The Gift of Violence

Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World

By: Matt Thornton, Peter Boghossian

Narrated by: Matt Thornton, Salome Thornton, Peter Boghossian

In today's modern world, we are largely isolated from the kind of savagery our ancestors faced on a daily basis. Although violence was as natural to our evolutionary development as sex and food, it has become foreign to most of us. At once demonized and glamorized, but almost always deeply misunderstood.

Our hard-earned and hard-wired instincts—our evolved and trained ability to survive and overcome violent encounters—have been compromised. Yet, as even a cursory look at news headlines or a police blotter will reveal the threat of violent crime is ever-present, and those we've entrusted to protect us cannot always be relied upon.

The Gift of Violence tells the story of this vulnerability, providing the average person with all the knowledge they need to reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of violence and to increase their chances of surviving a violent encounter. Based both on the author's decades of experience teaching everyday people how to defend themselves and on a rational approach to the scientific data, The Gift of Violence offers clear, easy-to-remember lessons for people of all ages and abilities. It is designed to empower those who've been affected by violence or are concerned that they or their loved ones could be—in short, it was written to help good people become more dangerous to bad people.

Every listener will be armed with the necessary knowledge to harness the power of violence for themselves, and in the process, not just smarter and stronger, but also safer.

©2023 Matt Thornton (P)2023 Pitchstone Publishing

Great information

I very much appreciated the author’s candor in describing all the BS in the martial arts world. He did so respectfully while debunking the myths of magic techniques. Excellent book.

Great book

This is a great book. I highly recommend not only listening, but studying this book. It is full of useable, logical knowledge.

A very thorough common sense approach to situational awareness and violence.

I can’t even begin to start on how valuable this book is. I have five daughters and three sons and I’m going to somehow make my daughters and sons Listen to this book. Especially women…not to sound sexist but If I do -get over it.
You don’t need a black belt in jujutsu(I have a purple belt). You don’t need to be a hand to hand instructor (I studied Thai boxing for seven years) this book gave me so much NEW information and re-reminded me of the edge I lost.

Aliveness

When I started training Jiu-Jitsu years ago my buddy and I shared Functional JKD by Matt Thornton!! I absolutely loved the top game dvd and it is the foundation of my game. I absolutely loved this book and hearing more of Matt’s insights and thoughts on Aliveness!!

Transformative

I didn’t know what to expect when I began this book, but found it to be deeply engaging and fascinating along with being well researched and informed.

After completing it, I have a deeper understanding about my personal psychology and how to continue progressing on my life’s path.