Jonathan Bluestein's Research of Martial Arts




 Jonathan Bluestein's Research of Martial Arts is a book I would recommend for veteran martial artists and beginning martial artists alike. It follows Jonathan's many years of experience and really captures the important details of martial arts styles, training, external and internal ideologies, weapons and much more. This book almost reads itself when you pick it up, connecting invaluable information with a lifetime of experience.

I found that this read was very enjoyable as it took time to touch on many of the complex ideas of martial arts, but explained them in a way that is friendly to the reader. The material is also very enriched and can be used as an encyclopedia of martial arts information (I will surely keep coming back to it for my own research). It contained information of styles from all over the globe and gave a very comprehensive understanding to all of their differences. I also loved how the book got into the details of training both externally and internally. There are too many martial arts books that use a very ethnocentric approach to their own style, leaving the reader with a distorted view of the truth. Jonathan's book gave an unbiased approach to all of the different styles while enlightening the reader with fresh perspectives.

What is also enjoyable about the book is the intricate details that it covers within the culture of each art. As Jonathan trains with different masters, he lets you closely observe the involving perspectives of each experience. For a person who doesn't practice martial arts,  this book promises to be a great way to really see deeply into the martial arts world. If you are a well experienced martial artist like myself, you will be able to gather lots of well researched information to help you with your own training.

As this book transitions from methods of training external power into the vast world of internal power, it is sure to help the reader discern fact from fiction. It clearly details what good, solid martial arts is about while addressing the problems with many deceptive teachers. Not only is this book a great read that is worth reading a few times to digest the richness of the information, it is a great contribution to society. As a successor of the traditional martial arts, I often find myself cautious when explaining such powerful and dangerous concepts to a younger generation that hasn't been given guidance morally. Underneath the great writing and well-researched information, this book brings the reader into the understanding of the value of martial arts outside of self-defense. No amount of technology will every replace the need for effort and responsibility. It's my hope that the new generation gets a hold of more great information like this.

Jonathan Bluestein's book is part of the revolution of positive information to combat the superficial skin that society has been dying to shed. Do yourself a favor and pick it up. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take the day with you

Image
My father used to tell me stories about his masters and his master's masters. I remember one about his master Choi, who used to go into the mountains in Korea to train. Inside of a cave he would do a ridiculous work out, thousands of punches and kicks. He mentioned to my dad that he used to punch the wall hundreds of times a day for several years. After years had passed he said that the wall had not changed much aside from the small, smooth groove. But now every time that he hit someone with that punch, they would also feel the wall of the the cave. I don't recommend punching walls for training these days but there is more to the story than that. Every day that you are able to get up and train, you take a part of the day into your technique. The days I train and it's freezing cold I add the frost to my footwork. The days I train in the intense heat I add intensity to my lungs. The days I train in the blinding rain I add clarity to my attack. The days I train when I have no
Read more

Warfox Training Rooms and Missions

Image
In order to meet with the needs of students that are all over the world, I've decided to open the Warfox Training Rooms for FREE  online tutorials.  Check out online tutorials for Soft Body Flowing Baguazhang on my facebook page, "The Warfox Training Room." (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warfox-Training-Room-RJA-%E5%AD%94%E6%9C%89%E6%9C%89/925078367526760) The Warfox Training Room is a free visual training blog with  tips to help people have a better understanding of the physics of this system of combat.  There will be videos on an almost weekly basis to help my online students with their practice from the comfort of their home. The first room is focused on the Heaven Section of training, meaning it is the simple truth of how techniques are used and applied. After students have gained enough Warfox Experience points they will be able to advance to the  Warfox Water Section, which goes deeper into the mechanics, offering even more thorough explanations
Read more

The One Thing

Image
Two years ago I finished learning the movements in the system of Gao Bagua and was very excited to begin my journey of developing. Learning all of the movements is only the beginning of our quest. I have spent all of my recent time refining and perfecting all of the techniques. The sword, spear, footwork, combat, conditioning have all been a daily routine for me in finding my understanding of the art fully. I have mapped out new training techniques and ideas that will revolutionize the way people train or perceive the martial arts. My training has been going very well but progress as always has been slow and steady. I have trained everything that my master showed me. Well, almost everything. There is this one exercise that I just hated practicing. It made every part of me ache so much that I didn't have energy to do the rest of my workout. I have never been a lazy person, but this one exercise just took everything out of me. So every time I have set up my workout schedule for the
Read more