Title: Philosophy of Fighting
Author: Keith Vargo
Publisher: Black Belt Books
Publish Date: 12/04/08
Format: Paperback
Pages: 232
Cover Price: $16.95
Content
Keith Vargo’s Philosophy of Fighting is a very unique treasure to add to the book collection. The book itself is a compilation of the many “Way of the Warrior” columns Vargo has written for the famed Black Belt Magazine. Open Philosophy of Fighting and you can expect to find many gems within the over a hundred collected columns.
Topics range from psychoanalysis of the warrior ideal, Hindu epics, Balintawak history, no-holds-bared fighting tournaments, and much more. Even as a short read with fewer than three hundred pages, there is plenty of information to indulge in.
Pros
As should be expected from a compilation of magazine columns, readers get a deep dive into the author’s unadulterated mind. This makes for a very engaging read. Transforming the written words on the page into something akin to a conversation between two martial art classmates.
When you read the author’s words, you realize something extremely important; he is a passionate and appreciative martial artist quite like you. Even if you don’t have the same interest in fighting that Vargo has, his passion is infectious. Pulling you into the pages regardless. Beyond that, the depth of which he examines everything brings to light many ideas all martial artists can benefit from hearing.
Even something as innocuous as questioning what the martial arts of the next century will look like proves to be an interesting read. Offering a different perspective on your current training.
Vargo is a martial arts writer with fighting experience in the ring and he makes sure that his thoughts and ideas are backed up by personal experience and plenty of musing. This is simply an experienced and honest martial artist giving his profound thoughts on martial matters.
Cons
Due to this being a collection of column pieces, each subject is only touched on for roughly a page or two. While Vargo does give plenty of knowledge with each page and there are even a few columns with a designated follow-up piece, the limited length of each article can be seen as a positive or negative depending on what the reader desires.
If you want bite sized nuggets of martial art history and wisdom, you have certainly come to the right place. If you expect this tome to be a comprehensive deep dive into every subject, I recommend tempering your expectations a bit.
Conclusion
I give it four and a half ninja stars out of five!
Overall, this compilation of martial art columns makes for an excellent read filled with many treasures of knowledge, history, and personal experience. The columns are brief but the ideas they present give you more than enough to meditate on for a good long while.
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