WHILE THE AVERAGE self-defence class offers anything from personal safety to self-empowerment, 'a roadmap for destroying your attacker' isn't usually on the list. But then Tim Larkin is not your average self-defence instructor.
Attached to the bottom of his e-mails is a statement of intent: 'Keeping good people alive by teaching them to kill.' Larkin's Target-Focus Training has nothing to do with flashy flips or roundhouse kicks - this is about the complete annihilation of your foe. And it's apparently so simple, even your grandma could crack open a can o'whoopass if she tried.
The Las Vegas-based former US Navy Seal and close combat expert is one of the most sought-after specialists in the world. After a diving accident ruled him out of becoming a Seal operative, he stayed on as an adviser. Before long, he'd gone private. His client list now boasts the likes of Sony, Oracle and Ford, as well as the British SAS, US Special Forces, the FBI, and US Marshals - not to mention numerous Hollywood celebrities.
Here for a private class during the Hong Kong leg of an Asian tour last weekend, the 39-year-old cuts a highly affable figure - although a quick look at his website before we meet might suggest otherwise. With topics such as 'Controlled Violence: the Surprising Catalyst to a More Enjoyable Life' and 'Is It Necessary to Know How to Kill?', you're certainly discouraged from getting on Larkin's wrong side. This isn't to suggest he's a 'strike first, ask questions later' character. 'Violence is rarely the answer,' he says. 'But when it is the answer, it is the only answer.'
Target-Focus Training - designed to enable ordinary people to defend themselves in potentially lethal situations - is a system based on research in human psychology, physiology and anatomy. It can also be expanded to work against terrorism, hijackings and kidnappings - a particularly handy tool for executives travelling Asia.
'When you conceptualise the use of violence, your opponent is probably always bigger, stronger and faster than you,' says Larkin. 'In your mind, an attacker is probably some super human, some mutant. But your predator will give you an opportunity, and my job is to make this information available. Whether or not you use it is up to you. Should violence enter your life then you want something in the tool box.'
Raised in a Boston-Irish household, Larkin attributes his early acceptance of violence to his grandfather. 'He taught us boxing, but brought in things that would happen at street level, too,' he says. 'He came from an age when two guys might be in a bar, have a disagreement, go outside, slug it out with agreed-upon rules and conditions, resolve the situation and then sit and buy each other a drink afterwards. There was an outlet there. Our culture now moves to suppress violence, and when you suppress something it comes out in different ways - incredibly asocial violence in response to situations that never warranted it. Road rage is a perfect example.'