The Complete Handbook of Boxing & Martial Arts

It's a solid reference, and I've used it a few times to check on mat specifications for a BJJ room we're setting up. The maintenance chapter is where the book earns its keep. That said, some of the brand positioning stuff in chapter 6 felt a little too 'and here's another mid-tier supplier' to be all that useful to me. I skipped a few paragraphs there.

I'm a boxing coach, not a gym owner, so I mainly wanted the glove and bag specs. That part was good and concrete. The installation chapter is thorough if you're hanging a bag at home, but I skipped most of it since our facility is already set up. It's well-written, just less focused on coaching and more on the equipment side, which I get but wasn't exactly what I needed.

I've been managing a martial arts gym for eight years and thought I knew most of it. This book filled in the gaps on seam sealing and subfloor prep that I'd never gotten right in the past, and the business chapter gave me a practical path to start offering equipment maintenance as a service to our members. It's worth the price just for the troubleshooting tables in chapter 5.

Decent book overall. I picked it up because I'm getting into home Muay Thai training and wanted to know if a 70-pound bag would tear my ceiling joists apart. It answered that directly, which was good. But I found the chapter on types and specifications to be a bit dry, listing numbers without always giving a clear 'if you're in this situation, do this' angle.

The chapter on choosing the right equipment is the most honest and neutral buying resource I've found. It doesn't push a brand, which was refreshing. I also appreciated that it talked about the cost of maintenance, not just the sticker price. I knocked off a star because the future trends chapter felt a bit short and speculative compared to the rest of the book.

Finally a handbook that treats martial arts gear like serious equipment. The info on closed-cell vs. open-cell mats for a wrestling room vs. a striking studio saved me from making a costly mistake. The installation diagrams are clear and easy to follow. I've already recommended it to two other facility owners in my area.

I'm a serious hobbyist with a garage setup, and this was a great sanity check. The section on glove maintenance and odor control actually solved a problem I'd been fighting for months. It's a bit heavy on the business opportunities side for my taste, but I understand it's a reference for professionals, too. A solid four stars for what it is.

As a physical therapist who works with fighters, I wanted to understand the equipment my clients use. This book provided that in spades, especially the physics of bag weights and the shock absorption characteristics of different mat types. The FAQ was spot-on. I didn't love the glossary, which felt a bit thin, but the core chapters are excellent.