Attack Proof: the Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection [Paperback]

While talking about the simple no-nonse way of surviving a fight, this book is difficult. I need to re-read most of the chapters (even pages) many times, and still get confused. And it does not have enough pictures to illustrate the concepts explained there. I need to consult some friends, black belts in their own respective martial arts, to gain some understanding.

From what they explained to me, this is a great martial art book (they borrowed it for few weeks and I understand that they practice it in their schools). It contained many sophisticated concepts from various martial arts like Wing Chun, Tai Chi, Aikido and those I never heard about... It is a great book to learn about real martial art or to uncover some "hidden" concept behind traditional practices.

However, in my opinion, newbie like me will need advice from experts since this book is far too difficult. So, I would recommend this book only if you have good background in martial art, or have a "master" to supervise your training. Also, you will need some equipment and equally committed partner(s) to practice some important drills.

Overall, great book, but it requires commitment. Not an easy how-to book.

Patire takes more of the safety/awareness approach whether that is on land or in the air. He trains the mind or what he turns "trains the brain" so the senses are more able to read tell tale signs of what is going on around your surroundings.

Perkins takes more of the 'martial art' lethal mentality and even though much of it is choreagraph in his book he explains the techniques well and makes some very valid points. In some parts it's a bit much but realizing the threat it is probably needed to be explained like that.

I am involved in the security world for my company and found both books to have very valuable information. My wife on the other hand loved Tom Patire's book more because of the stories and the useful tips to teach kids on how to be safe when mom and dad aren't around. I also found Patire's KNOW & GO program cutting edge but Perkins gives you the nasty side and I would think both author's would agree that it's a combination of both that makes it work in today's new world!

Overall these two books are matched up very well. Patire for the mind and Perkins for the body. Good job by both authors!

It's been suggested that this book isn't suitable for beginners. I disagree; I think it's terrific.

John Perkins's Ki Chuan Do ('way of the spirit fist') isn't just a 'martial art'; this is real, practical, hardassed Taoism in action, the kind that trains your body to move like a mind. Even apart from the close-combat stuff, just doing the exercises -- even for a few days -- will make a palpable difference in how you inhabit your body and navigate your environment. (Try the Ninja Walk and the Vacuum Walk for a couple of days and watch your balance improve -- even if it's already pretty good. Combat aside, this stuff is helpful to e.g. hikers who go on difficult trails. Of course this sort of balance/awareness is a kind of 'self-defense' in a hiking context too.)

The martial-arts portion is probably not for me to judge, but it makes good sense. Essentially, what Perkins is trying to do is teach self-defense to people who actually want to defend themselves. In order to do that, he's cut to the chase, omitting all the formal stuff that makes sense in a dojo (where you can count on your 'opponents' to fall courteously when you throw them) and taking you straight to the awareness/body-unity stuff (which will help keep you alive and kicking when your friendly neighborhood mugger ungenerously refuses to give you time to assume your favorite fighting stance).

If you're already training in a martial art, you don't need to _stop_ or anything; Perkins's 'guided chaos' will simply help you apply your training in a more realistic context. But if you're not already training in one, I think you can feel safe in starting here. Perkins's purpose is, after all, to help beginners develop close-combat skills as rapidly as possible.

As with other martial arts but perhaps even more so, the preferred aim in Perkins's Ki Chuan Do is not to go around beating people up but (as Sun-Tzu also recommended) to avoid violence by never letting it start. Perkins doesn't advise fighting unless you're backed into a corner, and he doesn't hesitate to advise running the heck away if it's at all possible. (All in all, Perkin's's book fits well with Gavin de Becker's _The Gift of Fear_ -- a book that, incidentally, appears in Perkins's list of recommended reading.) The most devout peacenik (Perkins's apt phrase is 'pacifist warrior') should be able to get behind this approach.

But make no mistake, if you _aren't_ able to get away from an attacker, Perkins wants you to fight like a brain-damaged wolverine on PCP. And he shows you how.

He accomplishes this not so much by showing you specific blows and such (which he does, but you can learn about most of them by reading e.g. Fairbairn) but by helping you get your body in the right frame of mind, if you know what I mean. His exercises are designed to bring you to a condition in which you don't need to _stop and think_ for that crucial fraction of a second that might make the difference between life and death.

And if you don't have the stomach to deal with e.g. biting, eye-gouging, and scratching, skip this book. It's not for people who enjoy violence, but it's also not for people who refuse to use it even in self-defense.

Underneath it all (and sometimes on the surface too) is a deep layer of philosophical Taoism -- not at the level of a college-freshman late-night purple-hazed bull session, but the kind that you grok in your kishkes or not at all. You can read it all you want, but you won't 'get' the Taoist bits if you don't _do_ at least some of the exercises.

The book _is_ fun to read, though. Perkins and his collaborators are delightfully iconoclastic and generally good company all around. The well-written text is also accompanied by plenty of genuinely helpful photographs.

I'm not competent to decide whether Perkins's approach is appropriate for everyone (although I suspect it is). But if his approach sounds suitable to you, don't stay away from the book _just_ because you're a beginner. That's exactly who Perkins wrote it for.