Customer Reviews

The Law and Martial Arts (Literary Links to the Orient)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book enjoyable and informative, but I felt it lacked a lot of what I really expected from it. It covered in detail as best as it could some topics of question such as state laws and general self defense legality issues. But, I found that it lacked substance when referring to the main question on any martial artist's mind...WHAT CAN I LEGALLY DO TO DEFEND MYSELF? I found that the book seemed to focus more on what would happen to someone who was attacked by a martial artist, than what would happen if someone was hurt while the martial artist was defending himself / herself. Most of the court cases involved someone with prior martial arts experience that had committed a crime. All and all it was an okay read, but I felt it hazed over a lot of the questions and important detail a martial artist should be concerned about. Things like the consequences of disarming an attacker and then retaliating with the weapon, or the ever popular question on the mandatory registration of black belts as deadly weapons,that is so often spoke of. All in all I would say it is not a must have, but a step in the right direction for legal education for martial artist.

Mr. Brown clearly knows his Judo and martial arts history, but the book lacked the substantive legal analysis I was expecting. Like any good attorney, when you don't have the law you argue policy, and that is what this book is, mostly. There isn't much law on point, but Mr. Brown does an excellent job addressing some policy issues any martial artist/instructor should be thinking about.

It makes sense that he is a professional editorialist. His writing reflects strong opinion and interesting viewpoints, which the reader must ultimately discern for herself.

The writing is not at all what I expected, but it serves its purpose well. I had expected more hard, technical writing. Mr. Brown has a wimsical tone, similar to a radio host's, that suits the book's subject matter fine. The minimal primary sources and average scholarly writing was a tad disappointing for me personally, but it makes his book accessible, which is just what this information should be for fellow martial artists. Mr. Brown has done the MA community a service by making this important contribution. If you want to discuss potential legal issues with your students, and you should, Mr. Brown's book is a good starting point.

This book contains information that every martial artist should know. You do have to dig a little to find out basically what you can and can't do to defend yourself, and I would have liked to see it organized a little better and have presented the information a little more straight forward. It still leaves the reader a little fuzzy concerning what he can and cannot do as far as self-defense goes.

I would have found it more useful if it just spelled things out for the reader. For example if you are attacked by a armed mugger, you can do A, B, and C, but not D and E. But our laws to too hazy to make things that clear I guess. I found the last chapter to be the most useful. This is good information to know, but don't let it get in the way of doing whatever you need to do to defend yourself or your loved ones in an actual self-defense situation.

Bohdi Sanders, author of Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior

If you are a person who trains in the martial arts you need to read this book. Did you know kicking someone with a shoe on is an attack with a deadly weapon? That is why Billy Jack took his shoes off.

This book can drag a bit but will give you good info to help in understanding the law so you dont go to jail.

For the most part, I was very disappointed and this was not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for examples and thoughts on the law for martial arts when used in self-defense situations. Brown did not really present any of these cases, which either leads me to believe (1) the true martial artists that practice their skills strictly for self-defense do not or have not had law suits against them (criminally or civilly) and/or (2) true martial artists do not get into alterations. Many of the cases Brown presents in the book are very old. Some of the cases are absurd. He cites cases where a person who has practiced martial arts was involved - and the crime was usually one they initiated (such as robbery or rape). First off, I would not consider any of these people martial artists, since they are not using their skills in the way it was intended. These are just people who happen to know techniques taught in martial arts, so I disagreed wholeheartedly with his using those examples and citing those persons as martial artists. Brown does cite some relevant cases, but then does not tell the outcome of those cases. I also did not understand his point on Ninjas at all. He explains how Ninjas were trained assassins and are trained to kill and then goes on to state if called or act like a Ninja this can be used against you in trial. Seems common sense to me that if you act and dress the part of an assassin that you may be called that in a trial (and probably should be expected to). I was also disappointed on his section of the law in states and martial arts weapons. Seems it was taken verbatim out of the law books with all the legalese language. Would have been nice if tit was written so a layman could understand easily. Brown does present and provide some good examples on what is considered excessive force. Brown also does ask some interesting questions and brings up some interesting thoughts such as should a martial artists announce to an attacker they are trained so the attacker is aware and understands what he is getting into. He also believes that someday martial artists may be considered deadly weapons. He does believe that martial arts training can and will be brought out in trial, but that belt rank should be of consideration, which is a valid point in my book. I might recommend this book to someone totally uninformed and ignorant; and for that reason alone have rated it two stars and not one.

For anyone who practices martial arts, this book is a real eye-opener. If you ever wondered about what you can and can't legally do with your skills, this book will answer most of your questions. This is information all instructors should make their students aware of.