Principles of Personal Defense by Jeff Cooper is all about mindset, and mindset is the essence of successful self protection. Some people make the mistake of thinking that defense of self or others is all about technique. "If I could just learn that secret oriental technique to paralyze any aggressor, I'd be okay." Well, you wouldn't be okay. Not without the proper mindset. Writing about firearms in combat, Cooper once said, "It's not the rifle; it's the spirit of the man behind it."
Someone has said that combat is 95% attitude and 5% technique. I remember fondly our jujitsu club in Pennsylvania where one lady had a tough time remembering techniques. I think the instructor promoted her from yellow belt to orange belt largely on her mindset. When practicing individual techniques, she was stiff and wooden, but then the instructor jumped her, and she went into Rambo mode like a kitten that's all sharp teeth & claws when it wants to get away. That's just one example of why you need a book all about mindset.
Principles of Personal Defense is a short book, but it's a brilliant distillation of what you need to survive a violent encounter. In it, Cooper covers alertness, decisiveness, aggressiveness, speed, coolness, ruthlessness and surprise.
Don't get me wrong. Your skillset is important; the better your skills, the better prepared you'll be for all situations. But skill without mindset is a recipe for disaster. For that reason alone, if I could have only one book on self defense, it wouldn't be a book on strategy, tactics or techniques. It would be Jeff Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense.
Someone has said that combat is 95% attitude and 5% technique. I remember fondly our jujitsu club in Pennsylvania where one lady had a tough time remembering techniques. I think the instructor promoted her from yellow belt to orange belt largely on her mindset. When practicing individual techniques, she was stiff and wooden, but then the instructor jumped her, and she went into Rambo mode like a kitten that's all sharp teeth & claws when it wants to get away. That's just one example of why you need a book all about mindset.
Principles of Personal Defense is a short book, but it's a brilliant distillation of what you need to survive a violent encounter. In it, Cooper covers alertness, decisiveness, aggressiveness, speed, coolness, ruthlessness and surprise.
Don't get me wrong. Your skillset is important; the better your skills, the better prepared you'll be for all situations. But skill without mindset is a recipe for disaster. For that reason alone, if I could have only one book on self defense, it wouldn't be a book on strategy, tactics or techniques. It would be Jeff Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense.
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