A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting by Sam Sheridan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The only way a fighter could truly suffer is not fighting" Ryu Street Fighter Alpha 3. I know this quote is from a video game but it has always stuck with me and I think it sums up the message in the book brilliantly; also I love that game almost as much as I like this book. This book is excellent. It ticks all the boxes the subject is excellent, why people fight, excellent research from fighters, teacher, and even philosophers, covering the topic from all angles.

Sam Sheridan graduated from Harvard. This could have probably have gotten him any white colour job he wanted. In fairness he tried many jobs but they did not take. He boxed a bit in Harvard and "fell in love at first punch". The book follows his journey of discovering the different fighting arts from around the world. From Hard combat fighting arts like Mau Thai, to soft arts like Tai Chi.

The thing that made this book special is Sam really immersed himself in each art. Studying it months at a time, and managing to meet and train with some of the best trainers and practitioners in each art. As Sam says in the after words this book is for people like him who love training and fighting. Even though it will never be a career for most of us, but we are still willing to dedicate most of our time and energy to it.

He talks about the mental and as well as the physical needs of a fighters in a positive light. Now with the impressions of MMA and educating people about martial arts this book is great to anyone wanting a greater understanding into the fighting world or the technical aspects of martial arts. The difference in perceptions of fighter and martial artists can be summed up in one line of this book. "People though this book would be a hard sell, as fighter don't read books". If thems not fighting words what is? Great book get it enjoy it, learn from it and prove the uneducated wrong. On a side note there is a nice story about Paul Walker (R.I.P) in the second last chapter of the book.

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