Teachings of a Grand Master: A Dialogue on Martial Arts and Spirituality

by Richard Behrens

Learn mystical and practical secrets from a martial arts master that can transform every level of your life, in "Teachings of a Grand Master" by Richard Behrens.
Written in the enjoyable style of "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman, "Teachings of a Grand Master" shows you how to find victory in all you do, by following the path of spiritual self-discipline, mind power, and control.
-Gain control over the vast untapped abilities of the mind
-Find out how to win arguments every time
-Follow step-by-step exercises for mental telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and more
-Discover how to be fearless in the face of adversity
-Learn to meet any challenge with keen insight and flawless action
-Martial artists: learn how to use Torishimaru Aiki Jutsu techniques to control your opponents, without the use of physical contact
Richard Behrens is considered one of the foremost martial arts masters in the world. He has trained thousands of people including Wall Street moguls, Islamic generals, movie stars, recording artists, and hand-to-hand combat instructors for the Israeli Army. He is the acknowledged Grand Master of Torishimaru Aiki Jutsu. Now he presents some of his most important knowledge in "Teachings of a Grand Master.
"Designed for regular and constant use, the esoteric ideas in "Teachings of a Grand Master" are not to be hidden away "in case something might happen in the future." You will learn how to achieve success by applying the principles of Behren's powerful martial arts to everyday life, including incorporating them into your business strategy.
You are going to enjoy this delightful, meaningful, and spiritually important book. Get "Teachings of a Grand Master" today.

360 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst books on martial arts I have ever read, written by what appears to be a complete narcissist to boot. The author consistently talks himself up and makes numerous references to pro athletes he has helped dominate their field, of course he never names anyone specific. He provides some very basic meditation information which people unfamiliar with may find useful, but this is lost amongst page after page of pseudoscience claims (examples: trees have a "higher" mind because they do things like move towards sunlight, amputees experience phantom limb syndrome because of a "sheath" or astral body of some kind, and let's not forget about his pioneering work in the world of physics with his Third Law of Gravity (that one's my favorite)).

The author seem blissfully unaware of the intricacies of evolution, neuroscience, epidemiology, physics and other disciplines as he goes on to make further illogical claims using only circumstantial evidence or by citing his previous statements as evidence. A sizable chunk of the book is dedicated to answering all sorts of perplexing problems: how the universe was created, how time works, what scientists don't know about evolution, pretty much everything about past lives, what happens when we die, what the perfect form of government is, how psychologists and psychiatrists could (in theory) heal people in a day, an explanation for the existence of homosexuality, what really causes the common cold (hint: it's not microbes), and how to stop cancer... I mean really I guess it's about time one person stood up and solved all of the world's problems/riddles at once without any formal education to speak of.

Speaking of education, something lacking in this book is any mention of where anything the author learned comes from (martial or otherwise). This is not a good sign for someone with a tenth degree black belt. His esoteric philosophies and terminology seem to stem mostly from Jewish mysticism, which is fine in itself but he continuously presents these ideas as if they are only available through his teachings (I guess he hasn't heard of the Kabbala or is hoping we haven't). Most every topic in the book has it's answer rooted in these mystic ideas, particularly his idea of "higher" and "lower" minds. The author does talk briefly (in the context of how large the book is, he is actually quite verbose) about some unusual martial arts applications such as no contact attacks, leading a persons attack somewhere, and sensing attacks before they occur. Unfortunately, his explanations for techniques are lacking--lots of "send a column of feminine energy (with no mention of how this is done specifically)"--and things like that, so regardless of wether or not you buy into his ideas you're pretty much on your own as far as reproducing them.

I honestly only skimmed the fourth section of the book which is about business. I would not take business advice from a person who makes such ludicrous claims as the author has, and nowhere in the book prior to this section is any evidence that this man operates as much as one successful dojo, let alone has any specific success, skill, or education in business. A google search provides precious little about the author as well, apparently he once had a dojo in Florida, his web page has been out of order for some time, no indication of any measure of success.

Final thoughts: There are two types of people I could see benefiting from this book. Someone who has a narrow mind about martial arts might gain an idea or two about what is possible (sensing and leading attacks are cool skills I have seen employed before for example), the lack of detail, emphasis on mysticism being the solution to everything, self promotion, and utter bullshit that fills the 350 pages of this book leave me to say that I would never actually recommend this book to such a person. The other person this book could be for would be a complete novice in regards to meditation techniques, in which case I would happily point them in the direction of any number of reputable authors on the subject before ever mentioning that this book was once printed. Cheers.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually quite an interesting read,of course anyone who would describe himself as a grand master must arouse suspicion .still there are some good philosophical points raised in the book which make itv worth a quick peruse.If I recall correctly the author tried to take eastern psycho spiritual methods and transplant them into an already existing Jewish philosophy replacing notions like chi and kokyu with Hebraic counterparts .Taken with a pinch if salt it's am interesting enough read .