Search results for ""Author Geoff Thompson""

Watch My Back is the story of one man's search for courage. Depressed, bullied, intimidated by life and indoctrinated to believe that this was his lot, Geoff Thompson, on the verge of a breakdown, decided to fight back. In a bid to confront his fears, he took a job as a bouncer in one of Britain's roughest nightclubs. Over the next ten years, he was involved in hundreds of brutal and bloody fights that left two of his friends murdered and many more in prison; he turned himself into a fearsome fighting machine. Geoff reached the top of his trade and became addicted to violence. Then it all changed. After nearly being killed in a gang attack, and almost killing one of his attackers, he was forced to reassess his relationship with violence. After writing down his experiences, Geoff discovered a flair for writing. This is the story of an ordinary man who faced his fears and took himself from bedsit to best-seller but very nearly got killed on the way.

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This illustrated manual takes the martial artist step-by-step through everything necessary to convert their skills for use in the "street".

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One of the few real self-protection guides on the market today, this book will teach you first and foremost how to avoid violent situations. But should you find yourself in one, it will also show you how to control yourself and your emotions so you can function on a physical level to defend yourself.

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Hands are the most accessible, effective and natural tool available for use in self defence situations. This manual takes the reader step by step through the moves and techniques required to become competent in real punching. These moves can be used to compliment other forms of martial arts, or used alone in close-range self defence. Topics covered include sparring, stances, the jab, the cross, footwork, defences, "cheeky" shots and hooks.

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Ground fighting is taking the martial arts world by storm, but how do you get to the ground safely and end in a prone position? What are the dangers of throwing and taking an opponent over? In this book on throwing and take-down techniques of Sambo, the author teaches how to control vertical grappling and destroy an assailant with a demolishing throw. Including the original "blow before throw" techniques banned from sport grappling at the beginning of the century.

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Geoff Thompson was sexually abused at the tender age of 11 by a trusted and beloved teacher. By the time he was 30 years old he was unconsciously displacing his rage into violence, sexual self-harm and long bouts of debilitating depression. After failing to find a solution to his burgeoning mania in all the conventional places, he set off on a Campbellian quest to find the answers for himself: about abuse, about the aftermath of abuse, about the true meaning of forgiveness, its metaphysical power, and how it is possible to heal, no matter how deep or how old the wound. The author assures us that "there is treasure in the ruins", "there can be profit in sorrow and in suffering", and, with a few tried and tested, honest techniques and a heavy supply of courage, victims can reclaim their lives, they can win love and they can find healing and inspiration, post-abuse. In this deeply empirical study, Thompson reveals the true definition and the awesome power of forgiveness, clearly defining the difference between forgiving someone and letting them off. He demonstrates the power and freedom of "giving it over"; the revealed health benefits of releasing anger, dissonance and resentment; the hidden power of reciprocity; avoiding the hate trap; the healing power of love and compassion; the liberating practice of personal repentance; and discovering "the world to come" - the exhilarating expansion we experience when ignorance is dissolved with qualified knowledge. "I told my story very late", Thompson tells us, "and suffered needlessly as a consequence; I'm hoping that 99 Reasons to Forgive will encourage others to share their story sooner, be inspired by my living example of powerful healing, and embrace their walking wounds as beauty scars, the rich tapestry of personal survival".

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Ground fighting is taking the martial arts world by storm, but how do you get to the ground safely and end in a prone position? What are the dangers of throwing and taking an opponent over? In this book on throwing and take-down techniques of Judo, the author teaches how to control vertical grappling and destroy an assailant with a demolishing throw. Including the original "blow before throw" techniques banned from sport grappling at the beginning of the century.

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In our increasingly hectic society we are under constant pressure to get the best results, the top job, a better car or a bigger house. For many reasons, stress can become a major problem affecting our relationships and even our health. Stress can ruin lives, and most people don't know how to cope with it - or how they can use it as an energy force. If you're always getting angry in the car, at home or at work, if you constantly feel out of balance, then this book is for you. It will help you identify the causes of stress in your life, and shows you how to deal with them in a practical way. With true-life examples, clear explanations and relevant advice, it is an indispensable aid to overcoming stress. This book may save your life.

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The Divine CEO is a no-nonsense, pragmatic book about the hierarchy of spiritual ascent. It comes from the pen of acclaimed writer Geoff Thompson; former bouncer, world ranking martial arts guru, and BAFTA winning screenwriter. This is a masterclass on how to contract your ego, expand your conscious awareness, and build a powerful internal hierarchy, through mastery of mind, body and senses. For anyone looking to break their negative associations with the world and create a divine covenant with their Greatest Potential (their own internal Chief Executive Officer), this empirical, muscular and direct study of spiritual ascension is the perfect companion. It is the essence of the author's fifty year apprenticeship in practical spirituality, and high end Budo martial arts.

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In India, young elephants are trained in obedience by being tied to an immovable object like a tree. No matter how hard the baby elephant pulls it cannot break free, and eventually, after trying to break away and being thwarted time and again, it believes that it cannot escape, no matter what it does. Ultimately, a fully-grown adult weighing several tons can be tied to a twig and won't even try to escape. Do you ever feel that you are tied to an immovable object and can't break free? That you couldn't possibly give that presentation, that you would never be able to go it alone in business, or that you have to remain stuck in a social and lifestyle rut as there is no other alternative? This book argues that what ties you down and prevents you from realising your potential is only a 'twig'. Geoff guides you through the process of breaking the negative thinking that binds us and reveals the '14 Golden Rules to Success and Happiness'.

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Presenting a field-defining overview of one of the most appliable linguistic theories available today, this Handbook surveys the key issues in the study of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), covering an impressive range of theoretical perspectives. Written by some of the world's foremost SFL scholars, including M. A. K. Halliday, the founder of SFL theory, the handbook covers topics ranging from the theory behind the model, discourse analysis within SFL, applied SFL, to SFL in relation to other subfields of linguistics such as intonation, typology, clinical linguistics and education. Chapters include discussion on the possible future directions in which research might be conducted and issues that can be further investigated and resolved. Readers will be inspired to pursue the challenges raised within the volume, both theoretically and practically.

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Texture - the quality that makes a text 'hang together' as a text - is a key focus of investigation in discourse analysis. This volume provides a systematic overview of recent research on textual resources that are used to construct texture, and on the ways in which these resources are deployed differently in different text types. Theme is the major resource that is explored in the first part of the book. The opening papers set out the current understanding of Theme and explore aspects of the concept which remain controversial in the field. This is followed by an examination of thematic choices in a range of text types. Issues raised include the different kinds of meanings appearing in Theme which are particularly significant for each genre, the ways in which these relate to the broader socio-cultural context, and the ways in which thematic choices interact with other kinds of texturing. In the second part of the collection, the scope widens to include an examination of other resources, particularly the contribution to texture made by patterns of interpersonal choices, in Theme and more broadly across texts as a whole. The volume closes with an overview and illustration of a methodological approach by which our understanding of texturing can be further extended.

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