had been able to find a way to engage in violence at a level most martial artists, most people, cannot even dream—without losing his soul.
Because he is both classically trained and the survivor of literally countless all-out confrontations, Rory has the absolute right and responsibility to share his impressions of the difference between theory and application. What works and what will get you killed. What attitudes and illusions are harbored by those of us who don’t have to face the animals who ENJOY hurting, killing, raping, maiming. What is that space? Where do you have to go inside yourself to survive?
I believe that his training, environment, and inclination created a “Perfect Storm” of martial awareness, in which he has attained a kind of clarity about these things that is a hallmark of those on the road to enlightenment. Very few human beings would be willing to pay the price he has paid, or be capable of paying it even if they were willing.
That he is willing to report back what he has learned is an act of love and social responsibility. I have the very highest respect for Rory and what he has to say about the “gap” between martial arts as taught and conceptualized, and survival in the crucible of actual combat. In other words, how he stepped through the fire without being utterly destroyed by the flame.
Meditations on Violence—A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence is not a joke, or a fantasy, or a screed written to salve the ego of some wannabe. I’ve met the men who work with Rory, and they are tough, hard, guys—and they adore him. They know that what he knows, and who he is, has kept them alive to return to their lives and families.
You hold in your hands a document long in incubation, the musings of a modern warrior on a topic central to mankind’s survival since the first dawn.
Can I? And if I can, how? And who will I be? What MUST I be, to protect my life, my values, my family?
There are few questions more important than these.
Here, in these pages, are the results of one man’s quest for answers.
It’s the real thing.
Steven Barnes
Southern California
August 1, 2007
Steven Barnes is a N.Y. Times bestselling novelist and former Kung-Fu columnist for Black Belt magazine.
This is a book about many things and I was helped by many people from many different worlds. Cops and criminals, friends, trainers, authors, and students have all helped with this work—some directly with the manuscript and very, very many with opening my eyes to different parts of the world.
From the world of martial arts: Sensei Mike Moore and Sensei Wolfgang Dill set my foundation. Sensei Dave Sumner introduced me to Sosuishi-ryu, which became my core. Whatever I am as a fighter, Dave created. And Paul McRedmond (Mac)—has carried the torch from there, showing me new depths and urging me toward a purer intention. I can never thank you enough.
From the world of crime and cops, there are too many names. The guys who wore the cuffs taught me as much as the ones who put them on. To the bad guys—thanks for the lessons, now go forth and sin no more. By name—Sgt. Bill Gatzke taught me what it was to be a sergeant; Phil Anderchuk taught me how to plan. C.D. Bishop trusted my judgment. Lt. Inman made me do the parts of the job I hated. Deputy U.S. Marshal J. Jones taught a new level of precision. Thank you all. And most of all, to all CERT members past and present— you’ve always had my back and demanded my best. NPNBW!
Living is one thing, writing it down is something else. Mary Rosenblum taught me that writing well was a skill. With the help of Mike Moscoe Shepherd she had a big hand in turning a barely literate jail guard into something of a writer. I thank them both, but maybe the readers are the ones who should be grateful.
Every new book gets read many times by many people before it ever sees print—so for encouragement, finding the big holes and helping translate things from my special private language into basic human words: Dana Sheets, Riku Ylonen, Jeff Burger, Jim Raistrick, Mark Jones, and Lawrence Kane. Special thanks to Kris Wilder—without your impetuosity, bad timing, and total disregard for my comfort level, this might never have been seen by a publisher. Thanks, pal.
A few cross over—Roz, Sonia Orin Lyris, and Drew learned and taught both and went over the drafts as well.
Thanks to David Ripianzi and Tim Comrie for making this whole manuscript-to-book process so easy. Easy for me, anyway. Making it look easy takes a true professional.
The last part is personal. Through everything, Kami has the immense responsibility of keeping me sane and holding me to my promise to always be one of the good guys. Thanks. No matter how bad it gets, I’ve always been able to look at you and know that on balance the world is a good place.
Lastly, to Norma Joyce Miller. The first steps are the most important. As I promised as a wee child, this first book is for you.
People are weird. They have an almost infinite ability to learn and communicate. At the same time, this amazing ability is used as much for fantasy and entertainment as it is for information and survival. Take, for example, the rhinoceros and the unicorn.
The rhinoceros is a real beast, an animal native to Asia and Africa. It is large, formidable, and familiar to most of us from pictures or visits to the zoo. What do we really know about rhinoceros? Are they grazers or browsers? Do they live in big herds, family groups, or roam the savannah alone? In the movie The Gods Must be Crazy, we learned that the rhinoceros doesn’t like fire and will stamp out a campfire. Is that true? I have no idea. Look at how little we know, and how little we know with confidence, about this beast that really exists and is truly dangerous.
The unicorn derived from the rhinoceros. Over time and distance and by word of mouth, the reality of the rhinoceros slowly changed into the myth of the unicorn. This process has been so powerful that everyone knows many, many facts about the unicorn. It has the beard of a goat, cloven hooves, and a single horn. It kills elephants by impaling and is strong enough to hurl the elephant over its head, yet it can be tamed and captured by a virgin. We know all these “facts” about the unicorn, but there is only one true fact to know:
The unicorn is imaginary.
Unicorns are mythical, yet we know so much about them. The rhinoceros is real and, except for a few experts, we know so little.
There is a parallel between the unicorn and violence. Just as travelers’ tales passing from person to person and place to place and century to century managed to morph the reality of the rhinoceros into the fable of the unicorn, the insular tradition and history of each dojo has morphed a primal understanding of violence into the modern ritual of martial arts. Just as the grey and wrinkled skin of the rhinoceros has become the glossy white coat of the unicorn, the smells, and sounds, and gut-wrenching fear of close-up personal violence has somehow spawned the beautiful cinema of the action adventure movie and the crisp precision of the martial arts.
In today’s world, who are the real experts on violence?
The Priests of Mars. The minute you don a black belt, the minute you step in front of a class to teach, you are seen as
