The Little Black Book of Violence: What Every Young Man Needs to Know About Fighting
Friday, 19. February 2010. 08:06
- ISBN13: 9781594391293
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
The Little Black Book of Violence will arm you with the knowledge and good sense to make informed choices in hazardous situations. While some yahoo spewing insults about your favorite sports team is worlds apart from a drug-crazed lunatic lunging at you with a sharp knife in his hands and bloodlust in his eyes, there is a large gray area in between these two extremes where hard and fast rules do not always apply. This is where wisdom, oftentimes hard-earned wisdom, … More >>
The Little Black Book of Violence: What Every Young Man Needs to Know About Fighting
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February 19th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Its a good book, sadly my copy had a printing error. At the end of the book, instead of appendixes C,D, and E, my copy had a repetition of the first 20 pages of the book.
I wrote to the publisher’s customer service department but didnt receive any reply from their customer service people, which makes me feel like they dont care if they sold a defective product.
That is why I give it 2 stars, although the content is good… cross your fingers that you will get the COMPLETE book.
Rating: 2 / 5
February 19th, 2010 at 11:41 am
After reading more into an overly broad mention of this book on Glenn Reynolds “instapundit” I picked up a copy and finished it last night.
Let me take a page from the author’s book as it were.
Violence is a horrible thing. Its messy, its gory, it is painful, and it often results in death, disfigurement, and legal action. The taking of a human life is not a decision that should be arrived at easily nor quickly. Even the attempt to kill in “sanctioned” situations can lead to emotional, physical, and spiritual distress of an individual.
However, for the horrors of violence, there are often times where violence is the correct answer, the best choice. Believe it or not (and the authors would have you believe not) violence isn’t a tool of last resort. The authors would have you believe that you should only fight when backed into a corner trapped, with no other way out. They further pontificate that you should change your life, avoiding certain places, people, and things. You should be afraid, avoid going out after dark, and avoiding new places and new situations, all so you can avoid violence.
Be a coward. But at least you’ll be alive.
I don’t agree, at all. Somethings are worth fighting for. Somethings are worth killing for. Somethings are worth dying for. And not as a last resort either.
I think the authors and I would agree, that your life is worth fighting for. That is the premise of the second half of their book anyway, what to do once you find yourself in a situation where a fight is unavoidable. But even then I disagree with their “mental and verbal judo” approach to things. They would rather have you let your enemy control the battlefield, allowing them to be the aggressor, putting you into a position from which you react to them rather than initiating or escalating the conflict.
The book however, isn’t a complete waste (hence two stars rather than one), just misdirected. The sections on situational awareness are very good. They stress that you need to be situationally aware at all times, and not just when on unfamiliar ground or in new situations. They preach the credo “Trust in God, but everyone else needs to show their hands” and more importantly to check the hands, check the feet, watch the posture. Don’t be lulled and to be prepared.
As far as their self defense teachings go…its hard to learn this type of stuff from a book. Really hard. As a matter of fact I can only think of one or two ways worse than learning self defense from a book, and that would be to teach yourself, or to learn it from watching “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”…
That really isn’t a fault of the authors however. Thats a limitation of the medium.
If I were to get off my lazy butt and write a book of this nature, here’s the way I’d do it.
1) Understand what it means to fight for something. It means being willing to accept death, dismemberment, and legal action. It means being willing to hurt, maim, or kill.
2) Decide what is worth fighting for. This is on the individual to decide and to determine. For me, life, liberty, family, and country are worth fighting for. The three bucks in my wallet? Probably not.
3) Prepare yourself to fight for those things. Be situationally aware. Be prepared to end the fight quickly by any means. Be prepared to make the decision to fight before it is forced upon you.
4) Know how to fight. Take a good self defense program/class. Avoid competitive martial arts.
5) Read “The Gift of Fear” and “On Killing”
6) Live you life how you will, without regret, and without some book (or some reviewer on Amazon) telling you how.
Rating: 2 / 5
February 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
The book doesn’t go into great depth on the matter, but for providing an overview of what happens in a violent situtation, how to detect and avoid, and if required defend yourself. The defending yourself is the part that lacks the most but given the delivery format that is hard to avoid. If you want to learn self-defense then study with someone that trains people in how to handle violent situations.
Rating: 4 / 5
February 19th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Normally when I review a martial arts, or other such type of book, I look not only for various things that the author can teach me, but also for things that I agree with, as well as, things that I may not necessarily agree with, like I said, normally. However, whenever I have read one of the books by Lawrence Kane and/or Kris Wilder, I pretty much eliminate, right from the start, trying to find anything I disagree with. Not so much in the fact that these two authors are always right, okay so maybe they have a higher than average percentage of being right, but more so in the fact that their research into the given subject that they are writing about is, and so far has been, impeccable.
Do I agree 100% with everything they say chapter and verse? Of course not, but I do agree with the vast majority of what they write, and in those rare instances where I don’t fully agree with them, it is usually simply a matter of adjusting a particular point or two that I disagree with, or more often than not it is a matter of personal experience where I disagree with what they are saying, although when this happens it has only been a slight disagreement and never by any means a total disagreement of the point or technique that they are writing about. This in and of itself speaks volumes for the professionalism and credibility of these two outstanding martial artists and teachers.
The title of this book, “The Little Black Book of Violence,” could have also been aptly named, “What Is and What Is Not, Worth Fighting For,” with the additional sub-title of; “And the Costs Associated With Both.” You know that is a very good title for a book and I guess that I am going to keep that one for myself and use it later. Sorry guys, it’s just too good a title to give away.
The authors have done nothing short of a superb job in presenting the harsh reality of violence and the often “un-thought of” or perhaps “un-thought out” consequences of violence whether you are the one initiating the violence or the one defending against it. I have often heard it said that, “No one comes out of a fight unscathed, there are simply varying degrees of damage.” And not all damage is visible or physical in nature. As any reputable doctor will tell you, damage to the body almost always heals faster than damage to the mind. Just take a look at all the PTS (post traumatic stress syndrome) cases that have been arising of late in our military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The very first thing you need to do before reading this book is to go to the back of the book and photocopy two copies of each page starting with pages 293 to 296. Then sit down and take a moment of serious self-reflection and answer each one of the questions presented in an honest and truthful manner. Once you have done this, go ahead and sit down and read through this book. However, don’t just sit down and read it in one sitting, although that is okay to do.
Personally, I recommend that you read completely through this book at least one time at whatever your normal reading pace is. Then once you have done that, sit down with the book again and read through various section (go ahead and skip around a bit) until you have completely read through this book a second time. Take your time and give yourself a few weeks to really reflect upon everything that you have read. Once you have completed this, sit down and fill out the set of questions that you photocopied a second time. Then compare them to the answers you wrote down before reading this book. What do they tell you? If you do as I have recommended, I think you will have truly learned some very important life lessons from this book.
Here are just a few of the other books that I firmly believe should be in the personal library of every martial artist, law enforcement officer, military personnel, or simply anyone interested in self-defense and doing the right thing.
Surviving Armed Assaults: A Martial Artists Guide to Weapons, Street Violence, and Countervailing Force
The Gift of Fear
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
On Combat, The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace
Shawn Kovacich
Martial Artist/Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.
Rating: 5 / 5
February 19th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
These expert authors have provided us with a very well written book that includes graphic photos of the real world of street violence. And it is for everyone, not just for “young men” or only those in martial arts. Instead of focusing on meeting violence with violence, Kane and Wilder’s book will make you understand that avoiding violence is the better way to survive. This book will raise your awareness so you can steer clear of an environment that could get you into terrible trouble. You will learn to pay attention to potential threats to your well-being, and if you learn to avoid these situations, it could keep you safe–instead of sorry. Self-defense is prominent as well, but not many authors convincingly drive home the after-effects of violence, even if you are the winner. If you should kill someone in self-defense, how will you feel when you wake up everyday knowing your are a killer? And don’t forget to complete the thought-provoking checklist provided by the authors: “How Far Am I Willing to Go?” Serious topics are presented in everyday language.
Rating: 5 / 5