Martial Artist: From Wimp to Warrior - Paperback

by Jim Wagner (Author)

GSG9 is not just Germany's national counterterrorist team, but it's considered one of the most elite tactical units in the entire world. Unless you're a high-speed low-drag operator with Delta Force, a trident pinned U.S. Navy SEAL, or a commando on the British SAS, you'll never know anything about them first hand. And, that's exactly where this true story begins, with Jim Wagner, an American with some exceptional skill sets, inside of Grenzschutzgruppe 9, aka GSG9, and on German soil. But, it wasn't always like this. As a boy Jim found himself the target of a schoolyard bully. The experience scared him, and it revealed what he already knew about himself - that he was a wimp. Then one day in Middle School everything changed. His new friend, Alfonso Uceda, gave Jim something he desperately needed - private martial arts lessons, and for free. In no time, not only did Jim learn how to defend himself, but the discipline and newfound self-confidence set a dangerous and adventurous course in life were he'd have to use his martial skills decade after decade. In this book you'll relive how Bruce Lee's protégé, Dan Inosanto, picked up the pieces after the martial arts legend's death by teaching Lee's revolutionary system, Jeet Kune Do, that he swore he'd never teach again. But he did, and Jim just happened to be at the right place at the right time during those "pioneer days" of the martial arts. You'll experience a turbulent, post Vietnam War, United States Army of the 1980s: recruitment, Boot Camp, Advanced Individual Training, dreams of becoming a helicopter pilot dashed, and Jim's very survival in a dope-smoking, drug dealing, anti-warrior culture, combat unit. Have you ever been through a police academy? You'll get your chance in these pages. Then after the badge is pinned on you'll be on ride-alongs with Officer Wagner patrolling the streets together south of Los Angeles, getting shot at, stabbed at, slugged at, spit at, and dealing with the "knuckle draggers" of an unappreciative S.W.A.T. team. These events, and more, is the very foundation of the Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection system that forever changed the way people around the world learn self-defense.