by Marc "Animal" MacYoung; Paladin Press, 1992, 328 pgs 

This is one of the greatest books ever put into circulation. Violence, Blunders, and Fractured Jaws (subtitled: Advanced Awareness Techniques and Street Etiquette) is the third (and final) book on our "Required Reading" list only because the books should be read in that order. In order to fully comprehend and appreciate the wisdom that Animal imparts in this Great Work, it is important to have first "taken the prerequisites" of Intermediate Self-Defense and Awareness 201 (by having read both Cheap Shots and The Gift of Fear).

This thick book is jam-packed with useful information. There are no photographs, illustrations, charts, or filler material of any kind. And Animal delves into the most minute details of all sorts of situations, from the mundane to the esoteric. This volume is encyclopedic in its scope.

Animal covers nearly everything you would ever need to know about how one should handle oneself in a variety of scenarios with the potential for violence. Each chapter is divided into sections (which are often broken down into subsections), which focus on different aspects of the topic. A handful of the subjects he addresses include: "Operating Systems," criminology, victimology, misperceptions, cultural differences, blending into one’s environment, defusing aggression, recognition of dangerous individuals, avoidance of dangerous areas, precursors of violence, the importance of politeness, and awareness building techniques.

A few excerpts from this illuminating tome follow:

"A great many situations turn ugly because the person approaching the troublemaker A) has waited too long and, consequently, gotten too angry to be rational when he talks to him, B) is so caught up in being righteous that he is a total asshole when he comes at the other person, C) has forgotten that "your enemy is not a bad guy in his own eyes" and does not leave avenues open for negotiation or deescalation." (p. 99)

"You have to be real careful when you see a group of guys throwing hard looks around. Because they feel safe in a group, they’re more likely to start shit. This belief in their safety leads to some stupid-ass decisions on their parts. It’s best not to tangle with them, and this is usually done by avoiding eye contact." (p. 264)

"Women are not helpless. Not all of them are sane either. There is an incredibly important thing to remember. You have to sleep sometime! I swear I know a lot of guys who have been mauled by women. More than a few of them deserved it, too." (p. 281)

"Practice keeping your shit wired tight when you are snookered. I know that it sounds like it takes all the fun out of partying, and I must admit that it diminishes spontaneity. It also seriously reduces your chance of a busted nose. The guy you don’t want to tangle with is not the guy with the leather jacket and the Billy Idol sneer; rather it is the guy whose movements are measured and controlled, even when he is drunk or stoned. If he has that much self-control, you definitely don’t want to play with him for no reason. If you take this self-control over drunkenness and apply it to your mouth, you greatly improve the chances of having all your teeth there when you sober up." (p. 138)

"There’s a certain feeling, a certain tenseness, about these people. They’re turned in and stewing. They won’t willingly let go of anger, but it’s leaking out like radiation. Actually, radar might be a better analogy. Usually they aren’t in the center of the situation; they are off in a corner sucking down a good deal of whatever substance is around. Unlike someone who’s nonviolent and trying to kill the pain with intoxicants, troublemakers are watching what is going on around them . . . when these people do a radar sweep, they are looking for a victim." (p. 102)

"The nastier the environment, the nastier fighters the people are. This does not mean that the people themselves are necessarily hostile. I have been shown some of the best hospitality and kindness in my life from these people — once I had been accepted into their operating systems. People from severe environments have to be tough, not in the sense of being badasses, but down-to-the-core rock hard. Otherwise, they’d just shrivel up and die." (p. 51)

"There are people that are so damaged that they are beyond all fear and are damn near unpredictable . . . Most of these people are killing themselves with drugs, but that takes too long . . . They are no longer human beings. I don’t know any other way to describe them. There is something about them that causes an instinctive reaction of "Wrong!" in normal people — not wrong in the sense of moral right and wrong, but wrong against nature and evolution . . ." (pp. 106-107)

"A large number of serious, hard-core folks are not rude. It is really kind of interesting; in many ways, I’m more threatening when I’m polite. This has to do with real cool versus flash cool. If I am so calm about my abilities that I can be polite to some guy who’s being an asshole, imagine what will happen when I get flamed. Most people do catch onto this message. There are the exceptions, but generally speaking this is true." (p. 166)

"Depending upon the type, coloring, subject, style, detail, and placements, you can tell all sorts of things about people by their tattoos: if they’ve ever been in prison and, if so, what prison; group, or gang alliance; life-style; sexual preference; how long they’ve been in that system; racial likes and dislikes; if they believe in magic; dead friends; product fealty; musical likes; power animals and totems; if he/she is a warrior, artist, outlaw, musician, etc.; what their self-image is; how long they expect to live; if they were in the service and, if so, where they were stationed; and so on." (pp. 200-201)

"When it looks like the shit is going to hit the fan, you don’t want to be jacking your jaw. Keep your mouth shut and locked. Most broken jaws occur when the mouth is open." (p. 238)

This book belongs in every warrior’s library. Buy it, read it, re-read it, and apply the concepts therein.