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eBook Category: Health/Fitness/Self Improvement
eBook Description: This is not a book about fighting. In fact, this book is more about avoiding violence than using it. All aspects of street self-defence are covered including Stance, Guard and Movement, Striking and Grappling, Escaping Grabs and Chokes, Distractions and Diversions, Defending Yourself on the Ground, Improvising Weapons and Weapon Defences, Fighting hard vs Fighting Smart

eBook Publisher: Summersdale Publishers Ltd/Summersdale Martial Arts, Published: 2004
Fictionwise Release Date: March 2005

Available eBook Formats:
All formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
Adobe Reader ISBN: 1840242272   What's this?

Script for review of The Self-Defence Manual by Martin Dougherty & David Birdsall (Summersdale; paperback, £14.99 well spent) by Regina Schinner on BBC Radio Kent. It's a bit unusual to hear a review for a self-defence manual on Radio Kent, but as it is getting dark earlier now, and a lot of youngsters are off to university, enjoying their freedom for the first time (and probably scare the living daylight out of their parents), I thought this book is immensely useful. One misconception about self-defence is that you need to be fit and into some kind of martial art to defend yourself. Well, that's wrong. Self-defence can be learned by people of all ages and abilities. The important message The Self-Defence Manual brings across is that you don't need to be fit or sporty, but that you'll need to know how to deal with dangerous situations and defuse them effectively. A big part of the book is devoted to avoiding threats and deter attacks rather than fight an attacker. According to the authors awareness is a key to self-defence, and so is being confident, avoiding town centres (full of drunks at night) or dark, lonely places. The authors The authors have put together a very readable, realistic and practical book, written in clear and easy-to-follow steps and illustrated with loads of photographs. It's an encouraging and empowering volume, ad can only encourage you to get a copy and read it. The Self-Defence Manual by Martin Dougherty & David Birdsall is published as a paperback by Summersdale, priced £14.99, which isn't much for a book that can save your life.' -- BBC Radio Kent

What is Self-Protection?

Everyone knows that self-defence is a matter of learning a few simple strikes and grappling techniques so that you can disable or escape from an attacker. Sadly, everyone who knows that is wrong. Self-defence begins with you; the process of protecting yourself begins long before a confrontation develops. However, the term has acquired certain connotations that can make its use misleading. Words like "self-defence" mean different things to different people, so we will draw a distinction between self-defence and self-protection for the sake of clarity.

"Self-defence" refers to the skills of fighting, evasion and fleeing that are used to thwart an attack that is imminent or already taking place.

"Self-protection" encompasses many layers, one of which is the act of self-defence. Self-protection also includes alertness, target hardening, confrontation management and a host of other skills used to avoid, deter or prevent attacks--or to deal with them if they do happen.