Common Sense Self-Defense: 7 Techniques That Can Save Your Life [Paperback]

David Garcia (Author), Stewart Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2002

Date rape. Purse snatching. Car jacking. Mugging. Terrorism. This world can be a dangerous place.

Now police officer David Garcia and former Navy SEAL Stewart Smith show you how to protect yourself. Together they have created the premier instruction book on effective personal protection, Common Sense Self-Defense: 7 Techniques That Can Save Your Life.

This book presents an intelligent approach to self-defense that anyone–spouse, son, daughter, mother, brother, sister–can use in times of trouble. Common Sense Self-Defense is a basic program that takes only minutes a week to practice, as opposed to a martial arts program, which takes several hours a day to master.

This book offers options and techniques, as well as a sure-fire method of analyzing the inherent danger of any situation. The program presents effective physical techniques to aid in surviving almost any predicament, plus ways to avoid potentially life threatening scenarios.

No matter how little you know about defending yourself, this book will teach you everything you need to escape or survive an attack. 100 b/w photos.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

STEWART SMITH, a former Navy SEAL, is a fitness professional who taught self-defense at the United States Naval Academy.

DAVID GARCIA is a police detective, SWAT team member and certified self-defense instructor. He also spent several years as a RECON Marine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Hatherleigh Press (August 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578260906
• ISBN-13: 978-1578260904
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 0.4 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,317,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on self-defense that I've read., November 22, 2003

By 

Joseph M Burtner (Kennesaw, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Common Sense Self-Defense: 7 Techniques That Can Save Your Life (Paperback)

This is a book that cuts away at all the crap, and gets down to practical self-defense. It is perfect for someone who has no previous martial arts experiance. The first part of the book covers what precautions a person should take, in different situations, to avoid being a victim of violence. The second part is about the more technical aspect, of using your bodys natural weapons against vital targets. The section on training is a little short, but I don't know how many people have a heavy bag in their house to practice on anyways. A nice feature of this book is a chart that shows what body weapons work best against what targets. This book is specifically about unarmed confrontations, but if you're interested, the Krav Maga book is only about armed attackers, so they kind of work well togeather. If you know nothing about self-defense, or if you're a martial artist who questions his training, I recomend buying this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for the common man or woman, February 5, 2003

By 

JAMES DORAN (Selbyville, Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Common Sense Self-Defense: 7 Techniques That Can Save Your Life (Paperback)

This book is an execellent source for individuals with little self defense training. It gives you some basic defense techniques that you can practice on your own or with a partner. It is not overly complicated like some books I have read. The reader will not get bored or frustrated, but will enjoy reading and learning from the book. Even if you are experienced in self defense techniques, you will appreciate the quality of this book. It is the kind of book you will keep close by, as a reference.
In this day and age, every law abiding citizen should be conscious of threats that may be around them, and they should have some thought as to what tactic to take, in the event of a criminal attack. The police and other law enforcement can not be everywhere. You need to have some basic training to be able to defend yourself, or at least survive until help does arrive. Stop being a victim. Take control of your life and start by purchasing this book. You won't regret it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal, April 21, 2005

By 

Spaceapeman (Lynn, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Common Sense Self-Defense: 7 Techniques That Can Save Your Life (Paperback)

Hmmm, let me think. What would be more useful in a real life street confrontation - biting, eye raking, head butting, foot stomping, groin kicking, elbowing, kneeing etc. or using kung fu movie secret pressure point techniques? The most useful part of this book is pages 41-50 where you learn 12 ways to strike your attacker. Incorporate these into your cardio kickboxing routine and you will have some tricks in your arsenal that you might actually remember and be able to use in the savage chaos of a real hand to hand struggle. Pages 53-54, where to strike, are useful too. Pages 57-80, the obligatory photos demonstrating sequences of techniques, might be hard to pull off in reality but would actually be effective if you could (yes you can head butt someone who is taller than you, it's called hopping and adds emphasis). The first 40 pages, where and how to avoid fights, might be pretty basic but it never hurts to review and there are some good tips you might not think of on your own. This book is geared at dealing with an unarmed attacker, but it also gives the best advice of all for dealing with an armed assailant- run away. If you can't run kick them in the groin and bite them in the throat. If that doesn't work grab that pressure point near the elbow between your thumb and index finger.