Martial Arts Book Review: Ending Violence Quickly by Marc "Animal" MacYoung

By: Shawn Kovacich
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:26:24
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Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Marc “Animal” MacYoung’s, "Ending Violence Quickly."

As I have said before, one of the great things that I absolutely love about Marc’s books is his no-holds barred direct approach to getting his point across. There is never any sugarcoating or politically correct terminology is his books. He simply tells it like it is, whether you like it or not.

Once again, Marc gives you a no-holds barred look at the reality of fighting and surviving on the street. This book is simply loaded with sound principles and easy to learn techniques for making the most of a bad situation. I find the information on the principles behind the techniques very useful, and it is usually a very good indicator of a high quality self-defense and/or martial arts book.

Marc starts off this book with a chapter devoted to the escalation of violence, and why it is generally not a good idea to do so. Although it tends to be a common occurrence in today’s society, the more preferred method should almost always be de-escalating the situation into a non-violent resolution, rather than escalating it.

Chapter two delves into the subject of awareness and triggers. A trigger being the point at which you have previously decided is the time when a specific course of action is to be taken. Similar to what some call a point of no return. This section also goes into the different types of attackers and some of the cues to look for that usually take place immediately prior to an attack. Marc brings up a very good point in this section where he tells you that you should never wait for the actual physical attack to strike, but for the intent of your attacker to strike.

The next chapter takes a look at the physiology and psychology of violence and also a very good technique which Marc calls an attitude interrupter. This is something that a psychiatrist would call, patter interruption. This is a technique which is used to momentarily take an individuals focus away from what they are doing and put it on something else. Marc gives a real good example of this using a naked lady.

Chapter four deals with an often neglected and misunderstood technique called footwork. Footwork is something that any good boxing instructor will tell you is the foundation of a good boxer. Applying proper footwork can get you out of the line of fire quickly, or it can also be used to put your entire body behind a blow. This is an outstanding section in an otherwise very good book.

“Counters and Blocks” is the next chapter and just like the title alludes to, deals with blocking and countering your opponents attack. However, Marc points out a very important strategic maneuver that is often overlooked by many martial artists and self-defense instructors alike. If you aren’t in your attackers’ line of attack, how can he hit you? In other words, avoiding the attack in the first place is preferable to blocking it.

Chapters six, seven, and eight deal with various techniques you can utilize in order to take your opponent to the ground while maintaining your standing position. They also discuss at length various sneaky tricks that you can use to take your opponents base of support out from underneath him. With the intended effect of having him lose his balance and eventually fall to the ground.

Chapter nine talks about what Marc refers to as slaving, which is when you use your opponents on weight and momentum against them. Exactly like what you would see in Judo and Aikido.

What follows next is a brief chapter on how to deal with various weapons that you are likely to encounter in a self-defense situation. Just like the rest of this book, the principles behind dealing with weapons are by far more important than the actual techniques themselves. I especially liked the last page in this section that showed what a potential attacker may look like as he is reaching for a weapon.

The last chapter deals with the basic instinct for survival of the species and dealing with situations in a professional manner. Both of these section in this last chapter are very educational and should be taken to heart, although the section on professionalism tends to be geared more for the bouncer than the average person, it is still very good knowledge to have and to apply.

Marc finishes this book with a great section on the effects of alcohol on a person as related to violence, and the four types of violence that you may encounter. This section is very well done (as is the rest of the book) and could actually be devoted to an entire volume, which in my opinion it should be. Of course my favorite section is the one devoted to “Murphy’s Law.”

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