Aggression touches all of our lives. Whether it is a customer or angry coworker, an upset family member or a stranger we bump into on the street, all of us, at times, must deal with aggressive people. Ellis Amdur has become well-known for his series of profession-specific books on dealing with aggressive and emotionally disturbed individuals. These books, however, are for specialists: police, hospitals, fire/EMS, social services, to name a few. Words of Power is different. It is written for ordinary people who may, on occasion, have to deal with an angry, even an enraged person.This book was written with the help of a unique cadre of critical readers. Rather than specialists, they are people from ordinary walks of life. They share several things in common: their professions do not require them to interact on a regular basis with aggressive people; their family lives are healthy; they are not experts at self-defense or martial arts; and they lead happy lives, largely untouched by violence. Their job was to read through the original manuscript and highlight all the things that they felt they did NOT need to know. What remains is the information that ordinary people need: no more, no less. The book is simple without being simplistic. It is a comprehensive guidebook on how to de-escalate angry people and how to use verbal control tactics to manage the behaviors of enraged people. Words of Power also teaches how to develop your intuition, so that you become aware and can react before something has truly become dangerous. Most importantly, this book teaches how to calm and center yourself so that you have access to your best, most powerful qualities. You have the best chance of achieving peace when you embody peace.
Author
Ellis Amdur balances two careers, that as a crisis intervention specialist, through his company, Edgework and as a 50+ year practitioner of traditional Japanese martial arts. His writing meets right in the middle. Among his non-fiction works are thirteen profession-specific books on verbal de-escalation of aggression, two books for hostage negotiators, two on the art of tactical communication with hostile individuals, one on the art of psychotherapy, and has edited a book by Evelyn & Shelley Amdur on the former's career as a hospice social worker. He has written and published three books on martial arts, the iconoclastic Dueling with Osensei: Old School, a work on classical martial traditions and Hidden in Plain Sight, on esoteric knowledge within various martial traditions. In fiction, he is a co-author of the graphic novel, Cimmaronin, and the author of two novels, The Girl with the Face of the Moon, and Lost Boy. His third novel, Little Bird & the Tiger, set in Meiji Japan, is due for release in 2023. His books are considered unique in that he uses his own experiences, often hair-raising or outrageous, as illustrations of the principles about which he writes, but it is also backed by solid research, and boots-on-the-ground experience.
