Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision Making Under Threat of Violence Author: Rory Miller | Language: English | ISBN:
B009W138FC | Format: EPUB
Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision Making Under Threat of Violence Description
Summary:
Conflict and violence cover a broad range of behaviors, from intimidation to murder, and require an equally broad range of responses. A kind word will not resolve all situations, nor will wristlocks, punches, or even a gun. Scaling Force introduces the full range of options, from skillfully doing nothing to employing deadly force. You will understand the limits of each type of force, when specific levels may be appropriate, the circumstances under which you may have to apply them, and the potential costs, legally and personally, of your decision.
Full version:
Conflict and violence cover a broad range of behaviors, from intimidation to murder, and requires an equally broad range of response. A kind word will not resolve all situations, nor will wristlocks, punches or even a gun.
If you have mastered punching and kicking, what skills do you have to safely stop two friends from fighting? If you are incredibly skilled at locks and takedowns, is it even possible to apply a submission as a way to escape a lethal threat? If you are an expert marksman, what skills do you have to deal with a teenager who wants to cut her own wrists?
Some people study martial arts for self-defense, yet almost any style you can name focuses on a narrow range of responses, typically empty-hand restraint or less lethal force. High-end skills only come into play in true self-defense situations. Unless you're the bad guy, that usually means you're losing. And everything you know about timing, distance and power generation may not work.
To go through life with a narrow range of skills, hoping any emergency will just, by luck, happen to require the skills you have... that's not a strategy. That is whistling in the dark. It's stupidity.
In Scaling Force Kane and Miller introduce you to the full range of options, from skillfully doing nothing to applying deadly force. They realistically guide you through understanding the limits of each type of force, when specific levels may be appropriate, the circumstances under which you may have to apply them, and the potential cost, legally and personally, of your decision.
It's vital to have a holistic skillset for dealing with every level of violence. You must not only know how to enter this scale at the right level, but also be able to articulate why the amount of force you used was appropriate. Use too much and you're looking at prison time; use too little you are in for a world of hurt.
If you do not know how to succeed at all six levels covered in this book there are situations in which you will have no appropriate options. More often than not, that will end badly.
- File Size: 1286 KB
- Print Length: 354 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1594392501
- Publisher: YMAA Publication Center (October 22, 2012)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B009W138FC
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,455 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Violence in Society - #51
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- #31
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Violence in Society - #51
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals > Criminology - #59
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Individual Sports > Martial Arts
Before I was a journalist, I was a police officer. I graduated from a police academy and had a 4.0 in criminal justice for almost two years. This book is fantastic for cops and security guards, but more so for anyone who wants to learn about self-protection. ANY good martial artist will tell you the best way to win a fight is to walk away from it. Sometimes you don't get that option. This is where this book comes in -- Rory and Lawrence tell you HOW to recognize the signs (breathing rates, talking/not talking, posture, etc.) that signal potential violence.
If you're not familiar with the concept of the "victim interview," they do an excellent job describing what that is and how to avoid passing the interview! Essentially bad guys will test potential victims (mugging, rape, assault etc) by testing (interviewing) them first. They may ask you for change, or the time. They may walk too close and see if you stop and confront them... Just as sharks will "bump" a swimmer to determine if they can attack with success, human sharks will do the same, subtly evaluating or "interviewing" you to see if you'll fight back, or lay down and give up. DISCLAIMER: I interviewed Lawrence about this very issue several years ago and that's how I know him. He sent me this book to review since that's what I do now, (in addition to being a ghostwriter).
What makes this such a "hard to put down," book is that both Rory and Lawrence obviously draw on their history of personal encounters and experience with violence and responses to it. I LOVE the case studies, the "actual event" descriptions and the way they use actual incidents to explain the concepts they're teaching. Just a fun read even if you don't do anything with it. You'll learn stuff just by reading.
Another great book by two outstanding authors. Rory Miller ("Meditations on Violence") and Lawrence A. Kane ("Little Black Book of Violence") bring together their combined expertise in dealing with the ugly realities of violence into another book that has the potential to make the world a better place. That may sound like a grandiose claim, but if a few people read this and learn how to avoid/diffuse/walk away from/survive a violent encounter, well, there will be some police officers, EMT's, coroners, spouses, and children whose days won't be ruined by needless bloodshed. The only ones who stand to lose from the publication of this book are the lawyers who line their pockets through representing folks caught in violent encounters.
The book begins with about 50 pages of material that will be familiar to those who have read earlier works by Miller and Kane. This is an abbreviated introduction to different types of violence, situational awareness, and the "legal ramifications of violence." For a fuller treatment of this material, one should read the works by the authors cited above. And for those who have already read them, it's a good reminder of some important principles. As the book makes clear regarding physical self-defense, it's not good enough to learn something once and think you've got it down. So, while this section isn't new, it's time well spent reviewing it.
The remainder of the book takes the reader through their 6 levels of responses to potential or actual violence: presence, voice, touch, empty-hand restraint, less-lethal force, lethal force. Each level is explored thoroughly, with plenty of real-world examples, to offer a realistic assessment of what can (should?) be done in different situations to keep oneself as safe as possible.
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