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5 Self-Defense Books Worth Their Salt

To be worth one’s salt. While not a phrase you hear much anymore that phrase has been around since the time of the Romans and is fitting for the subject. To be worth one’s salt means to be worth’s one pay. It dates back to when Roman soldiers were paid in salt or given an allowance for salt. As salt was at one time a valuable commodity. It essentially means you can earn your keep put bluntly that you are worth it.

Self-defense is a topic that has been written about far and wide by a variety of different types of people. Believe it or not but there have been self-defense hucksters just as there have been for every other area of information. However there are also those whose real experience has set them apart from your wannabe warrior and have practical application to the real world and making sure you don’t get your ass handed to you one day.

We live in a violent world. Violence is a fact of life. You must learn how to handle yourself in violent situations or you will cease to exist. Civilization is collapsing all around us. You cannot afford to be soft much longer. These books will serve as a solid foundation upon which to build your knowledge of applying violence and cultivating the will to fight. Something that is essential to being a man and surviving in a harsh world. And make no mistake the world we live in is harsh.

Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey

This was one of the first books that I read in relation to self-defense and it is one of the best. Championship Fighting by written by the great heavy hitting boxer Jack Dempsey. Something unique about Championship Fighting it that it wasn’t written for the ring but rather for the street. Dempsey had his share of fights both within the ring and without and understands the nature of a violent encounter. He shows how boxing can be an incredibly effective means of defending oneself when in a tight spot.

In it Dempsey teaches you the proper way to punch (pretty much a gurantee you’ve been doing it wrong), how to put knockout power behind your punches, the most devastating kinds on punches, the basics of defense, the importance of aggression and much more. This is hands down the best boxing book I have read and I have read quite a few. For the beginner wanting to know the best place to start (or an advanced person wanting to become more deadly) I would recommend Dempsey’s Championship Fighting. Six weeks on Dempsey plan and you’ll be able to knock out most guys your own weight, that’s from Dempsey’s actual experience and the experience of his students not a sales pitch.

A Bouncer’s Guide To Barroom Brawling by Peyton Quinn

Peyton Quinn earned his living as a bouncer at various biker bars, which after spending a lifetime in you will see your fair share of violence. In A Bouncer’s Guide To Barroom Brawling Quinn covers a variety of topics relating to dealing with your average bar brawl and the nature of them. First off Quinn makes it clear that violence is no clean like it is in the dojo but rather a chaotic and messy affair. Though a student of many marital arts Quinn talks about their limited usefulness in real fighting situations. However there are a few thing in just about every major martial art that can be used in a fight.

Quinn talks about how it all starts with awareness and not being a soft target. One thing I found interesting was Quinn talking about how sucker punchers (your average barroom brawler) will “interview” you before launching their attack. They will test you to see if you would make a good target. Quinn highlights a couple of different ways to deal with this interview to dissuade your would be assailant from continuing in his plans. None of which are saying “violence never solves anything” lol. In addition Quinn highlights how awareness will prevent many attacks because most ambushers (again the average barroom brawler) are looking for an easy unaware target, not someone who they think is going to give them a run for their money.

A Professional’s Guide To Ending Violence Quickly by Marc “Animal” MacYoung

Like Quinn MacYoung also worked as a bouncer and has his fair share of experience with violence. This book was written with “Bouncers, bodyguards, hospital orderlies, event security, prison guards, police officers” in mind, pretty much anyone who has to deal with violence on a daily basis and also has to worry about the legal ramifications of our sickening nanny state that likes to punish lawful people and coddle criminals. In this book MacYoung deals with different trips and falls and explains how leverage and gravity can be used to your advantage.

Perhaps the most important part of MacYoung’s book is the psychological understanding of violence and your typical macho type who is going to use it. MacYoung talks about the four major types of violent behavior and how to avoid them as well as how to avoid violence in the first place. MacYoung understands the concept of “verbal judo” and how it can prevent violence even more effectively than a stiff right hook. Yet nevertheless it’s still both to know how to do both which MacYoung shows (well maybe not a stiff right hook, go to Dempsey for that but how to use violence nonetheless).

Cold Steel by John Styers

Now we get into more serious territory. While the books above are great for your barroom violence and street fights what is lain out in this book and the next are only for life or death situations. Cold Steel was written by John Styers a Marine for Marines. In Cold Steel Styers outlines the fighting techniques for the bayonet, knife, stick, and hand to hand fighting. The book is simple and too the point as it was written to get Marines out of tight situations alive not impress academics or armchair warriors. The techniques in the book are lethal and dangerous.This book is not for dealing with Billy from the bar, the techniques in this book are only to be used when you are going to be killed otherwise.

While the bayonet section is interesting, especially from a historical section it’s going to be useless for the majority of the population. With that being said the rest of the book more than makes up for it. Styers has modified old fencing techniques for the knife, making someone who learns them a much more effective blade wielder than they would have been. Like I said the principles in Cold Steel or not fancy or complicated but they are effective. The hand to hand section has even very few techniques but they are all designed with one thing in mind, to put as much hurt on the enemy as possible. Cold Steel is a short but incredibly effective introduction to life or death fight skills.

Kill Or Get Killed by Rex Applegate

Kill Or Get Killed by Rex Applegate is the bible on violence. Kill Or Get Killed covers everything from hand to hand combat, to knives, to firearms, to riot control, and much much more. It’s a huge book packed with everything that one would need to know about inflicting violence on their enemies. Kill Or Get Killed is not for dealing with Johnny at the bar, the techniques lain out are for war time situations when life and death are involved. Though written in 1943 nearly everything contained with Kill Or Get Killed still applies today. There is a reason this book has been around so long and is still read and hailed as one of, if the not the best book on inflicting and dealing with violence.

Kill Or Get Killed has everything that you could possibly want or need to know about violence. It is needed reading for the times we are facing. Every man should have a copy and make sure his sons read it as well. Reading it and then applying the concepts and techniques within in training will do much to ensure that you are able to survive the upcoming years. Regardless learning the nature of violence and how to handle it is essential for men at any point in time, no matter how relatively peaceful. This book is big and is more expensive than the rest but it is worth every penny. It is worth it’s salt.

Worth Their Salt

All of these books have been written by men who have had plenty of first hand experience with violence. Whether they were professional boxers, bouncers, or Marines they understood the nature of violence and how to deal with it effectively. Real violence is always going to be different than it is in the training room. It is more chaotic and messy. Some martial arts forget this and a disconnect is created. However training for violence will put your head and shoulders above those who would do you violence. Especially when the knowledge in these books make up to foundation of your training.

For a quick introduction to defending yourself at bars or the school yard go with Dempsey’s Championship Fighting and then read Quinn’s A Bouncer’s Guide To Barrom Brawling and MacYoung’s A Proffessional’s Guide To Ending Violence Quickly. For an introduction on fighting life or death situations you can start with Styer’s Cold Steel or for a longer but more in depth look read Applegate’s Kill Or Get Killed. Regardless of your order make sure to read all of these books sooner rather than later. Who knows they combined with applying the principles in training may one day save your life and no that’s not an exaggeration.

If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.

-Charles Sledge

Charles Sledge

2 Comments

  1. Geoff Thompson early works (Dead or Alive, 3 second fighter, The Fence)
    &
    Lee Morrison (Urban Combatives)
    &
    Carl Cestari
    &
    Bradley J. Steiner (American Combato)

    Especially Mr Geoff Thompson

    I am pretty sure that you would mention these if you were aware of them.

    Check them. It doesnt get more real than that.

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