well as the critiques of film reviewers, historians and military figures from both sides of the conflict. Also examined are behind-the-scenes machinations from both the Japanese and American governments in the censorship of controversial film content.
Bob Schmalenberger is the author of MURDER AT THE FLATIRON BUILDING, an intriguing mystery that takes place in and around the famous building. In AVENUE OF MADNESS, a murder mystery that takes place on Madison Avenue in the 1960s, he takes us on an equally interesting journey that reveals some of the mysterious and strange goings-on along this infamous street, and beyond. You will meet, once again, some of the same colorful characters that appeared in MURDER AT THE FLTIRON BUILDING. Bob spent the early part of his career working on Madison Avenue, so it will be up to you to decide which parts of the book might be based on actual experiences and which parts are made up, its a mystery.
In Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties, McCloskey, Perkins, and Diviner provide a unique blend of theory, research, and practice that offers clinicians an overarching framework for the concept of executive functions (EFs) in educational settings. The conceptual model of executive functions is detailed, including their role in behavior, learning, and production across all settings. The heart of the book focus on the practical issues involved in the use of assessment tools, tests, report writing, and the implementation and follow-up of targeted interventions using the EF model. Six case studies are introduced in Chapter 1 and followed throughout the book, building understanding of the executive function difficulties of each child, assessment for identifying the difficulties, and interventions for dealing with the difficulties. An additional case study is discussed in detail in one of the concluding chapters, and a companion CD will provide the practitioner with a wealth of assessment forms, parent and teacher handouts, behavior tracking charts, and report/documentation forms.
For Doug Fiore, running for governor was better than death at the mob’s hands, if only the sex wouldn’t get in the way. Mob head Sal Tarantino doesn’t want big-time casino gambling to become legal in Rhode Island. His solution is to have the next governor comfortably in his pocket, ready to veto the legislation. The means calling in the debts owed to the mob by some of Rhode Island’s most prominent politicians to clear the way for Doug Fiore, managing partner of the state’s largest law firm and soon-to-be reluctant gubernatorial candidate. Sal’s plan seems to be going smoothly until the primary draws closer, when Fiore’s opponent, a supporter of state-sponsored gambling and the leader in the polls, is gunned down in a bar along with the establishment’s bookie-in-residence. The public presumption, driven by columns in the Providence Herald in which Fiore’s ties to the family are laid out, is that the Tarantino family had reasons to want them both dead. Things get even stickier when the winner of the Democratic primary is the husband of one of Fiore’s law partners—who happens to also be one of his two mistresses. She learns with horror that her husband has a set of secret recordings taken in a hotel room where Fiore has met with both women. As the race draws to a close, the candidates are in a dead heat. Fiore, who now will stop at nothing to win, devises a scheme with both his mistresses to nail down his victory. The outcome is all in the sex. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
For more than a century the Western film has proven to be an enduring genre. At the dawn of the 20th century, in the same years that The Great Train Robbery begat a film genre, Owen Wister wrote The Virginian, which began a new literary genre. From the beginning, both literature and film would usually perpetuate the myth of the Old West as a place where justice always triumphed and all concerned (except the villains) pursued the Law. The facts, however, reflect abuses of due process: lynch mobs and hired gunslingers rather than lawmen regularly pursued lawbreakers; vengeance rather than justice was often employed; and even in courts of law justice didn't always prevail. Some films and novels bucked this trend, however. This book discusses the many Western films as well as the novels they are based on, that illustrate distortions of the law in the Old West and the many ways, most of them marked by vengeance, in which its characters pursued justice.
Drawing on studio files, newspaper critiques, internet sources and scholarly studies of Mexican cinema, this critical history focuses on film depictions, in Hollywood and in Mexico, of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and the era of Benito Juarez. Mexico's political and military battles are discussed in detail, and contrasted with the film industry's mostly uninformative take on these events. Important figures of Mexican history are discussed--Benito Juarez, Porfirio Diaz, Francisco Madero, Jr., Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata--as well as non-Latinos whose actions were influential. Performers, production personnel and literary sources for films dealing with revolutionary Mexico, from the silent The Life of General Villa to Cinco De Mayo: La Batalla of 2013, are covered.
Through a century of movies, the U.S. military held sway over war and service-oriented films. Influenced by the armed forces and their public relations units, Hollywood presented moviegoers with images of a faultless American fighting machine led by heroic commanders. This book examines this cooperation with detailed narratives of military blunders and unfit officers that were whitewashed to be presented in a more favorable light. Drawing on production files, correspondence between bureaucrats and filmmakers, and contemporary critical reviews, the author reveals the behind-the-scenes political maneuvers that led to the rewriting of history on-screen.
William Madison Wood was a gifted and successful Portuguese-American industrialist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His rags-to-riches story is the fulfillment of the American Dream: • His accomplishments in textile manufacturing were known throughout the world. • His dedication to American patriotism and his extreme investment in the work of wool manufacturing gave rise to accomplishments that were acknowledged worldwide. • His wealth, position, and power of influence rivaled those of other great leaders of the Gilded Age. But this great man became lost to history. Why? His work-driven philosophy of life, his obsessive drive to acquire and develop, his internal struggle with grief and anguish, his lost ethnic background, his need to rule alone, and his tragic and socially unacceptable manner of death were all part of the identity and life story of William Madison Wood. Bob Fournier unpacks Wood’s story with finesse, showing how this esteemed man fell prey to the material trappings of a life of excessive labor, power, and wealth, and the inability to temper these forces for well-being. While Wood was a man true to his era, his life story offers much to consider in today’s world. The characters may have changed, but many of the issues remain the same—race, ethnicity, autocracy, abuse of power, and immigration. Fournier enables William Wood to speak from the grave in a way he was unable to speak in life about himself, his relationships with others, and his relationship with the world.
Applied Linguistics as Social Science surveys the increasing dialogue between linguistics and social theory. The book shows how social theory, applied linguistics and sociolinguistics share a set of common concerns, and how an analysis of these to produce a social scientific account of applied linguistics helps to explain the interaction between social structures, human agents and language. Foreword • Introduction • Making connections: some key issues in social theory and applied linguistics • Sociology and ideas about language • Language as a cultural emergent property • Researching language learning: theories, evidence, claims • Social categories and theoretical descriptions • Social domain theory: interpreting intercultural communication • Language in the world: properties and powers • A social realist approach to research in applied linguistics
On June 29, 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte ordered the creation of a special force within the Department of Justice. Consisting of 28 agents and eight former Treasury Department investigators, it was designed to stop interstate crimes yet had no power to arrest perpetrators or carry firearms. Named the Bureau of Investigation, the agency was soon bogged down with its own inherent problems, becoming an object of corruption and contempt--until May 19, 1924. On that date, President Calvin Coolidge appointed J. Edgar Hoover to replace the corrupt director. Hard-working with a no-nonsense attitude, Hoover immediately set about reorganizing the bureau, setting a standard that he expected his agents to follow. Hoover, impressed by Hollywood's manner of maintaining an image and manipulating the media, began to use some of these tricks to clean up his agency's image. Thanks in part to his efforts, movies of the 1930s shifted from glorifying outlaws and gangsters to glorifying lawmakers--and who better to play that role than Hoover's new, improved FBI? From crime-busting heroes to enemies of free speech, this volume examines the evolution of Hollywood's portrait of the FBI over the last 75 years. The book looks in-depth at how Hollywood's creative rewriting of history enhanced the FBI's reputation and discusses the historical events that shaped the bureau off-screen, including the various figures who tell the real FBI story--the gangsters, the politicians, the journalists, the communists. The main body of the work examines the filmmakers, actors, technicians, writers and producers who were responsible for FBI films, following the FBI from the birth of a cultural icon in the 1930s, through the spy-busting war years and the threat of the Red Menace, and, finally, to death of Hoover and the scandals of the 1960s. Studio correspondence and once confidential FBI memos are also included.
During the "Must See TV" 1990s, Americans enjoyed such immensely popular sitcoms as Friends, Seinfeld, Home Improvement and The Drew Carey Show. Shows that did not make the ratings cut numbered in the hundreds--the emergence of new networks and cable channels airing original programming resulted in a vast increase in short-lived sitcoms over the previous decade. Some of these "flops" were actually quite good and deserved a better fate. The author revisits them--along with the "dramedies" of the day--with detailed entries providing production and broadcast information, along with critical analyses, and recollections by cast and crew members. A subsection highlights sitcoms that returned for an abbreviated second season. Dozens of cast and crew photographs are included.
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