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The Truth About Self Protection Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 2004
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- Print length417 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPolice Bookshelf
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2004
- ISBN-100553195190
- ISBN-13978-0553195194
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Product details
- Publisher : Police Bookshelf (January 1, 2004)
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 417 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0553195190
- ISBN-13 : 978-0553195194
- Item Weight : 8 ounces
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,382,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9,309 in Criminology (Books)
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About the author

Massad Ayoob is one of the pre-eminent fighting handgun trainers in the world. He operates the Lethal Force Institute, which trains both U.S. and international clients. His methods of reflexive, high speed yet accurate shooting has been adopted by the U.S. army as part of its standard pistol-training course. Massad has written many books for Krause Publications, including Combat Handgunnery, The Gun Digest Book of Sig-Sauer, and The Gun Digest Book of Beretta Pistols.
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Let me start with the good. The Truth About Self Protection is an incredibly comprehensive work on the subject of self-defense. With close to fifty chapters and nearly 400 pages, Ayoob touches upon aspects of personal safety that most writers and instructors never even consider. In addition to material about unarmed combat, improvised weapons, legal weapons (like kubotans and defensive sprays) and firearms, Ayoob touches upon far less often considered subjects like locks for your home, electronic alarm systems, and even choosing a dog for protection. At every stage, Ayoob offers relatively comprehensive advice in a clear and easily understand format. He is careful to address not only the realties of each piece of security equipment, but also the legal, moral, and ethical considerations behind them. The book is written in a very conversational style that makes the material very accessible; reading this book feels like sitting down and having a conversation with an old cop (complete with some slightly politically incorrect language, though nothing truly offensive).
If there is so much good here, why would I hesitate to recommend it? Simple. This book was published in 1983, and has not been revised or updated since then. While the concepts in this book are, on a certain level, valuable, the information overall is nearly thirty years out of date, and it shows. Ayoob writing about rotary version push button telephones may have made sense when this book was written, but in the era of the iPhone vs. the Android, it seems about sensible as worrying about whether to compose letters on vellum or parchment. The technology is so different as to make some of Ayoob's concerns seem completely irrelevant.
I found Ayoob's section on choosing a martial art particularly problematic; while I actually agree with his recommendation that a good Judo school is one of the best places you can go for training in a martial art with a lot of self-defense value, his suggestion that Aikido is an excellent choice is completely contrary to my own experiences with that art. I have nothing against Aikido, but in my experience, most Aikido schools do not authentically prepare their students for real violence, and the skills that they teach do not transfer well without a huge investment of time and energy. Furthermore, Ayoob offers no comment or opinion on either Brazilian Jujitsu or Mixed Martial Arts, two phenomena that were unknown or non-existent at the time this book was written. He does speak highly of Jim Arvanitis's re-creation of the Greek Pankration, which is similar to modern MMA, though Arvanitis himself is a controversial figure at best.
Is this book worth reading? If you are a self-defense instructor, I would say so, if for no other reason than it is a particularly seminal work in the field. If you are a dedicated student of personal protection, this can give you some excellent ideas for areas to consider investigating further. I wouldn't give this to a layperson looking for a first-time guide to self-defense, simply because so much of the information needs updating. There is a lot of good information here, but to really make use of any of it, you'll want to do enough research to find out if it's still accurate.
As many have said, there is a large amount of dated information in this book. The chapter on telephones is woefully inadequate. Rather quaint to read about somebody recommending touch tone phones because they are the newest advance in technology. The chapters on dogs are very interesting, especially since I am not a "pet person". I'd love to see this section updated to include the proliferation of "pit bulls" in society. It's been a long time since I have seen anyone with a Doberman.
A worthwhile addition to you library. It helps the reader expand their thought process to consider virtually everything in their environment and how it can increase or decrease their level of personal security.
What I usually say about books is if it's a decently printed and constructed book. This is a paperback, well made.
publication date. It's fun to read about things costing so much
less than today, but besides that, I don't see much that
isn't relevant for the current self protection scenarios.
I guess the only part of this book that is materially out
of date is the part that says that handguns usually stop
home invaders when brandished or because the criminals
will stop once they know they are shot. Maybe it's a disagreement
on basic philosophy, but I believe that the long guns' killing power
more than makes up for a lack of maneuverability in the home.
I think today's criminals no longer act as rationally as they
did in the 1980s, partly because of the new illicit drugs that
are coursing through their veins today.
It covers information on various issues related to self defense including: doors, windows, dogs, various types of weapons (including makeshift), safes, locks, physical techniques, concealed carry of handguns, and much more.
The various items covered range from preparation to prevent violent attacks, how to respond during one, and what to expect afterwards including PTSD and legal issues.
Some of the things that are outdated include references to dial phones, no mention of cell phones, and no commentary on currently popular weapons including Glocks, Sig Sauers, etc.
Even with its shortcomings, this is still a very worthwhile book. I hope that the author will work on revising it and putting out an updated edition.
If you are on the fence about whether men should carry guns or be responsible for their own safety, this book is worth reading. If you believe that America has too many guns and men should be disarmed and rely on the police for their protection, this book is worth reading.
You don't have to agree with what he says but this is the high standard of argument that needs to be overcome if Americans are to be disarmed.
This is a good introduction to the subject, however I found it to be more basic than I would have liked. It would better meet the needs of a person who has never been introduced to martial arts, military training nor the realities of the streets than one who has. However, the style is more readable to me, since I've had those three key experiences, than it would be to the inexperienced person who could better benefit from its lessons. (I'd lent it to a person whose only martial arts experience was a college fencing class and only self defense lessons were in a basic NRA pistol course and it was returned to me within the hour as being "too scary".) I don't know how to get past that double bind, nor recommend any alternative since this is probably still one of the better books on this subject.
The book has some good information, but this guy is just a gun writer and self-promoter. Don't join the cult. I learned more useful things from Jim Cirillo's book. He was a real cop in New York City, and he shot something like a dozen men. He had a better understanding of what worked and what didn't.









