There is no doubt that Ken Shamrock is a living legend. The fact that he had the balls to show up in Denver for UFC 1 and help give birth to the No Holds Barred craze will cement his name in the history books. In that same history book Ken will go down as founding of the successful fighting stable called the Lion's Den. Lion's Den fighters have always had the reputation of showing up ready to fight and willing to take a fight on little or no notice. Ken also spent some time in the WWF and as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter (UTF) reality show. This is a resume that any fighter could be proud.
The opening text of this book feels like Ken writing you a letter to let you know how is he is doing and to bring you up to date. Ken walks you through his life story from his birth to about June of 2004. His life story is very interesting to read and full of all sorts of colorful stories. Two words can sum up Ken Shamrock's life - aggression and pride. From an early age Ken has been full of raw aggression. The channeling of this aggression into MMA fighting has been the key driving factor in Ken's successful career.
As far as Ken's aggression has taken him places, his pride has held him back. Like many legendary people, Ken has a major flaw - Pride. When I say pride (and not the Japanese NHB event), I mean this in the Greek Tragedy sense - a character flaw. Like Achilles, the invincible Greek warrior that had a vulnerable heal, Ken has his pride. One thing that kept coming up over and over is Ken's sense of pride.
Ken's pride motivates him, but it is also the thing that steered him in the wrong direction over and over again. How many times do I have to read a story about someone bad mouthing Ken or one of his fighters and having Ken going ape shit. At first you think it is justified and Ken has a right or duty to put people like Tank Abbott or Tito Ortiz in their place. But after a while you start to change your mind. Ken even gets upset when someone bad mouths him in pro wrestling. Hello, how stupid can you be, it's pro wrestling, that is what they do! Pro wrestling is a soap opera played out in a wrestling ring. To go further, Ken's pride kept from winning the UFC 3 when Royce dropped out. Ken's pride blinded him to realities of his injuries and has caused him to fight when he should not have. The list just goes on.
Ken's pride is also the trait that makes him most endearing. He is a straight shooter, a professional, and the guy you want next to you in the foxhole when the shooting starts. He is definitely one of those that live by the Spartan saying of "Come home with your shield or upon it."
Beyond the Lion's Den can be viewed a bigger and better version of Ken's first book Inside the Lion's Den. Both books have Shamrock's history and some of his techniques. For those wondering if Ken has any instructional videos out, you will be disappointed. Ken did take part in one of worst tape sets ever created called he Secrets of the Octagon. This was a set that was slapped together to quickly profit from the UFC. Each tape was taught by a different fighter. I am glad to say that Tape 3 with Ken was the only part of the set worth watching. The rest just sucked. When compared with that tape set, it is great to see how Ken's arsenal of techniques has changed and grown over the years.
After walking you though his ups and downs, Ken moves into over 200 pages of techniques. You have the standard breakdown of moves that we have all become accustomed. Ken starts with standup punching and kicking, moves to takedowns, then the top guard, side mount, the mount, rear mount and the bottom guard. 95% of this is all offensive in nature. I would like to see a follow up book that covers the defensive side of things.
Ken puts ever section into context and does a very good job keeping the moves realistic. Ken tells you how to set the move up, when you might use or not use the move and often an example for a real fight where you can see the move in action. Ken sticks to the basics, which make this a great book for those starting down the path of Vale Tudo fighting. This is a true NHB fighting book. This is not a submission grappling or sport fighting book. This book is geared for those that plan to enter the ring and fight. You get a chance to see what you might learn if you were lucky enough to set foot in the Lion's Den and have Ken train you.
All the moves are in clear full color photos with well written descriptions for each photo. The quality of the printing is just a step below those of the Kid Peligro series. Since the paper has a matte finish the text is easier to read than Kid's book, but the photos suffers slightly because of it. Don't get me wrong, this is a high quality book, it is just that Kid has set the mark so high.
Bottom line:
There are two reasons to get this book. One, you want to read about Ken Shamrock's like and two, you want to learn what he teaches at the Lion's Den. You will not be disappointed on either score. Ken can be proud of the book that he has produced.