What-I'm-Reading Wednesday, 3/18/09

I just finished Dave Lowry's book, "The Karate Way; Discovering the Spirit of Practice".


Am I glad I read it? Yes.


Will I read it again? Probably in about a year.


Reflections? This is the first of Dave Lowry's books that I've read, but I don't think it will be the last. I really enjoy reading conceptual (as opposed to technical) martial arts books. This was a good mix for me. Out of 29 chapters, only a handful dealt with technical aspects of the art (one chapter on the front kick, another on the side kick, etc.) The themes of the chapters seem to skip around almost randomly, but it works in this book. I really enjoyed the chapter on taisabaki, and I think it was helpful to me in my Aikido practice. Sometimes I judge how good a book was by how many times I highlighted something while reading it. I did a good bit of highlighting in this one. Another thing I liked about it was how short the chapters were: only 3 - 5 pages each. Very digestible. I wasn't sure I would enjoy it at first, as Mr. Lowry's writing seemed a bit elitist...almost snobbish in places. However, he is a restaurant critic, so it may just be his style, haha. In the end, I found I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I think my cries of "snob!" were premature.


Recommended? Yes, even if karate-do isn't the art you practice.