No Time for Kung Fu in Real Life: Typical Fights Take Seconds, Require Improvised Self-Defense

Jackie Chan gets movie's bad guys, but his moves wouldn't cut it in a real attack, claims a renowned self-defense expert. "Since most real fights last less than four seconds, adrenaline and trained reflexes are the true keys to survival," says John Perkins, a former police officer and forensic homicide detective. In the upcoming new edition of his book, Attack Proof (Human Kinetics, May 2009), he explains how to maximize adrenaline and reflexes in an unorthodox self-defense technique he calls "guided chaos."

Champaign, IL (PRWEB) June 5, 2009 -- Jackie Chan gets movie's bad guys, but his moves wouldn't cut it in a real attack, claims a renowned self-defense expert. "Since most real fights last less than four seconds, adrenaline and trained reflexes are the true keys to survival," says John Perkins, a former police officer and forensic homicide detective. In the upcoming new edition of his book, Attack Proof (Human Kinetics, May 2009), he explains how to maximize adrenaline and reflexes in an unorthodox self-defense technique he calls "guided chaos."

Perkins' "guided chaos" approach focuses on avoidance, spontaneity and adaptability and anyone from beginners to black-belt martial artists can use its methods to ward off attackers. Perkins teaches students to improvise any strike from any position spontaneously with power, accuracy and balance.

According to Perkins, self-defense students should be able to do the following.

-Improvise and adapt. Strive only to survive and escape. In a real fight anything can and will happen and patterned technique training won't work. "You must learn to flow and improvise moment by moment to fight your way free by encouraging, not suppressing, natural animal responses," explains Perkins. While under the extreme duress of real violence, delivering a pre-arranged technique in response to a chaotic attack is impossible.

-Learn from actual combat experience. A sporting right provides a much different atmosphere than a real life-threatening situation. "The way you train is the way you fight, and sports training doesn't hold up in real life scenarios," comments Perkins.

-Learn what will work for you, and not necessarily an Olympic athlete. Fitness and strength help, but self-defense should not be based on the ability to do flying wheel kicks, brick breaking, splits or flips, warns Perkins. "The focus should be on developing skills that virtually anyone can use effectively," he says.

Working with Iraq War Veteran and lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corp Reserves Al Ridenhour and CBS Television editor Matt Kovsky, Perkins provides updated information on self-defense tactics for violence in the home, school and workplace, and protection against larger assailants, car and airline hijackings, multiple attackers and attacks using guns, knives, sticks and canes.

For more information on Attack Proof or other self-defense resources, visit www.HumanKinetics.com or call 1-800-747-4457.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Attack Proof, Second Edition by John Perkins, Albert S. Ridenhour, and Matt Kovsky.

Now available!

Paperback · Approx. 280 pp

ISBN 978-0-7360-7876-4 · $19.95

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

John Perkins has been training and teaching martial arts and self-defense for over 50 years. He has taught hand-to-hand tactics to Marine combat units, Marine scout sniper units, and military counterdrug forces. He also has instructed law enforcement personnel from the FBI, New York City Police Department, New York State Police, and the New York City Transit Police. A former bodyguard to Malcolm Forbes and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, Perkins is a forensic crime scene expert and a master handgun instructor and marksman. He has extensive experience in the martial arts of hapkido, taekwondo, kyukushinkai, kempo karate, judo, jujitsu, goju, and tai chi chuan. He has trained in Native American fighting principles since the age of five. Perkins has battled in unlicensed pit fights, a savage forerunner to today's Ultimate Competitions. He is the founder of guided chaos, an adaptive, internal-energy art whose principles are detailed in this book. Perkins' system is recognized by the International Combat Martial Arts Federation, through which he holds a fifth-degree black belt in combat martial arts. Perkins lives in Nyack, New York.

Al Ridenhour, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, has been training in the martial arts since 1985. He has studied tai chi, isshinryu karate, and ken jitsu. An all-conference wrestler in high school who later learned boxing in the Marine Corps, Ridenhour is also a sixth-degree master in guided chaos. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Gulf War, where he commanded a 50-man infantry unit and served as an instructor in unarmed combat for his Marine unit and for the battalion's scout sniper platoon. He has also worked with various law enforcement agencies, U.S. Customs, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Drug Enforcement Agency during counterdrug missions. He is a member of the International Combat Martial Arts Federation. Ridenhour lives in Hartsdale, New York.

Matt Kovsky is an editor for CBS Television. His work has earned him two Emmys, one for outstanding editing and another for producer of an outstanding entertainment series, as well as many other awards. He is trained in isshinryu karate and jeet kune do and has a fifth-degree black belt in guided chaos. Kovsky lives in Westchester, New York.

CONTENTS

Introduction: Life on the Streets

Part I Close Combat Body and Mind Principles

Chapter 1 Awareness

Chapter 2 Basic Strikes and Strategies

Part II Guided Chaos Body and Mind Principles

Chapter 3 Looseness

Chapter 4 Body Unity

Chapter 5 Balance, Rooting, and Footwork

Chapter 6 Sensitivity

Part III Guided Chaos for Superior Self-Defense

Chapter 7 Applying the Principles of Motion

Chapter 8 Economy of Movement

Chapter 9 Grabs and Locks

Chapter 10 Ground Fighting

Chapter 11 Weapon Defense

Chapter 12 Stair Fighting

Afterword: Highlighting the Main Principles for Survival

# # #