Customer Reviews

Violence, Blunders, And Fractured Jaws: Advanced Awareness Techniques And Street Etiquette

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed this book a great deal, although by looking at a few of the other reviews it seems that not everyone was able to get something out of it . . . could this be due to the fact that there are no pictures or illustrations to look at??? If you have only limited experience dealing with the likes of: skells, goblins, crackheads, and wannabe gangstas, this book will open your eyes as to what might be going through their diseased brains. Likewise, if you happen to find yourself in a bar that happens to be frequented by: outlaw bikers, airborne rangers, or drunken cowboys, the tips on "ettiqutte" herein will greatly increase the likelihood that you'll be permitted to leave the premises with all of your teeth intact. True, this is NOT a "how to fight" book, but it IS in fact a "self-defense" manual, as the most important lesson of self-defense is AVOIDING the fight in the first place!!! Unfortunately, most [people] know nothing of this, having been brought up with the "John Wayne" macho mentallity. Add some alcohol to the equation and . . . "HEY!!! Are you lookin' at ME??? Maybe you wanna TAKE IT OUTSIDE???" You get the picture. Violence is not "happy fun time," children, regardless of what you might've seen on TV. If you get in a fight, there will be the following things to take into consideration: broken knuckles, busted nose, blood all over your expensive shirt, tearing up your fancy shoes on the goblin's incisors, hospital bills, court, jail time, your name in the newspaper, and the goblin's brothers coming lookin' for you. Take it from someone who's been there . . . after you've been in a few fights, it stops being fun anymore. Animal's book has a lot of good advice so that his readers don't have to learn these lessons the hard way.

What sets Marc Macyoung apart from many other self-defense experts is this: he teaches you how to avoid fights in the first place. Avoidance and Prevention are common themes that prevail throughout his works. And this book teaches you exactly how to avoid or anticipate confrontations by identifying the potential trouble makers. With his unique style of writing, Animal shares his knowledge in an informative, yet entertaining way. For all those of you who have enjoyed Animal's other works, this is a good book to have. And for those who don't know Marc Macyoung, this book is worth a try.

Once again, Marc gives you a no-holds barred look at the reality of fighting and surviving on the street. This book focuses on the subject of awareness and street etiquette, rather than actual physical techniques. This book is far more important to learn and practice than any of the actual physical techniques that Marc teaches in any of his books. I highly recommend that you purchase this book and read it numerous times before buying any other of Marc's books, and before practicing any of the techniques included in any of his many books. I promise you that if you do this, you will be farther ahead of the game than someone not doing the same thing.

Introduction: The author gives you 9 rules that he has compiled through his own personal experiences that apply to surviving on the streets. The author gives a very detailed explanation of each of the nine rules in this section. The author also states in this section that awareness is the key to self-defense and therefore survival.
How Operating Systems Work: The author does a pretty good job of getting his point across using the game of basketball as an analogy for his example of operating in and out of a predetermined operating system.

FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics: Here the author gives you a brief breakdown on what the UCR is, and what it tells you. He also tells you what is perhaps more important, and that is what the UCR doesn't tell you.

The Reality of Dragons: This is a very interesting section that uses dragons as a metaphor for trouble. I was especially fond of the story involving the movie crew at the cemetery. It sure lends credence to the old saying, "GOD looks out for children, drunks, and fools."
Awareness and Hyperawareness: This section discusses the development of awareness of your surroundings and the environment you're in. It also briefly talks about hyperawareness which is something that although obtainable, takes a lot of time and hard work to obtain and can be extremely taxing on the individual.

Utilizing your own personal radar: This can best be described as your own personal early warning system. Kind of like a pre-awareness state, this will help you to avoid "burning out" from being at a constant state of awareness.

Logic: Marc has shall we say a unique way at looking at logic, and one I am not going to despoil by telling you about it here. You'll just have to get the book and read about it. It along with the rest of the book is well worth it.

Learn the Ins and Outs of the system: Keep your mouth shut and your eyes, ears, and more importantly your mind open and learn what there is to know about the system and you will be much farther ahead of the game.
Cultural Operating Systems: This section I found to be very relevant not only to a self-defense situation, but more importantly to the human race as a whole. Surprising insight that would serve our leaders very well is they actually used it. Like the old biblical saying, "Before you judge someone, stand in their shoes."

Family-Group Operating Systems: This section tells you what to look for, and how to blend into, the environment utilizing the following 13 things. This section also takes a look at 4 violence prone groups.

1. Language
2. Level of Awareness
3. Similar Ideas
4. Similar Toughness
5. Intelligence
6. Food and Eating Habits
7. Nonverbal and Other Body Language
8. Sexual Roles and Interaction
9. Age Status
10. Etiquette
11. Local Talents and Jobs
12. Similar Belief System
13. Similar Energy

Personal Operating Systems: In this section, part of what Marc goes into is the differences between violent and nonviolent types of people and what usually results when and if the nonviolent person finally is faced with the prospect of being confronted with and possibly using violence.
Welcome to Boomtown: This is a very in-depth section on developing a surviving mind-set to be used when you are not in your familiar operating system.

a. Awareness of your surroundings and what is going on around you: Do I need to say more? I don't, but Marc does and you should really pay attention to what he says and how he says it. Read and learn!

b. What You Say: This particular section is one that brings up the topic of what can and usually is your greatest enemy, your mouth and what comes out of it. Words can be a great comfort or a catalyst to great violence.

c. CYA: Cover Your a**! Have truer words ever been spoken. If you don't look out for you, don't count on anyone else doing it.

Etiquette Basics: This section goes over not only the etiquette that should be basic to every one of us, but also the etiquette that is indignant to certain geographical locations, ethnic and religious groups, etc. Another term for this could be called, in my opinion, respect.

Names, Reps, and Handles: This section goes over the various types of nicknames and reputations.

Tacking, Scarring, and Piercing: Marc goes into some brief history and street etiquette concerning tattoos and their use and sometimes misuse. Although tattoos have taken on a whole other meaning in the past several years, with everyone from pre-teens to grandmothers lining up at the local shops. Marc also gives you a real brief overview on scarring and piercing.

Gambling: Marc gives you a terrific overview of the do's and don'ts of gambling and the people that are around that kind of activity. On a personal note, I am a firm believer in never gambling. It usually leads to too much trouble of one kind or another.

Turf, Territory, and Hoods:

a. Personal Space: One of the many items discussed in this section is the personal space you feel you need in order to be comfortable. This is generally considered to be 2 to 4 feet. With less than 2 feet reserved for family, lovers, and very close friends.

Kicking works at the outer edges of your own personal space and is a great weapon to have in your personal arsenal. To learn more on the subject, check out this book Side Kick: Achieving Kicking Excellence, Vol. 10 and the other 9 in the series.

b. Rural vs. Urban reactions: Depending on the situation and the location where you are at, an individual's reaction may be radically different from another.

c. Defending your personal space: Various methods of defending your personal space once it has been broached are discussed in fairly good detail and with some excellent examples.

Magick, Religion, and Juju: Marc really gives the reader a much needed lesson on learning to respect someone else's beliefs even if you don't adhere to those same beliefs. This can go along way in saving your bacon when dealing with certain types of individuals.

Eye Contact: This section like the other sections in this book is very well done. The information provided on eye contact and other nonverbal signals is very enlightening and very useful in any day-to-day situation, not just in self-defense.

Women: This section is so very important for every man to read, and to follow the advice given in it. Women can be a boon to a man's existence, or they can be a bane. Both possibilities are very real and you had better choose your woman with great care.

Untouchables: This is generally described as a group or certain types of individuals who are considered to be untouchable by the main stream of society because of the services that they provide for everyone in that society.

Awareness Building Techniques: Marc goes over several different methods for building and practicing your own personal awareness. As Marc so often states, "Awareness is the key to survival."

This book is perhaps the first book you should purchase on the subject of self-defense. In as such, that the value of principles behind the execution of the technique is far more valuable than the actual technique itself.

As a nidan with no experience living on the "mean streets" I was intrigued with the premise of this book, to find out how bad dudes interact. In this book, MacYoung spends a lot of time talking about Operating Systems. "Talking" is a more appropriate verb than "writing", because this book is much like a long rambling chat. MacYoung wanders off into extended metaphors and movie references on every other page or so, which occasionally adds some insight but more often seems like filler. Operating Systems are really simply the cultural codes different groups live by, but his extended exploration of them doesn't seem to turn up anything unexpected. Locking eyes with a "young buck" (he loves that phrase) often starts a fight. Or when among warriors, breaking local customs or unspoken rules can get you beat up or killed.

Most of this book seems to be based solely on MacYoung's personal experience and opinion. That isn't always a bad thing, but this book would have benefited from some real examples of, say, how the culture in Latino gangs differ from Asian gangs, which is something that he may not have personally experienced.

There are some nuggets, like a few ways to confront or mentally sideslip aggressive people, and some mental exercises to increase your awareness, but it seems like this book could have been condensed a lot without losing much. What really redeems this book is actually the flipside of the flaw I mentioned earlier-- reading it is like having a long rambling chat with one serious testosterone-laden hardguy, who has been in the worst hellholes and has lots of stories to tell about it. If that isn't the world you're from, it certainly makes for interesting reading.

This book truly helps readers refine and strengthen their situational awareness for survival on the street. It can help you instantly and easily identify the fighters, hustlers, workers, spectators and troublemakers using the same tricks that bouncers, law enforcement officers, prison guards, drug dealers, bikers, and street people utilize so effectively. It goes in-depth into subjects like family group operating systems, personal operating systems, utilizing and refining your personal radar, turf, territory, personal space, rural versus urban reactions, gambling, tacking, scarring, piercing, tattoos, etiquette, eye contact, and other issues that are commonly known only to a very small segment of society. Reading this book is a very eye-opening, mind-expanding experience.

The author is the real deal. Growing up on gang-infested streets not only gave MacYoung his street name "Animal," but also extensive firsthand experience about what does and does not work for self-defense. Over the years, he has held a number of dangerous occupations including director of a correctional institute, bodyguard, and bouncer. He was first shot at when he was 15 years old and has since survived multiple attempts on his life, including professional contracts. He has studied a variety of martial arts since childhood, teaching experience-based self-defense to police, military, civilians, and martial artists around the world. Clearly a guy worth listening to.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Blinded by the Night, among other titles

For the longest time I thought self-defense, fighting, combat and martial arts were all the same. Then I heard about Marc MacYoung and started following his work online. This book provides a very good introduction to the differences between the 4 spheres I mentioned earlier. It's a very easy read and gives a different perspective of self-defense and survival in general. The concepts are not always clearly explained but the stories and anecdotes do help. Plus they're pretty entertaining!

The author does use some strong language to get his point across so buyer beware. However, he doesn't take himself too seriously and the tone is sincere and self-deprecating. This is a great book if you want to really learn about self-defense. Beneath its coarse and often foul-mouthed exterior lies a good deal of research and an insightful look at human behavior in general.

This is NOT a book on techniques and how-to-react-when-attacked guide. It's a guide on how to AVOID attacks and stay out of trouble in general. I'd definitely recommend sharing the concepts in this book with your loved ones.

This is one of Marc's quirkier books. The first several chapters are so strangely & idiosyncratically written,I found myself writing in the margins "what the hell is Marc talking about?" Whatever,he finally does get to his point of how best to avoid violence by situational & interpersonal awareness. Along the way,he does,of course,offer his usual extremely valuable techniques & principles of defensive street combat which characterize all his books.

The book is extremely readable, it reads more like a lengthy verbal monologue. Despite the subject hinted at in the title, it is of limited use for self defense, and almost no use for that if you don't plan to actively seek out what most Amazon users would view as dangerous and alien places.

The book actually is a rough and ready lecture on sociology, believe it or not! Animal tells us about his concept of "operating systems", the core beliefs about acceptable behavior that a subculture (such as the inhabitants of a particular area) accept as "obvious". He goes on to talk about how this applies in a broad way to rough neighborhoods in general, and then talks about it fairly specifically on some particular categories such as Magick and Religion, tattoos and body marks, women, and other categories that are likely to be of particular interest. One of these categories is "untouchables", and Animal's concept here is a good one, but he chose a category title with a totally different conventional meaning that makes it easy to get confused. Animal encourages you to question your own operating systems and be open to the idea that people with different experiences may not have the same beliefs. He gives a few, but not many, specific examples of this. Animal closes with some advice on increasing your situational awareness.

The book is fascinating and easy to read, so I gave it four stars for myself. I believe it would be of fair usefulness in preparing for someone from the law-abiding world to spend more time in a seriously lawless area, for those people I think it would rate three or four stars. For those who don't care about being entertained, and only want to learn how to survive the more common things such as muggings or bar fights in less violent areas, I'd rate the book as two stars.

My opinion is that crime prevention has nothing to do with learning the latest 'martial art' or any other macho testosterone driven fluff. So on this note this book offers some information that may help you out more than any judo flip ever will in a tight situation. Still tho it is about fist fighting. So right there that should tell you we are not talking about a deeply intellectual topic. It's about how not to get beat up, so therefore by default it is childish. People with certain metalities and fears of bullies im sure will love the book. Other than that it is mostly just one guy's opinion on a topic that is uninteresting to begin with. All tho the book doesn't impress me from a literary standpoint, it does remain as one of the most practical "self-defense" books ever written. If you are an average guy that wants to know how the typical goon or thug operates, and how to avoid him then check this book out.