Principles of Personal Defense Book

Timeless, enduring principles of proper self-defensive mindset from the late, great Col. Jeff Cooper (USMC, Ret.), father of modern combat handgunnery.


RANDOM STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS:

Principle 1: "ALERTNESS"
--p. 14: "Make it a game. Keep a chart. Every time anyone is able to approach you from behind without your knowledge, mark down an X. Every time you see anyone you know before he sees you, mark down an O. Keep the Os ahead of the Xs. A month with no Xs establishes the formation of correct habits." Wow, I'll have to keep this in mind!

Principle 2: "DECISIVENESS "
--p. 18: "a parturient effort of will"

Principle 3: "AGGRESSIVENESS "
--pp. 22-23: Indignation and anger

Principle 4: "SPEED"
--p. 24: "Speed is the absolute essence of any form of combat, from a fencing match to the Six-Day War."
--p. 25: "Be fast, not fair."

Principle 5: "COOLNESS"
--p. 26: "Anger, as long as it is controlled anger, is no obstacle to efficiency."
--p. 28: "'Buck fever' is a classic affliction, and a man who has conquered it can be guaranteed to shoot carefully under pressure."

Principle 6: "RUTHLESSNESS"
--p. 30: "Anyone who willfully and maliciously attacks another without sufficient cause deserves no consideration."
--p. 32: "The first man who resisted Starkweather, after eleven murders, overcame him easily and without injury." WIKIPEDIA LOOKUP

Principle 7: "SURPRISE"
--p. 33: "This is put last on purpose, for surprise is the first principle of *offensive* combat....But that does not mean that the defender cannot achieve *tactical* surprise." (Emphasis original)