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THE WAY OF THE MARTIAL ARTISTS
Achieving Success in Martial Arts and in Life!
By Kevin Brett
The Way of the Martial Artist
Achieving Success in Martial Arts and in Life!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Back Cover Text:
Everything for the Complete Martial Artist
Success in anything begins with a dream, but to achieve that dream you must first adopt a mindset for success. Parents, this book will help you help your child get the most out of their martial arts training. Adults, develop your own black belt determination. Leverage your existing qualities and talents into a toolset for success that can positively change every aspect of your life. With commitment and determination, anything is attainable!
- Supplement your dojo training with new knowledge, skills, techniques, strategies and life lessons.
- Understand how to combine your newly improved skills and strategy on the street, in the ring, or on the battlefield.
- Develop strength, inner-harmony and excellence in martial arts and in everything you pursue!
- Find your passion and pursue it with the same techniques all successful people use to achieve your own endless string of life successes!
- Includes a framework for success that explains the five key elements of success and puts them to work with seventeen success strategies that are essential to achieving your goals.
- Answers to questions that all martial artists ask during their quest for excellence, purpose and enlightenment.
- Learn what it means to mature into a servant-warrior (even if you are not a martial artist) whose focus is on serving a purpose greater than yourself – Chivalry is not dead!
- Detailed seven-level framework for martial arts study with essential skills in everything from close-quarters combat to wilderness survival, first aid, grappling and weapons to techniques of camouflage, concealment and character development. Every warrior needs these skills, but most martial artists don’t even know they’re lacking them!
Learn how to develop a determined black belt mindset to enrich your life as a martial artist and a human being and excel at both. Join the ranks of warriors throughout history who not only mastered their art, but found ways to serve a cause greater than themselves. Through martial arts, your potential for human
development is unlimited.
BOOK REVIEWS
This exciting new book by martial artist and instructor Kevin Brett has received critical acclaim from numerous noted martial artists and authors of martial arts books. Below is a small sample of some of these reviews:
“I remember when I first started training in a traditional martial art, Shotokan Karate, and I went to the book store to find literature on the martial arts. There was not a lot out there except for books on techniques. This is the book that I was looking for at that time, and is a wonderful summary of the different aspects of the martial arts. I think that this book is absolutely a great book for anyone who is just starting out or who is interested in checking into the martial arts. It covers virtually all aspects of the martial arts - mental, physical and spiritual.
Kevin Brett even covers things which most people don't think of as part of the martial arts, such as wilderness survival. True balanced martial arts are about survival, period, and Mr. Brett shows that he understands this by integrating such things as wilderness survival information and first aid into his book.
His book is very comprehensive and covers subjects that you don't ordinarily find in most martial arts books. It is a great summary, especially for the beginning martial artist, and serves as a refresher for some of us experienced martial artist. I believe that you will find a lot of useful information in this book, from martial arts history to the esoteric meaning behind some of the martial arts terms.
The Way of the Martial Artist is both motivational and educational...It is the kind of book that you would expect if Chuck Norris and Wayne Dyer co-authored a book together. Thumbs up! “
Bohdi Sanders
Author of Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior and Warrior Wisdom: The Heart and Soul of Bushido
“There are some people that treat the practice of martial arts like any other hobby or exercise class. It is something to do a couple times a week. Then there are those of us that the study, practice, and teaching of martial arts means so much more. Regardless of the specific art or discipline, regardless of the country of origin of the art, to some of us, being a martial artist and studying our respective martial arts is not a hobby or pastime, but a part of who we are.
From reading Kevin Brett's "The Way of the Martial Artist: Achieving Success in Martial Arts and in Life" it is obvious that Kevin Brett falls into this category of practitioners. Brett is a martial artist, not a hobbyist. His martial study has helped shaped who he is and has provided him with a vehicle to succeed in many areas of life, not just the physical skills of punching and kicking.
I enjoyed the book and found myself agreeing with Kevin on many points. In the Preface, Kevin wrote that he does not know all that he would like about the topics in this book, and that they require further study by all of us. I think this is an extremely important point, especially since this book while mentioning many important topics does not go into great depth regarding them. I do believe the points he makes on these topics are good ones, but there is so much more to study and learn. I feel Kevin knows this, and that's why I think his book is an excellent roadmap pointing towards things that must be studied further to improve not only one's martial abilities but one's life in general. This is a great introduction pointing toward areas to study further.
I think the book will wet the appetite for many readers who will then continue their study further by seeking out history texts and other books to broaden their knowledge on the history and traditions of not only their respective arts, but hopefully other historic warrior traditions and various martial art styles as well.
One should ensure they are incorporating all of the elements Kevin writes about into their own training and study. Many concepts or skills that he briefly describes in a few paragraphs can be further studied with various instructors or entire books just on that concept. For example, Kevin has about a page of text devoted to the concept of "timing." This is a very important concept when training in the fighting arts, and Kevin provided a short explanation on why it is important. I would hope the reader using this book as a map would then seek out further instruction on this concept through instructors or the excellent book on the topic by my friends Loren Christensen and Wim Demeere, "Timing In The Fighting Arts." That is just one area of many where you can use this book by Kevin Brett as a catalyst toward further study.
Chapter four, Spirit and Excellence, shows that Brett's study and journey as a martial artist consists of more than just learning physical techniques and readers who also want to be complete martial artists can follow by learning from Kevin, because some of the concepts he discusses in this chapter are the most important elements of warriorship and becoming a martial artist. Integrity and Honor beat technical skill as worthy goals any day.
Chapter five, Success For Life, provides some good advice on setting and achieving goals, both with your martial art training and other areas of your life. Kevin stresses balance and I think that is extremely important as well.
Appendix A is a framework for martial arts study that could be modified and adapted to help fulfill various training goals.
Overall I enjoyed this book and feel that Kevin Brett and I would get along great due to our sharing of what a martial artist is and how training in the arts can effect your entire life in a positive way. There were times while I was reading this text that I thought to myself, "I have not trained or taught that concept for quite a while, I need to work that into a lesson." I recommend you get it, read it, and incorporate the lessons and information into your training today. It is a worthy book for any martial artist to read, and I think if you incorporate everything Kevin mentions in this book into your own training and life, you can't help but be a better martial artist and lead a more successful positive life. “
Alain Burrese
Author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks and the dvds: Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer.
“Think of The Way of the Martial Artist as a treasure chest of golden nuggets, each one valuable by itself, but together add up to a mother lode. The nuggets in this case are the many critical elements in the martial arts that every practitioner must master.
Kevin Brett writes about these nuggets under several headers that span the martial arts: Origins and Traditions, Skill and Training, Strategy and Tactics, Spirit and Excellence, and Success for Life. Under each of these, he writes on an array of principles and concepts that every martial artist, veteran and white belt, must know to be the best he or she can be.
At first blush, I thought the author might have tried to cover too vast a field in 225 pages, since nearly any one nugget is worthy of a book. But upon closer examination, it's clear that that wasn't his intention at all. Instead, he has miraculously accomplished three things: he covers just enough to tweak the interest of the reader to investigate a subject further; he informs the uninformed that the subject exists and that it's critical to martial arts excellence; and he tweaks the memory of those who know about them but might have grown rusty on certain aspects or have forgotten about them entirely.
Think of this book as a quick guide to all aspects of the fighting arts. Or, think of it as a book that you can use for reflecting on any given subject and/or as a basis to develop a solo workout or a class workout.
As a guy who has been training, teaching and writing about the martial arts since 1965, I found a wealth of information in this book that I had either forgotten about, had never considered in the first place, had only a partial understanding of, and want to explore further.
Highly recommended. “
Loren W. Christensen
Author of over 40 books (25 of them on the martial arts) and instructor in 7 martial arts DVDs.
“For the most part black belts are ordinary people who have made extraordinary commitments to their martial arts. Along the journey to earning our rank we tend to pick up far more than mere fighting techniques, discovering important life skills, enhanced self-esteem, boundless confidence, and inner strength along the way. These character traits, things like determination, patience, balance, humility, respect, service, and compassion, are the hallmarks that distinguish accomplished martial artists from run-of-the-mill hooligans and street thugs. Kevin Brett is one of those rare individuals who truly "gets it," articulating a framework that can help the newest beginner or the most experienced practitioner make the most of their martial journey, learning not only how to succeed in acquiring warrior skills and mindset, but also how to become successful in all aspects of their lives.
The Way of the Martial Artist is an interesting and useful tome. More than merely a technique book, it is a comprehensive framework for understanding, utilizing, and achieving excellence in martial arts. The contents are incredibly wide-reaching, covering everything from punching and kicking to wilderness survival, from self-reliance to tea ceremony, and everything in-between in a style agnostic way that will prove valuable for serious practitioners of any system or style. For example, the sections on visualization, timing, distance, speed, reaction, balance, posture, movement, footwork, breathing, focus, and awareness are universal, important aspects of every martial art.
More than just a martial artist, the author is the CEO of a successful business as well as an experienced outdoorsman and survivalist. He has taught martial arts and self defense classes for more than twenty years, numbering law enforcement officers and military personnel amongst his students. I really like his non-nonsense approach. As we can see from his appendix on framework for martial arts study it is one that focuses on realistic and practical applications. He has written an informative, interesting and useful book that I wholeheartedly recommend. “
Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults and Martial Arts Instruction; co-author of The Way of Kata, The Way to Black Belt, and The Little Black Book of Violence
Book Details:
Author: Kevin L. Brett
Foreword by: Shawn Kovacich
Paperback: 242 pages
Publisher: Kevin Brett Studios, Incorporated
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0981935001
ISBN-13: 978-0981935003
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
Price: $16.00
For excerpts: Preface, Introduction, Table of Contents or purchasing go to
www.KevinBrettStudios.com
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