- Visit the Sports Nutrition Store and find a huge range and great offers on top-brand products for all aspects of your fitness and never run out of 100s of products with Subscribe & Save.
Dead Or Alive - The Choice Is Yours
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £2.75
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Dead or Alive: The Definitive Self-Protection Handbook (Summersdale Martial Arts): The Choice Is Yours - The Definitive Self-protection Handbook for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £2.75, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
One of the few real self-protection guides on the market today, this book will teach you first and foremost how to avoid violent situations. But should you find yourself in one, it will also show you how to control yourself and your emotions so you can function on a physical level to defend yourself.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Geoff Thompson’s incredible journey has transformed him from a bullied weakling to a best-selling writer, columnist, ambassador for the Martial Arts, BAFTA winner and the hardest club doorman in the country. He has published over twenty-five books, several of which detail his nine years as a nightclub doorman and include the best-selling autobiography Watch my Back. Geoff is also the author of a popular series of self-help books. Geoff’s work has been translated into seven different languages. Summersdale published his debut novel, Red Mist, in September 2003.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a very special book. Second only to Peter Consterdine's "Streetwise: Manual of Personal Security and Self Defence" in terms of giving you all around and essential information on self protection, this book is an absolute 'must have'.
Whilst "Streetwise" gives you almost everything you need, this book complements it perfectly and supplies the few missing pieces necessary to round out the picture. The author, Geoff Thompson, has a background as a doorman, and has put in a great deal of effort to study and learn both the 'street' skills of combat and the academic and intellectual tools to understand violent situations.
Combining elements of academic psychology with interview evidence from a range of violent criminals, from muggers to rapists, even murderers, Thompson shows the mindset and attack rituals of these criminals. This vital information combined with the simple but not simplistic self protection ideas that Thompson explains enable you to fully understand how to firstly, avoid and evade trouble and dangerous situations, and secondly, how to stand a chance of dealing with a potential assailant that you have been unable to escape from.
This is no fools advice though. Thompson does not attempt to fill your head with unworkable super techniques. His advice is based on his own experience that the simple and 'scruffy' stuff is what works. Indeed it is all you will be capable of doing if you are caught in a situation where it is all kicking off, and far from being the coward's way, Thompson proves that running away is by far the better option.
The best thing about the book though is Thompson's discussion on the law as regards self defence. This will prove to be a real eye opener to many readers and certainly forces you to adopt realistic attitudes to the world. Make no mistake, YOU are responsible for your own self protection, not the police and the courts, and Thompson does an excellent job of getting this across.
In essence, this book with it's focus on giving an insight into the mindset of the violent offender, and it's excellent approach to making you sit up and take responsibility for your own self protection and defence, forms the perfect companion for the all around information contained in Peter Consterdine's "Streetwise". Get hold of both and give them some serious study and you will be much safer and wiser.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`Dead or Alive' is a self defence book written by one of the UK's most well known martial artists. Whilst it has much sound advice and suggests you run away before you attempt to fight in any confrontation, it doesn't shy away from telling you what needs to be done to protect yourself, however ugly or scary it may seem. This looks at attacker and victim mindsets and also interviews various attackers to gauge how they choose victims and when they will walk away. The chapters showing the various techniques are illustrated with clear black and white photography and there are chapters on the law and how alcohol affects conflict. The early chapters look at physiological responses to conflict and how you can best control them to protect yourself. Some of the accounts are quite shocking and even scary to read, but if you want to protect yourself you have to know the truth of confrontation. I think this book would be best if used in conjunction with a self defence course and as such would provide an excellent reference book. Overall the advice is clear and sensible and whilst this is sobering reading, it is also required if you take personal protection seriously.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is one of the best in this range that I have read. Having studied martial arts for years, and having experienced that the 'street' and 'real life attacks' are very different to 'dojo' training, i finally got round to reading this. Its a very down to earth approach to staying alert on the street, and being aware of the real monster... adrenaline.I experienced a real attack scenario, where a thug threatened me on a train, and we had a face off, with the potential of violence.I had read the section in this book about 'adrenaline dump', 'signs of violence', the 'aggressor bluffing' and confidence etc...This enabled and warned me on how to get over the shock, and fear, of the initial verbal assault, while my adrenaline dump and brief weakness hit me, I held my ground against this person so THEY ended up backing down. (although Geoff Thompson recomends flight before fight.... sometimes you have to stand your ground....especially when like me you were on a train!!!)So read this book wether you 'know' kung fu - or not!Very helpful.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
a MUST READ!!
Anyone interested in Self Defence MUST read this book. It contains essential information that will help you spot trouble and avoid it before you ever get to the stage of have to... Read more
Published 1 month ago by RNE02
This book may save your skin
I brought this book years ago when I first got into martail arts and competitive fighting. Having read some of the 1 and 2 star reviews, all I can say is that those that have rated... Read more
Published 2 months ago by The Wonk
Dead good
Dead or Alive is well written and packed with useful information whether your a Psychologist looking into aggressive behavior or a martial arts enthusiast, Geoff does however seem... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Stevie Wevie
To most part, highly valuable expert advice
This book tells you how to avoid falling victim of a violent crime. Mr. Thompson is a former nightclub bouncer who has been in many physical conflicts. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Printul Noptilor
Unique insights into a grim world
Having trained martial arts for the better part of my life, I have in recent years taken an interest into how violence happens "in the real world". Read more
Published 15 months ago by Thomas Jensen
Reality check and a really good read for martial artists and...
This great book is about the mechanisms of violence and how to deal with it, physically as well as mentally. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Simon Birksų Larsen
Real self defence
Far better than most books written on this topic. A lot of great advice on how to avoid trouble.
It really does emphasise this, which is a welcome change from many similar... Read more
It really does emphasise this, which is a welcome change from many similar... Read more
Published 18 months ago by The Emperor
The choice is yours
I have read many so called books on self-protection and i must say this is by far the best. It is filled with so much good solid common sense advice its unbelievable! Read more
Published 21 months ago by S. o'brien
A "common sense" guide to self-defence
I am new to the world of self-defence but I found nothing in this book which isn't obvious common sense. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2008 by Stephen Ryan
The best self defence book I've read
Having read a few self defence books, this is by far the best that I've encountered. It contains straight forward practical advice which could potentially save you from serious... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2008 by Mr. M. K. Egan
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
