I enjoyed this book, it has some zen wisdom sprinkled in and multiple interesting anecdotes by the author. The latter is the meat of the book and they are deli-sliced. The real entertainment in this book is going along for the ride with someone who is sincere about their experiences however mystical, how it made them feel, what they learned, and how certain other personalities had influenced their lives. However, there are a few pages of Ki hooey, fortunately, that is isolated to a few pages and a sentence elsewhere.
I picked this book up for under a dollar in a thrift store, so I definitely got my money's worth it was also an easy, very, very short read. I devoured this thing in less than an hour. All said I would recommend this book if you can snag it for anywhere under a couple of bucks. ( )

Loved this book. Short but sweet. Great stories and wisdom from various martial artists including Bruce Lee. ( )

from cover

Under the guidance of such celebrated masters as Ed Parker and the immortal Bruce Lee, Joe Hyams vividly recounts his more than 25 years of experience in the martial arts. In his illuminating story, Hyams reaveals to you how the daily applicaton of Zen principles not only developed his physical expertise but gave him the mental discipline to control his personal problems-self-image, work pressure, competition. Indeed, mastering the spiritual goals in martial arts can dramatically alter the quality of your life-enriching your relationships with people, as well as helping you make full use of all your abilities.

Joe Hyams began his involvement in the martial arts in 1952 as one of Ed Parker's first students in kenpo-karate. He has studied jeet-kune-do with Brukce Lee in addition to eight other martial arts disciplines. A black kbelt in karate since 1969, Joe stillpracitces wing-chiun. His other hobbies havae included fencing, flying, and racecar driving.

Joe Hyams began his writing career as a US Army Combat Correspondent in the South Pacific during World War II. In 1951 he joined the New Your Herald Tribune and was soon sent to Hollywoood as the west Coast Bureau Chief. Within a few months he became one of that paper's most widely syndicated columnists, with more than 3,000 news stories to his credit, and for a decade he was the most highly paid magazine writer in the world, his byline appearing in almost every major magazine. He has also written sixteen books, ranging from his autobiography, Mislaid n Hollywood, to biography, including Bogie, the bestselling story of Humphrey Bgart. He has written three books on tennis and has two books currently being filmed. He is also the author of numerous screen plays and two novels: The Pool and The Last Award.

The author lives in Beverly hills, California, with his wife actress Elke Sommer, and five dogs.

Kenneth McGowan's photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and in solo photo shows at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York and the Green Collections in Tokyo. He has had his photographs published internationally in Zoom Magazine (Paris), camera Mainichi (Tokyo), Foto (Stockholm), and Art Forum (USA).

Doug Coder's photographs have been exhibited in group shows in Los Angeles at the Cirrus Gallery, the Frankfort Gallery, and the galleries of California State University at Long Beach and of Chapman College.

This is the first time Ken and Dug have collaborated on the photography for a book.

contents

Acknowledgments
Zen in the Martial Arts
Empty your Cup
Process Not Product
Seize the Moment
Conquer Haste
Know Your Limits
Even the Masters Have Masters
Lengthen Your Line
Do Not Disturb
Active Inactivity
Extend Your Ki
Zen Breathing
Go With the Current
Anger Without Action
Recognize a True Threat
Kime: Tighten Your Mind
Mushin: Let Your Mind Flow
Instinctive Action
Un-Thinking Pain
Effortless Effort
Make a Friend of Fear
Confident Seeing
The Power of Focus
Multiple Options
Martial Arts Without Zen
Karate Without Weapons
Winning by Losing

My friend Dan told me this was the book that changed his life, or something to that effect. So I bought it. It was an easy read, short, concise, to the point and full of deep nuggets of wisdom pertaining to the practice of the martial arts and to life itself. Joe Hyam practiced the martial arts under a number of renown Sifu, the most famous of which was Bruce Lee.

This connection brought back memories of the time in my own past where I was obsessed with the Little Dragon. Even though it has been a few years since I have delved into his writings, much of it came back to life in my mind.

Of course Joe Hyam had more to say that just a sequence of Bruce Lee vignettes.

Foremost amongst them are the ideas of being in the flow and practicing the art with great concentration and vigor but also with singular attention of not trying. He also speaks of the kind of decision making that Daniel Kahnemann explores in his Thinking: Fast and Slow and Michael Lewis' The Undoing Project. I am now thinking on these themes and trying to piece all of the ideas together. For this I felt the book was a great find for me personally.

I was pleasantly surprised by his mention of the concept of flow and trying not to try, these are things that I had just read about in the past few years, yet in his crude but very concise way, Hyam was able to explain these concepts in a tiny book. I was actually quite impressed.

The elegant part of the book is that Hyam was able to put what he had to say in short 2-3 page chapters, he does so with great clarity and follows them up with pertinent quotes. This is a great book to keep with me as a reminder of the lessons.

I was also disheartened to read that Joe Hyam had passed away in 2008, this was an older book. ( )

You're never going to make it if you only try! How Zen has influenced the martial arts. ( )