“The Students Guide to Surviving a Traditional Dojo” is the long awaited first book from Matthew Apsokardu, the martial artist behind the very popular Ikigai: Blogging the Martial Way website. Given the quality of content in his blog and the high standard of his writing I was expecting to get the same from his book and I wasn’t disappointed in this respect. From start to finish the book is extremely well written in Matt’s characteristic clear and concise style and is refreshingly free from any kind of pretension or author ego, two things which plague a lot of martial arts books.
So what about the content? Well the thing that stands out here is the very practical nature of the advice being given within the ninety-five pages that go to make up the book. The book is aimed pretty squarely at people who have just started out in martial arts or who are thinking of beginning martial arts, although that’s not to say experienced martial artists won’t pick up a few pointers from within these pages. Speaking for myself, I learned quite a bit from it, especially the section on keeping the beginners mindset for advanced students which explained the concept of Shuhari, a system of learning that ensures practitioners stay in a constant growth phase, as opposed to standing forever on a plateau, something I shall keep in mind from now on while doing my own training.
As already mentioned, for anyone just starting in martial arts or, for anyone who is thinking of starting, the book has a lot to offer them. Matt does a great job of explaining the basics of martial arts, right from what to expect when you first enter the dojo and how to conduct yourself while you are there, right up to the basics of fighting and sparring and what to expect from these activities. Nothing is left out here, and best of all the information is clearly laid out in bite-sized, easily digestible chunks that are easy to read and take in. From a beginner’s point of view, long-winded explanations and overly technical language would have been disastrous for a book such as this. Its inevitable success will surely come from the fact that it is so easy to read but still manages to cover all topics in a pretty in-depth manner, a sign of any good guide.
To round the book of Matt invited martial artists from around the world to answer this question: What is your best piece of advice for surviving long-term training? A varied and knowledgeable group of martial artists gave answers to this question, providing the book with a closing chapter full of good and practical advice for all martial artists to ruminate on and learn from. A very fine end to a very fine book.
Overall Matt has done a great job with producing and publishing his first book (the fact that it’s free is all the better!) and he should be congratulated on the very professional and stylish way he has done so. The book is filled with photos and quality illustrations that not only complement the text very well but also contribute worthwhile information in themselves.
What more is there to say, except go to Matt’s site and grab yourself a copy now! Did I mention it was free as well?!
If you like this post, be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed and claim your free e-book.
