Training Books

Like all the titles in Shawn Kovacich's Achieving Kicking Excellence series, book 9 Roundhouse Kick is a comprehensive study of one of the important kicks used in modern martial arts today. The book is incredibly thorough with numerous photos demonstrating the every aspect of the kick in minute detail. Mr. Kovacich knows his stuff and it is obvious that he has spent many hours honing his technique. The book provides an in-depth study of the bones, muscles and mechanics involved in the kicking technique.

In addition, the book contains a wealth of supplemental information on strength, speed and power generating exercises to enhance the technique. There is also a section on stretching as well as the application of the technique.

This book is ideal for any martial artist who wishes to perfect their roundhouse kicking ability. The beginner will find a wealth of information to assist in developing proper mechanics while the advanced practitioner will glean some vital knowledge from an accomplished teacher.

Be sure to check out the other books in this series. You are sure to find one that addresses the specific kick that you need work on.

Aaron Hoopes
author of Zen Yoga: A Path to Enlightenment through Breathing, Movement and Meditation

I took some time after reading Shawn's other books to due provide the reviewer and Shawn's books a sincere examination. Was I reading them too quickly and less critically? After all, his format is similar through the series; it would be an easy mistake to do (although this similarity is a strength for this "kicking" series).

Shawn's book on the roundhouse kick is simply outstanding. I did have a couple of minor cripples, but they are so minor they do not justify a 4 star rating because ultimately, it came down to the switch roundhouse kick that I think works well in some few situations, most notably a TKD type tournament, while may at times have drawback in full contact competition. I just wished this had been discussed. The switch roundhouse can be useful there as well, but a more detailed discussion should have followed. With that said to lower the rating this time on this kick for one area would be an injustice.

The roundhouse kick is probably the most widely used kick for competition and sparring purposes. Thank for a second: It is the primary kick for Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, MMA, and full contact karate fighters like Sabaki practitioners. Great resource!

Valuable set of volumes on kicking for the martial artist


If you are a novice martial artist, a kick-box exercise video nut, or someone who wants to advance their knowledge of martial art kicks, this book looks as if it would be very helpful.

The series of books is organized by type of kick: back, wheel, axe, crescent, reverse crescent, front, hook, hatchet, roundhouse, side kick. Ten books in all.

The volumes are absolutely loaded with pictures of not only kick technique but also of helpful strength-with-weight exercises, especially gym exercises with machines like the hack squat and leg press sled and of course the all-important lunge. So you get not only a discussion of how-to, but of what exercises can improve overall performance by gaining muscle strength. There are pictures with overlays of angles and axes, giving you an idea of proper form, though there is no substitute for a sensei giving you real-time feedback, of course. So these books are a good adjunct to martial arts class in the dojo; something to read and then take to practice and work on with real-time help.

There is a section on sparring--right and wrong. There is a suggested reading list in the back. A very complete series.

The only thing these volumes suffer from is slightly dark and low contrast black and white photograph reproduction due to pictures being on paper stock and not glazed plate stock, in order to keep costs reasonable for publishing. And the cover photo is wonderful but the graphic design (showing the title being shattered by the someone doing the title kick) was a GREAT concept but you can't read the title on the front cover (because it's being kicked to bits!) This is annoying; you have to read the spine to see which kick the book is about. If this bugs you, it's easily fixed: get some stickers or a Sharpie and mark the front cover with something like SIDE KICK VOL 10 or whatever works for you.

Author Kovacich is a black belt in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do (which of course is one of the martial arts for which the kick is the premier technique.)

Before I found my current school and instructor, I had been looking around my area for an instructor to teach me martial arts. At one of the places I tried, the instructor offered me a free class so that I could decide if I wanted to join his school or not. Since it was free I decided to try it out. I should have known better as nothing is ever really free. About half way through the class, the instructor was telling me that I would have to perform a Roundhouse Kick. I had heard of them, but never performed them. I told him that I had never had any classes before and I didn't know how to do it. He didn't really show me at all how to do the kick, he just told me to turn to the side and throw the kick from my hip. As you might well imagine I didn't do very good. After the class was over my hip started hurting badly and when I tried to get out of the car when I got home I started crying. A couple of days later I learned that I had thrown my hip out of place. Needless to say I never went back there again.

A few weeks after that a friend of mine told me about my current school so I took a chance and checked it out. And I am very happy that I did. My current instructor is so nice and always has that little extra time to work with each one of us students. However, when it came time to learn the roundhouse kick, I was a bit apprehensive as you might imagine. After a few weeks I started to get the hang of it and actually felt pretty comfortable executing it, at least in practice. It was about this time that I first heard of Shawn Kovacich and his Achieving Kicking Excellence series of books.

After doing some research, I went ahead and purchased Back Kick and Wheel Kick from Mr. Kovacich and then was lucky enough to get a copy of Axe Kick in PDF format before the official release of that book. Needless to say, I was literally stunned with the amount of detail that was in every book. Because of the quality of these books, I preordered the remaining books in the series. Out of all of the books in the series, Roundhouse Kick was the one that I was really anticipating. So when I finally got my copy of Roundhouse Kick, I started to devour the information. I literally learned oodles and oodles of information on what I was doing wrong and how to correct it. This book, like all the others in the Achieving Kicking Excellence series, breaks down the primary kick, which in this case is the Roundhouse Kick, to its finest details. One of the many things that I learned, was that I was not pivoting properly and that my upper body was doing all kinds of things that it shouldn't have been doing when I was executing each kick.

This is a great book for anyone, from the person that is just starting to learn how to kick, to the person that has been practicing kicks for years. The details that are included in each book are truly something to behold. I have never seen any book on the martial arts that has this kind of detail. You are to be commended for writing and producing such a fantastic series of books. I look forward to reading the rest of your books in the series and I have no doubt that I will be equally impressed with each one if not more so.

This series is a fantastic reference for anyone interested in the finer points of kicking, particularly for those of us whose exposure to this aspect of the martial arts has been somewhat limited. I have been doing this stuff since 1970, for example, yet have focused exclusively on styles that have very little emphasis on kicking applications (e.g., Goju Ryu karate, Kodokan judo, and Matayoshi kobudo). Goju Ryu, for instance, utilizes roughly 70% hand techniques. Don't get me wrong, I have a pretty mean mae geri (front kick) that can rock your world, but there are many other leg techniques utilized by other arts that I am simply not at all expert with--hatchet kicks, axe kicks, and crescent kicks, to name a few.

This is why I was so excited to find Shawn Kovacich's comprehensive "Achieving Kicking Excellence" series. If you are familiar with Kris Wilder's outstanding tome, The Way of Sanchin Kata: The Application of Power, these books take a similarly in-depth yet approachable style. Each volume explores one type of kick in great detail, outlining some 50 or 60 technical points (depending on the type of kick), in an easy to understand and utilize manner. At first blush you might think that it would be tough to devote an entire volume to just one type of kick, yet each offering in this exceptional series runs more than 200 pages and is packed with meaningful information.

No dojo darling, Kovacich really knows what he is talking about. A fourth-degree black belt in both karate and taekwondo, he has competed in full contact sparring tournaments (including the prestigious Sabaki Challenge) and is the world-record holder for both endurance- and high-kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. Kovacich has been teaching martial arts since 1985 and this knowledge, skill, and ability really shine through in his writing.

The text is clear and comprehensive, yet written in everyday language that just about anyone can easily grasp. No matter how good the writing, however, this sort of topic needs wide-ranging illustrations to ensure thorough comprehension. Fortunately there are tons of them. Regrettably though, the pictures are quite dark and/or grainy in most places (my only real complaint about the series). Despite the fuzziness of the photo printing, however, the pictures themselves are first rate as are the corresponding illustrations. Most of the pictures not only have captions but also reference numbers that align with the text to assure further clarity. There are separate illustrations that show the appropriate foot position and base of support for each movement too. This layout method is really slick; I like it a lot. There is a pretty good index in the back that supplements the table of contents too, so you can easily refer back to anything you will want to re-read later on (and you'll almost certainly want to refer back to much of this information later on).

While the front and back matter are virtually identical amongst the various volumes (such that each one can stand alone without the rest of the series), the core content is unique for each type of kick. This front and back matter (e.g., warm up and stretching) is a bit cursory too, though that is perfectly understandable given the primary focus of the books; truly nothing to be overly concerned with in my opinion. Each volume in the series is laid-out in an identical manner and includes the following topics:

-- Basic anatomy of the kick
-- Warm up and stretching
-- Principles of the kicking movement (e.g., stability, balance, sequence of movements, speed, accuracy, targeting, visualization, etc.)
-- Performing the primary kick (e.g., fighting position, knee raise, coil, impact, follow-through, recoil, knee drop, return to fighting position).
-- Performing variations from the primary kick (e.g., step, switch, jump, spin, cross-over, etc.)
-- Training and practice methods (e.g., skill, strength, speed, and power training)
-- Trouble shooting the kick
-- Kicking applications against an opponent
-- Author's awards and accomplishments
-- Recommended reading

No matter how well written, you cannot learn martial arts solely from a book, of course, but this series is a fantastic supplement for hands-on instruction. It covers important nuances that are rarely described adequately by most sensei (or sifu, etc.). I have found that, in general, books can reach a level of clarity and comprehensiveness that is simply not achievable with DVDs as well. This series is no exception to that rule. Despite a bit of redundancy amongst the various volumes, the technical merits and detailed analysis of the kicks make these books a stellar resource for any serious martial artist. I'm proud to include all ten volumes in my library.

Highly recommended!


Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, Martial Arts Instruction, The Way to Black Belt, and The Way of Kata

Unfortunately, I just returned this book because I didn't find it very useful to me personally. Despite what that says about me as a rower, I feel that the description of the book "great for beginners to the elite" is a bit misleading. While the book addresses some issues with beginners, it's really talking to beginners [who will eventually become elite rowers].

The book reads a lot like a physics or math book. It has a ton of charts, graphs, and things dealing with physical fitness that you wouldn't know unless you saw a specialist to have testing done. It's a very dry read but makes for a good reference book.

Many of the authors talk about "the ideal" rower, being so-many feet tall with 6% bodyfat, along with other ideals. While this is fine, the bulk of the text has an undertone that suggests "if you don't meet these ideals, you're going to suck at rowing." The book often refers to your first "years of training" as if you're wasting your time if you're only doing this for a year or two.

Each chapter is written by a different person, so there's not really a lot of chronology. There's nothing really wrong with this, but it refers back to the book seeming a lot like a textbook.

Rowing is a tough sport, and there's no "you can do it!" or "great job!" encouragement for beginners in this book. Think of it as a text version of a coach. In fact, the book seems to be geared more toward coaches, and less toward individual rowers.

Nothing I've said is explicitly negative, just not what I was looking for in this book. I have to say it's jam packed with information, much of it technical, about this great sport. This would make a great reference book for a coach, team captain, or SERIOUS rower.

If I were to sum it up in one sentence, the book says "This is what rowing is, this is what rowers have to do to be awesome, take it or leave it."

This book is not for novices, it's for the already advanced rower, who wants to significantly improve their speed, and technique. It goes into complete detail on every major subject pretaining to rowing, from race prep. months in advance, to the race itself, this book covers it all.

This is the definitive book on the current state of the art in rowing both on the water and on the erg. But it won't teach you how to row. Only how to think about things to improve and how everything fits together. The only other product out there today that comes close to this, and is really an excellent companion piece, is Xeno Muller's interactive DVDs.

'Rowing Faster' is the best and most up-to-date textbook on rowing I know. Each chapter within segments such as physiology, psychology, technique etc. is written by a true expert and well edited by Volker Nolte.
Buy this book.

This book is the best source of information to increase boat speed.
Xeno Muller
www.gorow.com
Olympic Medalist, men's single scull rowing.

It's tough to find a running book that isn't just a rehash of the same old stuff. This excellent guide is very technical in places, but full of new information that you haven't heard a hundred times. Recommended.

I'm a serious athlete and train people professionlly (as a career) and this book does what it claims... it takes the latest and greatest information on running and endurance training in general and puts it all under one title in an easy to digest format. Train smarter, not harder. Buy this book!

I just finished reading The Cutting-Edge Runner. This is one of the few running books that I read from cover to cover. Many of the books out there fill half the pages with running plans, this book focuses on providing great useful content. I'm training for the Richmond Marathon, and have already incorporated a few of Matt's suggestions into my program. The book is truely on the cutting edge, Matt provides the latest concepts on how to run faster, longer and healthier.

I used to do triathlons, but now I figure I'm primarily a runner. I just turned forty, and I am on a quest to get my 5k time from the 19 minute range down to 18 minutes. I figure if I can do that I'll start winning or placing in my new age category; that's my way of dealing with middle age and mid-life crises and so on.

I typically read a couple running books a month, looking for ways to improve, and this book really stands out. The author cites numerous studies and relates his personal experience in incorporating new discoveries into his training. If you subscribe to Runners World, you're probably familiar with most of these advances, but it's all thoughtfully considered here in a way that lends itself to reading cover to cover.

This is an absolutely amazing, and probably most cutting-edge book on running you can find on today's book market (summer 2006), and a large part of its appeal is the fact that the content and the author's numerous recommendations are based on recent, serious, and carefully analyzed research.

This means, alas, that the book is VERY technical, and often assumes that the reader will understand without further need for explanations some fairly arcane terminology in the areas of sports medicine, biomechanics, and physiology. Admittedly, the author makes a good-faith effort to explain some of the more complex issues, but sometimes even that is not quite enough for this reader.

Although it will be a good, informative, and worthwhile read for all those interested in running, the recommendations and advice will be of use mostly to (and are almost exclusively directed at) serious, competitive, and very experienced runners.

I have to admit that since I focus on running as only a small part of a basic general fitness program, i.e., I have completely NO interest in running competitively, or in training for a marathon :) - most of this info. is not for me. Still, for those more focused on running competitively, it is probably a very valuable, cutting-edge read.

I hope that at some point the author will take the time and write a book based on the same well-informed sources, but directed at a more casual runner, and general reader without sports-medicine background like me.

We revamped our entire sales process and compensation package. This book was an excellent resource for us and helped us go from point A to point B relatively easily

Here is a great book for sales managers. Gets to the point, easy to read and offers great value for money. Don't bypass this for books heavy on theory and lacking practical ideas to increase your sales

In "Sales Management Power Strategies", the author makes it clear that increasing sales revenue is the responsibility of several departments working together. As you read this book you will get many ideas that you can easily implement to help your sales department succeed. Paul takes you step-by-step from hiring the right person, setting quotas and accurately forecasting results, to getting the entire company focused on revenue.

As CFO of a high tech company, I especially appreciated the practical advice, as well as the worksheets for getting top revenue performance from the company. We have already started implementing some of the ideas in this book and know we will be seeing great results.

If you're looking for a business book to add to your sales library, this should be the next book you read.

It has been said that if something is unmanaged it is uncontrolled. If sales management was truly honest, "shoot from the hip" would best describe their current sales processes. In his book, Mr. DiModica transforms time tested revenue strategies into action steps. The title says it all "building a replicable and scalable sales process." This is a great resource for any organization that is unsatisfied with their sales performance.

If you are looking to manage your sales team more effectively, then get this book. The author gives very specific details on how to manage your salespeople by metrics, develop a sales scorecard, calculate sales quotas and targets accurately, and hire the right sales staff for your company. Lots of books out there are full of fluff and generalizations, but this particular book gives techniques and strategies that work in the real world and will help increase your team's peak performance. I recommend this book to anyone seeking to build or improve their sales team.

SalesBURST, can help make a difference in your career no matter what industry your in. Pat's advice, guidance, and insights help you understand the art of selling anything! (sell yourself, projects, products!). It's a quick, funny, informative read, and you'll find yourself sharing Pat's techniques and stories with friends & family! I love 'sell me this pen'!

If you want to learn how to sell smart, read SalesBurst. I was a part of EVCOR, which is where Pat Evans developed the SalesBurst methodology. The principals of SalesBurst helped make my company grow at an incredibly fast rate and ultimately made me wealthy. I still use these techniques today. SalesBurst is a must read for anyone who wants to succeed in sales and mandatory for my sales force at MarXam LLC.

I know Pat Evans. I contacted him after reading his very enjoyable, useful sales primer.
"Pat, I'm going to write a review of your book. I think it provides really good sales lessons for anyone, be they budding or experienced personnel. I think it is worthwhile, but I don't often give five stars in my reviews."

"Look" he said "You say it provides really good sales lessons, you say it is worthwhile for sales people at all levels. It deserves five stars - absolutely."

That conversation sums up the book. No nonsense, easy to use ideas that should create a sales burst for you and your colleagues. And he sold me on giving the book five stars!

I have personally known Pat for over 10 years, and this guy knows sales.

From prospecting to closing, everytime I talk to Pat I learn something new. It's like those moments when you hit your head and say, "Darn, why didn't I think of that on my own?" Great stuff you need to know.

Pat is a wonderful sales teacher, and I'm sure you will enjoy learning from him as I have.

Sales Burst is a winner. Fast moving, hard hitting and designed to help you deliver results fast. Take my advice. Buy this book today!

Jeb Blount, author of PowerPrinciples: Do You Have The Winning Edge?

What was missed in the DVD is covered in detail in this book. Very concise, lots of instructional diagrams & photos - the exercizes in the DVD are clearly explained. Should be sold as a package!

Very easy to read and well explained book. Well worth a read. Reccomended

I'm a reader from Germany and I've met Richard Hinrichs a few times. He actually gives some of my friends lessons and I think he's one of the greatest horseman of the 21st century. His book is well-structured and easy to understand and you can almost "feel" the sensitiveness in his way to train horses, but it's necessary that everybody who want to go "his" way with horses had lessons in the past and experiences with this kind of classical dressage.
So is this book really great for professionals and for look up in connection with a professional training but bad to get completely new in this science!!!!!!!!!!!

This isn't really a beginner's book - except as an example of something to aspire to, as it contains page after page of the most delicious equine eye-candy.
However, I disagree with another reviewer that this book is only for the professional. As well as being to some extent a 'scholarly tome', it contains some delightful anecdotes and pictures of goats, dogs, ponies and horses not of 'classical' type performing "haute ecole" movements.
In addition, it contains some simple exercises to maximise athleticism and suppleness that any eager horseman could try, whether their equine be a Shetland pony or a Baroque stallion.
Well worth reading!

...His book is well structured and good to understand, but it's better to have more experience in working with horses and especially in classical riding. Who don't want to ruin the horse has to take lessons by an well trained horse man, before...
But: The book is really great, check this out!!!!!

John Richard Young is one of the finest minds and spirits dedicated to training our companions on the planet( he trained dogs as well as horses). The revised edition of his Training of the (Western) Horse is the single book needed by the neophyte who comes to horsemanship and equitation with an intelligent desire to make the horse a partner in pleasure and comeptitive sports alike. I wish the University of Oklahoma Press would bring out a new edition, and also gather his articles written for various horse publications into a third volume for the compleat JRY. His death was a loss to the equestrian community, but this book with its broad understanding of history and the varied styles of riding and uses of horses over the centuries is without a peer in the specialized literature of the Horse World, and remains as his monument.
Olivia Tsosie

I have read the book by Mr. Young and I have tried his theories and I have found them very helpful on not just my horse but on many other horses as well. I own a very spirited Arabian and were it not for this book I would have given up on him. I am always quoting from this book when I try to teach others why they are having problems with their horse. It is an excellent book to have as a reference guide and highly recommend that novice horsepeople, judges in horse competitions and even experienced riders read this book. I have read horse magazines as well as other books by different authors and JRY's book is the standard by which I measure them by. I come from a place where the methods are somewhat harsh and crude but I always thought there was a better way. Thank God the local Library had a copy and that there was a man named John Richard Young. I now own a copy of my own.

I WAS GIVEN THE ORIGINAL BOOK BY JOHN RICHARD YOUNG BY SOMEONE WHO GROW UP THE SAME TIME AS GREATS LIKE JRY AND MONTY FOREMAN. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE READ BY ANYONE RIDING OR ATTEMPTING TO TRAIN HORSES. JRY'S STYLE OF ASKING "WHY" AND GETTING YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE ASKING THE HORSE TO DO IS FANTASTIC. I GO BACK TO THIS BOOK CONSTANTLY, NOT ALWAYS FOR SPECIFIC RULES AND TECHNIQUES, BUT RATHER FOR THE THOUGHTS AND THEORIES JOHN R. YOUNG PROVIDES. HE TEACHES YOU THAT THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO TRAINING AND TELLS YOU WHAT TO BE LOOKING FOR EACH STEP OF THE WAY. THE CHAPTER ON BITS AND SADDLES IS ALONE WORTH THE COST OF THE BOOK. YOU WILL LEARN THAT ANY BIT WITH A SHANK IS A CURB BIT, AND WHAT THE BALANCED SADDLE LOOKS LIKE, WESTERN OR ENGLISH. AND WHY YOU CAN'T RIDE RIGHT IN MOST MODERN SADDLES. IF YOU CARE ABOUT HORSES AND YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM, THIS BOOK IS MUST READING. YOU AND YOUR HORSE WILL BE HAPPIER FOLLOWING JRY'S IDEALS. THIS BOOK WILL GIVE YOU THE COURAGE TO TRAIN AND RIDE IN A COMMON SENSE WAY, WITH THE KNOWLEGE TO BACK IT, SO YOU WON'T SUCCOMB TO RIDICULOUS, AND SOMETIME DANGEROUS METHODS PROMOTED TODAY.

I originally read this book in its first edition dating back to the 1950's: "Schooling the Western Horse." This book, however, is less about training "western" horses, than about Mr. Young's philosophy of training for any horse. It relates as much to dressage as to "western" training. Although Mr. Young does not deal in the usual language of dressage trainers, his comments will be thought provoking for anyone interested in working with horses. More than anything else, he asks potential horsemen to really think about what they are doing,and what they wish to achieve, and not to accept conventional wisdom - to ask questions of their instructors, etc. Although those well-grounded in dressage will be able to find fault with some of Mr. Young's comments, I think they will still find this book an interesting addition to their equestrian library. In fact, it should be noted that "Dressage Today", the official Publication of the United States Dressage Federation has recently started a series of articles on a correspondence between the late Mr. Young and an experience dressage rider. I love this book and its companion, "Schooling for Young Riders," which is a training book put in the form of the story of Mr. Young training a pony for his daughter and teaching her to ride at the same time

Truly one of the great written works on interdisciplinary horsemanship-- Jaime Jackson Author, The Natural Horse: Foundations For Natural Horsemanship

As a 8 year manager in the pharm industry, I can say that the author "nails it". For reps new to the industry I would use this as a handbook and refer to it often. For veterans, it is helpful to remind us what truly gets the business rather than chasing activity reports.

Very solid book!!!

After having read many books on the subject of "how to be a good pharma sales rep," this is truly one-of-a-kind and worth reading! Since it's written from an insider's perspective, the terminology, the situations, and the scenarios ring true. If you want to learn how to be a top performing rep, the information is there for the taking. There are mini self-assessments at the conclusion of each chapter so you can quickly tell where you are in terms of mastering that particular step. In addition, there are bullet-pointed summaries at the end of each short chapter.
For those who are not yet in the business or who need a "primer" before coming to training, be ready to learn the lingo - this is how real reps talk to one another and how they operate. This is the real deal. Don't miss it!

After more than 7,000 sales calls in pharmaceutical sales working for AZ, this book brought me back to the basics that made me so successful. This book is particularly powerful because it is written by a former top producing rep, someone who has been there, and not an administrator. If your sales are dragging, this book is a powerful Rx for success!

Sarah was a top performer with a major pharma company, then decided to spend a year interviewing top pharmaceutical salespeople with an eye toward writing this book.

She became increasingly concerned as she discovered that the "secrets" to success were not so secret after all; it was continual application of the basics. She wrote the book anyway, figuring that if that was what led to success, then it needed to be said.

The book's main drawback is that it is short, basic, and simple. Its main strength is that it is short, basic, and simple.

It covers 10 very fundamental and universal behaviors that all pharmaceutical sales representatives should practice. There is nothing new here, and at first, this took me aback somewhat. Then I realized what the chief benefit of such a book could be - giving it out to sales reps would reinforce exactly what every company emphasizes, but provide an "outside" validation of those messages. Based not on theory, or novelty, but on the track record of successful professionals "in the trenches."

You won't buy this book to discover novel techniques. But you just may hand it out to your district sales people, or new hires, as a reinforcement and a motivational tool. I recently loaned it to someone who was in the midst of interviewing for a pharmaceutical sales position; he stated that he wished he'd had it before the first 2 interviews!

What a fantastic book - I highly recommend it to all of my friends in pharmaceuticals. Thank you for mailing it quickly too!

Richard Miller, a master of vocal technique, has produced a volume for every baritone/bass and voice teacher's library. This is a balanced work: practical exercises and physiological and scientific data.

Excellent book as are all the Richard Miller texts. It's been a long time coming and very welcome.

This is a wonderful resource for teaching the male voice. I highly recommend it to any who is either a teacher or those that are searching for their voice type.

As a performer and voice teacher/coach, I find anything by Richard Miller to be helpful. Although by necessity there is always a good deal in his books that I already know, it is always put in such a catching way that it revives the memory and makes it easier to communicate to students. And then there are those details that I dont know... invaluable.

Richard Miller has added yet another tome to his expanding library on the classically trained singing voice with "Securing Baritone, Bass-Baritone, and Bass Voices". This edition will have pride of prominence next to his other books on the singing instrument.
What makes this book unique is its focus on the lower male voice. The text offers exercises and repertoire for vocalization. The unique quality of this book stands in its writing. Miller has shed much of his elaborate writing style to create a book that is direct, easy-to-read, and completely accessible to both performers and teachers of singing. The layout follows his other books in the chapters on onset, breath management, resonance, agility, and messa di voce. He offers an additional chapter entitled, "Pedagogic Uses of the Falsetto" which entails exercises intended to release aggression in the passaggio and above. The musical examples are gleaned from the art song, oratorio, and operatic literatures and provide daily vocalization material for all levels of singers. One feature of this book is that it does not overwhelm the reader with copious amounts of exercises, but provides the basic starting point from which to grow. For example, there are not pages and pages of agility exercises, but just enough coupled with the rep suggestions to make a practical agility session.
Special emphasis on issues in the baritone voice such as covering take prominence, as well as breath management (explained quite beautifully for Miller).
In all, this is a highly recommended volume for singers and their teachers and will happily stand next to "Training Soprano Voices" and "Training Tenor Voices" as an important voice traning guide. Would it be too much to hope for a "Training Mezzo Voices" in the next several years?

The course gave a great overview into SharePoint. While a good product, the SharePoint interface can be somewhat unintuitive. This course was great for bridging that gap.

This DVD provides a great overview of all the important Share Point functionality with an easy to navigate menu allowing easy toggle between topics. As the IT Manager for a large construction firm, this DVD allows me to easily review only the topics I need to focus on. Continuous visual images of the narrator provide the feeling of being in a classroom environment although probably not critical to getting the message across. A great purchase for any company deploying sharepoint! Recommended.

The topics covered in the video are very in depth. The video also provides a URL that allows you to download a virtual pc image to follow along with demos and labs. This video should be enough to get even the most novice Sharepoint users up and running.

I purchased this training video early on. I also took a class on Sharepoint. I found that the video was much more comprehensive than the class, and covered Sharepoint Portal and Sharepoint Windows. The topics cover all the nuts and bolts of setting up and managing a Sharepoint website. I would recommend it for anyone who is anticipating the installation of a Sharepoint site or is in the early stages of building and managing a Sharepoint site. Additionally the DVD on Sharepoint 2003: Development is also comprehensive and very useful.

Great training!! The best I have seen so far. It's well worth it. The topics covered are very comprehensive and the Virtual PC image is also great for practitce.