One common element you might see in all of this is the vital need for alertness, for situational awareness. Understanding where threats are likely to come from and how they are likely to materialize will help you properly tune your alertness. If you are not properly alert to a threat, you almost certainly will be unable to defend yourself against it when it materializes.
Notice that so far the discussion has included no mention of martial arts. This is because martial arts, self-defense, fighting, and combat, while related subjects, are not identical. The relationship and differences among these areas is outside the scope of this article; for more information, check the suggestions for further reading below, especially www.nononsenseselfdefense.com. For now, suffice it to say that martial arts can be thought of as an inner layer of self-defense. If you have to use your martial arts moves, then almost certainly some outer layer of your security has been breached and you are in a worse position than you would have been had the outer layers held fast.
To put it another way:
Thinking like the opposition; taking threats seriously and not being in denial about their existence; and maintaining proper situational awareness, are infinitely more cost effective for self-defense than is training in martial arts.
Note that I have been doing martial arts of one kind or another since I was a teenager. I love the martial arts for many reasons. I do not dispute and am not discussing their value, but rather am emphasizing their cost-effectiveness in achieving a given objective — here, effective personal protection. No matter what her martial arts skills, the person who recognizes in advance and can therefore steer clear of an ambush has a much better chance of surviving it than does the person who wanders into the ambush and then has to fight her way out.
So practice thinking like the opposition, and you’ll have a better chance of lasting as long as John Rain.
I am indebted for much of what appears in this article particularly to the wisdom and experience of Marc MacYoung and www.nononsenseselfdefense.com. There is much more to this subject; this article is only a start. To learn more, I suggest:
Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear, www.gdbinc.com/home.cfm
Marc MacYoung, Cheap Shots, Ambushes, and Other Lessons www.nononsenseselfdefense.org
Peyton Quinn, A Bouncer’s Guide to Barroom Brawling
If you’re interested in going deeper into the mechanics and psychology of violence, then:
Tony Blauer’s tapes and courses, www.tonyblauer.com
Alain Burrese, Hard-Won Wisdom from the School of Hard Knocks, www.burrese.com
Loren Christensen’s books and videos, www.lwcbooks.com
Marc MacYoung’s books and videos, www.nononsenseselfdefense.com
Peyton Quinn, Real Fighting, www.rmcat.com
If you want to go beyond self-defense and into the realm of combat and killing, then:
Dave Grossman, On Killing and On Combat www.killology.com
Barry Eisler spent three years in a covert position with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, then worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earning his black belt at the Kodokan International Judo Center along the way. Eisler’s bestselling thrillers have won the Barry Award and the Gumshoe Award for Best Thriller of the Year, have been included in numerous “Best Of” lists, and have been translated into nearly twenty languages. Eisler lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and, when not writing novels, he blogs about torture, civil liberties, and the rule of law at www.BarryEisler.com.
Fiction
Hard Rain
Rain Storm
Killing Rain
The Last Assassin
Requiem For An Assassin
Fault Line
Inside Out
The Lost Coast
Paris Is A Bitch
The Detachment (Coming soon)
Non-fiction
The Ass Is A Poor Receptacle For The Head: Why Democrats Suck At Communication, And How They Could Improve
Ebooks and Self-Publishing: A Conversation Between Authors Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath
For updates, free copies, contests, and everything else you want on The Detachment (available soon), featuring Larison, Rain, Dox, Treven, and the other characters you love, sign up for Barry’s newsletter. It’s a private list and your email address will never be shared with anyone else. The newsletter is also a great way to be the first to learn about movie news, appearances, and Barry’s other books and stories. You can also find Barry on his website, his blog Heart of the Matter, Facebook, and Twitter.
Copyright © 2011 by Barry Eisler. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
Edition: April 2011
Table of Contents
Paris Is A Bitch
Excerpt: THE DETACHMENT
Excerpt: Chapter 1
Excerpt: Chapter 2
Excerpt: Chapter 3
Excerpt: FLEE: A Thriller, by J. A. Konrath and Ann Voss Peterson
Excerpt: RUN, by Blake Crouch
Personal Safety Tips from Assassin John Rain
About the Author
Books by Barry Eisler
Contact Barry