Title: Jonathan Bluestein’s Research of Martial Arts
Author: Jonathan Bluestein
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publish Date: 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 418
Cover Price: $36.00
Content
Jonathan Bluestein’s Research of Martial Arts is a giant compendium of martial arts theory, discussion, and knowledge.
The first section delves deep into the practice and performance of martial arts. Though broadly focused on the martial arts as a whole, respect is given to many individual styles. You’ll find information drawing from the external arts and internal arts, Asian methods and Western methods, and even various pedagogical approaches.
The second section is focused on the philosophical and the psychological. Understand that Jonathan Bluestein takes every aspect of martial arts quite seriously and when he covers a subject, he is going to give you the full, fair scope on it. Yes, there is writing on meditation, proper mentality, and the artistic sides of training. At the same time, he also gives coverage to the psychology of combat, aggression, and violent acts.
The third, and final, section is entirely comprised of interviews with various martial art masters. They talk of their style(s), teachers, perspectives on the martial arts, and much more. It is a deep dive into the mentality of a master and what made them great as well as what inspires them to become greater.
Pros
The beginning of the book states that everything written between the covers has meaning. After finishing my first read-through, I have to concur—the prose of each chapter feels very purposeful and seems to guide you into thinking deeper about its contents. The amount of heart stuffed inside the large book is enormous!
Jonathan Bluestein’s Research of Martial Arts presents many different approaches the various arts take to applications and training and treats them all fairly. While you can tell he has preferences and deeply enjoys the Eastern Internal arts, you can also tell he doesn’t disregard an idea simply because it is occidental or External.
Case and point, at times you can read a passage about Taiji principles and theory and the next passage can point you towards studying the works of security specialists such as Gavin de Becker.
The contents of Research of Martial Arts are akin to something you may hear in a personal session with a master, the type of info rarely found in published works.
Perspective and knowledge. Those are two of the biggest things a person can draw from the over four-hundred page book. Each interview in the third part is respectful and considerate, however, interviewed masters occasionally had differing perspectives and approaches.
The well educated practitioner has to also be appreciative of other methods in order to be truly intelligent. To neglect others is to reject a study into yourself and what you do. Jonathan Bluestein’s Research of Martial Arts gives a view of Japanese, Okinawan, and Chinese arts. It looks at everything from the external approach, the internal approach, the hard, and the soft. There is much repeat readability in this.
The knowledge presented can easily extend further than the book as well thanks to a very large bibliography in the back of the book, illuminating a path so that you can research the martial arts just as Jonathan Bluestein did.
In reading the entirety of Research of Martial Arts, you get a sense of celebration. One can tell that Jonathan Bluestein devoted much of himself to the study of martial arts and has learned a lot from many different teachers. It is because of this that he is able to write endlessly on the subject. There is a feeling of gratitude and enjoyment that comes from each page. I’m sure many of us can relate.
At the end of the day, many of us come to the martial arts with wonder, excitement, and earnestness. Over the years, though, those feeling can dull due to a myriad of issues. Other passions, work, family problems, martial art politics, and burnout can begin to bury those child-like feelings of indulgence we used to have in our arts. But that feeling never stays stifled.
Passion projects such as this book can definitely help shake the cobwebs off a stale heart for the martial arts.
Cons
The only fault that I found in the book were some grammar mistakes. These didn’t detract from the content, however. When an error popped up, it was clearly a typo, repeated word, or slightly mixed-up phrase. Simple mistakes, not nescience.
Conclusion
Jonathan Bluestein’s Research of Martial Arts is a wonderfully deep dive into the martial arts and maintains respect for every
art, oriental or occidental. Filled with heart and loaded with knowledge, you can go through many re-reads and still come out with something new to think about. Though there are some grammatical mistakes, they seem quite insignificant when measured against how many things the book gets right.
This is one of the rare books that I would rate 5 out of 5 ninja stars! To say I was deeply impressed is quite the understatement.
Jonathan Bluestein has also acted as a contributor to Martial Journal. You can read his exclusive articles here!
Have you read the book? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment below.
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