Like all of Lowry's books, this is easily worth the price. I never read his columns in Black Belt Magazine, but have read all of his other books, apart from the Bokken text, several times. His style is such that I find myself returning time and again to the same piece to glean something new that I either missed from a lack of interest in the particular point, or an inability at the time to grasp the profundity of the observation.
I received this book yesterday, and read it all in one sitting (actually more of a laying on the couch). In seventy-two very short essays, most about two pages long, Lowry provides a humorous, philosophical and high observant window into the martial arts history and practice. Every article was worth reading twice.
My only complaint regards the silly accompanying illustrations. I don't know if they were part of the magazine version, but they are hideous and so ugly as to be distracting. I am not sure that I could have done the same while holding the pen between my toes, but it would be close! Jaimie Filer is the illustrator, and I certainly (honestly) don't want to hurt any feelings, but I found them more appropriate for a kid's book; not exactly a good editorial match for Lowry's subject matter. Other than that almost inconsequential point I have to heartily recommend this book with the rest of his corpus. Enjoy!
I've read Dave Lowry's column, The Karate Way, for years. It's one of the few things in Black Belt, or any other magazine for that matter, that I'm sure I'll find illuminating and am rarely disappointed. This book is a collection of 70 of Lowry's best columns from the last ten years all in one place. His essays cover just about everything related to traditional martial arts or related Asian culture. Topics are both broad and deep, including the benefits and hazards of martial arts training, budo teaching traditions, lifelong learning in martial arts, profiles of ancient and modern budo masters, tenets of the martial ways, dojo ethics, history, and techniques/applications. If you enjoy Mr. Lowry's columns as much as I have yet have not kept copies over the years, here's a phenomenal opportunity to own the best of the lot.
Lawrence Kane
Author of 'Martial Arts Instruction' and 'The Way of Kata'
