chimerical tortoise wrote:Bhassler wrote:Awareness Through Movement - Moshe Feldenkrais
Drills - Rory Miller
Intervention - Dan John
All of the above could be read with an eye towards process, rather than specifics.
I really liked Meditations on Violence for a sensible framework on what motivates people to learn martial arts. I haven't read Drills yet... so pardon the ignorance but what do you mean by 'process rather than specifics'?
It means you don't have to do Rory's drills, or agree with Rory's take on things-- what's important is that he has a series of drills that are all designed for specific purposes and fit together to take students through a progression of self-learning that has a consistent outcome. Look at the structure of what he's doing and the underlying logic, and then determine if there's anything useful for you, or if you can use the structure to inspire your own drills.
For Awareness Through Movement, the lessons, etc in the book are great, and folks should do them, but also look at the structure. Again, it's an insight into how to direct folks towards self-learning.
Dan John's stuff is focused towards strength training, but once again he has a very clear and effective thought process, and includes a lot of tools for thinking about measures and assessments.
I haven't picked up RobP's book, yet, but expect it will be thought provoking, and based on the great stuff Rob's posted here over the years, have no hesitation recommending it to anyone. I'm also looking forward to BruceP's book, when it eventually comes out.
I read the previews on Amazon of Jonathon's book, and at least the early chapters had more to do with the cultural artifacts of running a school where folks have hierarchical expectations and attachments around Asian martial arts than around any actual teaching (that's not a criticism-- for many people, those artifacts are a big part of the experience). I think Dr. Fish was working on some books about martial arts, and I suspect that those would prove eye-opening to folks who are interested in the culture and traditions associated with CMA before it became westernized and/or commercialized. That's pure speculation on my part, and may require reading between the lines-- but Dr. Fish has made no secret of the fact that much of what's commonly portrayed with regards to old school training is patently false.