There I Was...When Nothing Happened: True Tales of Real Self Defense From Professionals in the Field

by Jason Brick

The most important self-defense skill is how to avoid a fight in the first place.

Even the toughest person alive has a non-zero chance of dying in a fight. Even the weakest person alive has a 100% of surviving a fight they don't get into. Avoiding dangerous situations is a set of skills all of their own, and a set many self-defense books never get around to teaching.

One problem with martial arts books and other media is we spend so much time on what to do if somebody throws a punch, but precious little on how to keep that punch from getting thrown in the first place.

This is an attempt to help reverse that trend.

There I Was...When Nothing Happened combines over 50 powerful stories by seasoned professionals in law enforcement, military, martial arts, and even the world of crime. Each focuses on an event where they avoided going hands-on by specifically applying one or more of five key violence prevention

Preparation - using personal knowledge, research, or early action to keep violence from becoming an issueAwareness - seeing violence coming before it arrives, and taking the necessary stepsAvoidance - getting away from impending violence through swift, intentional actionDe-Escalation - communicating in a way that resolves a potentially violent situation before it turns physicalEscape - avoiding violence and evading injury through rapid flightEach skill has its own section that includes hints, tips, and hacks to help you practice, internalize, and use them to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

This won't be the sexiest, most action-packed self defense book you ever read. It will be the most valuable.

The world-class professionals who contributed to this project include household names in the martial arts and self-defense sphere. Names like Rory Miller, Beverly Baker, Marc MacYoung, Loren Christensen, and Alex Bromley and Ziggy Siegfried of Verbal Judo Fame, along with martial arts and safety podcast hosts like Joe Saunders of Managing Violence, Randy King of Randy King Live, Andy Murphy of The Secure Dad, and What's Your Emergency's Justin Schorr and Jason Hoschouer.

The lineup also includes names you might not recognize because they work behind the scenes to keep people safe, like executive protection specialists Will Geddes, Chris Story, and Alan Baker, along with over a dozen professional instructors in martial arts and self protection. It's an incredible lineup.

Any martial arts enthusiast needs this collection on their shelf. Anybody who is serious about staying safe in an increasingly dangerous world will benefit from the stories and knowledge inside. Add it to your library today.

322 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 19, 2022

About the author

Jason Brick started wrestling just after his 11th birthday. He has studied and taught martial arts for the thirty-plus years between now and then. His fascination with Japanese mythology began while training in karate and magnified while living in Japan. When not writing or practicing, he cooks, plays table-top games and tries hard to spoil his wife, two sons and cats in the lush and rainy Pacific Northwest.

Reviews

[Benjamin Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this great collection are so exciting, one pulls you into the next. I couldn't slow down even though many are worth contemplating. The structure of the book isn't some meaningless gimmick; the four categories of stories reinforce the important point that so much danger can be avoided through preparation, awareness, deescalation, and evasion. The stories also drive home the idea that avoiding conflict is not cowardly at all. In fact, it's often the braver choice as well as being the wiser one.

[Karen Eisenbrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why should you read a book of stories where “nothing happens”? Because life is not an action movie—between a violent encounter and nothing, nothing is the preferred outcome. These stories by “violence professionals”—martial arts masters, police officers, bodyguards, bouncers, investigators, Marines—manage to inform and entertain as they show the many ways violence can be avoided, averted, defused, and derailed because of preparation, awareness, de-escalation, and evasion.

I found it incredibly encouraging that there were this many true stories of harrowing situations that went another way, whether by luck, skill, or deception. Some of the authors are more skilled with the written word than others, but each one has a compelling story to tell. I appreciate their good example of avoiding a fight even when you think you could win.

[Peter Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, let me be clear, I am one of the contributors to this book. OTOH, I had nothing to do with the selection or recruitment of contributions and contributers, the basic concept and structure, or the editing. Therefore, aside from my personal contibution (which I initially disagreed with the editing on -more later) the book and its contents were entirely new to me. So I started it with an attitude of "Let's see what the other parts are here."

Having said that, I think this is a great book. Very interesting, exciting, and informative with several laugh out loud parts as well as terrifying parts.

I was given two contributors copies. One sits on my shelf with pride, the other I gave to the library of a peace oriented religious organization (Quaker / Religious Society of Friends) and the people who read it found it a very interesting and unusual book. I recommended it highly, and not just my own essay, but all the many other too! :-)

[Raymond Goss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know a few of the authors and also had read several of the other authors' books, who contributed some of the chapters. As a martial artist who believes in avoiding the situation and minimizing damage before escalating, this book was a good read for me. I currently am discussing chapters with a few of my martial arts friends. Several stories provide good insights and contributes to our person approach to dealing with tough situations. I would recommend the book to any martial artist.

[Gregg C · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to think your way out of trouble without violence.

Think! Avoid the trouble situation if you can. Talk your way out if possible. Think of ways to redirect their mental path.
Here are examples of how people much better than most avoided having to use violence. So they didn't risk getting hurt and no one else got hurt either.