Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence - Softcover

Miller, Rory

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1594391181 ISBN 13: 9781594391187

Publisher: YMAA Publication Center, 2008

Synopsis

Examining the Gap Between Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence.

Experienced martial artist and veteran correction officer Sgt. Rory Miller (RET) distills what he has learned from jailhouse brawls, tactical operations and ambushes to explore the differences between martial arts and the subject martial arts were designed to deal with: Violence.

Section One: The Matrix. Introduces the myths, metaphors and expectations that most martial artists have about what they will ultimately learn in their dojo. This is then compared with the complexity of the reality of violence. Complexity is one of the recurring themes throughout this work.

Section Two: How To Think. Examines how to think critically about violence, how to evaluate sources of knowledge and clearly explains the concepts of strategy and tactics.

Sections Three and Four: Violence and Predators. Focuses on the dynamics of violence itself and the predators who perpetuate it. Drawing on hundreds of encounters and thousands of hours spent with criminals Sgt. Miller explains the types of violence; how, where, when and why it develops; the effects of adrenaline; how criminals think, and even the effects of drugs and altered states of consciousness in a fight.

Section Five: Training. Centers on training for violence, and adapting your present training methods to that reality. It discusses the pros and cons of modern and ancient martial arts training and gives a unique insight into early Japanese kata as a military training method.

Section Six: Making Physical Defense Work. Is all about how to make self-defense work. Miller examines how to look at defense in a broader context, and how to overcome some of your own subconscious resistance to meeting violence with violence.

Section 7: Aftermath. Deals with the aftermath—the cost of surviving sudden violence or violent environments, how it can change you for good or bad. It gives advice for supervisors and even for instructors on how to help a student/survivor. You may even learn a bit about enlightenment.

This book will change your perception of the world, martial arts and violence.

About this title

About the Author

Rory Miller is a writer and teacher living peacefully in the Pacific Northwest.

He has served for seventeen years in corrections as an officer and sergeant working maximum security, booking and mental health; leading a tactical team; and teaching subjects ranging from Defensive Tactics and Use of Force to First Aid and Crisis Communications with the Mentally Ill. For fourteen months he was an advisor to the Iraqi Corrections System working in Baghdad and Kurdish Sulaymaniyah. Somewhere in the midst of that he received a BS degree in Psychology; served in the National Guard as a Combat Medic (91A/B); earned college varsities in judo and fencing and received a mokuroku in jujutsu. He has drunk chichu with reformed cannibals and 18-year-old scotch with generals...and loves long sword fights on the beach.

Edition details

• Publisher: YMAA Publication Center
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594391181
• ISBN 13: 9781594391187
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 202