Book review

Marc Rowe sent this review from the Asian Journal of Martial Arts.

Meditations 0n Violence:A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence by Rory MillerYMAA Publication Center 2008, 181pp. 6" x 9"ISBN 978-1-59439-118-7 paperback. $18.95Available from:YMAA Publishing Center P.O. Box 480Wolfeboro, NH 03894 USA Tol1-free: (800) 669.8892www.ymaa.comReview by John. Donohue. Ph.D. D'YouviUe University:YRory
Miller's Meditations on Violence is a serious, unflinching look at the realities of violent human confrontation. Its stark, accurate analysis of the multidi­mensional character of violence serves as a brutally frank critique of the fantasies and suppositions most people~specially martial artists-hold about fighting. The book is a must read for martial artists who are serious enough and honest enough to ask tough ques­tions about themselves, their arts, and real fighting.Any committed martial artist should ask him or herself: how much of what I do is martial and how much is art? It's an important question because it can lead to a better notion of who you are, what you're up to, and why. Rory Miller's book takes a cold-eyed look at the dynamics of real vio­lence and, in the process, strips away the most cherished fantasy of dojo warriors everywhere that our disciplines are involved with making us capable of confronting the chaos of human violence.This is not a comforting book to read. Miller has tremendous experience confronting human violence. A veteran corrections officer, martial artist and leader of a Corrections Emergency Response Team, his observations, analyses and opinions will chal­lenge all martial artists to rethink their assessment of the martial element in their arts. Miller's book is based on personal reflec­tion, fighting experience, and objective analysis that are grounded in a reality few of us will ever glimpse. He clearly and con­vincingly demonstrates the limi­tations and delusions inherent in various approaches to dealing with violence. Whether we train as boxers, UFC fighters, or in a classic dojo, each approach limits itself to one small portion of the huge spectrum of human vio­lence. Violence, as the author cautions us, is big, complex, and dangerous. No one system can really cope.The author does a nice job of walking readers through these complexities: physiological issues, psychological and social influences, assumptions and beliefs. He lays bare just how challenging it can be to respond to actual events, not the simulated play­acting or set piece drills so com­mon in much of martial arts train­ing.Miller succinctly critiques the training assumptions in most mar­tial arts systems and briefly out­lines a training blueprint for real­istic preparation. It includes not only knowledge of the legal rami­fications of violent conflict, per­sonal decisions about a willing­ness to fight, and operant condi­tioning, for example, to develop a small number of counter attacks to assault, but also training in thepost-event consequences of vio­lence. Only such a comprehen­sive approach can even approach preparing people for violent assault and response.I have long maintained that martial arts are widely misunder­stood by practitioners and non­practitioners alike. They are physical arts, true. They are inspired by fighting techniques of varying types. They involve us physically, mentally, and emo­tionally. But they are largely ritu­al, symbolic acts that help us define ourselves and help us craft stories about bravery, endurance, and the triumph of good over evil. Think of it as something analo­gous to a roller coaster ride: phys­ically and emotionally involving, even scary, but safe. True violence is not riding a rolIer coaster, it's more like being trapped in a car that's run out of control and is about to plunge off a cliff. At the end of a ride on a rolIer coaster, you go get ice cream. At the end of a ride in a runaway car, you're dead. There's a big difference. Rory Miller's insights may come from a different perspective, but they make the same point.And here is the real value of this book: it clearly outlines for the reader the ultimately evil nature of violence and the toll it takes on the humanity of predator and victim alike. It prompts us to ask ourselves how (and whether) we will be able to confront such an evil should it befall us.Toward the end of the book, Miller says that there are people in our communities who routine­ly deal with the wild beast of vio­lence. It takes a toll, but they do it so the rest of don't have to. They carry the baggage of the rhi­noceros, he maintains, so the restof us can believe in unicorns.This martial artist is grate­ful for the service of people like Rory Miler and the insights his book provides.