Mixed Martial Arts Geoff Thompson

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
http://www.knucklepit.com/mixed-martial-arts -geoff_thompson.htm
2/26/2005
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From the Source

Geoff Thompson is widely acknowledged as being the worlds #1 authority on doormanship. With over thirty books, videos, documentaries, a feature film and a decade of real-life experience as a bouncer in some of Britains roughest nightclubs, few can dispute the accolades. But this wasnt always the case for Thompson who was constantly picked on as a kid. In his debut bestseller, Watch My Back, Geoff recounts how one Christmas morning his older brother discovered him alone and crying out of fear that the beatings hed been receiving would continue when school resumed in two weeks time. This predicament continued throughout Geoffs childhood until he was eleven-years-old and embraced aikido. "Like a lot of people, I got into the martial arts because I was bullied, and I 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 I wanted to be superhuman like thousands of other kids. That was my main reason, so I could learn to fight, because I thought that would be the answer. Of course later I realized it was less about fighting, it was more about having confidence, having more cerebral strength," says Thompson.
Discorporation
"You become invisible. What the ninjitsu refer to as invisibility, I dont think theyre talking necessarily about actually disappearing, but if you have a huge amount of confidence, because youve built up your physical ability, 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 that respect. 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 through the forge, then there tends to be a lot of insecurity. And being in the martial 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 pan and into the fire, with one kind of bullying being replaced by another. So his martial arts career was put on hold until he enrolled in Shotokan karate classes. Through the torment provided by his young peers and an unscrupulous adult, Geoffs anguished mind still showed him little compassion, however, as he dreaded the intimidation of karate sparring. At purple-belt standing, Thompson put the karate classes on hold until some years later when he enrolled in Shaolin Motga gung fu, which he persevered with until earning his black belt. Geoff then returned to Shotokan, but couldnt understand why the fear of real-life fighting remained. "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 remained frightened of fear and confrontation. And when a situation developed in my life, I didnt feel as though I had control of it - not just the potential of a 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, and systematically confronted them one by one. "The level I reached in martial arts didnt build up the confidence I thought it would. So I decided to go on the door and confront my fears once and for all. Ultimately I was frightened of physical confrontation, so I became a doorman to confront that fear and get some desensitization and familiarization 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 night he worked he thought becoming a doorman maybe wasnt the right career move, but he remembers his colleagues patting him on the back and telling him hed done well the reassurance was reassuring. He decided to give it another go and eventually a day turned into a decade.
Mirrored Door
"I did my apprenticeship at a place called Busters Nightclub, which was a very rough place, and thats where I learnt the trade. I did four years there and then I went on to work in lots of different venues. And I learnt loads and loads of stuff about myself and realized that my fear wasnt really about confrontation it was a fear of fear. I didnt like the feeling of adrenaline or anxiety. But I did become very familiar with the feeling, and although 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 you learn to manage it in extreme situations. "And it has an overflow effect in your life. After working the door, and facing people who are trying to kill you, everyday situations dont bother you 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 your ultimate fears."
Looking Death in the Eye

Geoff says that the samurai had a similar philosophy where they treated each day as though it were the last, then they were liberated from the anxiety 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 arts including judo, and returned to aikido. All the time he was eliminating the fears of the pyramid hed previously drawn. "There were times when it was very hard, mostly because I didnt understand 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 water and finding out where the leaks are. "I thought there were a lot of weaknesses in the stand-up systems, which were mainly long-range kicking systems, that were weak on close-range punching and weak on grappling and ground fighting. And they were weak 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 10year experience that fear is natural, that it can be controlled, and that it is only when you let fear overwhelm you that it becomes debilitating. The courage it must have taken Geoff Thompson to confront his deepest fears may seem remarkable, but even more staggering is that Geoff, whilst standing just under 6-feet tall, weighed only 111/2 stone. "I was 2 stone lighter than I am now. I was tall and thin. That s why everybody wanted to fight me," laughs Thompson.
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Fish-hooking: anything goes on the street

Tailor-Made
Through the door days, Geoff didnt adhere to any one style, but adopted to his arsenal anything that he found practical and worked for him. "I went into so many different systems, exploring, that it did become my own style. I moulded it for myself. But now I dont really practise any physical martial arts as such. Im practising yoga and meditation and a bit of Qi Gong and weights. I do the weights to keep my body balanced and keep the stress hormones out. The weights also keep my skeletal muscles in place and keep everything solid. But I dont do them for the physique or strength. Everything I do now is for balance. "I keep to light eating and avoid the trap of over-excitement or over-stress. I kind of follow a Daoist premise, which is about flowing with life and
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riding the waves of life, rather than trying to oppose any of the natural forces. Its about eating light and thinking positively. And trying to aim for goals but not grasp them. Its that paradox of intent and surrender its intending 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 the arts being taught in the world are not street effective. He says its not so much the different codes of the martial arts that are inadequate, but that the practitioners are not being honest with themselves. "As far as physical self-defence is concerned, the only thing I found to be consistently effective in thousands of altercations, and watching thousands of altercations involving other people, was the pre-emptive attack. Im talking about when a physical situation couldnt be avoided, or escape or verbal dissuasion couldnt be used. "I personally think we should do anything we can to avoid a physical confrontation. If we cant and we have to be physical, the only thing I see that works consistently in todays arena is the pre-emptive attack. But I dont see many people teaching that. Most people are still teaching blockcounter, or letting the opponent attack first, or trap-counter. And its all too late. If its going to be physical, its about learning to hit hard and learning to hit first. This is the only thing that works consistently." Whilst Geoff has admired the different systems of martial arts he has observed around the world, he says what they are practising probably wouldnt work unless the art was being taught in a pre-emptive manner.
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6th Dan black belt in Japanese karate, 1st Dan judo, Ultimate Dan in dangerous man Too Much Artillery
Selecting the right skills for yourself and not getting too obsessed with the size of your bag of tricks is something Thompson advises particularly in an adrenaline-rushed street situation. "Initially, when we enter martial arts we think we need everything. We start collecting thousands of techniques. And ultimately we whittle that
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down, and we get one or two that are very potent. But those one or two techniques may be different for everybody. What suits me may not suit you, so we sift through the sand to find the nuggets of gold. Again, it s not easy to find. We have to go through the whole process to reach that."
Law of Retribution
"The other side of it is, if you go into an art where youre learning to kill something like judo where you learn strangulation - your confidence normally goes to a level where you dont want to be in fights. And youre so confident that you dont see people as worthy opponents, so you become invisible to threats. That s the art of invisibility. Once youve developed the ability to kill people, you become ashamed of it, and you think, Well, I dont want to kill people, I dont want to hurt people, I dont want to become known as someone who is good at hurting people. So you let go of that need to be able to hurt others. "The people who need to be able to do it are the ones who are not secure in what theyve got. And I think theyre the ones who need to go back into the forge and once you go through the forge, and temper the blade, you come out the other side and you dont want to hurt anybody. You just want to be gentle and give to other people. Ultimately you realize this is a reciprocal universe and what we give out is what comes back." Geoff compares this principle to the boomerang effect , and says it was something he had to learn for himself first-hand. He did this by pushing himself beyond his own limits, and believes that if practitioners do the martial arts correctly, they can completely re-humanize other people and look at them as fellow human beings, rather than undesirables or the enemy.
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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 us on 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, but there are not very many evil people."
Communication Skills
Part of Geoffs philosophy is that once you begin to let go of the need to be physical and start developing your communication skills, you then realize that most things arent personal. He suggests that if you can communicate with people, you can kill off all your enemies by making friends 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 and potent, that we can walk away from trouble. Don is someone I really admire in the martial arts. The martial artists I respect most are the ones who have developed their physical ability, and have also developed a polarity to balance it theyre very gentle but very firm. Theyre not shouting about how good they are or challenging people. Theyve found some 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 was in junior school. And then when I was twelve, the art teacher wanted to do a film and needed a script, so I wrote a script without even thinking about it. So writing has been in me for a long time, but I never really knew what to write about. Then once I went on the doors I started realizing that a lot of the experiences I was having were interesting. I would tell people stories 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 good reviews. Then one of the guys I worked with suggested I write a book. At the time I d forgotten my love of writing, probably because I was always told that people like us (working class people) dont write books. But I got some note pads, and I sat in the toilet at work, and wrote my first book. I wrote 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 it and 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 publishing deal - 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? Why cant I write a film? Why cant I write a play? The confidence I got from writing that first book is what started me." Geoff has now had his first short film made, which received very favorable reviews, and stars Ray Winston (Nil By Mouth and Sexy Beast). A contract for Geoff to write a feature film followed and he has just completed the script. Sometimes I feel like I havent done anything, and then I look at my shelves and see thirty books, and think to myself, theres a 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 I was working one was stabbed to death, one was clubbed to death and one 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 times when 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. And I 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 of people out and having hurt lots of people, its not something I wish to repeat. If people train really hard in the martial arts and go into the arts that are not questioned, like judo, boxing, wrestling, thai the really good physical arts they will develop an artillery that will be so good they will be able to walk away from situations. "Thats why the best people are the most gentle people. If you look at the Gracies or the Machados, when you actually meet them Im not talking about their reputations when you meet them they are the most gentle people you could encounter. And people like John Will in Australia, who is a Machado black belt, he is a very gentle and giving man. People like that I really admire."
A Last Word from Geoff Thompson

"You cant play with the martial arts. You either have to do them or you dont. But to half do them, you dont really get the answers. If you do them recreationally, you only get the recreational results. If you really want 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 is liberation, 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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With British Judo Champion Wayne Lukin As stated in Part One of this article, Geoff Thompson is widely acknowledged as being the worlds #1 authority on doormanship. With over thirty books, videos, documentaries, a feature film and a decade of real-life experience as a bouncer in some of Britains roughest nightclubs, few can dispute the accolades.
Watching Geoff Watch His Back

While working as a doorman for all those years, Geoff s survival skills
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were continually being road tested. He was working six nights a week, and never experienced a night when he didnt physically have to restrain somebody or make his own techniques work. And this was against people who were doing everything in their power, not only to stop Thompsons techniques from working, but also to make their own work. Geoff learned very quickly what was and what wasnt effective. In Part Two of this article, we will be focusing in more depth on Thompsons bestselling autobiography Watch My Back, which incidentally led to the authors being invited to join the Royal Court Theatre writers group.
Leave Your Saddle at Home, Jock

In Watch My Back, Geoff talks about traditional martial arts and how they havent been adapted to todays world, as though they are too sacred to be touched, even though todays adversary is no longer a samurai on horseback. "Traditional martial arts just hasnt evolved. I know people think its sacrilegious, but you get the most sensible people I was just talking to someone about this yesterdayyou get the most sensible people, and theyve 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 cant change 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 they will, but its not going to stop that mode of transport from becoming antiquated. 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, they wouldnt be doing now what they were doing then. Theyd think this was dumb. Most of the stuff that people are learning in traditional arts was designed for battlefields, for fighting people on horseback armed with spears and swords. Todays enemy is completely different, and is from a completely different environment."
World War Blues

Geoff says the defence systems that work in war generally work in reality fighting: the pre-emptive and deceptive strike, and the killer blow. "Things that they used in the First and Second World Wars, such as the single and double foot stomps to the head: gratuitous, ugly and very workable. Punching people so hard that they go back in time, and when they wake up their clothes are out of fashion. Its all very basic, very ugly, but also very workable. Biting, butting, blinding and anything that will win the fight and save your life." Thompson observes that this approach is not what he has seen in traditional arts. If it s art for arts sake, then he thinks its okay, but if youre training for violent, street survival, then whats being taught needs adapting 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 of studying martial arts, and I realized straight away that what I had was not working: it wasnt only not working, it was laughable. And I discovered that in the real world where violence is the norm, most martial artists were ridiculed, 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 their training was ineffective and had to change. This was something he found to be extremely difficult because hed been rared on traditional styles. But rather than hiding his head in the sand, he made the necessary adjustments. "It was really just taking what we had and adapting it for a real situation.
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That s what I did. And as a person whos been in hundreds of fights and experienced thousands of affrays involving everybody from the layman to the world-classed martial artist, Ive seen what works and what doesnt work. And I have a duty to say to people, This is how it is. You can kid yourself all you want, but when youre outside the chip shop, and your wife 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 he delivered in training was directed at an assailant in a real-life street confrontation. When he trained with a partner in the gym, every blow was intended to hit the mark with full force. This approach caused Geoffs sparring partners to retaliate with the same ferocity and venom. From these battles he developed the now-famous, no-holds-barred Animal Day sessions. "No quarter was asked and none was given. These sessions were later featured on many mainstream TV shows and became legendary within the martial arts world, with requests to visit coming from every corner of the globe."
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 does stipulate that if practitioners are studying for defence then they need to be honest 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 those conditions, 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 people who also use long-range systems, and expect it to work when somebody is fully intent on taking hold of you, biting your nose off and taking away your 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 Geoff Thompsons teachings probably wouldnt be surprised to see George Bush at one of Geoff s seminars. Thompson is amazed that most martial artists have no knowledge of attack rituals. He states that prior to a fight people will question their own abilities. They will feel like running away. And even though their opponent may not show it, he will be feeling exactly the
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same, because 90% of the battle is in the pre-fight. "From that observation, the only thing Ive found that works consistently is the pre-emptive attack: hit first. The block and counter doesnt work. The trap and counter doesnt work. Letting people grab you and then throwing them doesnt work: its all too late. It needs to be pre-emptive, you need to be first."
In a Bombshell
"And if youre really good at what youre doing, and really confident, youll avoid nearly all the situations. And youll have the intelligence to talk them down. You just wont be there. Youll have the intelligence and the courage to let people off because youll be so potent at what you do. But if it does become physical, youll hit them first and youll hit them hard. Thats it. I mean there are thousands of books out there, but I can give it to you in one line: Learn to hit f**king hard!"
Foot & Mouth Disease

Thompson does not suggest high kicks to the head, although he admits there are some people who have made them work. He believes they are not practical for non-sporting conflict, and are not consistently effective. "Its just common sense really. And Im not saying they dont work, but theres a place for them. And, believe me, if youre facing somebody whos a real threat, you wont want to take your feet off the ground. People underestimate how frightening a life-threatening confrontation will be. When youre facing violent people outside, theres not a part of you that wants to try a high kick because its just too risky. Youre far better off using something economical like a punch, that might travel 8 or 12
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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 the street if they cant punch. Although Geoff acknowledges that he loves grappling, and he has great admiration for grapplers, he believes that a street fight is the last place to be for the grappler, because fights are very rarely 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 quick and something pre-emptive. And its always the hands that are closest to the 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 with the second assailant. "Kicking for the average player just doesnt have the potency to be practical: it s too slow, too deliberate and too risky. The danger of grappling is that it is a protracted art: you cant finish someone clinically in 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 a bricklayer or any manual worker, and even though youll finish him and probably tear him a new arse, the technique is protracted. So while youre doing that, his mate is kicking your head like a football or his girlfriend is stabbing you." Thompson says when one grapples, he faces the danger of what he calls the four Bs: blinding, butting, biting and buddies. He states that the grappler can have the upper hand on the ground, only to be attacked by the adversarys 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 confrontation if 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 I would never choose just one discipline. "You really need three systems: firstly a good punching system, preferably boxing because its based on the knockout. Secondly, a good grappling system, preferably judo/jiu jitsu or catch wrestling, because they have submissions. Thirdly, Thai-boxing because its ferocious and is a practical art. 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 because it combines all three ranges, but you still have the problem of adapting to the street and not going to the ground. "If youre choosing a club, look for the broken noses and the cauliflower ears."
A Horse Called Fear

One of Thompsons favourite subjects is harnessing fear. He suggests that when novice defenders first experience a rush of adrenaline they often mistake 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 become used to fear is to get exposed to fear by participating in confrontational arts 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 knocked out. 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 feel fear: you should feel fear." Geoff says he would sometimes lower his voice and purposely let a little fear filter through in his speech during a confrontation, so as to encourage his 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 false sense of confidence, and then king hit him. Again Thompson stresses the importance of deception.
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With former European Heavyweight Boxing Champion Scott Welsh
Take it on the Chin, Boy

Geoff compares the street fighter to a sniper. He says the novice often makes the mistake of looking at the opponents face when aiming for the jaw. But a sniper doesnt set his sights three inches above the target, he focuses on what he intends hitting. "You only have to miss by half an inch and youve missed the knockout. So if you want to get the knockout, you need to look at the line of the jaw, you need to look at where youre hitting and place the punch there. Its difficult to get accuracy when you have adrenaline running through your body. But if you train for accuracy, and train for accuracy while youve got adrenaline flowing, then you will be accurate. And one punch will normally end the fight if not by knockout, then by hitting them so hard it will discourage them from batting on."
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Thompson says that although some instructors preach the theory that one shouldnt show their hand by looking where they are going to hit, in an adrenaline-filled situation, the fighters get tunnel vision, and all things on the peripheral disappear. "People dont notice little things such as whether youre looking at the eyes or the jaw. Its only if youre looking at something obvious, like if you drop your eyes to look at their bollocks, that theyll get an idea that youre targeting the groin for a kick. Very few people look in the eyes anyway. They tend to look anywhere but the eyes, so if you look at the jaw they wont notice it." You're feeling very sleepy ....soon you'll be out to it.
Can We Still Be Friends?

Although Geoff found that most people he dealt with, during his decade on the door, could be talked down or allowed to walk away whilst saving face, he did find there was a minority of people who only respected him when he got physical. "Its really like a lower form of communication. So when you punch them in the eye theyre like, I understand what youre saying now. Not only do they respect you afterwards, theyll often like you for it. But they cant help themselves, because they have to take advantage of a perceived weakness. Its not a
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matter of being physical, its a matter of being firm. 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 have my babies. You do it more to save them from themselves, because if you allow them too much leeway, youll end up having to be physical with them and then they will have a problem!" For more information on Geoff Thompson go to www.geoffthompson.com
Geoff Thompson
Part 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 you could win the lottery and make all your dreams come true? Ever wish upon a star? Geoff Thompson is like that: He spends most of his life dreaming. What separates Geoff from most of us is that he makes his dreams come true. And he doesnt leave anything to chance. He works and works 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 on the street and decided to stop being bullied, he took up bouncing for ten years at some of Britains roughest nightclubs. He wanted to become an author and has now published over thirty books and thirty videos. "If I only set realistic goals, I would not have achieved anything in my life. I pride myself on the fact that I set goals that others would consider completely unrealistic. In fact, if I had listened to many of the people around 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, even pretentious to them. And yet, it did not stop them from happening. It did not 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". He says 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 floorsweeper. Thompson also wrote the hugely successful novel "Red Mist", and his latest film, "Brown Paper Bag", starring Ronnie Fox and Jo McInnis, won a 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 the impossible happen through his hard work and unrelenting persistence. "Take the short film "Bouncer" that we recently made. Our budget for the whole 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, Sean Parks, Ronnie Fox, Paddy Consedine four of our biggest stars and a supporting cast of 200 extras and crew. Ray Winstone alone usually charges 75 times more than our whole budget. He did it free because he liked 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, and then send it in to the BAFTAs. At last count, "Bouncer" has been in 30 international festivals, winning awards and award nominations around the globe. "More than one person scoffed when we said that we were aiming to get Ray Winstone as the lead, and when we told them that we wanted to enter the BAFTA competition, many of them said, Impossible. And yet we did it. If I thought realistically, Id still be sweeping floors in the factory." Geoff has now completed the first draft of a motivational book tentatively titled "Shape Shifter" which he says is about the process of shifting from where we are, to where we want to be. And he has finished the third draft of a film with working title "The Death of Christine James", which is about 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 their lives. Its a love story." Thompsons self-defence book, "Dead or Alive", is another of his publications that has received international acclaim. "Its about self-protection and covers the whole gamut, everything from avoidance, awareness and escape, verbal dissuasion, loop-holing and
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posturing, physical attack, understanding fear, and the attackers ritual. Ive been working with best-selling criminologist, Christopher Berry-Dee, and he has access to all these murders and muggers. We interviewed rapists and serial killers to find out how these people operate. I then devised an attack ritual, which is the kind of ritual attackers go through before they assault someone. "This then allows you to become more aware, because its more about awareness than physical confrontation. And if it does get physical, then we get right to the nitty-gritty: the pre-emptive strike, the ability to hit f**kin hard from close range, the ability and the courage to hit first, and the knowledge that being first to strike is the only thing that works in this situation. And then it goes into the support system, like kicking and grappling. Finally, it goes into the aftermath: the emotional aftermath and understanding the legal ramifications." At forty-four, Thompson still does a lot of yoga and running, but for the man regarded as the worlds #1 authority on doormanship, he says most of his martial arts training now involves what he calls internal scrimmaging, where he wrestles with his thoughts. "Most of my martial arts strength has come from the outside to the inside. I work a lot on self-control and self-strength. The physical training only takes you so far. It takes you to a pinnacle, and when you get to where youre about as good as you can get physically, it spills over and starts to come in cerebral, and starts to come in emotional and spiritual. You begin exploring your mind to see what you can do with it." Through his motivational books and videos, Geoff also helps others to overcome their fears ("Fear The Friend of Exceptional People"),
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negativity ("The Elephant and the Twig"), and stress ("A Book for the Seriously Stressed"). He also shows people how to reach for the stars and grab 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 a little more succinctly, and certainly thinking what you want with a little more accuracy. I am amazed by the number of people out there who want success, but see, think and talk failure. And they are not even aware of the fact that they are doing it. They actually predict their own failure when they say something like, Well I put in for that job, but I know I wont get it. "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 martial arts who actually get out there and train under other instructors? How many martial artists do you know who never step outside their local class to enable their talent to grow? "Dare yourself to do the things that you really want to do. Thats the real key. 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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Mixed Martial Arts Geoff Thompson

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Mixed Martial Arts Geoff Thompson

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mixed martial arts-Geoff Thompson

Ladies and Gentlemen: