Conceptual Self-Defense [Paperback]

C. V. Rhoades (Author), Cynthia Vannoy-Rhoades (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

Successful self-defence begins with your most powerful weapon: your mind. This is your guide to harnessing your natural survival instinct to overcome fear and respond quickly and decisively when faced with a threat. The author examines the role our natural instincts play in self-defence: why we typically ignore them, how we can learn to tune in to them, and why we should listen carefully to what they are telling us in a crisis. With this knowledge as a foundation, you will discover specific methods for controlling fear, avoiding potentially dangerous situations, preparing yourself for a potential threat, understanding the role of weapons in an assault, and dealing with an assailant both physically and mentally. With a clear message and a wealth of experience, C.V. Rhoades brings a unique perspective to the role of self-protection in our daily lives.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cynthia Vannoy-Rhoades has been a practising martial artist since 1989. She started her journey in Kempo and is currently a black belt at the Kyuki-Do Martial Arts and Sports Academy in Sheridan, Wyoming, under Master Jae Ho Sim. She was born and raised on a Wyoming ranch, where she still lives. She grew up worshipping nature and the natural world. She has been a rancher, guide, horse-trainer, writer-photographer and reporter as well as a martial artist.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Turtle Press (CT) (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880336545
• ISBN-13: 978-1880336540
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,205,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynthia Vannoy-Rhoades was born and raised on a Wyoming ranch. She still lives in Wyoming, and writes about the west and ranch life. Her first book, Seasons on a Ranch, deals with her life on the family ranch.
She is a black belt in Taekwondo, and writes about martial arts subjects, two of her books, Strike Like Lightning and Conceptual Self Defense, are martial arts books.
She enjoys horseback riding with her daughter, visiting her son and his wife in North Carolina, and seeing photos of her grandson. She also likes hiking in the hills, enjoying the Big Horn Mountains and working out of doors.
Her book, Negro, Founding Sire, is a young person's book about horses, and is the first a series she is working on.
Newest book is Spirit of the Owl, which is a paranormal romance featuring and artist and a taxidermist and a ghost in a museum. Check it out. Great book. Also, Worship the Wind, a non-fiction self-help book with lots of great photos.
Just a quick note: in my books, Negro and Spirit of the Owl, I listed my email as soar23@netzero. It has changed to [e-mail]. Thanks

check out my website, www.cvrhoadeswriter.com updated periodically when I find something interesting

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lame advise for women, November 30, 2006

By 

Seppo Vesala (Helsinki, - Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conceptual Self-Defense (Paperback)

This is a self defence book aimed at women, although this is not apparent from the back cover or description of the book. Naturally, the advise given in the book are applicable to men as well, but they relate more to women. It is a good thing that there are books around that concentrate on self defence for women, but that fact does not make this a good book.

The advise given in this book is very basic in nature, and you probably have already read it somewhere else, if you have read any books on self defence. This issue is emphasized by the fact that this book is largely comprised as quotes from other books and self defence instructors. I got the impression that the author does not have any ideas of her own, she is just repeating the issues and ideas put forth by other instructors. And to make things worse, by constantly quoting to others, the text gets very repetitive. Most of the material the author quotes has been written by other no-name instructors, except for the Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker. But then, by reading DeBecker's book (or just about any quality book) you'll get just about all the information you'll get from reading this book, and then some.

In addition to being repetitive and lacking any original ideas, you get some misleading or even false information from the book. For example, when discussing self defence weapons, the author writes about electric stun guns, quoting a highly exaggerated advertisement and stating as a fact that a stun gun can render your assailant unable to continue his attack for several minutes. Well, that simply is not true; not even Taser is that effective (as a police officer, I have been on receiving end of both in my training, so I speak from experience). In addition, the author does not even mention the possibility of carrying a mobile phone with you, even though she instructs that when travelling, you should always keep in touch with people you know and instruct them about your travelling plans. Had the book been written ten years earlier, this would have been understandable flaw. But since this book was published in year 2000, the possibility of carrying one of the most important self defence instruments with you should have been discussed in length.

To sum it up, it's hard to recommend this book to anyone. In addition of not giving anything new information to the reader, by relying on this book you can get some faulty advise as well.