EYES WIDE OPEN:
BODYGUARD STRATEGIES FOR SELF-PROTECTION                        

A reader’s guide to self-defense, personal protection, prevention of identity theft, and martial arts

It's easy to walk through the world in a state of bliss, acting as though nothing bad will happen to you. However, with 11 million violent assaults committed in the U.S. every year, chances are pretty good that something bad WILL happen to you--especially if you don't keep your eyes open. 

Author Kristie Kilgore, an expert in several disciplines of martial arts and weapons, has studied the techniques that bodyguards use to protect their clients, and has given clinics on women’s self-defense and personal protection. She is also formerly a victim of violence. Ms. Kilgore has devised a strategy of personal protection that goes far beyond the basics of self-defense techniques. As Ms. Kilgore states, "Self defense is what you do when your plan to protect yourself has failed."

Using the bodyguard model of guiding the client safely from Safe Point A to Safe Point B without incident, Ms. Kilgore advocates a philosophy of becoming aware of one's surroundings and the threats that may be present. She exposes danger in people and places we'd prefer not to acknowledge: with an abusive husband, at work, with a drug-dealing acquaintance, in a border town, in the parking lot of a dance club, at a rave party, at the supermarket. She teaches us how to recognize threats and avoid them before they become dangerous--and as a last resort, how to use force in self-defense.

Eyes Wide Open also contains extensive information on how protection against identity theft. Ms. Kilgore’s work in this area was one of the ground-breaking works on preventing identity theft. In "Eyes Wide Open", Ms. Kilgore teaches the reader how to blend in when traveling in a strange environment; how not to attract the attention of evildoers by flashing jewelry, money, or possessions; how to plan a safe travel route when on the road; how to recognize and avoid a "fatal funnel"; and how to recognize and deflect the attention of a "human predator." The book includes many poignant case studies of everyday people from all walks of life who have suffered violent assaults--some with positive outcomes, some with unhappy endings. In each event, Ms. Kilgore dissects the particulars of the situation to offer her analysis of what went wrong. "Sadly," says Ms. Kilgore, "These stories were very easy to find. Once people found out I was writing this book, they came to me from everywhere, wanting me to use their experience to teach others, so that the same thing that happened to them wouldn't happen to someone else." Just from Ms. Kilgore's immediate circle of friends and acquaintances, there are stories of date rapes, assaults, beatings, stalkings, and other mayhem, most of which could have been avoided through a little diligence in personal protection.

"Eyes Wide Open" promises to open the eyes of thousands of different readers, whether male or female, young or old, wealthy or struggling.