Watch My Back. Geoff Thompson

Geoff Thompson is a martial arts expert. A 6th Dan at Karate and 1st Dan at Judo as well as studying many other styles. However buying this on the basis that you might learn something about martial arts would be a mistake. The story basically covers his life as a doorman with small periods covered before and after these years. Its a violent true story and the tales he tells are compelling reading. Working in Coventry in the 1980's, he dealt with some of the nastiest hoods and nutcakes around. As a Doorman Thompsons main tactic was to initially try and sort the problem out without resorting to violence. However when it came to the crunch and a troublemaker had to be dealt with - "BANG" he would nail them with a knock-out punch (to the side of the jaw I guess) before they could do anything. Invariably one punch was enough, however sometimes if the mood took him he would roundhouse kick their head as they fell to the floor! There is one particularly unpleasant incident, which Geoff Thompson was not involved in, that he recounts that I found hard to read. Partly this is because I knew he was describing something that was a true story. So if you are easily upset by descriptions of acts of violence this not a book to buy. Geoff Thompson has gone on to write, appear on TV, and produce a huge amount of material on martial arts and the psychology of fighting and self-defence. Everything I have read of his so far has been of interest. You will probably only read this one once (I did in 3 days) but its well worth getting.

This is an amazing autobiography by British bouncer Geoff Thompson. It follows his childhood, which was filled with self-doubt and fear, to his training in martial arts, to his work as a bouncer in a medium-sized British city. Some of the stuff is really amazing (Geoff fighting basically an entire bar full of guys). Amazingly, he won almost all his fights with k.o. punches. How he did that is beyond me, and he must have broken his hand numerous times. He states he was in literally over 100 real fights. I think this book would be great for all bouncers to read. However, within a U.S. context, k.o.-ing your opponent is not adviseable, from a legal point of view. Geoff seems to think that blocking or choking someone out wouldn't work, or takedowns, etc. He thinks that the only way to win is to hit the guy in the head. Which is fine, I mean, he "been there, done that". However, as I said, I would not recommend that for U.S. bouncers. Also, he encountered very few weapons, which I also doubt would be the case, when U.S. bouncers are shot at and knives are often involved. I mean, did these bouncers never hear of O.C. spray ? It really is an amazing book, and I could not put it down, it is also interesting how Geoff got into the job so much that it endangered his marriage. Great book, but as I said, I prefer O.C., jujitsu, and takedowns.