White Belt: The Preposterous True Story of One Man’s Journey to the Heart of Combat Sports

by Ben Wilson

The preposterous true story of one man's journey to the heart of combat sports. After years of being picked on and being bullied as a child and then through to adulthood, Ben Wilson had finally had enough. Throwing himself into the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, one of the world's most effective combat systems, seemed to be the solution. There was just one to win even a fraction of self-respect, he'd have to get repeatedly beaten up by the exact kind of giants he feared in his everyday life. What follows, however, is a story of hilarity, hubris, despair and resurrection as Wilson attempts to exorcise the demons of his childhood in pursuit of self-renewal.

Ben Wilson is a multiple award-winning journalist, whose accolades include British magazine Writer of the Year.

167 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 22, 2019

Reviews

[Chris Godfrey]

Outstanding

This is a brief but phenomenal book that I have just stumbled across as a white belt myself, about to compete for the first time. Sure it's laugh out loud funny, but the deeply personal recollections and realisations will stay with me for a long time.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to give it 1-2 stars because I was annoyed I was reading a book about a white belt talking about why he's shit. But by the end I was rooting for the guy.