Reality Based Personal Protection (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Designed as a companion book to Jim Wagner’s best-selling instructional DVD series, Reality-Based Personal Protection provides eight detailed chapters on such harrowing scenarios—and more! Wagner’s Reality-Based Personal Protection system covers the complete tactical spectrum of pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict techniques and training methods for a wide variety of worst-case scenarios. Mastering these tactics will educate you on the dangers of the modern world and how to survive them. This must-have manual covers: - knowledge domain and conflict rehearsal, - defensive tactics using strikes, threat zones and stopping power, - using the ground to your advantage, - surviving a knife attack and countering effectively, - military techniques and training methods for handgun proficiency, - how to protect yourself and others in criminal-assault scenarios, - preparing for and surviving terrorist attacks, - a special section for women’s self-defense tactics - and MORE! In this highly-anticipated book, Wagner shares more than three decades of martial arts, police, military and special-agent training through highly detailed conceptual explanations, charts and captioned photo sequences. Coupled with his personal experience in the field and at some of the world’s most prestigious training facilities, the techniques and tactics of Reality-Based Personal Protection form the basis for the ultimate modern self-defense system

About the Author

A former soldier, jailer, street cop, SWAT officer, diplomatic bodyguard and counterterrorist agent for the U.S. government, Sgt. Jim Wagner is one of the world’s top police and military defensive-tactics instructors. He has trained elite units such as the U.S. Marshals, FBI SWAT, German GSG9, Israeli Special Forces, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Navy, Brazilian GATE, U.S. Marines and many organizations around the world. In addition to teaching Reality-Based Personal Protection worldwide, Sgt. Wagner is a reserve police officer currently assigned as a defensive-tactics instructor, a firearms instructor and a tactical-team member.

Product Details

• Paperback: 377 pages
• Publisher: Black Belt Books; 1 edition (December 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897501497
• ISBN-13: 978-0897501491
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #724,992 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tell me again, who wrote this?, July 25, 2006

By	David W. Decker (western NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has a lot of good information in it. But, I was really put off by a couple of things. For one, the author talks about 25 years in the marital arts and then explains why you should not waste your time doing the same. He discards the value of kata, for example, and replaces them with role play-acting. He also advises responding to imaginary attackers. Isn't this kata, or does using the word drills make a difference? The author uses a lot of marketing and politically correct phrases, another major put-off. How can you teach reality-based techniques and use euphemisms in place of reality terms. The author says that you don't have time to determine what grip an attacker has on his knife but you should have assessed the threat level, using "The Jim Wagner Reality-Based" force ladder, and decided if you are in a green or yellow state, and the consequences of using excessive force, and assumed a conflict resolution position. I know that is a huge run-on sentence but these things are more important to know than whether your attacker is using a forward or reverse grip. It is probably also the reason you didn't have time to check out his grip.

By the time I had gotten part way through the book I was tired of being bombarded with the phrase "The Jim Wagner Reality-Based.........." I found myself skipping entire sections because I was sick of reading that phrase repeated on almost every page and often attached to photos of the techniques too. If you left out "The Jim Wagner..." stuff the book would only be half as thick. Enough already! The guy's name is on the cover I know who wrote it. How often does he feel he needs to remind the reader? In the end I do not feel like I learned any new techniques from this book and I felt an overwhelming desire to retreat to the dojo and do some kata.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the most complete protection instruction out there!, January 15, 2007

By	jkelley (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Jim Wagner's Reality Based Protecion System is the most thorough street based system i've seen. He covers all the bases;from events leading to conflict, some simple but effective techniques to help you survive, and what to expect in the aftermath including first aid and all the legal hassles. Also included is the importance of realistic training, and what to expect in a real world conflict. He truly presents all the tools and ideas you need to survive in the modern jungle. If i could own only one martial arts book, this would be it, hands down. be forewarned, if youre looking for the typical "1,001" mysterious deadly techniques picture book, this ain't it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Information at your fingertips, December 30, 2007

By	Grant Fritchey (MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All the training and studying I've done teaches that the battle is won or lost first in the mind. The way to begin to win that battle is with good information. This book is loaded with good information. Reading Jim Wagner's resume you get a serious look into how a "been there, done that" kind of person is represented in print. That extreme depth of experience has lead to an equal depth of knowledge that is on display in this book. He's a good writer which makes the communication of his ideas very clear. This is helpful because some of his ideas will be hard to understand. Some will be hard to take if you come from a very traditional martial arts background or you're very wrapped up in the latest MMA craze. Mr. Wagner cuts through the extraneous and unnecessary material and gets to the core of the issues at hand.

But, this does lead to the one problem I have with the book. It constantly bashes other martial arts training. I will grant you that some, many, most if you want, martial arts schools don't teach the nitty-gritty "what is really going to happen to you" kind of stuff that Mr. Wagner is presenting here and in his courses. However, they can't possibly be as big a waste of time as he represents especially when you consider his own background in those same martial arts.

Once you get past that single issue, this is a fantastic and informative read. I've been especially impressed with how his knife disarms work. I've been trying them out with my own training and I'm seeing an improvement in an area where I was weak. You may or may not agree with some of his techniques, but his training methods are based on established approaches taken by the military and police all over the world. The best part of his experience and information comes when he gets into what happens after you've successfully defended yourself. It's information that's hard to come by in this clear and concise a manner. If you're serious about training in self-defense or you teach it, you should have this book on your shelf and refer back to it regularly.