Geoff Thompson (writer)

For other people named Geoff Thompson, see Geoff Thompson (disambiguation).

Geoff Thompson
Born	(1960-06-12) 12 June 1960 Coventry, England, UK
Style	Karate, boxing, kickboxing, judo, aikido
Rank	8th-degree black belt (karate)      1st-degree black belt (judo)      1st-degree black belt (aikido)
Occupation	Writer, filmmaker, teacher, martial artist
Website	GeoffThompson.com

Geoff Thompson (born 12 June 1960 in Coventry, England) is a BAFTA-winning writer, filmmaker, teacher, and self-defence instructor. He has written several books on self-help, self-defence and martial arts, and has written many screenplays for short and feature films.

Film

In 2004, Thompson won a BAFTA award for 'best short film' for his screenplay "Brown Paper Bag".

Thompson's first feature film Clubbed (2008), starring Colin Salmon, is an underworld drama set in the early 1980s and is based on his autobiography Watch My Back.

His work Romans 12:20, directed by the Shammasian Brothers and starring Craig Conway, has finished production and was shown at a private screening in London on 23 January 2008. It toured the film festival circuit in the early part of 2008. It has been adapted into a feature film, Romans (2017), starring Orlando Bloom.

He wrote the screenplay for the feature film The Pyramid Texts (2015), starring James Cosmo.

Thompson made his directorial debut in 2015 with the short film The 20 Minute Film Pitch.

His first short film—Bouncer (2003)—starred Ray Winstone.

In the 1990s, Thompson wrote and presented a wide range of martial arts and self-defence DVDs. In 1995, he and his self-defence school featured in the Channel 4 documentary Passengers.

Filmography

Feature films

• Clubbed (2008) – Writer, starring Colin Salmon
• The Pyramid Texts (2015) – Writer, starring James Cosmo
• Romans (2017) – Writer, starring Orlando Bloom

Short films

• Bouncer (2002) – Writer, starring Ray Winstone
• Brown Paper Bag (2003) – Writer, starring Ronnie Fox
• Romans 12:20 (2008) – Writer
• Pink (2009) – Writer
• Counting Backwards (2014) – Writer
• The 20 Minute Film Pitch (2015) – Writer
• Shadow (2017) – Writer

Bibliography

Self-help

• The Beginner's Guide to Darkness – This Book Will Help You to Find the Light, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921505
• The Caretaker, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921529
• The Elephant and the Twig – The Art of Positive Thinking, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840242645
• Everything that Happens to Me is Fantastic, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840247688
• Everything that Happens to Me is Good, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840245974
• Everything that Happens to Me is Great, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840246841
• Fear – the Friend of Exceptional People, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921550
• The Formula – The Secret to a Better Life, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840245103
• Hunting the Shadow – How to Turn Fear into Massive Success, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921536
• Live Your Dreams – Ten Secrets to Loving Your Life, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840247749
• Shape Shifter – Transform Your Life in 1 Day, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840244441
• Stress Buster – How to Stop Stress from Killing You, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840245097
• Warrior – A Path to Self Sovereignty, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921512

Autobiography

• Watch My Back (Autobiography), Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840247169

Screenplay

• Fragile, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921543
• The Pyramid Texts, Geoff Thompson Ltd, ISBN 978-0956921574

Fiction

• Red Mist, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840244014

Martial arts and self-defence

• Animal Day – Pressure Testing the Martial Arts, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840241112
• Arm Bars and Joint Locks, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840241761
• The Art of Fighting without Fighting – Techniques in Personal Threat Evasion, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240856
• Chokes and Strangles, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840241723
• Dead or Alive: The Choice Is Yours – The Definitive Self-protection Handbook, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840242799
• The Escapes, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840241730
• The Fence – The Art of Protection, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240849
• Fighting from Your Back, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840241747
• Fighting from your Knees, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840241754
• Pins – The Bedrock, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1873475829
• Real Head, Knees and Elbows, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1873475775
• Real Punching, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240887
• Real Kicking, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240870
• Three Second Fighter – Sniper Option, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840244595
• The Throws and Takedowns of Freestyle Wrestling, Summersdale, ASIN: B0061MRQSU
• The Throws and Takedowns of Greco-Roman Wrestling, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240290
• The Throws and Takedowns of Judo, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240269
• The Throws and Takedowns of Sombo, Summersdale, ISBN 978-1840240276
• Weight Training for the Martial Artist, Summersdale, ASIN: B0061NWC8I

Martial Arts

Thompson began his martial arts training in the Eastern arts including karate, aikido and kung-fu. However, during his time as a nightclub doorman, he found that what he had learned was inadequate for the reality of violence. Thompson came to realise that the techniques encouraged and practiced in touch-contact and semi-contact martial arts were not always suitable for self-defence. Though he utilises a small core of these techniques as part of his teachings, Thompson prefers full-contact martial arts and combat sports such as boxing, Muay Thai, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Greco-Roman- and freestyle wrestling.

He holds the ABA Boxing Instructor certificate and high-level coaching awards for wrestling, a 1st Dan in Judo (1997) under world champion Neil Adams, and an 8th dan in Shotokan Karate. Geoff is a Joint Chief Instructor of the British Combat Association.

Geoff Thompson was also the first instructor to name and extensively teach "the fence", a technique in real-life defence involving keeping your hands in front of you in a non-threatening manner so as to protect yourself in case a situation escalates but without provoking violence.

Martial arts instructional DVDs

• The Escapes (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRT8
• Ground Fighting – Chokes and Strangles (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRU2
• Pins – The Bedrock (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRSY
• The Pavement Arena Part One (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRWA,
• The Pavement Arena Part Two – The Protection Pyramid (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B01I05LPZ0
• The Pavement Arena Part Three – Grappling, The Last Resort(2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRWU
• The Pavement Arena Part Four; Fit to Fight (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRX4,
• Real Punching: The One Punch Kill (2005), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B0007NLRS4
• The Ultimate Self Defence Seminar (2006), Summersdale Productions, ASIN: B000CR6X5C

External links

• Official website
• Geoff Thompson IMDB page [1]
• Interview with Geoff Thompson and SUBvert magazine