I sooooo wanted to like this book. I love these first person accounts of wandering through the martial arts - American Shaolin and A Fighter's Heart are two of the more recent, really enjoyable and well written examples that come to mind. And Preston's writing style is witty, self-deprecating and crafted pretty well. I mean, he does tell a good story. So what didn't I like about it?

First, and this is the same problem I had with Angry White Pyjamas years ago - is that he gets stuff WRONG. ... (show more)

I sooooo wanted to like this book. I love these first person accounts of wandering through the martial arts - American Shaolin and A Fighter's Heart are two of the more recent, really enjoyable and well written examples that come to mind. And Preston's writing style is witty, self-deprecating and crafted pretty well. I mean, he does tell a good story. So what didn't I like about it?

First, and this is the same problem I had with Angry White Pyjamas years ago - is that he gets stuff WRONG. Not in the "his opinion is different than mine" way [but more on that later] but just flat out, factually wrong. Which in the age of Internet, means you're either sloppy, lazy or lying. None of which bode well for anything at all you have to say. Some of the obvious ones I happened to dog ear - he talks about "Victor Balfour" fighting Tito Ortiz in the UFC. No, that's Vitor Belfort. "The Japanese martial artist Kimo and Royce [Gracie] fought a legendary bout... ended when Royce suffered a broken foot." Kimo is Hawaiian. The bout ended when Royce submitted Kimo by armbar. Even in little things, like the plane ride to China and the in-flight movie [Mr & Mrs Smith] he gets the details wrong. And he repeats without question, pretty much as truth, a bunch of the standard historical martial arts myths... about the founding of BJJ by the Gracies, about Jigoro Kano's development of Judo, a wealth of Kung Fu mythology... all without subjecting any of it to any kind of critical analysis.

I'd be hard pressed to say he's gullible, but he certainly lacks a certain awareness. And the people who he seeks advice and opinion from... some of these folks are just idiots. Here's a hint, if you ask somebody the question "How do you think your Master Don would fare against someone like Royce Gracie?" and the response is "There are nine levels to martial arts knowledge... World champion kickboxers get stuck at three..." Yeah, that person has issues.

Imaginary classification systems, talking about needing "a black belt to enter Shaolin" [black belts are Japanese, first used in Judo...] all this theorizing about martial arts - "Well, see here you do a percussive chest strike to defeat the mount..." instead of DOING martial arts.

JUST. NO.

It's one of the things that you'd have figured the UFC and MMA would have put an end to. All these armchair martial artists talking about HOW they'd defeat attacks or fighters without ever sparring and DOING it. Everyone who talked about how they'd never get taken down because of how they'd stop a wrestler with their powerful whipping crane technique or they'd "simply" side kick and take out a knee before they ever got into range. Royce Gracie put an end to that nonsense on the world stage in UFC 1 in 1993. Judoka and wrestlers were doing the same to boxers and other traditional martial artists before that - Judo Gene Lebell, the Gracies in Brazil, the old time wrestlers.... That people still maintain and sustain these self delusions is just sad, and does a huge disservice to actual combat sports.

And that's the other thing, despite spending a good amount of time with Jeff Monson, and giving him more than a fair shake and decent write up, the vast majority of his talking about the UFC and MMA in the book is of the typically uneducated "bloodsport" variety, denigrating the fans as well by painting them all as gel haired guidos on steroids. He gives more page space and commentary to a first time visitor to an event with a free-comped ticket, hitting all the same tired "brutality" arguments and basically calling the fighters stupid - the "sharp minded," "disdainful" "cynic" - [on the fighters] - "No loss. Not exactly a Mensa meeting going on down there."

Really? Out of all the people you could talk to, you give page space to this knucklehead?

The other thing that bugs me about the book is just the general path the author follows. From Kung Fu in the States to China, back to the US and dipping his toes into more internal styles.

Here's the thing. Internal styles of martial arts are good. They have their place, to be sure. And I've seen a couple internal folks do things that didn't make a whole lot of physical sense. Generate power and force that you wouldn't expect. And whether that's "chi" or incredibly effective biomechanics, who knows?

But. There's this variety of martial practitioner who ends up doing the internal stuff because in an external style or a combat sport, it's like, golly... really hard! And there's punches and discomfort and effort and stuff! And these are the same windbags who'll go on and on about how, in theory, their floating lotus palm death strike would stop all that wrestling and kickboxing stuff.

These people are what we call ASSHOLES.

And whether they are perpetuating this nonsense to salve their own ego or they really believe it, it's still nonsense. There's a bit in the book where one guy is going on about how if they could get a hold of an 18 year old interested in the UFC and then train them internal style for 5-10 years, they'd mop up the floor with all the other UFC fighters... Really? I mean, REALLLLLLY? Take Randy Couture, he's almost mid-40s, and while certainly the exception rather than the rule, you're going to tell me there's not ONE internal martial artist in his late 20s or early 30s who's ready to go clean house? I call BULLSHIT.

Internal martial arts are fascinating - in fact the Baguazhang circle walking described in the book sounds really, really awesome and intriguing... and maybe, at the higher levels or after years of practice of one of these internal styles you can actually fight with it.

But it's called MARTIAL arts. It's right there. It's the first word! If you can't use it in fighting, then what you're doing isn't martial arts. It's maybe a moving meditation, or dance, or yoga or exercise. But the art part of martial arts is the ability to fight with it. The art of executing a good punch or kick is the effectiveness of that punch or kick. A good punch, an artistic punch, is one that works! Effectiveness is the measure of artistry and success. The art part of it isn't quoting pithy Eastern sounding aphorisms while waving your arms and legs around.

Anyways, I can't really recommend the book, as I spent more time frustrated with it than enjoying it. But it is skillfully written and funny. Just kind of sloppy, lazy, and, well... wrong. (show less)