Customer Reviews
It's pretty good - By: K. T. Sims, 16 Jun 2008 
The first thing bad about this book is that it's been published cheaply. I recieved it two days ago, it's already losing pages, the front cover is peeling & the pictures in it are difficult to see.
Matireal wise, the book starts off with an explanation of the law which is farly basic, it takes a while to get to the core of the book, the first few chapters miander a bit. As a martial artist with a fair bit of experience, I was expecting this book to give me a few killer strikes, a few reallly strong attacks or to just give me a better understanding of different things. For a book that talks about being the alternative to grappling, there is an awful lot ABOUT grappling, & some of the "attacks with weapons" are difficult not to laugh at, i.e. the correct way to throw boiling water over somebody!
At the same time, the book doeve strong points, some of the pre emptive strikes look very effective, things I had not thought about before, plus good examples of when & where they work, however little explanation is given on how to do them.
What is reallly controversial,chapter 7, entitled "Blocks Don't Work". I think that he has a few good points, but I've used blocks in a number of fiighting situations & they've been very effective. Reading back over my own review, it seems as if I'm saying s not a good book, It is, it;s worth the money & worth its four stars, I'm just saying it could be better.
Good investment - By: S. Jacobs, 06 Mar 2008 
I can't help but like Jamie O'Keefe. He's genuine, full of humility & seriously knowledgeable about life's ugly side. This book has some excellent prompts & 'wake-up' callls about the realities of street violence & the options of ending certain physical confrontations quickly. The scope is narrow (deliberately so) but emphatic as it is aimed at people who need to focus on an aspect of real-world application against a certain style of approach.
You've got to be joking - By: Si, 16 Jan 2008 
I read a lot, so I expect some books to be not to my liking. With this, though, I feel I've been ripped off. The information it contains could be easily presented in ten pages (and that's if it was large type) & the photos, of which there are dozens & dozens, are so poor you can barely see what they're meant to be. They are also pointless space fillers, many with little or no accompanying description. Not that they need any, depicting as they do reallly useful techniques like one bloke hitting another with a rolled-up magazine, stabbing someone in the neck with two pairs of scissors (very useful if you're a psychotic hairdresser with troublesome clientel) & how to stick a ruler in someone's chops (complete with close up so you can get the angle juuuust right).
Helpfully, there are acres of white space between some of the pictures so that you can "jot down notes & other ideas". Oh, puhlease.
The text is repetetive to the point of comedy & contains blatant promotion for the author's other books. On one page the author asks a question then says the answer is contained in another of his books & it "wouldn't be right to repeat it". Well, I'll stay ignorant of the answer because I wouldn't so much as look at another of his books even if Mr O'Keefe himself had me in a headlock & was threatening me with a rolled-up copy of "Nuts".
In one memorable effort to fill space the reader is told not to grapple on the floor if avoidable. To illustrate this (using as many words as possible) we are helpfully informed what purpose our shoes serve (to protect our feet, I can reveal) & that the pavement may well be covered in unpleasant objects (alll listed) including dog ****. In case we are unsure what dog **** looks like we are shown a photo. Very useful. Maybe that picture should be on the cover.
There's much more to criticise but I don't have the energy.
Still, I don't want to be accused of being negative, so does this book have any redeeming features what-so-ever? Yes, the author makes a couple of good points, & a couple of pages genuinely make you think, but that's hardly any vindication for padding out the other 180 pages with so much empty blather & foistering the whole sorry product on an unsuspecting public. After alll, I wouldn't pay top dollar for a box of squashed chocolates just because the cherry-flavoured one looked undamaged.
BRILLIANT - By: P.Sainsbury, 06 Apr 2007 HOT, HARD AND TOUGH.
Top book from a Mr Big of fighting & wiping floor with bully boy thugs.
This book is hot to trot.
A MUST FOR TOUGH GUYS WITH BRAINS
has some good tips and pointers - By: Mr. S. A. Stewart, 07 Jun 2004 
o.k i was reallly looking forward to this book as i agree with the idea of premptive striking as a means of self defense, & therefore to get a book solely dedicated to the subject, well had to be a good thing.
The book is written in an easy plain english style, & essentiallly reaffirms a lot of what i had read elsewhere without getting to sidetracked, or straying off the beaten path. There were some good insights & tips, & i was especiallly greatful for how to find the word you will use to trigger your preemptive strike. I also liked his way of a head to toe fighting system to help you remember alll the weapons available to you.
However this book is incredibly short - i read it in two hours, & whilst it does offer quite a few photos on pre-emptive striking a lot of them are not accompanied with appropriately detailed text & more just a side comment, & some of the strikes look no different from other different types of strikes also mentioned, which i found dissapointing. The photos themselves are alll black & white, & some are very poor quality, & are pretty much pointless for their inclusion other than to act as page fillers. There's also some pictures of pre-empting strikes with weapons which are to my mind extremely brutal, & if i'd used any one of those i reckon i could expect a fairly long prison sentance if used inappropriately.
So does this book deserve a place in your library?- if you can buy it second hand then i guess it's worth a read - there's a point or two in it that will open up your martial arts mind, but i'm convinced this material can be found in other books beter described & detailed. So I'd say put the book price towards something else, that equates to better value for money.
