Home › Martial Arts › When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake

When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake

by Tim Larkin

A self-protection guide centered on confronting life-threatening violence

Regular price $23.07 USD
Regular price $38.46 USD Sale price $23.07 USD
Save 40%

Paperback New English

Delivery to your door
In stock·Dispatches in 1–2 business days
Standard shipping* from $4.35
Standard shipping transit* 5–8 business days after dispatch

Faster options are available.

Rates and delivery estimates depend on your destination and item quantity. Estimates are informational only; the final shipping method and rate are selected at checkout.

Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

AlbakiReads Editorial

A self-protection guide centered on confronting life-threatening violence

Tim Larkin’s guide examines violence as a self-protection problem, concentrating on the rare situations in which a person faces an immediate threat to life or safety. It challenges social and moral assumptions around using force, while presenting the author’s framework for prevention, preparation, and response. The book is organized around discussions of violence’s role and mechanics alongside true-life accounts of violent encounters. Larkin argues that understanding violence as a tool—without treating it as a default solution—is central to protecting oneself and others in extreme circumstances. Its emphasis stays on mental readiness and the decisions surrounding imminent danger, rather than on martial arts as sport or competition.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Adults seeking a self-protection perspective on high-risk violent encounters
  • Readers interested in the psychology and ethics of defensive force
  • Martial arts readers interested in self-protection beyond sport settings

Themes

Self-protectionViolence and moralityThreat awarenessPreparation for dangerDefensive action

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Self-defense expert Tim Larkin presents an important book examining how to think about violence in order to defend ourselves and those we love.

In a civilized society, violence is rarely the answer. But when it is, it's the only answer. The sound of breaking glass downstairs in the middle of the night. The words, "Move and you die." The hands on your child, or the knife to your throat.

In this essential book, self-protection expert and former military intelligence officer Tim Larkin changes the way we think about violence in order to save our lives. By deconstructing our assumptions about violence--its morality, its function in modern society, how it actually works--Larkin unlocks the shackles of our own taboos and arms us with what we need to know to prevent, prepare for, and survive the unthinkable event of life-or-death violence.

Through a series of harrowing true-life stories, Larkin demonstrates that violence is a tool equally effective in the hands of the "bad guy" or the "good guy"; that the person who acts first, fastest and with the full force of their body is the one who survives; and that each and every one of us is capable of being that person when our lives are at stake.

An indispensable resource, When Violence is the Answer will remain with you long after you've finished reading, as the bedrock of your self-protection skills and knowledge.
Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews