I just perused Jamie Clubb’s book, “Mordred’s Victory & Other Martial Mutterings.”
If you want to read a book that causes you to ponder, question, and investigate the broad variables of martial arts, then Jamie Clubb’s book fits the bill. Don’t expect to agree with everything Jamie says. He is going to shake up some of your core martial art beliefs.
Jamie begins his book with a reference to the epic medieval poem, Le Morte d’Arthurv, where King Arthur battles his treacherous son, Mordred, who has tried to usurp his throne; a tale he uses as a comparison to the two types of fighters in our modern world today.
In my opinion, however, the more relevant tale is that of the very studious and curious martial arts enthusiast, Jamie Clubb.
Jamie began his life in a traveling circus and grew up in a business that trained and supplied animals to the media industry. Later, in his exploration of his martial art interest, he created the UK’s first extreme professional wrestling production using martial arts as its theme.
Jamie’s circus life, along with his lifelong robust martial arts study and practice, give him an unwavering voice. For instance, he started to recognize self-protection ideas as a specialized approach to martial arts, as he transitioned from circus life into martial artist and writer. His thoughts on training children, though criticized by martial arts communities, were approved by anti-bullying experts.
His opinions are steadfast and worthy of consideration.
The book is separated into four sections that explore Jamie’s belief system: martial mutterings; self-protection; reality training for children; and training: fit for a purpose. Each section explores Jamie’s fascination with martial arts history, culture, and diversity, and reveals his opinions on such topics as combat sports, competition, street-fighting techniques, handling opponents, and using voice as a weapon. He integrates many lessons from his experiences with the animal kingdom such as the defensive warning sounds, like a kiai, and taking cover as a natural response, which is a perspective not readily seen elsewhere.
Jamie’s reflections on grappling and MMA are a bit contentious in today’s world and anything contentious usually draws the reader to contemplate his own values and opinions. I’d say Jamie Clubb provides you with that opportunity, and more.
To pull his final thoughts together, Jamie explores the core martial arts beliefs and values of respect, awareness, courage, discipline, and open-mindedness. His biggest strength is the blend of his life experiences with his martial art training, and that is how he defines his beliefs and theories.
I want to thank Jamie for allowing me the opportunity to reflect on some of his musings. Digging deep into his life-long lessons and sharing a strong, opinionated basis for martial arts conjecture, is Jamie’s excellent purpose. I assure you, you will have a lot to think about when you are done reading “Mordred’s Victory & Other Martial Mutterings.”
Andrea
Jamie’s links:
http://ex-l-ence.com/Mordreds-Victory.php
Andrea’s links:
https://www.facebook.com/themartialartswoman
http://www.themartialartswoman.com/personalized-life-coaching/
Ossu! Thanks for reviewing this! I’m curious about the “reality training for children” – a part of me says kids have a better idea of what’s really going down in the schools than adults often do, so yeah, go ahead and tell it like it is. But then another part of me wants to pull that back and squeak, “but do they really need to be exposed to X, Y, and Z?” I’ll put this on my list to read 🙂
This book is opinionated, whether that is good or bad, is up to you. It is very interesting from all perspectives.