I remember this book coming out right at 5 years ago (Feb, 2018). I’ve been meaning to get and read it, and I finally did.
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One-Line Review
A good basis for beginners to build upon, and the more experienced to identify holes in their skillsets.
In-Depth Review
Specs & Features
Violence of Mind weighs 12.5 ounces, consists of 12 chapters, grouped into 3 sections, and spread across 222 pages. It’s not a large book, but it is dense with info. The topics of the book span pretty much all aspects of modern self-defense.
That does not mean both guns and hand-to-hand, no. ‘All aspects’ means all aspects. Varg covers topics ranging from firearms to hand-to-hand, to legal considerations, to mindset, to emotional conditioning, and even a bit about why certain weapons will land you in jail (even if they are used legally). To correctly describe “Violence of Mind”, one must call out just how much ground is covered in this work. Varg himself says that many of these topics really deserve entire books written about just that one topic, and encourages the reader to delve deeper on their own.
This book is great as a primer to people just getting into self-defense, whether it be firearms-centric or not. “Violence of Mind” is not a book about using a gun to defend yourself. VoM is a book about interpersonal violence, and what a person needs to know and consider in order to survive the physical fight, the legal fight, and the emotional fight.
Why Did I Buy This Book?
I bought this book because I’d listened to hours of Varg Freeborn describe his experiences in inter-personal violence, and I was really interested in learning his lessons. As Otto von Bismark famously said, “Only a fool learns from his own mistakes,” and some mistakes are too costly to learn on my own.
Who Wrote Violence of Mind?
Varg Freeborn is an interesting source of this type of knowledge, because he comes from the other side of it. He is not a retired cop, or former teir 1 operator, or any of that. Varg is a convicted felon. Varg was convicted of a violent crime and served his time. The facts actually paint a much different story (court documents show that he was defending himself) and he has had his rights as a citizen fully restored. The lessons he teaches are invaluable. From growing up in a house full of drug addicts and criminals, to actually serving hard time with other violent felons, Varg gives the viewer a peek into a world that I and others like me are unlikely to ever see otherwise. How can we best protect ourselves if we do not understand our enemy?
What Does Violence of Mind Cover?
VoM covers self defense, in all regards. From the pre-fight preparations to the fight itself, to the post-fight considerations, Violence of Mind covers a lot of areas in a densely-written 222 pages. VoM Talks about having a mission, how to define your own mission, what is not your mission, and what can happen if you don’t prepare accordingly. Varg writes about training, both your body in weapons handling. Varg also talks about how to avoid bad training, or at least notice it when you see it. Varg also has stuff about testing & validation, but these are not the best parts of the book
The most useful part of Violence of Mind, for me, is the sections of mindset. Mindset is the single most important aspect of self defense a person can have, and VoM is oriented accordingly. In my estimation, that aspect alone was worth the purchase and time spent reading.
What Does Violence of Mind Not Cover?
Violence of Mind covers pretty much everything related to self-defense, but that means that it doesn’t have the ability to address any one subject to the level it should be studied. This book is a great primer for those newly initiated into the preparation for violence. VoM is also good to make sure those of us who have been in it for a while don’t have any glaring holes in our personal training. But, as I mentioned before, VoM is not enough to learn all these things on it’s own. VoM should be used as a way to orient oneself and find the direction we should pursue next to become more fully fleshed-out, capable humans.
Conclusion
Violence of Mind is a worthy addition to the library of anyone serious about defending themselves or their loved ones. It is written from the point of view of someone who is uncommonly familiar with what would be the worst day of most of our lives. That familiarity allows Varg to communicate to the reader a kind of experience that is uncommon on this side of the law. There are retired cops, soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, whatever, everywhere in the firearms space. There are hundreds of retried special ops dudes who are super good at their jobs and a lot of them are good teachers too. Those dudes can teach you a lot about a lot, but they can’t teach you everything. If you want to maximize your capability & competency, you cannot just keep learning the same stuff from the same dudes over & over again. You need to seek out fresh and uncommon view points.
The fact that this uncommon viewpoint into criminal psychology also comes wrapped up in a great primer for self-defense that is useful for all levels of skill is an amazing combination. I’m going to repeat myself: Violence of Mind is a worthy addition to the library of anyone serious about defending themselves or their loved ones. Get it.
Stay safe, keep learning, and we’ll see you next Friday.
-S_S
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Pro-Gun Millennial 