Mike's comments (member since Mar 05, 2009)

Mike's comments from the Martial Arts group.

Goran - When is your next book coming out?

Goran - I'm glad you enjoyed Ronin.

To me, the most important aspect in finding a school was the instructor. I have seen many different styles and dojos. Each has had their merits and draw backs.

The single greatest fault I have found, at times, with instructors and schools is ego. Ego in a sense of being superior to every other martial arts style and there being nothing to learn of value from anyone but that one instructor (or style). I know of some schools in my area that would consider it disloyal if you even sat in on a practice with another style. To me, this is closed minded and unacceptable.

My instructor takes the opposite attitude and that is what drew me into his school. He is remarkably humble for a guy that has been studying martial arts for over 20 years and has obtained 3rd degree in 2 disciplines. He will even ask that his adult students (at least us in our 30s -40s+) call him by his first name and not Sensei. Geez...we have been trying to get him to design a patch for the school for years but he won't do it out of respect for his teacher. At least 4-5 times a year he will have in instructors in another style so we can see and learn from a discipline outside of our own.

There is that old saying “when the student is ready the teacher will appear." While it is a bit hackneyed, it was true in my case.

If I could sum up my advice...first, find a good person to train with...then worry about the style.

Across the Nightingale Floor was very good...the whole series was pretty solid.

My challenge with a fiction list is that I always find the non-fiction books about the martial arts experience to be better than the fiction. American Shaolin by Matthew Polly, Sword and Brush by Dave Lowry and Waking Dragons are among my favorites.

One fiction title that is among my all time favorite books is Ronin: A Novel Based on a Zen Myth by William Dale Jennings