Book Review: The Overlook Martial Arts Reader

Title: The Overlook Martial Arts Reader

Author: Randy F. Nelson, editor

Publisher: The Overlook Press

Publication Date: 1989

Format: Paperback

Pages: 342, 6 in x 9 in

Cover Price: $14.95; out-of-print, but available on the secondary market

ISBN: 0879514590

Content

The author of The Overlook Martial Arts Reader is Randy F. Nelson, listed on the back cover of the book as a professor of English at Davidson College in North Carolina. He is a student of Tae Kwon Do and also wrote The Martial Arts Index. Sadly, I could not find other information on him pertaining to his martial arts authorship.

The book is a collection of works by authors who fit into three main categories. These include:

“Old” authors: Francis Hawks (1798-1866), EJ Harrison (1883-1971), Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957), Jigoro Kano (1860-1938), Miyamoto Musashi (1582-1645), Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933)

“Modern” authors: Bruce A. Haines, Kurt Singer, Noel Perrin, John Stevens, Herman Kauz, Carl B. Becker, Donald N. Levine, Michel Random

Practitioners: Terry Dobson, T.T. Liang, C.W. Nichol, Eugen Herrigel, Carol R. Murphy, Don Ethan Miller, George Leonard, Ira S. Lerner, Maxine Hong Kingston, Linda Atkinson, Peter Urban, Dave Lowry

Editor Randy F. Nelson opens the book with a 4 ½ page preface. This preface states that the book presents “some of the authoritative texts from the disparate martial arts, rather than an artificially ‘unified’ story.”. He also includes short biographies for each author prior to including their materials.

Pros

This book, which was succeeded by a second volume by Dr John Donahue, contains a diverse set of readings. By including authors like Hawks, Harson, and Hearn, it features commentary by some of the earliest Western observers of East Asian martial arts culture and practice. The book also includes some useful content. For example, professor Funakoshi’s entries are probably my favorites by an “old master”. Similarly, excerpts from EJ Harrison are probably my favorite by an “old” author. Terry Dobson’s story about not using aikido is my favorite by a practitioner.

Cons

After comparing this book to the second volume (which I will review next), I conclude that this collection does not succeed in its stated goal. When you compare the authors listed in this volume with those in volume 2, you immediately realize the multiple omissions. It is difficult to imagine that a book claiming to represent the martial arts only includes writings by masters like Kano, Funakoshi, and Musashi. I hope that including the full contributor list, divided by practice, makes this point clear.

Conclusion

I give this book 3 out of 5 ninja stars.

I would pass on this volume. There is nothing especially compelling about the collection to warrant buying it, despite online positive reviews to the contrary. I recommend interested readers consult the second volume, reviewed elsewhere.

Check out my other book reviews here on Martial Journal.

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Richard Bejtlich

Richard took his first martial arts classes in judo, karate, boxing, and combatives as a cadet at the US Air Force Academy in 1990, and continued practicing several styles until 2001. He resumed training in 2016 by practicing within the Krav Maga Global system, earning Graduate 1 rank. Richard now studies Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with Team Pedro Sauer. Richard is married and has two daughters, and as a cybersecurity professional he helps organizations find and remove computer hackers. Richard is co-author, with Anna Wonsley, of the book Reach Your Goal: Stretching and Mobility Exercises for Fitness, Personal Training, and Martial Arts.

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