About book Meditations On Violence: A Comparison Of Martial Arts Training And Real World Violence (2009)
Other reviewers hit the nail on the head in regards to this being a must-read for any martial arts practitioner. I would only add that it is probably a bit on the intense side for someone just starting out in a martial art as a casual hobby.For these people, that would like to know more about self-defense but looking for a lighter read, I'd recommend The Disaster Diaries by Sam Sheridan.All that aside, I do think that all martial arts instructors ought to read this book as a wake up call about their role. While I don't think that a MA instructor needs to go out and get in a bunch of street fights before teaching people about fighting (one may get this impression, although I don't think the author does it intentionally), I do think that humility and some perspective are absolutely required.It's an intense book, and I recommend breaking it up into smaller reading sessions to get through it. I cannot recommend this enough. Rory Miller does a phenomenal job of presenting complex insights into the subject of self-defense with humor and a blunt, no-bullshit realism. His ability deconstruct and articulate his experiences makes this more a look at several distinct and separate phenomena, and the distinction is eye-opening for anyone who has had direct experience with a small portion of the subject and thinks it can be generalized. It's brilliant. It's accurate. It's hard to read.Rory Miller had already spent (nearly? more than?) a decade as a corrections officer upon writing this book. He draws from that experience, and his perspective on criminals and criminal behavior is jarring and invaluable. His perspective on martial arts doubly so.I'll be reading this again, many times. If you have any interest in either self-defense or martial arts training, do yourself a favor and pick this up.
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Everybody should read Rory Miller's books to protect themselves from street violence. Great writer.
—Battleax911
This is a book well worth reading. More than once even.
—Yon
