Mixed Martial Arts Geoff Thompson

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    GEOFF THOMPSON:Nice To See You, Wherever You Are!

    Marc Wickert 2002

    also published in Fight Times & Britain's Martial Arts Illustrated magazines.

    Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr Geoff Thompson

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    p p g _ p

    From the Source

    Geoff Thompson is widely acknowledged as being the worlds #1authority on doormanship. With over thirty books, videos, documentaries,

    a feature film and a decade of real-life experience as a bouncer in some ofBritains roughest nightclubs, few can dispute the accolades.

    But this wasnt always the case for Thompson who was constantly pickedon as a kid. In his debut bestseller, Watch My Back, Geoff recounts howone Christmas morning his older brother discovered him alone and cryingout of fear that the beatings hed been receiving would continue whenschool resumed in two weeks time. This predicament continuedthroughout Geoffs childhood until he was eleven-years-old and embracedaikido.

    "Like a lot of people, I got into the martial arts because I was bullied, andI thought the martial arts would be the answer. I thought if I learnt to fight,I wouldnt be bullied. It was at the time of the Bruce Lee boom, and Iwanted to be superhuman like thousands of other kids. That was my mainreason, so I could learn to fight, because I thought that would be theanswer. Of course later I realized it was less about fighting, it was moreabout having confidence, having more cerebral strength," says Thompson.

    Discorporation

    "You become invisible. What the ninjitsu refer to as invisibility, I dontthink theyre talking necessarily about actually disappearing, but if youhave a huge amount of confidence, because youve built up your physicalability, then you become invisible to threat. Youre not seen as a victim to

    people who want to attack, so the martial arts are very good in thatrespect. You have to do the martial arts properly and train very hard and

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    go through a forge so you get a tempered blade. And if dont go throughthe forge, then there tends to be a lot of insecurity. And being in themartial arts can actually perpetuate trouble, because if your confidence

    isnt mature, people tend to go looking for situations to prove themselves."

    The Bad News or The Bad News?

    But at such a young age, Geoff was to encounter another type of predator.As he explains in Watch My Back, it was a case of out of the frying panand into the fire, with one kind of bullying being replaced by another. Sohis martial arts career was put on hold until he enrolled in Shotokan karateclasses. Through the torment provided by his young peers and anunscrupulous adult, Geoffs anguished mind still showed him littlecompassion, however, as he dreaded the intimidation of karate sparring.

    At purple-belt standing, Thompson put the karate classes on hold untilsome years later when he enrolled in Shaolin Motga gung fu, which he

    persevered with until earning his black belt.Geoff then returned toShotokan, but couldnt understand why the fear of real-life fightingremained.

    "I reached the black belt level and physically I got the skills, but mentally

    I didnt feel confident. I still felt like a 9 stone weakling and remainedfrightened of fear and confrontation. And when a situation developed inmy life, I didnt feel as though I had control of it - not just the potential ofa fight, but of change. I was frightened of going up the mountain,frightened of going down the mountain, and frightened of standing still."

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    Thanks for dropping out

    Pyramid Power

    Geoff decided to address the problem by drawing a pyramid on a piece of

    paper, and on the steps of the pyramid he wrote down all his fears, andsystematically confronted them one by one.

    "The level I reached in martial arts didnt build up the confidence Ithought it would. So I decided to go on the door and confront my fearsonce and for all. Ultimately I was frightened of physical confrontation, soI became a doorman to confront that fear and get some desensitization andfamiliarization with that fear. I figured if I faced my fears I wouldnt have

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    any fears."

    Geoff s jumping in the deep end wasnt all smooth sailing. The first nighthe worked he thought becoming a doorman maybe wasnt the right career

    move, but he remembers his colleagues patting him on the back and tellinghim hed done well the reassurance was reassuring. He decided to give itanother go and eventually a day turned into a decade.

    Mirrored Door

    "I did my apprenticeship at a place called Busters Nightclub, which was avery rough place, and thats where I learnt the trade. I did four years thereand then I went on to work in lots of different venues. And I learnt loadsand loads of stuff about myself and realized that my fear wasnt reallyabout confrontation it was a fear of fear. I didnt like the feeling ofadrenaline or anxiety. But I did become very familiar with the feeling, andalthough I didnt ever get rid of fear, it s obviously part of what you do.Its part of who you are. Biologically, fear needs to be present, but youlearn to manage it in extreme situations.

    "And it has an overflow effect in your life. After working the door, andfacing people who are trying to kill you, everyday situations dont botheryou at all. If the neighbours playing the music too loud or somebody cuts

    you off in the car, its no really big shake because youve faced yourultimate fears."

    Looking Death in the Eye

    Geoff says that the samurai had a similar philosophy where they treatedeach day as though it were the last, then they were liberated from theanxiety of dealing with death. He believes that working the door put his

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    life into perspective in the same way. He continued to train in various artsincluding judo, and returned to aikido. All the time he was eliminating thefears of the pyramid hed previously drawn.

    "There were times when it was very hard, mostly because I didntunderstand what was going on, but it teaches you a hell of a lot about your

    body. Metaphorically, it was a bit like immersing an inner tube in waterand finding out where the leaks are.

    "I thought there were a lot of weaknesses in the stand-up systems, whichwere mainly long-range kicking systems, that were weak on close-range

    punching and weak on grappling and ground fighting. And they wereweak on the psychological side of it, so I started to enhance my skills by

    going into different systems."

    Control Your Fears

    Geoff says the door experience showed him what he was capable of doing,but it also showed him the futility of violence. He deducted from the 10-year experience that fear is natural, that it can be controlled, and that it isonly when you let fear overwhelm you that it becomes debilitating.

    The courage it must have taken Geoff Thompson to confront his deepestfears may seem remarkable, but even more staggering is that Geoff, whilststanding just under 6-feet tall, weighed only 111/2 stone.

    "I was 2 stone lighter than I am now. I was tall and thin. Thats whyeverybody wanted to fight me," laughs Thompson.

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    riding the waves of life, rather than trying to oppose any of the naturalforces. Its about eating light and thinking positively. And trying to aimfor goals but not grasp them. Its that paradox of intent and surrender itsintending to do things to improve your quality of life, but surrendering to

    this natural flow."

    Pre-Emptive Strike

    On the subject of martial arts in general, Geoff believes that most of thearts being taught in the world are not street effective. He says its not somuch the different codes of the martial arts that are inadequate, but thatthe practitioners are not being honest with themselves.

    "As far as physical self-defence is concerned, the only thing I found to beconsistently effective in thousands of altercations, and watching thousandsof altercations involving other people, was the pre-emptive attack. Imtalking about when a physical situation couldnt be avoided, or escape orverbal dissuasion couldnt be used.

    "I personally think we should do anything we can to avoid a physicalconfrontation. If we cant and we have to be physical, the only thing I seethat works consistently in todays arena is the pre-emptive attack. But Idont see many people teaching that. Most people are still teaching block-counter, or letting the opponent attack first, or trap-counter. And its alltoo late. If its going to be physical, its about learning to hit hard andlearning to hit first. This is the only thing that works consistently."

    Whilst Geoff has admired the different systems of martial arts he hasobserved around the world, he says what they are practising probablywouldnt work unless the art was being taught in a pre-emptive manner.

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    6thDan black belt in Japanese karate, 1stDan judo, UltimateDan in dangerous man

    Too Much Artillery

    Selecting the right skills for yourself and not getting too obsessed with thesize of your bag of tricks is something Thompson advises particularly inan adrenaline-rushed street situation.

    "Initially, when we enter martial arts we think we need everything. Westart collecting thousands of techniques. And ultimately we whittle that

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    "Theyre other people who have wives and children, and mothers and

    fathers theyre human beings. And theyre probably just people like uson a bad day. There are very few evil people out there. There are lots of

    people who are displacing their aggression or are on the wrong track, butthere are not very many evil people."

    Communication Skills

    Part of Geoffs philosophy is that once you begin to let go of the need tobe physical and start developing your communication skills, you then

    realize that most things arent personal. He suggests that if you cancommunicate with people, you can kill off all your enemies by makingfriends of them. Geoff also acknowledges that it s not an easy thing to do,

    but it is something he believes we should all be aiming to accomplish.

    "Don Draeger said we should be so good at what we do, so powerful andpotent, that we can walk away from trouble. Don is someone I reallyadmire in the martial arts. The martial artists I respect most are the oneswho have developed their physical ability, and have also developed a

    polarity to balance it theyre very gentle but very firm. Theyre notshouting about how good they are or challenging people. Theyve foundsome kind of peace within themselves. That s a true martial artist."

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    The Elephant and the Twig and the Kind

    Gentleman

    The Write Stuff

    "Ive always wanted to be a writer. I was writing long stories when I wasin junior school. And then when I was twelve, the art teacher wanted to doa film and needed a script, so I wrote a script without even thinking aboutit. So writing has been in me for a long time, but I never really knew whatto write about. Then once I went on the doors I started realizing that a lotof the experiences I was having were interesting. I would tell peoplestories about the door work, and one of the guys I worked the door with

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    said I should write them down.

    "This prompted me to write an article for a magazine and it got some goodreviews. Then one of the guys I worked with suggested I write a book. Atthe time Id forgotten my love of writing, probably because I was alwaystold that people like us (working class people) dont write books. But I gotsome note pads, and I sat in the toilet at work, and wrote my first book. Iwrote it by hand and Ive still got the red ring around my bum to prove it.

    "I put it on my shelf for a couple of years before one of my friends read itand said, This is really good. So I sent it off and got some refusals, until

    one company said they liked the sound of it and I got my first publishingdeal - that was Watch My Back."

    Just Another Writer from Stratford-upon-Avon

    "Then I thought, If I can write one book, why cant I write two? Whycant I write a film? Why cant I write a play? The confidence I got fromwriting that first book is what started me."

    Geoff has now had his first short film made, which received veryfavorable reviews, and stars Ray Winston (Nil By Mouth and Sexy Beast).A contract for Geoff to write a feature film followed and he has justcompleted the script.Sometimes I feel like I havent done anything, andthen I look at my shelves and see thirty books, and think to myself, theresa lot of work there."

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    "Et tu, Brute?"

    Reflections on the Mirrored Door

    There were regrets at work, and times when Geoff didnt think hed make

    it home from work."Three of my friends were murdered during the time Iwas working one was stabbed to death, one was clubbed to death andone was shot. We had two people killed in one night in Coventry.Working the door is a life-and-death situation. There were a few timeswhen it came on top and I dont know how I got away, just pure

    providence. There were a few times when I thought Id killed people. AndI unashamedly got on my knees and prayed to God for another chance.And I said, If you give me another chance, Ill turn this baby around, and

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    Ill tell people how it really is."

    The Good Guns

    "My experience of violence is that theres no romance in it. Its ugly.When youre there you dont want to be there. Having knocked lots ofpeople out and having hurt lots of people, its not something I wish torepeat. If people train really hard in the martial arts and go into the artsthat are not questioned, like judo, boxing, wrestling, thai the really good

    physical arts they will develop an artillery that will be so good they willbe able to walk away from situations.

    "Thats why the best people are the most gentle people. If you look at theGracies or the Machados, when you actually meet them Im not talking

    about their reputations when you meet them they are the most gentlepeople you could encounter. And people like John Will in Australia, whois a Machado black belt, he is a very gentle and giving man. People likethat I really admire."

    A Last Word from Geoff Thompson

    "You cant play with the martial arts. You either have to do them or youdont. But to half do them, you dont really get the answers. If you do

    them recreationally, you only get the recreational results. If you reallywant to find yourself you need to delve into the arts and it needs to

    become a life passion. And what you have at the other side of it isliberation, and it really is worth the journey the art of invisibility.

    For Further Information On Geoff Thompson:

    www.geoffthompson.com

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    Geoff Thompson

    Nice To See You, Wherever You Are!

    "Part Two"

    Marc Wickert

    (previously published in Fight Times & Martial Arts Illustrated)

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    were continually being road tested. He was working six nights a week, andnever experienced a night when he didnt physically have to restrainsomebody or make his own techniques work. And this was against peoplewho were doing everything in their power, not only to stop Thompsons

    techniques from working, but also to make their own work. Geoff learnedvery quickly what was and what wasnt effective.

    In Part Two of this article, we will be focusing in more depth onThompsons bestselling autobiography Watch My Back, whichincidentally led to the authors being invited to join the Royal CourtTheatre writers group.

    Leave Your Saddle at Home, Jock

    In Watch My Back, Geoff talks about traditional martial arts and how theyhavent been adapted to todays world, as though they are too sacred to betouched, even though todays adversary is no longer a samurai onhorseback.

    "Traditional martial arts just hasnt evolved. I know people think itssacrilegious, but you get the most sensible people I was just talking tosomeone about this yesterdayyou get the most sensible people, andtheyve got the latest up-to-date computers, the latest injection-fueled cars,they have the cutting edge of everything in life, and theyre so pragmatic.But as soon as you start talking about martial arts they say, Oh, you cantchange that. Its 200 years old so it must be right. And its really silly

    because its like saying that the horse and cart will get you there, and theywill, but its not going to stop that mode of transport from becomingantiquated. And youre not going to compete with the 2.5 injection engine.The environment and the enemy have changed.

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    "If we went back 200 years to the ancient masters in martial arts, theywouldnt be doing now what they were doing then. Theyd think this wasdumb. Most of the stuff that people are learning in traditional arts wasdesigned for battlefields, for fighting people on horseback armed withspears and swords. Todays enemy is completely different, and is from acompletely different environment."

    World War Blues

    Geoff says the defence systems that work in war generally work in realityfighting: the pre-emptive and deceptive strike, and the killer blow. "Thingsthat they used in the First and Second World Wars, such as the single anddouble foot stomps to the head: gratuitous, ugly and very workable.

    Punching people so hard that they go back in time, and when they wake uptheir clothes are out of fashion. Its all very basic, very ugly, but also veryworkable. Biting, butting, blinding and anything that will win the fight andsave your life."

    Thompson observes that this approach is not what he has seen intraditional arts. If it s art for arts sake, then he thinks its okay, but ifyoure training for violent, street survival, then whats being taught needsadapting and shortening, so that it can work against a contemporary

    enemy in an ever-changing environment.

    "When I went on the door, I was highly graded after twenty years ofstudying martial arts, and I realized straight away that what I had was notworking: it wasnt only not working, it was laughable. And I discoveredthat in the real world where violence is the norm, most martial artists wereridiculed, they were not thought of as being credible in a real fight."

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    What are friends for!

    How to Break Friends and Infuriate People

    After this experience, Thompson returned to his class and told them theirtraining was ineffective and had to change. This was something he foundto be extremely difficult because hed been rared on traditional styles. Butrather than hiding his head in the sand, he made the necessaryadjustments.

    "It was really just taking what we had and adapting it for a real situation.

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    Thats what I did. And as a person whos been in hundreds of fights andexperienced thousands of affrays involving everybody from the layman tothe world-classed martial artist, Ive seen what works and what doesntwork. And I have a duty to say to people, This is how it is. You can kidyourself all you want, but when youre outside the chip shop, and yourwife or children are depending on your techniques to keep them alive,youd better know what you are doing."

    Geoff first altered his fighting style by visualizing that every strike hedelivered in training was directed at an assailant in a real-life streetconfrontation. When he trained with a partner in the gym, every blow wasintended to hit the mark with full force. This approach caused Geoffssparring partners to retaliate with the same ferocity and venom. Fromthese battles he developed the now-famous, no-holds-barred Animal Day

    sessions.

    "No quarter was asked and none was given. These sessions were laterfeatured on many mainstream TV shows and became legendary within themartial arts world, with requests to visit coming from every corner of theglobe."

    Just Gimme Some Truth

    Whilst Thompson does not discourage people from training for art s sake,or for the philosophical benefits that martial arts can bring, he doesstipulate that if practitioners are studying for defence then they need to behonest with themselves.

    "But dont take my word for it: put it under pressure, do an Animal Day,see what works and what doesnt. If it doesnt work under thoseconditions, it wont work in the street. Its ridiculous to think that you can

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    have a long-range art, where all the sparring you do is with other peoplewho also use long-range systems, and expect it to work when somebody isfully intent on taking hold of you, biting your nose off and taking awayyour range. In the street, situations escalate so fast and are so violent."

    In Las Vegas with Geoff's wife Sharon and Chuck Norris

    Yes, by George

    We often hear President Bush talking about a pre-emptive strike. In fact,he seems to be mentioning it so much lately, those familiar with GeoffThompsons teachings probably wouldnt be surprised to see George Bushat one of Geoffs seminars. Thompson is amazed that most martial artistshave no knowledge of attack rituals. He states that prior to a fight peoplewill question their own abilities. They will feel like running away. Andeven though their opponent may not show it, he will be feeling exactly the

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    inches, where you can get a knockout in one hit."

    Kickers & Grapplers to be Towed Away

    Boldly, Thompson suggests that kickers and grapplers will not last on thestreet if they cant punch. Although Geoff acknowledges that he lovesgrappling, and he has great admiration for grapplers, he believes that astreet fight is the last place to be for the grappler, because fights are veryrarely one on one. He says that if a fight was one on one, then he would

    back the grappler, but he feels that scenario is indeed a rare occurrence.

    "In a real situation, what you need is something clinical, something quickand something pre-emptive. And its always the hands that are closest tothe target, and you can drive your whole body weight through it. You can

    finish someone with one shot, which leaves your hands free to deal withthe second assailant.

    "Kicking for the average player just doesnt have the potency to bepractical: its too slow, too deliberate and too risky. The danger ofgrappling is that it is a protracted art: you cant finish someone clinicallyin less than a second as you can with punches. The moment you grab one

    person you tie yourself to him. And he only has to be a road digger or abricklayer or any manual worker, and even though youll finish him and

    probably tear him a new arse, the technique is protracted. So while youredoing that, his mate is kicking your head like a football or his girlfriend isstabbing you."

    Thompson says when one grapples, he faces the danger of what he callsthe four Bs: blinding, butting, biting and buddies. He states that thegrappler can have the upper hand on the ground, only to be attacked by theadversarys girlfriend, whos stabbing the grappler with her stiletto or

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    sticking a broken bottle in his neck.

    Geoff Thompson the Author

    If You Were Allowed One Wish

    "People often ask me what art I would select for a physical confrontationif I could only take up one discipline, and I tell them it would be boxing. If

    I could choose two arts, then I would say boxing and grappling. But Iwould never choose just one discipline.

    "You really need three systems: firstly a good punching system, preferablyboxing because its based on the knockout. Secondly, a good grapplingsystem, preferably judo/jiu jitsu or catch wrestling, because they havesubmissions. Thirdly, Thai-boxing because its ferocious and is a practicalart. The good thing about western boxing is that it is pre-emptive. There

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    are lots of good shoot-fighters out there now, and thats a great art becauseit combines all three ranges, but you still have the problem of adapting tothe street and not going to the ground.

    "If youre choosing a club, look for the broken noses and the cauliflowerears."

    A Horse Called Fear

    One of Thompsons favourite subjects is harnessing fear. He suggests thatwhen novice defenders first experience a rush of adrenaline they oftenmistake it for fear. But he states that they can use the latent energy to run

    away, or to fight if there are no other options. And the way to becomeused to fear is to get exposed to fear by participating in confrontationalarts such as boxing or judo where there are no hiding places.

    "If you make a mistake in judo or boxing youll get choked out or knockedout. And most of these arts are done with partners and with no complying.You need to confront fear in order to get used to fear. Its okay to feelfear: you should feel fear."

    Geoff says he would sometimes lower his voice and purposely let a littlefear filter through in his speech during a confrontation, so as to encouragehis adversary to drop his mental guard, which opens a window of attack.Sometimes Geoff would even say he was scared to give his attacker a falsesense of confidence, and then king hit him. Again Thompson stresses theimportance of deception.

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    Thompson says that although some instructors preach the theory that oneshouldnt show their hand by looking where they are going to hit, in anadrenaline-filled situation, the fighters get tunnel vision, and all things onthe peripheral disappear.

    "People dont notice little things such as whether youre looking at theeyes or the jaw. Its only if youre looking at something obvious, like ifyou drop your eyes to look at their bollocks, that theyll get an idea thatyoure targeting the groin for a kick. Very few people look in the eyesanyway. They tend to look anywhere but the eyes, so if you look at theaw they wont notice it."

    You're feeling very sleepy ....soon you'll be outto it.

    Can We Still Be Friends?

    Although Geoff found that most people he dealtwith, during his decade on the door, could betalked down or allowed to walk away whilstsaving face, he did find there was a minority of

    people who only respected him when he gotphysical.

    "Its really like a lower form of communication.So when you punch them in the eye theyrelike, I understand what youre saying now.

    Not only do they respect you afterwards, theylloften like you for it. But they cant helpthemselves, because they have to takeadvantage of a perceived weakness. Its not a

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    matter of being physical, its a matter of beingfirm. When I started the job at the factory years ago, I stood up to the

    bullies and next thing theyre making me cups of tea and wanting to havemy babies. You do it more to save them from themselves, because if youallow them too much leeway, youll end up having to be physical withthem and then they will have a problem!"For more information on GeoffThompson go to www.geoffthompson.com

    Geoff ThompsonPart Three

    The Castaway Dreamboat

    Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com

    photos Geoff Thompson

    Ever wish you could be the best in the world at something? Ever wish youcould win the lottery and make all your dreams come true? Ever wishupon a star? Geoff Thompson is like that: He spends most of his lifedreaming. What separates Geoff from most of us is that he makes hisdreams come true. And he doesnt leave anything to chance. He works andworks until his dreams become reality. To Thompson, lifes stumbling

    blocks are merely stepping stones that need to be overturned.

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    Geoff s whole life has been a series of hurdles hes erected for himself.And every day he raises their height. When Geoff wanted to feel safe onthe street and decided to stop being bullied, he took up bouncing for tenyears at some of Britains roughest nightclubs. He wanted to become anauthor and has now published over thirty books and thirty videos.

    "If I only set realistic goals, I would not have achieved anything in mylife. I pride myself on the fact that I set goals that others would considercompletely unrealistic. In fact, if I had listened to many of the peoplearound me, all my life, I would not have even set goals in the first place,

    because all of the things I aimed for seemed impossibly grand, evenpretentious to them. And yet, it did not stop them from happening. It didnot stop the whole universe from conspiring to make my little dreams into

    big realities," says Thompson.

    Over 20 publishers turned down Geoffs first book, "Watch My Back". Hesays at times the rejections seemed to outnumber the manuscripts sent out.But the determined author kept submitting his autobiography as a bouncer,until someone finally saw the books potential. Today, "Watch My Back"is a bestseller. Even more amazing is that Geoff wrote the entire book,sitting on the toilet each day, whilst he was employed as a factory floor-sweeper.

    Thompson also wrote the hugely successful novel "Red Mist", and hislatest film, "Brown Paper Bag", starring Ronnie Fox and Jo McInnis, wona BAFTA in the Best Short Film category. But none of his success has

    been handed to Geoff on a platter. He has defied the odds and made theimpossible happen through his hard work and unrelenting persistence.

    "Take the short film "Bouncer" that we recently made. Our budget for thewhole film was only ten grand. Hardly enough to feed the extras, let alone

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    actually hire anyone to make the film. It starred Ray Winstone, SeanParks, Ronnie Fox, Paddy Consedine four of our biggest stars and asupporting cast of 200 extras and crew. Ray Winstone alone usuallycharges 75 times more than our whole budget. He did it free because heliked the script. We had to find the locations (free), hire the extras (free),shoot the film and then get it to all the film festivals with no money, andthen send it in to the BAFTAs. At last count, "Bouncer" has been in 30international festivals, winning awards and award nominations around theglobe.

    "More than one person scoffed when we said that we were aiming to getRay Winstone as the lead, and when we told them that we wanted to enterthe BAFTA competition, many of them said, Impossible. And yet we didit. If I thought realistically, Id still be sweeping floors in the factory."

    Geoff has now completed the first draft of a motivational book tentativelytitled "Shape Shifter" which he says is about the process of shifting fromwhere we are, to where we want to be. And he has finished the third draftof a film with working title "The Death of Christine James", which isabout people coping with changes in their lives.

    "The fictitious character, Christine, gets mugged and suffers post -traumatic depression. Her husband develops a complex, because he was

    unable to help her, and its about how they cope with this change in theirlives. Its a love story."

    Thompsons self-defence book, "Dead or Alive", is another of hispublications that has received international acclaim.

    "Its about self-protection and covers the whole gamut, everything fromavoidance, awareness and escape, verbal dissuasion, loop-holing and

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    negativity ("The Elephant and the Twig"), and stress ("A Book for theSeriously Stressed"). He also shows people how to reach for the stars andgrab hold of them ("The Great Escape").

    "Are you getting what you want out of life? If your answer is no, why

    not try seeing what you want a little more clearly, talking what you want alittle more succinctly, and certainly thinking what you want with a littlemore accuracy. I am amazed by the number of people out there who wantsuccess, but see, think and talk failure. And they are not even aware of thefact that they are doing it. They actually predict their own failure whenthey say something like, Well I put in for that job, but I know I wont getit.

    "In life, you usually get exactly what you order, and what you order is

    what you think, say and do. How many instructors do you know in martialarts who actually get out there and train under other instructors? Howmany martial artists do you know who never step outside their local classto enable their talent to grow?

    "Dare yourself to do the things that you really want to do. Thats the realkey. Dare yourself, and you will get everything from life that you want."

    For more on Geoff Thompson or to order his books and tapes:www.geoffthompson.com

    For the Ultimate Street Defence Manual click here

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