The topic of Jack Ryan Jr.’s fight record came up in Pete Turner’s interview with Jack Stewart. Jack Jr. is one of the most prolific brawlers in the Ryanverse, so I thought I’d take a look into it. I’ve tried to locate and cover every single fight up to but not including the forthcoming Pressure Depth by Jack Stewart. If I’ve missed any, please let me know in the comments below.

Jack Ryan Jr. transitioned from a desk-bound financial analyst into a highly trained, brutally effective, and battle-hardened field operator. We’ve seen him fight alongside the likes of John Clark and Ding Chavez, who are Ryanverse legends in their own right. But Jack’s physical combat record is built on a wealth of training that extends beyond his immediate superiors from The Campus.

Martial Arts and Tactical Training

Unlike his colleagues, Jack Jr. did not go through military boot camp or CIA’s Camp Peary due to his status as the President’s son. Consequently, his training was custom-curated and executed off-the-books:

• The Campus Cadre: His early CQC and firearms training was overseen by John Clark and Ding Chavez, who drilled him on the “school of hard knocks”, training him not for a sport, but to kill or incapacitate as violently and quickly as possible.
• James Buck (Locked On): Gerry Hendley hired ex-SAS and Rainbow operative James Buck to serve as his primary CQC and bladed-weapons instructor. Buck broke Jack down physically and mentally, introducing dirty tactics, arm bars, and throat strikes.
• Audacity MMA Dojo & Master Amador Inosanto (Point of Contact): Under the guidance of dojo owner Hector “Bruiser” Martinez (former Navy SEAL and BJJ black belt), Jack trained under Master Amador Inosanto. Inosanto, a master of Kali and Silat, trained Jack on the lethality of the karambit (a curved, tiger-claw blade). Inosanto instilled the philosophy of the blade: “The mind is the knife, son. The blade is only an extension of your will… You beat the fighter, not the knife.”
• Krav Maga and Cross-Training: Through his cousin Dominic Caruso, who trained under Fourth-Degree Krav Maga black belt Arik Yacoby in India, Jack integrated high-efficiency Israeli defensive tactics into his combat repertoire. He also underwent simulated live-fire drills at the FBI’s Hogan’s Alley, as well as military survival/interrogation training (SERE).
• Tony Blauer’s Be Your Own Bodyguard: Jack also completed a one-day tactical defense course to bolster his situational travel-readiness.

Statistical Overview

Jack Ryan Jr.’s fight record yields highly impressive metrics:

• Total Fights: 60
• Average per book: 2.5 (over 24 books featuring physical fights involving Jack Jr.)
• Wins: 57 (95.0%)
• Losses: 1 (1.67%)
• Withdrawals/Draws: 2 (3.33%)

Don Bentley and Mike Maden have given us the most combat-heavy books:

• Target Acquired – Don Bentley: 6 engagements.
• Line of Sight – Mike Maden: 5 engagements.

Opponent Types

• State Actors: 28 (Includes professional intelligence officers, military commandos, and trained agents of nations such as Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran)
• Organised Crime: 21 (Includes Russian Mafiya, Antiguan gangs, Bosnian syndicates, MS-13 street thugs, South American drug cartels, Triads, Yakuza, and private mercenaries)
• Terrorists: 8 (Includes international jihadists, Al-Qaeda/Umayyad Caliphate operatives, and Chechen/Dagestani insurgents)
• Personal/Training/Other: 3

Combat Style Analysis

Jack Ryan Jr. is not a classical martial arts purist; he is a highly analytical brawler. While his frame (6’2”, 220 lbs) grants him massive natural power and leverage, his style relies on the tactical philosophy drilled into him by John Clark and Ding Chavez: speed, surprise, and violence of action.

His combat style is characterised by several key features:

1. High-Impact, Brutal Simplicity: Jack leverages anatomical weak points rather than sporting maneuvers. His signature strikes include:
   • The Head Butt: Utilizing the frontal dome of his skull—the hardest bone in the human body—to shatter an opponent’s nose or face.
   • The Elbow Strike: Driving his elbow into an attacker’s temple, jaw, or throat.
   • Sciatic and Joint Destruction: Using knee strikes and stomps to collapse knees and thighs.
2. “Dirty” Fighting as a Core Principle: Following the advice of his trainers, Jack ignores the childhood rule to play fair. He actively uses an opponent’s clothing to control their movements, targets groin areas, and strikes throats to instantly incapacitate.
3. Ruthless Improvisation: When unarmed, Jack turns everyday objects into lethal implements:
   • Using a grocery bag of bok choy to break an assassin’s stride.
   • Using a stainless-steel Zebra pen to stab the soft tissue of a giant Bulgarian’s jaw.
   • Using a garbage can lid as a shield to catch a blade, then twisting it to disarm the attacker.
   • Using a heavy railroad spike, a two-by-four board with exposed nails, or a broken clothesline to strangle an opponent.

Comparative Analysis

John Clark

John Clark is a legendary phantom. A Vietnam-era Navy SEAL, SOG veteran, former CIA paramilitary officer, and the inaugural commander of Rainbow Six, Clark’s combat style is characterized by clinical speed and total lack of hesitation. He prioritizes semi-accurate speed over super-accurate precision, famously stating that “anyone worth shooting once is worth shooting many times.” In Locked On, even when captured and severely tortured—culminating in his hand and fingers being brutally shattered in a desperate struggle to claw his way free—Clark maintained his stoic resilience. Jack Jr. views Clark as a legendary role model, striving constantly to earn the veteran’s rare praise.

Ding Chavez

Domingo “Ding” Chavez is the quintessential modern special forces operator—an ex-Army Ranger qualified sniper who rose to become a respected CIA field officer and Rainbow Team 2 leader. While possessing a naturally fiery Latino temperament, Chavez has honed absolute, cold self-control under Clark’s decades of mentorship. His combat style is exceptionally quick, precise, and highly trained in martial arts (karate, CQB). As Jack’s direct mentor, Chavez is the authority on physical preparedness, living by the mantra: “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.”

Jack Ryan Sr.

The President of the United States, Jack Ryan Sr., was also a scrapper in his youth, taught by his police-detective father to attack furiously and without warning. While Sr. spent his career as an academic and analyst who hated violence and was a highly reluctant operator, his physical record is stellar: he famously kicked and tackled terrorists during the Buckingham Palace attack and, as detailed in Red Winter, survived a brutal, claustrophobic elevator fight with a KGB officer. In that encounter, Sr. drove his shoulder into the attacker’s chest, head-butted his nose, and took agonizing kidney punches before emerging victorious. While both father and son rely on the same fundamental principles of “speed, surprise, and violence of action”, Jack Jr. differs in that he actively craves the field and the visceral adrenaline of combat, whereas his father always sought to return to the quiet safety of his study.

Jack Ryan Jr.’s Fight Record

A breakdown of every fight, book by book.

The Teeth of the Tiger

• vs. Restroom Terrorist (Mohammed Hassan al-Din / 56MoHa): In his first real-world operational encounter, Jack Jr. corners a terrorist in a restroom, utilizing a customized syringe pen disguised as a regular pen to strike the target in the left cheek. As the paralyzed man attempts a desperate knife lunge at Jack’s throat, Jack easily evades the blade, and the poison causes the man to collapse. Outcome: Win (1-0-0).

Dead or Alive

• vs. Sinaga: Cornered by a knife-wielding assailant, Jack Jr. is slashed across the shoulder but manages to capture the attacker’s wrist and secure a chokehold. After being slammed against a railing and head-butted, Jack maintains his grip and executes a somersault throw, snapping the man’s neck and killing him. Outcome: Win (2-0-0).
• vs. The Emir: Following a brief pursuit, Jack Jr. tackles the escaping terrorist leader by throwing his shoulder into a heavy box, sending both crashing onto the concrete. Despite shattering his own nose in the fall, Jack holds the Emir at gunpoint and fires to neutralize him. Outcome: Win (3-0-0).

Locked On

• vs. James Buck (Training): In a series of grueling, hand-to-hand training sessions with ex-SAS and Rainbow instructor James Buck, Jack Jr. experiences humbling defeats. In one simulation, Jack fails to draw his weapon quickly enough and is “killed” by five Airsoft rounds. In subsequent training, he takes an “accidental” elbow to the upper lip and a painful leg strike. Outcome: Loss (3-1-0).
• vs. al Qahtani’s Driver: In the lobby of the Hôtel de Sers, Jack Jr. is tackled by a large, bearded terrorist. Jack shoves his palm into the man’s chin to flip him off, sidesteps a subsequent tackle to deliver a palm strike to the head, and finally slams the driver’s skull repeatedly into the marble floor until it cracks. Outcome: Win (4-1-0).
• vs. General Riaz Rehan: On a moving train, Jack Jr. grapples with the physically superior general, ultimately wrapping his arms around Rehan and diving with him out of the train vestibule. In the ensuing struggle in the rail yard, Jack ducks a piece of rebar, tackles Rehan, and survives a brick strike. Jack grabs a rusty railroad spike and hurls himself onto Rehan, driving the spike through his own Kevlar vest and straight into the general’s chest. Outcome: Win (5-1-0).

Threat Vector

• vs. Russian Mob Thugs: Bound in a Miami motel, Jack Jr. lunges and snaps a thug’s finger against his own gun trigger, causing him to accidentally shoot his partner. Jack then takes the gun and shoots his captor twice in the stomach. He drops to the floor to dodge a thrown knife from a third thug before shooting him in the chest. Outcome: Win (6-1-0).
• vs. Darren Lipton: Discovering Lipton’s betrayal, Jack Jr. delivers a vicious right jab to the FBI agent’s face, knocking him down in a single blow. Outcome: Win (7-1-0).

Command Authority

• vs. Antiguan Thugs: Ambushed in an alley in Saint John’s, Jack Jr. drops the first man with a right jab, locks the second in a tight wristlock before stomping and breaking his knee, and snaps the third man’s elbow before dislocating his shoulder. He then knocks out the leader with a three-punch combination. Outcome: Win (8-1-0).
• vs. Park Joggers: Ambushed by two thugs in London, Jack Jr. rolls under a tackle, shatters the first man’s nose with a right jab, blocks a knife from the second, and knocks him out cold with a knee to the head. Outcome: Win (9-1-0).
• vs. Russian Assassins (Stairwell & Apartment): At Victor Oxley’s flat, Jack Jr. defeats two knife-wielding assassins by executing a left jab, sliding a knife across one’s shoulder, and diving onto the second to slam his head into the floor. Soon after, he drops ten feet over a stair banister onto a third gunman, wrestling him for a pistol until the Russian is dead. Outcome: Win (10-1-0).

Full Force and Effect

• vs. Karel Skála: In a case of mistaken identity, Skála attacks Jack Jr. with a heavy brass lamp. Jack is forced to roll backward across a bed and stumble out of the room to avoid the lethal blows. Outcome: Withdrawal (10-1-1).
• vs. North Korean Assassin: Jack Jr. lunges to block an assassin’s gun, grabbing the hot barrel with one hand while delivering a left-hook haymaker to the man’s head, subsequently using the dazed man as a physical shield. Outcome: Win (11-1-1).

Under Fire

• vs. Unknown Attacker (Tehran): After taking a Muay Thai kick that numbs his thigh, Jack Jr. tackles the man to the ground. Wrestled into a BJJ choke, Jack breaks the grip, smashes his forehead into the man’s cheekbone, and bangs the back of the attacker’s head into the hardwood floor until he goes limp. Outcome: Win (12-1-1).
• vs. Same Attacker (Stairwell): Cornering the same man later, Jack toe-kicks his knee to buckle it and heel-kicks his ear to knock him out. Outcome: Win (13-1-1).
• vs. Balaclava Man: Jack holds his former captor at gunpoint, forcing him to the ground and pinning his neck with his shin to retrieve his stolen phone. Outcome: Win (14-1-1).

Commander In Chief

• vs. Mr. Ponytail: Jack Jr. ambushes a tail in a Rome hallway, slamming him against the wall, hitting his nose with a right jab, and head-butting him in the face. Outcome: Win (15-1-1).
• vs. Fake Doorman: Grappling with an armed doorman in Luxembourg, Jack Jr. grabs his tie, locks his wrist, and delivers a right elbow and left jab to the face before slamming him to the ground in a chokehold. Outcome: Win (16-1-1).
• vs. Luxembourg Intruders: Jack Jr. drops the first intruder with a heavy pistol-grip strike to the back of the neck and knocks the second unconscious with a front kick to the face. Outcome: Win (17-1-1).

Duty and Honor

• vs. Weber: Unarmed in a supermarket parking lot, Jack Jr. fends off a knife attack by throwing his grocery bag, vaulting a guardrail, and trapping the knife in his armpit. He then drives his knee into the attacker’s face, vaulting him backward into a concrete barrier where his head strikes, causing a fatal injury. Outcome: Win (18-1-1).
• vs. Eco-Farm Intruders: Jack Jr. bats away a guard’s gun, snaps an elbow into his head, rakes his boot down the man’s shin, and slams his head into a doorjamb. In a separate room, he crashes to the floor with an attacker and breaks his nose with an elbow before punching him unconscious. Outcome: Win (19-1-1).

True Faith and Allegiance

• vs. Asian Attacker: Tackled by an Asian operative in a Bucharest park, Jack Jr. absorbs a blow, throws a left jab to the jaw, and rams his shoulder into the man’s chest. He then pins his arms and head-butts him three times before shooting him to end the fight. Outcome: Win (20-1-1).

Point of Contact

• vs. Australian Thugs: In a Singapore bar, Jack Jr. executes an openhand jab to a thug’s throat, shatters the nose of a second with a right cross, and sidesteps a third to knock him out cold with a punch to the temple. Outcome: Win (21-1-1).
• vs. Chinese Warehouse Assassins: Jack Jr. thrusts his elbow backward into a lunging attacker’s nose, knocking him out. He then faces a highly skilled martial artist (“Cigar Man”) wielding dual karambit blades. Jack throws a heavy wrench to the man’s chest, absorbs a head-butt, grabs his wrists, and uses a sacrifice throw to catapult him into a steel lift table, snapping his spine. Outcome: Win (22-1-1).
• vs. Safehouse Intruders: Jack Jr. knocks out a blond German thug with a straight-armed punch to the jaw. When grabbed by a massive Bulgarian, Jack drives a stainless-steel Zebra pen into the soft tissue of the man’s jaw, finishing him with a head kick. Outcome: Win (23-1-1).

Power and Empire

• vs. Strip Club Bouncer: Jack Jr. grabs a 350-pound giant bouncer by the hair and slams his forehead into the edge of a wooden stage, knocking him unconscious. Outcome: Win (24-1-1).
• vs. Machete Man: Trapped in a Buenos Aires sewer, Jack Jr. rams his shoulder into a machete-wielding attacker and head-butts him. Tumbling into the freezing sewage, Jack takes painful body shots, but gouges the man’s eye and holds his face in the muck until he drowns. Outcome: Win (25-1-1).
• vs. Kabukichō Attackers: In Tokyo, Jack Jr. drops a charging thug with a rising uppercut and a left hook to the jaw. He then uses a second knife-wielding attacker’s momentum to throw him through a door before crushing his throat with his elbow. Outcome: Win (26-1-1).

Line of Sight

• vs. Elena Iliescu: Jack Jr. grabs Elena’s wrist as she attempts to stab him, hyperextends her elbow to snap her wrist, and knocks her out with a heavy elbow to the jaw and a hammer fist to her skull. Outcome: Win (27-1-1).
• vs. Bosnian Officers: Confronted by corrupt police officers, Jack Jr. backhands both in the face, strikes one’s jaw with his elbow before knocking him out with a soccer kick, and shatters the other’s nose and teeth with a second kick. Outcome: Win (28-1-1).
• vs. Janitor Assassin: Ambushed and choked by a leather garrote in a hotel room, Jack Jr. drops his body weight to pull the assassin forward, delivers a series of knee strikes to his head, and finishes him with elbow strikes to the temple, killing him. Outcome: Win (29-1-1).
• vs. Emir: Jack Jr. head-butts the Emir’s nose to break it, tackles him, and stomps his head into the wooden floor repeatedly. Outcome: Win (30-1-1).
• vs. Dzhabrailov: Grappling with a massive Chechen lieutenant, Jack Jr. rams him against a wall, exchanges kicks, and delivers a knee to the groin. The Chechen throws Jack over his head, but Jack manages to grab his ankle to bring him down. The brutal struggle is eventually interrupted. Outcome: Withdrawal / Interrupted Draw (30-1-2).

Oath of Office

• vs. Flat Nose: In a Spanish hotel, Jack Jr. rams his shoulder into the thug’s solar plexus, pins his arm, and delivers knees to his groin and thigh. Grappling for the gun, Jack wrenches it sideways, forcing Flat Nose to accidentally pull his own trigger and shoot himself. Outcome: Win (31-1-2).
• vs. Iranian Agent: In Dubai, Jack Jr. parries a gun, lands a hammer fist to the agent’s groin, and throws an elbow to his neck. He rolls the man over, breaks his wrist, and forces him to pull his own trigger. Outcome: Win (32-1-2).

Enemy Contact

• vs. Gage’s Warehouse Thug: In Poland, Jack Jr. ducks a punch, lands a hook to the man’s chest, and strikes the base of his neck with an open hand. Outcome: Win (33-1-2).
• vs. Suggestive Guard: Escaping captivity, Jack Jr. rolls to sweep a guard’s leg to disable him before Sands kills the guard. Outcome: Win (34-1-2).

Firing Point

• vs. van Delden: In a Spanish steel mill, Jack Jr. grabs van Delden’s gun, smashes his SIG against the giant’s wrist to break it, and after being stomped, stabs a three-inch yard-assisted Kershaw blade into the giant’s inner thigh. Outcome: Win (35-1-2).
• vs. Crooked Nose: In a moving car, Jack Jr. punches the driver, but is pulled in. He smashes the driver’s nose with his elbow, gouges his eyes, and lands short jabs to his head before falling to the pavement. Outcome: Win (36-1-2).
• vs. Bykov: Tackled into garbage cans, Jack Jr. uses a metal lid to catch Bykov’s blade, twists it to throw him, and lands a punch that cracks Bykov’s teeth. Outcome: Win (37-1-2).
• vs. Guard: Jack Jr. delivers an openhanded throat punch to a guard and smashes his knee into his jaw to knock him out cold. Outcome: Win (38-1-2).

Shadow of the Dragon

• vs. Chinese Agent: Jack Jr. tackles an agent, using a Microtech Halo knife to slash the side of his neck. Outcome: Win (39-1-2).

Target Acquired

• vs. Asian Assassin: Jack Jr. blocks a knife with his forearms and grapples the attacker body-to-body, delivering knee strikes and a shoulder throw. Outcome: Win (40-1-2).
• vs. Surfboard Shop Owner: Slipped under a punch, Jack Jr. strikes the owner’s throat with an open-webbing hand to disable him. Outcome: Win (41-1-2).
• vs. Beach Assassin: Jack Jr. shatters the assassin’s nose with a skimboard, tackles him into the surf, pins him with a figure-four arm bar, and knees his temple to break his wrist. Outcome: Win (42-1-2).
• vs. Restroom Guards: Tied to a pipe, Jack Jr. fakes illness and head-butts the first guard’s nose, then arm-bars the second guard to break his wrist. Outcome: Win (43-1-2).
• vs. Compound Fighter: Jack Jr. tackles a running fighter, knees his jaw, and beats his face with a rifle butt. Outcome: Win (44-1-2).
• vs. Humvee Driver: Jack Jr. delivers a hammer fist to the driver, elbows the back of his seat, and head-butts his mouth. Outcome: Win (45-1-2).

Zero Hour

• vs. Korean Restroom Attacker: Jack Jr. drops an attacker with a closed-fist strike to the base of his neck. Outcome: Win (46-1-2).
• vs. Cauliflower Ear: Jack Jr. throws a table to distract the gunman, tackles him into a metal doorjamb, head-butts his mouth, and grinds his knuckles into his wrist to force him to drop his gun before front-kicking his solar plexus. Outcome: Win (47-1-2).

Flash Point

• vs. Motorcyclist: Jack Jr. leaps from a wall to tackle a motorcyclist in a collar tackle, knocking the rider unconscious. Outcome: Win (48-1-2).
• vs. River Pirate: Jack Jr. disables a pirate on a raft by grabbing and twisting his testicles, then uses a Spyderco knife to repeatedly slash and stab his neck. Outcome: Win (49-1-2).
• vs. Ship Fighter: Slammed by a Chinese fighter, Jack Jr. head-butts his face and drives his elbow into his neck three times to black him out. Outcome: Win (50-1-2).

Weapons Grade

• vs. Captive Mercenary (Graham): Tortured in a car, Jack Jr. spits blood into his captor’s face. He blocks Graham’s punch and drives his elbow into the mercenary’s eye socket, fracturing the orbital bone, then smashes his head against the car window. Outcome: Win (51-1-2).
• vs. MS-13 Thugs: Leg-ironed and bound, Jack Jr. trips a thug, traps his knife hand in his chains, and chokes him with his bare fists until the man goes limp. Outcome: Win (52-1-2).

Shadow State

• vs. Chinese Operative: Ambushed in a Kowloon alley, Jack Jr. throws an uppercut, takes a throat-strike, a head kick, and a side kick to his ribs. After being slashed by a karambit, Jack trips the man and rolls with him. He throws a fallen clothesline sheet over the attacker’s face, tackles him, and uses the broken clothesline cord to strangle him to death. Outcome: Win (53-1-2).

Line of Demarcation

• vs. Tiburón’s Hitmen: Ambushed at a cafe, Jack Jr. rolls, swings a metal chair to drop a gunman, then flips a heavy tabletop over him, pouncing on his back and smashing his face into the bricks. Outcome: Win (54-1-2).
• vs. Red Bandana: Locked in a milking stall, Jack Jr. fakes being dead. When the guard enters, Jack swings a two-by-four board into his face, drives the board’s nails into his temple, and slits his throat with a bowie knife. Outcome: Win (55-1-2).
• vs. Sleeping Cop: Jack Jr. sneaks behind a sleeping cop and jams a bowie knife under his chin while gagging him with a bandana. Outcome: Win (56-1-2).

Terminal Velocity

• vs. Restroom Assailant: Ambushed in a bathroom in India, Jack Jr. rabbit-punches the assailant’s neck to grab his gun, gets tackled, and struggles to retain the weapon. Outcome: Win (57-1-2).