Martial Musings: A Portrayal of Martial Arts in the 20th Century [Hardcover]

Robert W. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 1999

World renowned authority on Asian martial arts, Robert W. Smith shares more than fifty years experience in martial arts practice and research in Martial Musings. Based on reflections on the people and places that shaped martial arts in the 20th century,

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A well-written memoir ... one man’s joyous, passionate, and often genuinely daring romp through the modern martial arts ...” -- Education About Asia (Winter 2001)

“America’s greatest martial arts writer has produced his genre’s one indispensable book.” -- Inside Kung-Fu Magazine (September 2001)

From the Inside Flap

Robert W. Smith may be known as a world's leading authority on Asian martial arts, but this book shows he is much more than that. His pioneering work in the field has inspired others to follow, but perhaps none have brought such drive, stamina, and scholarly skills to such a monumental task.

Smith has practiced, taught, and written on the Asian martial arts for more than fifty years. From his late teens he trained under eminent Western boxing and wrestling coaches and later immersed himself in judo and finally the Chinese martial arts under celebrated masters. He taught many students in the latter arts in the Washington D.C. area where he worked as an intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Martial Musings records insightful details associated with Smith's years of involvement with combatives in the U.S. and overseas. But, what makes this book such a joy to devour is the literary relish Smith stir-fries in with the book's basic ingredients. He astutely couples combatives with literary panache, and a ready wit.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Via Media Publishing (December 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893765008
• ISBN-13: 978-1893765009
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Personal Book..., October 1, 2001

By 

C. J. Hardman (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Martial Musings: A Portrayal of Martial Arts in the 20th Century (Hardcover)

...Bound to annoy those who want a nice, squeeky-clean image of martial artists as saints and quiet, tea-sipping old men. Smith is highly experienced, he unlike most of those writing today, has really 'been around the block', so to speak. I certainly don't agree with all of his opinions, but that doesn't diminish the value of this book to me. I rather wish more martial artists of experience and repute would dare to publish their honest views, prejudices and all, and stimulate some honest discussion and debate in the martial arts community.

The book itself is a decent hardbound affair printed on quality acid-free paper. The photos are a nice sepia tone, a cool departure from the usual stock fair. Agree with him or not, Smith's works make for interesting reading. Are you really looking to become a well-rounded, educated martial artist? This book is one you can't do without. There really is something for everyone in here.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Martial musings by an old curmudgeon, March 15, 2004

By 

Kent Fung (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Martial Musings: A Portrayal of Martial Arts in the 20th Century (Hardcover)

Robert Smith has written some great work and has done a lot for the martial arts. He is quite knowledgeable about the internal Chinese arts and judo, and has led a very interesting life. For the martial arts enthusiast, his experiences and the training opportunities he's had are quite enviable.

Nevertheless, in this book, he comes across as a cantankerous old man who constantly whines about how much better everything was "back in my day." Thus, boxers like Muhammad Ali aren't fit to lick the boots of old timers like Joe Louis -- and let's not even talk about Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Evander Holyfield; movies today, especially kung fu flicks, have no redeeming social value (yes, that last bit was a BIG SHOCK to me too); and society is crass and shallow and worthless. I half expected him to start telling me how weak, worthless, and evil we all are because we didn't walk 25 miles in bare feet in the snow to go to school every day, and only after plowing a 200-acre farm and saving 40 orphans from starving and how nothing written after Shakespeare died has been worth anything other than toilet paper.

He is also a little too sure that he has seen everything there is that is worth seeing, and bought into the party line given by his teachers, who, while great martial artists, cannot be described as without bias. His northern-style and internal arts teachers told him that the northern Chinese styles and the internal styles are the greatest and the southern Chinese styles and harder more external styles are useless. Thus, it must be true, according to Smith. The fact is, most martial artists think their style is the greatest, and they can't all be right.

Smith also unfairly denigrates a lot of people who have put in a lot of dedication and done much for the martial arts. Bruce Lee's skill as compared to the great martial artists of the 20th century is debatable, but his positive influence cannot be disputed. Likewise for the Gracies, who, whatever you might say about their style, have the guts to repeatedly put it all on the line for everyone to see. Smith also takes a mean-spirited swipe at Jackie Chan's martial arts skills and his movies, despite the fact that Jackie is, from all reports, a really nice guy who has always freely admitted that he doesn't consider himself a martial arts master, and despite the fact that his movies have made millions smile.

So don't take Smith's ramblings in this book as the gospel, but treat it as an interesting set of memoirs and anecdotes from a life well lived.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sustainer of the Spirit, January 17, 2000

By 

Donald D. Davis (Norfolk, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martial Musings: A Portrayal of Martial Arts in the 20th Century (Hardcover)

With the exception of politics, few human pursuits are filled with as much egotism, chicanery, and sheer nonsense as the martial arts. And like politics, few human pursuits are as capable of cultivating the highest levels of the human spirit. Robert W. Smith captures this human drama in this book. Part autobiography and part historiography, Martial Musings will appeal to all who prefer delicacy to raw meat in the martial arts.

Students of the martial arts will immediately recognize Mr. Smith's name. In addition to nine articles appearing in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, he has published numerous articles and fifteen books devoted to taijiquan, xingyi, bagua, Shaolin Temple boxing, judo, wrestling, and Western boxing, as well as overviews of the fighting arts and those who practice them. His range of scholarship and practice is extraordinary. As much as anyone, he has been responsible for popularizing authentic versions of judo and Chinese martial arts in the United States. Martial Musings provides the capstone to his career. In it he describes the story of his life interspersed with reports of his encounters with high-level martial artists throughout the world. He employs prose that sings on the page, scatting like Ella Fitzgerald when improvising on the martial melody with literary asides and opinions pungent as Szechuan chili peppers. Only Faust enjoyed such a range of talent and opportunities, but to far greater disadvantage.

Born in 1926 on a small Iowa farm, he grew up in an orphanage in Galesburg, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, leaving high school after his second year. Upon completion of his military service in 1946 he began to work for a railroad and started to promote wrestling and boxing matches in the Midwest. He went on to receive a high school equivalency certificate, an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and a graduate degree in Far Eastern Studies from the University of Washington. His martial arts education began in Chicago. Upon entering the Chicago Judo Club in 1947 and exaggerating the judo prowess he gained in the Marines, he learned quickly how to make friends with the mat. Hik Nagao, a third degree black belt made the introduction, and study with Minoru "Johnny" Osako deepened the friendship. It was while working out in the Chicago Judo Club that Mr. Smith first met Donn Draeger, one of the foremost Western martial artists of the twentieth century. Their partnership led to publication of Asian Fighting Arts, in 1969, and reprinted in 1980 as Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts, five years before Mr. Draeger's death in Hawaii. Mr. Smith's involvement with Judo lasted thirty years. He was instrumental in popularizing judo in the U. S. through teaching, promotion of tournaments and publishing his "Complete Guide to Judo" in 1958.

In 1953, Mr. Smith gave a speech at the first U.S. Judo Championships. The topic-retaining Jigoro Kano's ethics while improving American judo-foreshadowed a theme that runs throughout Mr. Smith's career. This theme is his unrelenting emphasis on the spirit and integrity of the martial arts. Henry Miller once said that what distinguishes the majority of men from the few is their inability to act according to their beliefs. Despite his positions of authority, both official and unofficial, Smith has never been a member of the martial arts majority. He has always walked alone, listening to the beat of the Dao, and never playing to the house. This book is littered with choices he has made between fame and fortune, on the one hand, and preservation of the traditional spirit of the martial arts on the other hand. Never suffering fools well, Mr. Smith describes his rebuffs of those who sought him out to gain egotistic or economic advantage. He tarnishes the tinseled reputation of screen stars, such as Bruce Lee, revealing them to be small men, standing Wizard of Oz-like behind marketing artifices, who are willing to trade martial integrity for market share. And he saves his highest praise for those, such as Zheng Manqing and Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo, who recognize that their possession of the martial arts is only a loan from their teachers, to be repaid by selfless sharing with others. Mr. Smith peels away the glitz and glitter to reveal the underlying substance and spirit of the martial arts.

After hiring on at the CIA (intelligence, not operations), Mr. Smith enjoyed the good fortune of a posting to Taiwan (1959-1962). Like deflecting a powerful attack with "four ounces," this synchronicity provided a pivot point on which his life turned and changed direction. It was during this assignment that Mr. Smith met, interviewed and filmed scores of top Chinese boxers. It was also during this time that he met Zheng Manqing, who, after the obligatory snubs, accepted Mr. Smith as his student in taijiquan. Like all that encounter a genuine taiji master, Mr. Smith became awed by Prof. Zheng's artistry. Enchanted by the master's skill, Mr. Smith began to devote his efforts to popularizing Zheng Manqing's 37-posture version of the Yang family form in Bethesda, Maryland, after his return to the United States. Although he didn't know it at the time, his days of practicing judo were numbered. As Mr. Smith states in this volume, if the softness of judo is high school, the softness of taijiquan is college. He decided at this point to go to college, ultimately graduating summa cum laude.

It is clear in this volume, that decades of practicing the principles of judo and taiji have shaped Mr. Smith's character. Marlene Deitrich, the famed film actress, once remarked of Ernest Hemingway, "He is gentle, as all real men are gentle; without tenderness, a man is uninteresting." Mr. Smith demonstrates in the pages of this book how years of serious study and practice of the martial arts under the tutelage of an authentic teacher can make a man interesting.