[.ca] Far Beyond Defensive Tactics: Advanced Concepts, ... (ISBN 0873649869)

Right on!:
I loved this book. Like all of Christensen's books, whether they are police related or martial arts, you will laugh a lot at his biting humor while learning much from his experience in the trenches. This book not only shows lots of techniques, but Christensen talks a lot about the psychology of dealing with bad guys as well as how to deal with a police administration. Often, dealing with a naive, stupid and uncaring politically motivated police administration is tougher than wrestling some crazy doper to the ground. Great in-your-face book. If you want to learn some amazing defensive tactics, check out Loren Christensen's video tape set, Restraint and Control Strategies. Expensive, but well worth it for even twice the money.

Essential for self defense instructors:
This book is about the nature of combat; it is not an instruction manual about specific techniques. This is very good approach, as I believe that it is not possible to properly teach hand to hand combat techniques (or any other complex movements) without an instructor to oversee the action. Instead of techniques, the book is filled with truths about mental preparation and the winning attitude. There are two major, and few shorter chapters in the book. The main chapters discuss training mainly from instructor's point of view, and defense against deady threat. These two chapters cover about two thirds of the book. In other chapters Christensen presents main principles and concepts of combat, discusses the nature of combat, tells how to create witnesses, and so on. The text is filled with humor and witty cop stories from real life, making the book fun to read. I think that while reading the book can be useful to anyone interested in real-life self defense, it is self defense instructors who benefit most from it. And everyone can have a good time reading it.

Best Guide for those who want to know the way.:
As a martial artist, a police officer and a defensive tacics instructor, I felt an instant bond with the writings of Christensen. For, I too have been through most of what he writes about and agree with about 95% of his writings. The book is an excellent blend of martial arts and police defensive tactics with a realistic view of what is practical and what is BS. Too many police DT instructors lack a martial arts background and refuse to acknowledge that the vast majority of techniques originated in the asian martial arts systems. The book is an excellent reference for both the rookie officer and the veteran officer alike. It is also a good refernce for the new DT instructor or one who lacks a martial artist background. I found nothing new or exciting contained in the text, of course, I rarely do in most of the books published today. After 26 years as a martial artist and 19 years as a DT instructor one discovers there are no new tricks, just good ole fashioned basic techniques and concepts practiced at a higher level of effectiveness. I did enjoy the author's stories and his sense of humor. All of Christensen's books are worth reading. It is an enjoyable and easy book to read, I recommended it to all serious students of self-defense and police officers looking to maintain a tactical edge.

Sound Concepts and Principles:
Both of the readers on the Amazon.com site rated this as one of the best martial arts books they have ever read. That is pushing it a bit for me, but there is an awful lot in this book that I agree with and we teach in our classes (for example, don't hit someone in the head with a closed fist). Obviously this book is geared toward the law enforcement and public safety reader, but you will pick up a wealth of information about fighting for real. The author claims to have been in 300-400 fights in his career and he has several valid points about self-defense principles. He seems to have a bit of a love-hate relationship with grappling saying on one hand that it is absolutely imperative to have one of your trainers skilled in jiu-jitsu or judo and, on the other hand, saying that he has never been taken to the ground and feels there is an inordinate amount of danger to be found there. Overall, he covers a wide variety of principles, concepts and techniques. Some good self-deprecating cop stories too. Brad Parker, Defend University,

From a Police Defensive Tactics Instructor:
I have been a Police Officer for over 16 years, and a Martial Artist for over 23 years. I have been in charge of teaching Police Defensive Tactics for the last three years and I teach over 200 officers a year. I really enjoyed this book (I also own other Loren Christensen books), and found it funny, fast paced and informative. This book is more geared toward D-Tac instructors and not the student though. I think that this book should be mandatory reading for all Police Brass and I.A. people. Fast reading, and very well written. Good job Loren.