BlitzDefence

On the door with BlitzDefence

"Fighting and winning all your battles is not the highest achievement. The greatest achievement lies in breaking the resistance of your enemy without a battle." Sun-Szu - The Art of War

I have taken my inspiration from the pre-fight situation in the BlitzDefence programmes, the Trainer 4 seminars "Strategies" and "Fear as a phenomenon", and the fact that in my personal perception the behaviour of people at the door has changed during the last two years. My interest in this subject is purely professional. Since 1993 I have worked as a doorman and in the event security sector. These are not the "hard doors" described by authors such as Geoff Thompson in "Watch my Back" or by Karl Koch. Accordingly I will not primarily be referring to these two, as our experiences and forms of approach are too different - but more of this later. Neither do my nighttime assignments involve guarding the doors of "establishments" in the red-light sector.

The doors at which I work are those of Techno, Hip Hop or other clubs, whose customers are mostly between 16 and 35 years old and typical of the club scene in Berlin - "normal people" from next door who want to have a good time during the evening. Unfortunately this can be accompanied by rude and aggressive behaviour as well as threats towards other customers and the club staff. In order to emphasise the importance of really effective self-defence I will describe some of my experiences with certain types of people who tend to behave unpleasantly or aggressively in "my" clubs. I will also be examining how the 4th BlitzDefence programme can be used to handle potentially violent situations at the door.

Geoff Thompson and Karl Koch

With the exception of the books by Geoff Thompson and (more recently) Karl Koch, I have found nothing on this subject in bookshops and libraries. After longer consideration I have decided not to refer my remarks primarily to these two authors, who have written about their experiences at the door or in clubs, but to take them into account where appropriate.

This is for the following reasons:

Geoff Thompson has worked on "hard doors" where he had to contend with a quite different target group from mine. Perhaps there is also a peculiarly British mentality involved here which is reflected in his descriptions. Owing to these very different conditions (a small English city with high unemployment and a low violence threshold, specific type of club etc.) Geoff Thompson has also developed a special method of doormanship, as the fifth chapter of his book "Watch my Back" makes clear. I have also used the type of challenge described there, though very rarely. I seldom use the push as my opponent has landed on the road in a few cases (risk of injury too high), and a slap in the face too easily leads to a charge of assault. And anyway, as he says himself: "A lot of people I've slapped I've had to hit as well."

Neither drunken soldiers, sailors, pimps nor the "heavy mob" frequent the places where I work.

In the many examples he gives, Geoff Thompson describes how quickly things have escalated around him. I can only identify with these examples to a very limited extent when I look at the demands of my work at the door and the customers I deal with. Nonetheless I figuratively share many of his assessments concerning door work, e.g. the statement that "Every single situation that faces you demands a different solution, and just when you think you're mastering it all, something would pop up and mock you." (P. 28)

I listened to both Geoff Thompson and Karl Koch at the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the EWTO, and it seems the latter too had a quite different clientele to deal with during his work. Two aspects I find interesting about Karl Koch are his palmistry and ability to knock opponents out with both the left and right hand.
I have not yet seen the book he is about to publish, however I expect there are more similarities with Geoff Thompson than with the doors where I have worked so far.
Thanks are due to both these authors for their public discussion of the problems confronting doormen. There are hardly any spokesmen or supporters for doormen in Germany, let alone a trade union. Naturally there are many "black sheep" in my profession who harm its general image. Successful, i.e. tension-defusing, professional doormen only rarely achieve recognition. Geoff Thompson writes: "Most doormen I have worked with have been good doormen. The bad ones, the egoistic, bullying types are only partly to blame for the bad reputation we all seem to carry" (P. 26). I can only agree.

My own experience

Over the last 10 years I have worked on the following doors: SO36, Tommy Haus, Weiße Rose, Casino, Kulturbrauerei-Kesselhaus, Kulturbrauerei-Palais, WTF, Icon Club, Mudd Club, Apollo Lounge, Arena, Tempodrom, Altes Kaufhaus, Jaam, Huxleys Neue Welt, as well as numerous musical concerts of various kinds.

Usually there are two of us at the door if there are 400 to 500 people in the club. During larger events I work together with up to 10 doormen, and in the rarer cases of very large events there are up to 30 security personnel involved.

We share responsibility for a violence-free, peaceful event.

We also need to check the guests for any drinks, felt-tip pens, spray cans, weapons and illegal drugs they may have with them. Those who refuse to be checked are simply refused entry to the club.

What we are not allowed to do by law is:

  • touch people against their will
  • examine the contents of people's bags and pockets against their will
  • enforce proprietorial rights outside the club.

What we are allowed to do by law is:

  • bar people from the premises
  • call the police
  • detain potential miscreants once the police have been called
  • act within the provisions of the law covering justified self-defence and protection of third parties

The following are a few examples of my personal experiences during the last 10 years on the door. On the basis of these experiences and my WT training I have developed certain strategies for dealing with difficult situations during my work. Later I will discuss the 4th BlitzDefence programme with reference to the types of people I encounter. My remarks are divided into two sections: outside the door and in the club itself. I will also list certain stereotypes, i.e. types of provocative guest I encounter on a regular basis.

Outside the door

Generally speaking, working outside the door is a greater challenge for a doorman than working inside the club. If he is able to prevent all potential troublemakers from entering the club in the first place, this automatically means fewer conflict situations inside the club. I will therefore deal with the area outside the door first and describe the most obvious types of troublemaker.

The Talker

These are usually adolescents who are unable or unwilling to give proof of their age at the door. They will use every possible means to convince the doorman that they or a friend should be allowed in. This behaviour places the doorman in some difficulty because it is not easy to get rid of them, they tend to create a bad atmosphere amongst those waiting to get in and often cause trouble outside the club under the influence of alcohol. In line with the second WT strength principle "Free yourself from your opponent's strength", one should avoid being affected by their emotions and demonstrate this to them. People like this see it as a personal humiliation to be refused entry and do not want this humiliation to be witnessed by other people present. They need to argue, bluster and cause trouble to save face. I personally approach these people on a purely formal, legalistic level. The less you are prepared to be drawn in emotionally by these people, the more easily they just go away. If they are blocking the entrance I politely but firmly push them out of the way. If the situation threatens to escalate I threaten to call the police. This strategy is successful in the vast majority of cases. If not we are dealing with a different type of person than the one described, namely

The Wheedler

There are "good" and "bad" wheedlers. The "good wheedler" is looking for a bargain, i.e. entry at a cheaper price, and will accept a clear response. The "bad wheedler" is not content with this, is more persistent and tries to give the doorman a guilty conscience. He quickly takes things to a personal level, berates the club and society in general and wants to let you ease your guilty conscience by letting him into the club. Sometimes these wheedlers have enough money but are in competition with each other to see who can get in at the lowest price, and the doorman is the object of their attention. But as soon as the doorman gives any indication of physical violence they quickly disappear. Unless the club management has issued instructions to the contrary it would be wrong to give way to them, and it is also wrong to let them draw you to a personal level. I show the "bad wheedler" that I can also be bad if he refuses to stop arguing. In very rare cases the matter escalates into a physical confrontation.

The Drug Victim

Two groups of what I call drug victims are regularly to be seen outside the doors of clubs where I have worked. One group consists of older men who obviously do not fit in with the usually younger clientele and show the effects of an alcoholic life. They resemble homeless drunks (without wishing to disparage this social group) and behave in a beer-sozzled, chatty and over-familiar manner. The second group consists of young people who have taken all manner of (modern) drugs. They are so out of it that they have even forgotten how a door handle works. Their powers of perception are reduced by 90%. I do not need to mention the "normal" drunks, who are a day-to-day occurrence and are found across all social groups. The first group can be quite a trial for a doorman who appears too friendly. Every small act of kindness is seized upon as a sign of great friendship. The second group behave like remote-controlled robots and constantly demand entry. They are able to hear words but do not understand their meaning. I am quite frank with the older men and tell them that I am not interested in listening to their chat. I get rid of them quickly. The second group of "remote-controlled robots" has to be refused several times, if possible appealing to their companions (if these are in a fit state). If the situation escalates they collapse outside the door just before a physical confrontation, obliging you to call for an ambulance. Only in very rare cases do either of these two groups represent a physical threat.

The Poser

The poser either makes a scene about the entry price, imposes himself on others as a helper or shows off with his aggressive manner. A poser usually gets in the doorman's way to attract his attention, looking for the thrill of provoking the doorman with indirect gestures. As soon as he is spoken to he feels "threatened", and he uses this to justify "retaliation". This is when physical confrontations arise. A more extreme version of the poser also occurs in Geoff Thompson's "Watch my Back". You must nor react to the insults of the poser, and your body language must not send out any signals of fear to him either. As in the case of Geoff Thompson's notorious street-fighter, "The Tank" (P. 35) you should avoid allowing these people entry in the hope that they will be appeased and more favourably disposed towards the doorman. The subsequent trouble will be on a much larger scale inside the club than in the controllable area outside the door.

Like Geoff Thompson this is where is make use of the push. You must instruct them clearly and unmistakably to leave the club. Often a self-confident, businesslike manner is enough to take the wind out of the poser's sails. If not he must accept the physical consequences. In the clubs where I work I encounter at least one or two of this sort every evening. Fortunately they are a minority.

Groups of unwanted guests

Usually these consist of four to ten young people who annoy other customers outside the door and cause trouble. The entry fee is too high for them, and they are often too young to be admitted. In recent years doormen in Berlin have noticed that such groups sometimes take painkillers, which make them aggressive and reduce sensitivity to pain.

Their behaviour is bad for the club's business and a threat or danger to the customers. As soon as you make contact with them it tends to be the physically smallest/weakest who is the most aggressive opponent. If they feel they can get the better of the doormen they will try to force their way into the club. In the last two or three years there has been a trend amongst these gangs to use the law to their advantage. If you approach them too closely they immediately call the police and lodge a formal complaint. This has now become a favourite tactic among many of the gangs in Berlin. You must not let them into the club, as they continue their behaviour once inside. Neither can they be ignored though. You must be careful not to position yourself in the middle of such a group (see 10th WT programme)and to show no sign of fear, uncertainty or nervousness.

I always approach these groups in a friendly, self-confident and calm manner.

Just as Geoff Thompson describes in his book "Fear" you are already in condition red when you come into contact with them. You can count it as a success if you can show them clear limits and make them a constructive alternative suggestion for another place to go.

In the club

Conflicts inside clubs usually come about when it gets late. Some customers are either dissatisfied with the music, the drinks, the other guests, the staff or with themselves. In some this is expressed in the form of "creative" graffiti in the toilets and so-called "tagging" - leaving indecipherable personal signatures using a thick permanent marker pen (in the animal kingdom this equates to scent-marking one's territory). In others this dissatisfaction expresses itself in obtrusive and aggressive behaviour which can also become physical.

It is always more difficult to resolve disputes or remove troublemakers inside the club than outside the door. Numerous physical obstacles, witnesses and other troublemakers always make this an interesting experience.

Taggers and scratchers

Both are species which have their origin in the Hip Hop movement. They are probably the successors to the graffiti sprayers, who have found spray cans too awkward but still want to leave a mark of their visit. Taggers use thick felt-tip pens ("Eddings") and scratchers deface mirrors, windows and painted surfaces. The resulting physical damage is a financial burden for any club owner. Amazingly enough the people responsible are not mere 13 year-olds, but usually aged between 18 and 26 and of both sexes.

Usually they show no remorse whatsoever, but physical confrontations with them are very rare. When examining somebody's pockets or frisking them, you should not let these markers and other writing implements pass. If I catch them in the act they must either pay compensation or clean up the markings themselves, failing which we call the police and lodge a complaint for malicious damage. In my experience they prefer to clean it up themselves, with one of the staff supervising matters.

The Pesterer

These individuals are usually under the influence of alcohol and appear quite late. They are men who approach women in an unpleasant manner. They sometimes appear in groups of two or three, sometimes alone, and are recognisable by their exaggerated macho behaviour. Right from the start you should avoid the situation escalating too much. At the most I give these people one chance to change their behaviour before I ask them to leave. Roughly 80% of these pesterers apologise to me (not really to the woman) for their behaviour. 10% leave the club angrily. The remaining 10% repeat the offence and I eject them from the club. Only this last group of pesterers becomes violent.

The sleeper

The sleeper in the club is somewhat different from the drug victim outside. He appears late in the evening and looks for a place to sleep off his drug-induced stupor. In some cases he will leave "semi-organic ground installations" behind (i.e. he will vomit). Sleepers are to be found across all age and social groups. You should not wake such people up too roughly or simply carry them outside. I speak to sleepers before trying to wake them gently by squeezing their fingertips. This is a very reliable method of waking them gently, without causing a fuss. If it does not wake them they require First Aid or an ambulance should be called. They do not normally represent any danger, as they are far too tired.

The fighting cocks

In the most usual and favourable case there will be two people having a conflict. In other cases it may be a group or gang that is giving the other customers trouble. These men are normally aged between 18 and the mid-20s. In rare cases it may be women who e.g. find various pretexts for provoking others. All the familiar bullying rituals from "eyeballing" to pushing and shoving occur here. In this case it is inappropriate for a doorman to take sides, to lose control of the situation or have nobody available for backup. It is important to maintain a clear view in such cases. If there are just two protagonists (as opposed to several) it is a good idea to isolate one while the other is calmed down by somebody else. It is necessary to make them leave immediately if the situation is not resolved. Usually the attention of the two antagonists is not on the doorman, as they are very strongly focused on each other. Often a mediating outsider is seen as a welcome way out if both have been bluffing heavily and want to come away from the situation unharmed. Generally both of them are shown the door. If one of them is clearly a victim only the aggressor is removed. Only the victim is able to lodge a formal complaint.

Ungrateful guests

These are customers who seek to express their dissatisfaction with the music, the drinks, the other customers, the staff or themselves and therefore turn their aggressive and provocative attention to the club staff or the fittings and fixtures in the club. You also find them at the end of the evening, as the last customers who do not want to leave. Usually they are men aged 18 to the early 40s. In the case of ungrateful guests I usually try to avoid physical contact. In line with the first three BlitzDefence programmes I set clear limits and feel confident in removing the customer from the club without having to fear an attack. You should also avoid an extended dialog - on the contrary, there should be a clear announcement every few minutes that the club is about to close and customers should now leave the premises. From a legal point of view I ought to call the police in such a case (as in the other cases above), however it is also possible to exercise proprietorial rights in other ways.

Summary

The cases I have described above make the following demands on me as a doorman:

With the Talker I need to be firm and stay cool. With the wheedler I need to sense in advance whether I am dealing with a polite questioner or an obstinate bargain-hunter. In the case of the drug victim I need sensitivity, steadiness and experience in how to deal with drug users. With the Poser I need the requisite calm, self-assertion and confidence to avoid responding to his provocations. Handling groups of unwanted guests requires experience with group dynamics and the effects of painkillers. When dealing with taggers and scratchers inside the club I need a certain knowledge of the Hip Hop culture and must pay attention to seemingly unimportant areas such as the toilets and corridors. With the pesterer I need the sensitivity to realise when women are receiving unwelcome attention. You have to find the right form of words when dealing with pesterers. In the case of the sleeper it is important to know a few ways of waking people up gently. Good powers of perception and an accurate assessment of the situation are necessary where fighting cocks are concerned. You must maintain a clear view of what is happening. Steadiness, detachment and coolness are called for with "unwelcome guests". In almost all the situations described I must be prepared for unexpected attacks and be able to cope with these physically. As I have already said the above groups are stereotypes, and there are sometimes mixed categories. It is helpful to recognise such stereotypes at once and adopt the appropriate behaviour. The behavioural traits of the groups described above also appear as examples of aggression in specialist literature in the field of psychology.

According to Weingarten and Willms aggressive behaviour is a natural form of behaviour with which we are born. In the case of two small children engaged in a dispute they refer to the threatening fixed stare and bared teeth of the aggressor and the sulky demeanour of the loser. The inborn preparation to strike is particularly interesting: "often the threat is accompanied by raising the hand as if to strike, and it may be holding a stick".
Children who cry in such a situation are trying to appease aggression. Children who offer the loser something to eat or subsequently touch the other child in a friendly way are trying to calm the situation down.

I have observed the same behaviour in all the groups described above (except the sleepers) whenever the situation becomes tense, and I have frequently used the calming gesture myself if the situation was appropriate. In my experience I need hardly ever fear a physical confrontation once the other person allows himself to be touched or manoeuvred out of the club.

Basically most of my aggressive customers are people who are unable to handle their fears. To quote Weingarten/Willms: "In general we associate the term aggression with conspicuous forms of behaviour involving injury and destruction, e.g. as ascribed to bands of rockers, when the crockery starts to fly in a marriage dispute or when so-called crimes of violence are committed. Translating an aggressive impulse into an injurious and destructive act is in fact one way of dealing with the fear created by a threat."
In some respects my job as a doormen makes me feel like a social worker who has to set limits for people who are sometimes disturbed and confused. Again and again I have to show them how society works and explain that everybody is subject to certain rules which must be obeyed. In other words I perform a kind of cultural work with uncultured Philistines in cultured locations.

BlitzDefence 4 and the doorman

I intend to discuss the 4th BlitzDefence programme because of all the BlitzDefence programmes, it is the one that occurs most frequently on the door. In purely legal terms a doorman is not permitted to touch the opponent first, let alone attack him. I very seldom use the "control and restraint" methods, perhaps because of my height of 173 cm or the circumstances of my work. When using control and restraint methods you must be very sure that there is only one attacker, which is not always obvious. The danger with this programme is that others might come to his aid.

From time to time the 10th student grade programme, defending against several attackers, is also necessary.

The pre-fight situation

In contrast to BlitzDefence 1-3, where the WT follower attacks first if his de-escalation attempts have failed, using BlitzDefence 4 means waiting for a clear signal from the attacker before starting a defence. To use the colour codes described by Geoff Thompson in his book "Fear", I am in condition orange when working close to people in an "unspecific alarm" situation. I have identified the following parallels with the BlitzDefence 4 programme:

For all the cases/groups described above the pre-fight situation is the most important aspect of a doorman's work. You need a strategy at the door that covers all possible dangerous situations from the outset and gives you self-confidence. I make sure I do not touch the other party, and I will not allow myself to be touched. Particularly when being frisked people try to clap you on the shoulder as a transitional movement. For a doorman this can already mean that he is being tested to check his reactions. In this situation it is important to remain alert and always keep gestures and physical contact under control. This also means that the person being frisked must always keep his hands lowered and must not be allowed to reach into his own pockets (so that he has no opportunity to draw a weapon). If the doorman becomes tense while frisking a customer this appears unprofessional and provocative.

The difficulty when frisking is also that you can quickly lose sight of the situation if several customers have to be checked, i.e. when you go into a crouch. In this case the only option is to pull the other party off his feet or hit him between the legs.
On the door I must always maintain an overall view of the situation, as in the 10th programme against several attackers. This means that I must keep an eye on the people outside the door, the cash desk and the situation behind my back. The smoother the door team works together, the better the non-verbal communication when things get hot. If I have not carried out a body check when a conflict arises, I tend to stand quite close to people and try to control the arm position as in BlitzDefence 4. In positioning myself I have to enter into a dialog with the other party, and I must be ready for an attack at any time. I begin with a calm, friendly tone of voice which becomes increasingly loud and decisive. In my work, trying to involve witnesses by means of gestures and communication is something that requires more attention and energy than the effect on the other waiting customers merits. Outsiders either pay no attention to an aggressive situation or the doorman is seen as the baddie anyway. As soon as I set e.g. the poser or the fighting cock limits as a doorman, I am signalling my preparedness to fight if necessary. It is not necessarily advisable to gather witnesses around in a situation like this!

In this respect the pre-fight situation on the door is different from that in the BlitzDefence programme as I understand it. On the subject of fear and adrenalin I have found that there is a rush of adrenalin when I encounter a type of person I intuitively take to be particularly aggressive. I am unable to assign this personal assessment clearly to any of the groups described above, however. In these situations I feel as if I had drunk several cups of strong coffee. My alertness increases greatly, as does my level of aggression. After such a situation I need to rid myself of the pent-up adrenalin by moving around a great deal (taking walks in and around the club). This phenomenon is also mentioned by Weingarten/Willms and Geoff Thompson.

The more experienced I become, the more confidently I deal with different situations. It reminds me of the "inner pyramid" discussed in Geoff Thompson's book "Fear".

The fight situation

It is usually the poser, the fighting cock and the "group of unwanted guests" and "ungrateful guests" who oblige me to fight. More rarely it is the pesterers or mixed forms of the groups mentioned who start fights.

In the case of the "ungrateful guests" BlitzDefence 1-3 is most appropriate, as there is usually enough space available at the end of the evening and at some time I will have to propel these last few customers towards the door anyway (even if they do not launch an attack first). In our team we often make use of the "good guy - bad guy" role-play. One of us tries to calm the troublemaker while the other communicates fighting spirit and aggression. I always wait until the last possible moment before striking somebody, and always wait until he is about to launch a punch. Most opponents are simply not good enough for me to take seriously anyway, therefore I can afford to wait in this way.
If I am confronted with several opponents I am no longer able or willing to distinguish between those who mean me more or less harm. In the case of the "group of unwanted guests" every member of the group is an opponent as soon as the situation escalates. Self-protection has to be my first priority.

As in BlitzDefence 4 I pay great attention to any drawing back to strike and preparatory movements, which I exploit during the fight. During the Trainer 4 seminar I found Dai-Sifu Kernspecht's statement that the reaction is faster than the action particularly interesting. Since this seminar I have seen my working approach from a different perspective.

Concerning the "post-fight" situation I can say that we always lodge an official complaint for attempted assault and disturbing the peace. There is a recent trend by "posers" and "groups of unwanted guests" to lodge complaints against doormen with the police. Even well-known thugs with several previous convictions or a thick police file are now going to the police to make complaints.

Doormen have a miserable reputation among the police in Berlin, and any complaints we lodge are dealt with accordingly. I have even had a case where the police refused to record our complaint but accepted that of the thugs. At any rate I have managed to remain without previous convictions after more than ten years as a doorman.

Conclusion

The BlitzDefence 4 programme is a very good weapon for dangerous situations on the door. It creates the self-confidence and awareness to act from a disguised defensive attitude. Only the role-playing towards the opponent is different in many respects. A doorman would never say "leave me alone" or retreat from an escalating situation in any other way. He must always exude a willingness to fight plus calm and judgement. Anything else is unprofessional and careless.

In terms of fighting techniques it is mainly the situation in the BlitzDefence 4 programme that is required. I also use programmes 1 to 3, 10 and 11.

As a doorman it is necessary to be quite clear about how you deal with public insults. A doorman has to set quite different limits then e.g. in a "private" situation on the street. You are always liable to be attacked as a doorman. Groups of thugs can turn up unexpectedly for revenge a week later or wait for you after work. What makes a good doorman in my eyes is not so much the long list of people he has knocked out cold, but rather the list of confrontations that he has ended peacefully. One must always be careful not to divide people into certain categories from the outset. Being a doorman is a mental challenge, as you are the one who repeatedly has to refuse people entry. And you must not take the negative emotions of the customers home with you. The same applies to the task of checking bags or pockets and frisking people for weapons, felt-tip pens and drinks. Nobody likes to be inspected, examined or rejected. The customers are looking for a good time, and for many the doorman is a spoilsport. Very few see us as helpers.

By way of a caricature our security team at Club SO36 took to wearing T-shirts with the imprint "I am an arsehole - and you?" for a time. I do not see a long-term future for myself as a doorman any more.

In addition to my door work I run the WT school in Frankfurt/Oder under my teacher and Si-Hing Sifu Hayo Zuber, and am also a member of the instructor team at the WT school in Kreuzberg. About two years ago a partner and I founded an agency named "Nervous Service", in which we coach film and TV actors in the martial arts / stagefighting. One day I hope WT and Nervous Service will provide me with a living.

Literature

  • Pühl, Harald: „Angst in Gruppen und Institutionen"; Bielefeld 1994: Ursel Busch Verlag
  • Heinz W. Krohne: „Angst und Angstverarbeitung"; Stuttgart 1975: W. Kohlhammer GmbH Verlag
  • Geoff Thompson: „Die Angst"; Burg/Fehmarn 2001: Wu Shu-Verlag Kernspecht
  • Geoff Thompson: „Die Tür"; Burg/Fehmarn 1999: Wu Shu-Verlag Kernspecht
  • Keith R. Kernspecht: „Blitzdefence"; Burg/Fehmarn 2000: Wu Shu-Verlag Kernspecht
  • Herbert Selg unter Mitarbeit von W. Belschner / U. Jakobi / G.Lischke / F. Schott : „Zur Aggression verdammt?"; Stuttgart Sechste Auflage 1982: W. Kohlhammer GmbH Verlag
  • Andrea Weingarten / Siglind Willms: „Umgang mit aggressiven Verhaltensweisen."; Stuttgart 1978: W. Kohlhammer GmbH Verlag
  • Sunzi: „Die Kunst des Krieges"; München 1999: Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf.
  • Sun Zi: „Über die Kriegskunst" / Sun Bin: „Über die Kriegskunst"; 3 Chegongzhuang Dajie, Beijing, China 1994 Volkschina Verlag