Product Description

Watch My Back is the story of one man's search for courage. Depressed, bullied, intimidated by life and indoctrinated to believe that this was his lot, Geoff Thompson, on the verge of a breakdown, decided to fight back. In a bid to confront his fears, he took a job as a bouncer in one of Britain's roughest nightclubs. His life was never to be the same again. Over the next ten years, and after being involved in hundreds of brutal and bloody fights that left two of his friends murdered and many more in prison, the bullied 11 stone youth turned himself into a fearsome fighting machine with an unparalleled reputation as a knockout specialist. Seduced by beautiful women, attacked by maniacs with knives, guns (and a pair of garden shears), chased and locked up by the police and sought after by top establishments to 'clean up' their clubs, Geoff reached the top of his trade and became addicted to violence. Then it all changed. After being stabbed, glassed and nearly killed in a gang attack, and almost killing one of his attackers in a savage car park match-fight, he was forced to reassess his relationship with violence. After writing down his experiences in an effort to exorcise his demons, Geoff discovered a flair for writing. Within a few short years his work found a cult following all over the world. This is the story of an ordinary man who faced his fears and took himself from bedsit to bestseller but very nearly got killed on the way. Geoff Thompson made violence his profession working as a dooman 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. Watch My Back is his account of nine years as a doorman and bouncer, of living with the ever present fear of going too far and killing someone in any of the 300 violent and bloody confrontations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148453 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Review
"Lennie McLean had the brawn, Dave Courtney had the charm, but Geoff Thompson is in a class of his own... FHM; A brilliant insight! Reggie Kray; This man is very, very hard. Buy his book if you know what's good for you. Maxim; This is as real as it gets. Dave Courtney; The psycheouts, the stabbings, glassings, incidents involving the camaraderie of the door... Thompson's 300 fights - never losing, not once - are recorded in this excellent book. Loaded; A compelling insight into the world of bouncing, its problems and frequent brutalities, but also the complex psychology of those men who stand at the door. Arena"

Reggie Kray
'A brilliant insight!'

Maxim
'This man is very, very hard. Buy his book if you know what's good for you.'

Customer Reviews

A brutal masterpiece including two pubs I was a regular in
An utterly superb and compelling book that, all the beatings aside , is a story about loss of innocence, salvation and then redemption.As a Coventrian myself I could visualise most of the places thompson talks about and the kind of people he was dealing with. I could not put this brilliant book down and read it in record time. I hear that Thompson has made a film script of this book .When I read it I kept thinking to myself What a great movie it would make . Even non violent people will be enthralled by thompsons story , and made glad that they are not inclined to fighting . A total gem and classic

A great insight into man and the lifestyle...
This book will not teach you how to fight. It won't teach you how to be hard. Its quite clearly an autobiography of a man who was both good at fighting and very very hard! But thats it. Its not a text book.
The book itself is a valuable insight into one of the now most respected and experienced teachers in the martial arts circle.
To understand why Geoff Thompson is so good at what he teaches, you have to read this book to know where he got his wealth of experience from.
Always the first to admit violence is ugly and savage, Thompson takes us on a rollercoaster ride of street fighting, door work, night club characters, and a host of degenerate pond life that most of us couldn't be paid enough to deal with.
From his early childhood nightmares, through his teens and into adulthood, his is a story that, with hindsight probably wouldn't have gone any other way.
Thompson writes in a matter of fact, but humourous way, that never makes violence acceptable, but does help take the sting out of some of the more raw descriptions of brutal knock outs and the injuries caused. He makes the Door seem at the same time a fairytale world, and a hell that has to be faced.
Thompsons description of the fights themselves are not overly detailed and give the impression of interactions that start out at 10 feet and end up at 18 inches in the space of a heartbeat.
Unlike some other authors, he never speaks about his victories as knotches on his belt, prefering to be honest and tell the reader that if he hadn't done what he had done, he would be the one lying on the floor with blood gushing out of his chipped teeth! And that is where I find the book differs most from its contemporaries, he justifies himself to the reader. You may not agree with his reasonings, but he is honest in his justifcations.
That is the only bad thing I have to say about the book. The fact that the front cover compares him to two notorious fighters, who, to be honest reveled in the actual violence and serious pain they dished out. I would not put this book in that catagory of people at all. His is just the story of a hard man that chose a job he came to love, and ultimately hated through violent encounter and savage aftermath.
Apart from this tiny blip, it's a fantastic read, and should put most of us off ever wanting to fight for the rest of our lives.

ICE6423
To be honest when i bought the book i had no idea who Geoff Thompson was at all and shortly after reading Watch My Back i've added several of his books to my collection. Being a doorman myself i found a lot of familiarity with some of the stories he describes and the feelings that come along with it. I have read many books on so called "hardmen" who put themselves on "sugar pedestals", as geoff puts it, who never in their entire book talk with as much honesty of fear unless it is of their opponent's! i must have read and re-read Watch My Back about 8 or 9 times so far! once you pick it up you will not want to put it down. it is not often i find a book i can't put down but this has got to be the best i've come across yet. i would advise EVERYBODY wether working as a doorman or a regular clubber to have a read it's brilliant.