Thinking like the opposition; taking threats seriously and not being in denial about their existence; and maintaining proper situational awareness, is 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 his 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 his way out.
John Rain and his author are particularly indebted for much of what appears in this article to the wisdom and experience of Marc Mac Young and http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com. There is much, much more to this subject; this article is only a start. To learn more, I suggest: Gavin DeBecker, The Gift of Fear, http://www.gdbinc.com/home.cfm; Marc Mac Young, Cheap Shots, Ambushes, and Other Lessons, http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com; Peyton Quinn, A Bouncer’s Guide to Barroom Brawling.
If you’re interested in going deeper on the mechanics and psychology of violence, then: Tony Blauer’s tapes and courses, http://www.tonyblauer.com; Alain Burrese, Hard Won Wisdom from the School of Hard Knocks, available through http://www.burrese.com; Loren Christensen’s books and videos, available through http://www.lwcbooks.com; Marc MacYoung’s books and videos, available through http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com; Peyton Quinn, Real Fighting http: //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 http://www.killology.com.
Barry Eisler’s thrillers, featuring the half-Japanese, half-American freelance assassin John Rain, have been included in numerous “Best Of” lists, including Publishers Weeklys Best Books of 2002 and Amazon.com’s Editors Picks of 2003; have been translated into over a dozen languages; and have been optioned for film by Barrie Osborne, Oscar-winning producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The fourth book in the series, Killing Rain, will be published in July 2005. http: www.barryeisler.com.
[Originally published in issue 4 of Crimespree Magazine,
http: //www.crimespreemag.com.]
