Review of Inside the Lion's Den

This is my personal review of Ken Shamrock's autobiography called Inside the Lion's Den. Ken Shamrock has had a tough life growing up, where his inner demons almost destroyed his life, but he was able to fight back and prevail and become a legend in no-holds-barred martial arts competitions in USA and Japan. Together with his good friend Richard Hanner, Ken Shamrock has written Inside the Lion's Den, which is an autobiography of Ken Shamrock.

The book is divided into two parts, the first is called Enter the Lion - The Story of a Modern Gladiator, and is written by Richard Hanner, who is a bureau chief and columnist for The Record. Enter the Lion is the biography part of the book

Hanner is a very good writer, and it is clearly that he interviewed not only Ken Shamrock but also his family and friends to get the story from more than one side.

The book starts as Ken Shamrock makes his way to the Octagon to defend the UFC Superfight Title against Dan Severn at UFC IX, at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, May 17, 1996. The match and the preparation up to the match is also described during some of the other chapters, the book ends after the match. But this is not the only jump in time, this is how the book is made.

This jumping in time in the chapters can seem strange and confusing and it is when you read the book, but when you have finished the book you understand why they have made the dispositions, which is mainly because of the controversy and accusations made from Severn's camp before the match.

Ken Shamrock hasn't had an easy life, even as a child he and his brothers had to fight to survive. The chapters regarding Shamrock's childhood are emotionally hard to read, because children shouldn't be treated that way, but it is fascinating to read about how Ken Shamrock grew up and what it lead to when he came under the wings of Bob Shamrock, who later adopted Ken.

The book is filled with descriptions of his matches in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and how he prepared to them, but I personally lack something about Ken Shamrock's time with Pancrase, which haven't got that much attention in the book, but it is understandable since the book is primarily meant for the American market, where UFC is dominant.

As mentioned before the biography section of the book ends with the loss to Dan Severn at UFC IX, and how Shamrock explains his son the loss on the phone, the explanation shows that Shamrock has prevailed over his inner demons and that he is a good father, a true sportsman, and a perfect role model.

The second part of the book is called Inside the Lion's Den - The Secrets of Submission Fighting, it is written by Ken Shamrock himself and it is an introduction to the training methods that are being used in Ken Shamrock's Dojo, the Lion's Den.

The drills and submission moves described in this part are well described and there a photos showing you exactly what to do. This may sound like this part is only for no-holds-barred fighters, but regularly people, who just want to stay in shape can also take a peak on this part, since it also describes what kind of food to eat and exercises to make you quick, agile, strong, flexible, and callused, so anybody can get something out of this part of the book. By most of the submission moves, Ken also tells where he or other of the Lion Den's fighters have used it.

The book also contains a career highlights in the timeline format, but the part is very short and only contains the dates and a short description of the matches that are being highlighted.

I can recommend Inside the Lion's Den to all fans of Ken Shamrock, in this book you will find all the information about Ken Shamrock that you ever wanted to know. If you also got an interest of becoming a no-holds-barred fighter the book is also recommendable. If you want to get your own copy of the book please visit the nice people at Tuttle Publishing.

Title: Inside the Lion's Den Written by: Ken Shamrock and Richard Hanner 211 pages with more than 150 black and white photos Published by: Tuttle Publishing Price: $19.95 ISBN: 0 8048 3151-3