Self-Defense for Women: Fight Back

by Loren W. Christensen, Lisa Place (With), Gavin de Becker (Foreword)

Somewhere in America right now are four or five women who will be killed tomorrow. They are going about their day, and I know if they were prepared to counter attack in the ways Loren Christensen and Lisa Place teach, they'd have a far better chance of prevailing tomorrow." ―Gavin de Becker (from his Foreword), best-selling author of The Gift of Fear Some “experts” say you should be submissive when attacked at home or by a stranger. You won’t find that advice here, although you might use it as a ruse before you claw your assailant’s eyes and smash his groin. Your ultimate goal is to get away, but you don’t achieve that by being meek and docile. You get away by drawing on that hardwired survival instinct to attack him like an enraged lioness protecting her babies. In Self-Defense for Back , martial arts experts Loren W. Christensen and Lisa Place teach you to use your hands, forearms, elbows, teeth, knees, and feet to survive the attacks unsuspecting women become the victims of every day. And you will learn that you’re surrounded by a limitless cache of weapons you can use to your advantage against a larger assailant. If you’re ready to learn to fight back, Loren and Lisa know exactly what you need to survive an attack in your home or on the street.

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2011

About the author

Loren W. Christensen is a Vietnam veteran, retired police officer, a martial artist since 1965, and a prolific author of books and magazine articles.

As a writer, Loren has penned over 70 books and dozens of magazine articles on a variety of subjects. While his target audience is most often what he calls “the warrior community” – martial artists, cops, soldiers – his writing has become popular among high school and college students, parents, professionals of every kind, and people interested in a side of life outside the norm.

Loren is most thankful to his many friends, associates and fellow writers in the warrior community for their continual support and expert advice.

Biography:

Bachelors of Science - PSU
Vietnam veteran – 716th Military Police
Career police officer (ret) – Portland, Oregon
Street patrol, gang enforcement, defensive tactics instructor, bodyguard
Script advisor for the motion picture Best of the Best 3
Martial artist since 1965
Earned a total of 13 black belts in three fighting arts
Starred in 7 instructional DVDs
Author of 70 books and dozens of magazine articles
Nominated for the Frankfurt award
Co-author (with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman) of “Evolution of Weaponry” in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, Academic Press
Wrote regularly for Black Belt, Karate Illustrated, Inside Kung fu and many others
Currently writes regularly for Black Belt and Police and Security News magazines
Book Solo Training was ranked in Amazon’s top 3 for three years in a row
Named in the 2007 - 2008 Heritage Registry of Who's Who in publishing

Reviews

[Penny Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A practical and helpful self-defense book. The moves taught in the book are easy to remember and based on natural movements.

The book was a little heavy on the idea of constant vigilance and that anyone could be a potential attacker. Perhaps true, but it falls on the side of causing anxiety.

This book increased my confidence as a woman who may need to defend herself. It focuses not only on physical moves, but mental mindset. It brings out the point that we don't owe anyone conversation or even the time of day when it could put us in danger. It helps prepare the mind in advance for potential contingencies. It could use some professional editing.

Overall, I'm glad I read Self-Defense for Women: Fight Back, and I certainly recommend it. Having read it, I feel more prepared for eventualities where self-defense may be necessary.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by Lisa Place and Loren W. Christensen is an awesome starting point for girls and women who want to be their own protectors. The authors' advice is practical, well-structured and fun to read. They are also very good at motivating their readers to actually get up and train and never expect the unreasonable of them. Instead of just presenting some voodoo techniques without explanation, like so many other self-defense books for women do, they tackle the subject from a lot of angles: Threat analysis, training, psychology of the attacker as well as of the defender, weapon use etc. The combat techniques are basic and effective, employing a lot of gross motor skills and intuitive movements while building the scaffold for further training. I really loved the ethics discussions interleaved in the text, which leave the eventual decision up to the reader instead of preaching total annihilation of the attacker or similar bunk.

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. Christensen is one of the best martial arts/combat writers out there, with wartime, street, and martial arts experience. A very practical guide on building awareness and developing essential techniques that with practice can become intuitive and very street effective.

[Lisa Place · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I'm one of the authors of this book! We are excited to announce that Fight Back has just been accepted as a text book at two universities.