When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake

I read through the whole book today and found it a great refresher to what I already know. I'll be honest from the get-go - I didn't spend my money on Tim Larkin's daring book for the true, essential, information packed inside it. I bought it to publicly support the author in his mission of preparing good people to be able to even the odds if/when they find themselves facing imminent danger.Eleven years ago, after being responsible for taking care of two young nephews on a two-day long road trip, it hit me that I wouldn't know exactly what I would need to do if they ever needed my protection. Until then I had always been able to remove myself from threats before situations escalated because I was aware of the social dynamics coming into play earlier than most and I have never been the type to look for trouble. However, when you have to look after another person you can't always get to safety. I started searching and eventually found Tim online and ordered a set of his self-protection training dvds.The principles Tim taught then haven't changed. They do require the mental/emotional shift to understanding violence as being a tool available to anybody when it's what is needed to survive. They are true, simple, and easy to absorb and to recall.Two years later I was fortunate to be able to attend a live two-day training with Tim when he was "Down Under". Totally worthwhile experience because 1) getting on the mats with other students and training the "slow" TFT way really got me "dialled in" as I've never been able to find a training partner here in NZ. 2) It was neat to finally meet Tim - one of the most humble, kind, helpful, guys you will ever meet. A true gentleman is someone who chooses to be gentle not someone who is because gentle is the only option they have. Too many good men in our society today don't know how to use violence successfully to protect the vulnerable from the asocial predators. If that is you, like it was me once, then grab this book and learn how to change that. It does NOT take years of martial arts training. It takes a couple hours of learning the principles and basic physics that every successful act of violence (whether done by a criminal or a hero) is built on.The message of this book is super controversial in these idealistic politically correct times when most of the powers-that-be don't want the average Joe or Jane Citizen to have access to this sort of knowledge. Information that every person should have available to them. This information has not made me a violent person. Rather it has helped me to dump the silly fight fantasies so many of us carry around from watching un-realistic movie fight scenes etc. True violence is always to be avoided unless you absolutely can't avoid it. Tim talks a lot about how to know when that is going down. I worked in development in a more dangerous part of the world for ten years and never had any real problems because although I am bigger than average I would never be found anywhere sketchy late at night with a couple drinks in me. Over there I observed twice that untrained, unarmed, normally peaceful, people can kill hardened criminals when put in a kill-or-be-killed situation if they get to make the first injury. This is why I chose Tim's training over the other options so long ago. It makes absolute sense because that's how things go down in the real world.Overall Tim's dvds and books have given me a more peace-filled existence. How so? 1) I understand that avoidable ego-driven fights can unintentionally turn fatal so easily and quickly because we are all equally vulnerable to serious injury - so I won't be baited into a fight. 2) the knowledge I have about what it takes to use violence successfully means I don't need to carry a weapon to be effective. This gives me unspoken confidence - not the kind that looks for trouble but the kind that crims know to not mess with if they have easier options.Whether you are male or female, young or old, you too can possess that sense of responsible assurance. But only if you understand what you must do when violence is the only answer. I hope to never find myself in such a situation but if I do I have the right software installed in my brain. Thanks Tim!

I do not like violence. But when 9/11 happened, I knew I did not want to be a passenger on one of the three planes that were flown into public buildings with great loss of life; I wanted to be one of the passengers on Flight 93 who fought back. They lost their lives, but did not allow their airplane to be used to massacre thousands more innocent lives.So knowing that karate black belts are awesome fighters (thank you, Chuck Norris!), I started working on a black belt. As I came up to my black belt exam, I realized I still didn't have any idea how to take down a terrorist in an airplane. Perhaps primitive Okinawan karate would have taught this kind of thing, but karate as generally practiced in the USA does not. So I started searching through dozens of other options, finally going to one of Tim Larkins' Target Focus Training seminars with my deputy sheriff son-in-law. After 2 1/2 days of training, we walked out knowing exactly what to do to take down a terrorist in an airplane!This book is that weekend seminar printed and bound, and able to be read in the comfort of your own home. It will not turn you into a testosterone-driven mad man. It will not make you a homicidal felon. It will simply give you the principles you can use to effectively protect yourself and your loved ones in the event of having your life threatened by a violent felon. You will need to do some training, and the training process is deeply explained in the book. For more specifics on the training, search the web for Target Focus Training's series of DVDs.This is the real deal. It is based on very effective principles, and can be used by the largest man or smallest woman. I highly recommend the book and the DVDs.And I still hate violence!

Not quite what I expected the book to be. I was expecting to learn about techniques and methodology for self-defense. Really the whole book is about changing your mindset about violence from incomprehensible to a tool. Which makes sense, I'm sure a lot of people need help wrapping their minds around the idea that sometimes the only way to survive is with violence as your ally. The book is very well footnoted, which I appreciate. It just wasn't the training book I thought it was and now it feels a bit like I bought an infomercial because I get all kinds of emails and offers to attend the very expensive training classes or watch the training videos the author has made.

Tim Larkin often says that violence is usually not the answer, but when it is, it is the only answer.I’ve listened to several of his interviews, watched several of his videos, and read more than one of his books. His message is consistent. 99 percent of conflicts are what he calls “antisocial.” The schoolyard bully. The angry red neck. The drunk guy at the bar. These all can and should be avoided. Violence is not the answer to these encounters. The answer is to stay polite and walk away.What about the other 1%? These are asocial encounters. We’ve moved beyond “monkey politics,” as Larkin calls it. There’s no communication. There’s no social posturing. There’s only a predator, and he intends to get what he wants regardless of what he has to do. Your life, or your family member’s life, is at stake. You can’t talk your way out. You can’t run. Now is when violence is the answer.If you’ve read Larkin’s other books, you won’t find a lot that is new here A slightly different focus, maybe, but the same basic message. But if you haven’t read any of his writings, I highly recommend this one as it is the most up to date.Another note: this book is not full of self-defense techniques. There are general principals, but not specific techniques. As Larkin says, this is not martial arts. You don’t have to know a fancy technique to cause serious injury using just your body.There is a lot of good information in this book—information that could save a life. I read it with interest, and I’m sure I’ll read it again.

I have watched the author's YouTube posts for some time now and found them to be interesting, informed and useful in the topic of self defence. So why only three stars for the book? There are a number of reasons, none really to do with style (it's well written and easy to read) or content (it argues its topic from a certain viewpoint and does it well) but for what might be called a supposition, an omission and a misapprehension. The supposition is that the only time an individual will need to use force (he uses the term violence...I'll stick with the legal term) is against what he calls 'asocial violence', violence perpetrated by a sociopath bet on killing you. So all uses of force described tend towards overkill. I fully understand and accept that situations and opponents exist for whom the only solution is possibly blinding, crippling or killing but when you only give your student a hammer all of the problems will look like a nail. Following the advice is many possible situations will lead one to end up sharing a cell with the asocial aggressors the book is targeted against. The omission is that he quite rightly states that simplicity is key and destructive power is created by engaging mass in motion through a vulnerable target, but does not illustrate how the novice (this is aimed at novices) can practice this nor direct them to sources he approves of where they can learn it. He does include some interesting diagrams about the ranges of motions of joints, some showing how the former advice could be applied to the latter targets might have been useful. The misapprehension is in one chapter where he derides scenario training, however what he describes as scenario training (he uses the example of practicing being at an ATM/Cashpoint when a person grabs your shoulder and you do xyz technique to escape) is actually just contextualised technique training. Scenario training is you are in a car park, a man approaches, deal with what happens next (walks past/offers to wash your car/pulls knife etc) and is a useful learning tool used widely throughout use of force training. On the plus side he links the book to a website where the purchaser can gain free additional information, and his YouTube site is excellent. So, not a bad book just one geared to a very specific and ultra severe threat (going to risk stereotyping and say this is typically American ) and could do with a small amount of additional instructional material. Still worth reading as is.

As a prison officer, ex-publican and retail security officer I've seen and experienced enough violence to last a lifetime. I've practiced various martial arts for 40 years. This book tell some unpleasant truths about today's society that everyone needs to hear. Highly recommended to give you a nudge out of your comfort zone and get you thinking in a way that could help to save you or your loved ones from becoming victims. Preparedness is everything, avoiding trouble is better than having to deal with it but sometimes your number just comes up!

Many people react very adversely to the idea that they should ever inflict violence on another human being - especially if they have never been attacked. Tim Larkin is a perfectly law-abiding socially and personally responsible person. He just happens to be a tough guy as well, who would rather that you survived, than that you lay in the gutter in a pool of blood while the thug went off with your wallet (or just with the psychopathic victory of having dominated and hurt you) - and that you then returned to being a normal civilized person. If you agree - that violence, like a nuclear deterrent, is a last resort, but one that is unfortunate and has to be available in an occasionally ruthless and sometimes unreasonable and violent world - then this book (and/or training courses with Target Focus Training) is for you.

Trouble will at some point find you. Learn how to analyse the situation, acknowledge when there is no other option but to resort to violence and do so effectively.This is NOT a book on fighting techniques although they do get a mention, it is the psychology of violence and how to master the storm when it hits.

Time Larkin presents a comprehensive account of the reality of violent assault and the necessity of using the same tool of violence to rebalance the odds in your favour and to be able to survive and walk away.There is no glamour, no fancy moves or staged scenarious, just the rich mine of evidence based research translated into what needs to be done to disable someone intent on causing you life ending or life changing harm.Really importantly, there is information on what constitutes anti-social aggression and what consitutes asocial violence. They are fundentantly two different things, anti-social aggression is something that you can often avoid, walk away from, deescalate don't allow your ego to stand toe to toe with the other person's, apologise, move on etc.Asocial violence is usually unanounced, unpredictable, sudden and the intent is soley to cause harm without negotiation or opportunity for escape. It is this type of violence that Tim Larkin offers an antidote for and for most of us, it's unpleasant medicine but it is potentially life saving.A key theme of the book is about mindset and intent, our brain is the most lethal tool we have in our arsenal particularly when helped by this book, you can believe in your own ability to respond to violence with violence, necessary, injurious violence in the extraordinary circumstances that for most of us will probably never arise, I guess though, you can never say never for most things. Reading this book is a major step towards giving yourself a fighting chance if the unthinkable does happen.