Book review: The Way of the Warrior

This is a hardback, colourful almanac of descriptions of the world's martial arts but is it any good?

There are many entries in the book, which is encyclopaedic in its format, and it does give a good, broad look at the martial arts around the world. I'm sure that some esoteric arts might not be covered but to me it looks pretty comprehensive. The entries I have knowledge about seem fairly accurate but don't stray from the 'party line' and therefore have no analysis. This isn't surprising from such a broad look at the martial arts. What does lift this book is the photo documentaries sprinkled throughout which give more insight into the human aspect of living martial arts, examining how people today, all around the world, dedicate themselves to their art. As a human documentary this is interesting and helps to convey the idea that to some people the martial arts is a unifying force, despite its basic premise of conflict.

Chris Crudelli is mentioned on the cover as the author but apart from a couple of little editorial snippets where he adds that he has trained in this style or that, I can't see what else he really adds. Perhaps he was responsible for the photo journals.

Buy it or not? Good clean, fun book, lots of descriptions about many martial arts around the world but no in depth analysis or critical appraisal. Have this on your shelf as an encyclopaedia of martial arts (especially as Borders is now closing down and has some pretty good offers on!), or just use Wikipedia for free.

Man wrestles gun from assailant outside Manchester pub

Interesting clip. Not my choice of music.

The accompanying news article says the big guy came out to see what was going on and check on his wife. I am somewhat amazed that he walked, seemingly coolly, towards the gun toter. Staying cool may have played in his favour and he certainly used a minimum of movement, possibly as he thought he didn't want to spook the gunman, possibly out of ignorance or that he felt that the other guy didn't *really* want to use the gun. In any case this is pretty ballsy.

What I'm interested in here is the use of weapons; how people use them and why. Surely brandishing a weapon is partly to have a psychological effect on others, showing that you literally hold power, much like fasces were used in ancient Rome. But what likelihood is there that a brandisher of weapons will turn into a shooter? Is the act of brandishing a weapon completely different from having a weapon with intent to use?

Geoff Thompson in 'Dead or Alive' (p.174 ) "a stabber rarely shows and a shower rarely stabs".

Having said that he doesn't recommend taking these people on in the first place! Don't be there is his first line of self defence.

'Big guy' in the video seemed to have intent as he strode out to meet the gunman, so was this a foolhardy act?

The Higher Goals of Judo

This southern Summer, beginning 24 January 2010,  I will be teaching a four-session course, The higher goals of Judo, open to all members of our Federation.  This subject matter will not seem surprising to regular readers of this blog:

The Higher Goals of Judo: Course Aims

1. Definition and history: To introduce participants to the higher goals of Judo practice, beyond self-defence and competitive skills, and to their historical basis
   
2. Dojo / real life connection: To inspire participants to seek to apply what they learn in the dojo in the rest of their lives, and, conversely, to use the opportunities afforded by martial arts training to deliberately further their personal and social development
3. Practice: To provide a venue in which participants can identify and explore areas ripe for their own personal and social development, in a practical fashion

But wait, there's much more!
Several other Federation instructors will also be presenting four week courses on a variety of aspects of the martial arts.  Other short courses include:

• Sensei Stephen Cochrane: Combinations & Counters in Judo (starts December 8)
  
• Sensei Peter Howell: Weapons of Mass Destruction (starts December 11)
• Sempai Owen Dransfield: Dedicated Experience in the Art of Judo (starts January 9)
  
• Sensei Colin Bachelard: Jiu-jitsu Application of Technique to Survive (starts January 12)
• Shihan Chris Bailey: The Strategy of Weapons and the Empty Hand (starts February 7)

All recommended: these courses are a great opportunity to examine and train in some in-depth material with a variety of instructors and training partners.

I always look forward to summer training as a chance to learn something different; so I get a break from regular training, without having a break from training!

Beckham as warrior

I'm far from a fan of football but enjoyed Beckham's take on the prospect of the upcoming World Cup in South Africa and playing some of the best teams in the world. I'm guessing he was asked something like, "So, which team do you fear in the tournament?".

Check out his reply.

Last days fencing and ki ken tai

The fencing course culminates with a competition with the rest of the club. This includes fun atmosphere and prize giving so I was fairly relaxed about going along, despite not having actually fought anyone for real!

It was quite a liberating experience for me as when I have been to martial art competitions I'm always a little anxious about technique, remembering stuff, wanting to do well and not let myself down. These all buzz around my head so calming them is a process which takes up energy. Last night at the fencing tournament however I didn't mind at all! Everyone sees you are a learner due to the blue plastron beginners wear and I had nothing to prove. I went along to see how sword combat would be and to maybe get a few points on other fencers, which I did.

One thing to remark was how tired I was after each bout. I'm sure this was because I didn't really know about the correct and most efficient way to fence, but also maybe because I was lunging too much. I think more astute and experienced fencers don't need to lunge and this takes up a lot of energy. Also I was probably chasing the hit a little too much- I couldn't rely on sitting back, parrying and riposting as my technique wasn't developed enough.

My fights ended against M, a tall left-handed fencer who was very able and who thrashed me soundly with me scoring only one point on him. Afterwards in the pub he told me he'd been working on his footwork a lot which improved his fencing. He found that this could free up his mind to work on the 'point' work and bringing these two together, he said, really improved his game: foot and point working in unison. I couldn't help chipping in to add that ki ken tai (breath/spirit or shout, sword and body) was a similar concept in kendo and other striking arts. Bringing together the spirit of the attack (the raw will of the attack) with the body movement and footwork together with the strike of the weapon (be it sword or fist) gives a unity and firmness to the offence. Ki is sometimes considered as the shout or kiai and in some martial arts if the kiai is not present the point is not scored.

This concept is important on a physical level as it improves the structure of the given attack but also on a philosophical level makes the strike more complete. Movement within a traditional martial art is considered more correct if these three elements are present. This is particularly pertinent within kata or hyung practice when intent, focus and body movement are essential.

All in the mind

The second half of this BBC radio 4 programme looks at mindfulness in everyday life, taking the presenter through some simple steps to achieve a more relaxed and concentrated lifestyle.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p2hny#synopsis

Here is another of my columns. Remember, if you click on the image you can easily read the article, or download it to your computer (on my computer, it's a drag and drop). CT