New Book: Philosophy and the Martial Arts

[DAYoung]

G'day folks,

Just a quick note to say that my new book, Philosophy and the Martial Arts: Beating and Nothingness, is now out in the US. Hopefully it'll get to the UK, Europe, Asia and Australasia by Christmas.

It's written for a general audience, as part of Open Court's 'Philosophy and Popular Culture' series. There are several essays on the Japanese martial arts - including my own - and others on boxing, fencing, mixed martial arts and Kung Fu.

For those e-minded, it's also available on Kindle. I'm not sure about the Nook, and other e-readers.

Cheers,

Damon

[Hissho]

Sounds interesting, congratulations!

Can you give us an idea of the gist of the articles in general, yours in particualr,and your background in Japanese arts?

[DAYoung]

Sounds interesting, congratulations!

Can you give us an idea of the gist of the articles in general, yours in particualr,and your background in Japanese arts?

Sure, I used to train in Goju-Kai Karate-do, and attained a Shodan-ho rank. I've also trained very briefly in Western fencing, Aikido and Judo. Training in the latter, I injured my neck, and have spent the past few years getting my fitness back. I still do a little sparring now and then, and try to keep up my Goju kata.

The book is an anthology of essays by philosophers, all of whom have some background in the martial arts. They use martial arts to explore or explain philosophical ideas, and use philosophy to shed light on martial arts traditions and practices.

My article is a more reader-friendly version of a paper I wrote for Philosophy East & West, on the relationship between budo and courtesy.

I hope this helps.

[Bob Blackburn]

I read the Kindle sample yesterday. Very good. Well written with a lot of references in Damon's article. Maybe because it started as an academic paper. Damon took a fun story telling approach to an often unknown or unexplored aspect of martial arts. If you have been training for a while, you will take a trip down memory lane relating to his experiences.

I am looking forward to reading the whole book.

[Hissho]

Very cool, thanks Damon!

[DAYoung]

I read the Kindle sample yesterday. Very good. Well written with a lot of references in Damon's article. Maybe because it started as an academic paper. Damon took a fun story telling approach to an often unknown or unexplored aspect of martial arts. If you have been training for a while, you will take a trip down memory lane relating to his experiences.

I am looking forward to reading the whole book.

Very glad you enjoyed it - thanks, Bob.

[DAYoung]

Very cool, thanks Damon!

My pleasure. Parts of the book were good fun to write (and read).

[DAYoung]

By the way, my co-editor, Graham Priest, tells me that Beating and Nothingness is now in bricks-and-mortar shops in the US.

Hopefully it'll make its way Down Under soon.