Good Books
11/Jan/09
I received a couple of new martial arts books for Christmas (to add to my library of probably over two hundred) and they were good ones. The first was “A Killing Art: The Untold History of Tae Kwon Do,” by Alex Gillis. After years of research and interviews with dozens of experts, this investigative journalist puts together a fascinating look at how Tae Kwon Do came about (hint, it is NOT an ancient Korean art) and how it was “slipped” into the Olympics by a former high-ranking, secret-service spy from South Korea. A lot of this material can be found in other sources, including some of my own writings, but here it’s assembled in a compelling tale of intrigue and charismatic but flawed characters. I would recommend it to all of our instructors in our Tae Kwon Do systems.
The second book, which I almost finished last night, is “The Book of Martial Power,” by Steven Pearlman. This is another text I would advise our black belts to read because it explains the concept of immutable “principles of combat.” The author has trained for years in several arts and he says that while there are many different “approaches” to fighting skills (with many adherents claiming theirs is the best) they all must fit within the framework of certain martial principles. He goes into a lot of detail about a lot of principles and it’s way too complicated a book for beginners but advanced students can broaden their understanding and begin to see their training in a much wider framework.
And while I am on the subject of books, here are a couple of my favorites from that aforementioned library in my home office. I like to stress that my martial approach is based on self-defense first (that’s why most people begin their training after all) and “Attack Proof,” by Perkins, Ridenhour and Kovsky is a great book which explains why most martial arts systems are inadequate when it comes to actually preparing their students for a street fight. The authors talk about “guided chaos,” which, they say is what a real fight actually is. It even has some training tips which I have incorporated into my own teaching on self-defense.
Another great book on self-defense is “The Gift of Fear,” by Gavin De Becker. This isn’t a book about the martial arts but one on “empowerment” for people who find themselves in dangerous situations. The author was called “the nation’s leading expert on violent behavior,” by Oprah herself. He recounts many actual situations that had both good and bad outcomes and teaches the reader valuable lessons along the way. If you claim to teach self-defense, especially to women, you had better read this book.