Et tu Brute

Wayyyy back in '80s, I got some redundancy money from the place I was working at. The job prospects didn't seem very good here during that period of time, UB40 had released 'I am a 1 in 10' and I wasn't very happy about being out of work. I had been training Karate and Thai Chi for a couple of years, I was okay at them but nothing special.

I remember I used to buy one of the Karate mags that were out there at the time, hoping to read about someone I had trained with, Mick Flavel, Cyril Cummings, Ota Sensei etc. In the back of the mag was an advert for the IBA International Bodyguard Association. I thought that sounded cool, so I rang up, booked and signed over my redundancy money.

I did Karate for 15 years all in and competed in many competitions, I worked as a bodyguard for 2 years in different roles.

So this Kickstarter stood out to me.

Hope you will check it out and perhaps be a patron

1991 Open International Shotokan Karate Championships NIA Birmingham

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There I Was...When Nothing Happened

Available on Kickstarter

The most important violence skill is how to avoid a fight in the first place.

Even the toughest person alive has a non-zero chance of dying in a fight. Even the weakest person alive has a 100% of surviving a fight they don't get into. Avoiding dangerous situations is a set of skills all of their own, and a set many self-defense programs never get around to teaching. In There I Was...When Nothing Happened is a collection of stories from violence professionals. Each shares a time they used preparation, observation, de-escalation, communication, or evasion to avoid a violent encounter. Each includes an expert breakdown of the skills they used, and how you can apply the same to keeping yourself safe on the street. There I Was won't be the sexiest, most action-packed self defense book you ever read. It will be the most valuable.