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

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.

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.

Tim opens with his famous aphorism: "Violence is rarely the answer, but when it is, it's the only answer".This book is a good introduction to and complement to his DVD packages. There is a chapter "Your Brain is your Deadliest Weapon" followed by "Training Time". These are topics that you might expect to be just "Ra-ra" and padding that you can skip. But, no, there is real meat in these chapters. Tim uses many anecdotes to bring out the reality of violent situations, with plenty of stories of lessons learned from failures and of almost-failures saved by applying his advice and turned into successes. Don't be put off by these chapters - the ideas in them are essential in establishing a mindset that is necessary to apply the techniques covered in the chapter "Training to Inflict Injury" and Tim's DVDs. Don't be impatient to get to the techniques - developing the mindset is essential to applying the techniques with the right force, speed and follow-through.Tim explains why his training is very different from martial arts and why it will often be more useful for the average person in a practical emergency than ANY of the martial arts schools, even MMA.The entire book is VERY well written. It's as readable as a Jack Reacher or a Dan Brown novel, but unlike them, this book could save your life of the life of someone you love.Tim Larkin was banned from entering the United Kingdom in around 2012. But he should have been welcomed. People who read this book will see how misguided the ban was and will be delighted that they can make up (to some extent) what they missed when Tim was unable to give his lectures and training here.

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!