Grappling (wrestling) is probably the oldest genre of combat known to man. Throughout the world, wrestling and grappling have been a part of every culture, probably due to the fact that pulling, holding, lifting and carrying are far more natural to us as living and working human beings than punching or striking. Geoff Thompson's extensively illustrated manual takes you step by step through all the moves and techniques needed to become competent in the grappling arts. These techniques can be used to complement other forms of martial arts, or used alone in close range self defence. AUTHOR: Geoff Thompson made violence his profession working as a doorman at some of Britain's roughest clubs. As the holder of the rank of 6th Dan black belt in Japanese karate, 1st Dan in Judo and equally well qualified in other martial arts he is a TOUGH man. As well as many books he has written a film script, Watch My back, based on his life and a stage play, One Sock, that inspired The Royal Court Theatre in London's West End to invite him into their exclusive writers' group. In 1997 Geoff was flown out to the United States by Chuck Norris to teach at his international seminar. As an ambassador for the martial arts, Geoff has appeared on national and international TV and Radio - for a couple of years as the BBC Good Morning self defence expert - talking about and, giving advice on self protection and related subjects. His work is both innovative and thought provoking. He is currently Sub Editor of Martial Arts Illustrated and contributory editor of Men's Fitness magazine.He has published several articles for mainstream glossy magazines such as Loaded, Maxim, FHM, Arena, Esquire and has published several articles with GQ Magazine (Britain-Paris). He has also appeared many times on mainstream TV including ITV's Martial Arts: The Real Story televised in two - one hour programmes. As well as his books and videos He was Martial Arts choreographer for the production 'Hard Fruit' at the Royal Court, London and winner of the EMDA Award for the screenplay of the film 'Watch My Back'. In 2004 Geoff's short film Brown Paper Bag won a BAFTA.