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Sam Sheridan

A Fighter's Heart: One Man's Journey Through the World of Fighting Paperback – January 21, 2008

by Sam Sheridan (Author)

125 customer reviews

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In 1999, after a series of wildly adventurous jobs around the world, Sam Sheridan found himself in Australia, loaded with cash and intent on not working until he’d spent it all. It occurred to him that, without distractions, he could finally indulge a long-dormant obsession: fighting. Within a year, he was in Bangkok training with the greatest fighter in muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) history and stepping through the ropes for a professional bout. That one fight wasn’t enough. Sheridan set out to test himself on an epic journey into how and why we fight, facing Olympic boxers, Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars, and Ultimate Fighting champions. Along the way, Sheridan delivers an insightful look at violence as a career and a spectator sport, a behind-the-pageantry glimpse of athletes at the top of their terrifying game. An extraordinary combination of gonzo journalism and participatory sports writing, A Fighter’s Heart is a dizzying first-hand account of what it’s like to reach the peak of finely disciplined personal aggression, to hit—and be hit.

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Editorial Reviews

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“[An] excellent book.” —BoxingScene.com

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Grove Press; Reprint edition (January 21, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802143431
ISBN-13: 978-0802143433
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 125 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Mixed Martial Arts
- #9 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Sports & Outdoors > Boxing, Wrestling & MMA > Martial Arts
- #11 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Boxing

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Anna R.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who likes martial arts

May 26, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Highly recommend this book for anyone who likes martial arts, MMA, combat sports in general. Sheridan's writing is clear and interesting, his stories are relevant to fighting and the people that he meets are fascinating. Sheridan gives readers a nice balance. Fighters will find the content engaging yet familiar, but there isn't a ton of technical jargon and the book is accessible to people of all levels of knowledge and interest in combat sports.

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Hulk hands

Why do men fight?

April 10, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book is the story of a man's journey through various forms of combat and competition. The author, Sam, tells his story of travelling the world and investigating the culture of fighting positing questions like "Why do people fight?" while discovering things about himself and his own motivations along the way.

Sam's adventures can be relevant even to those who are not particularly interested in martial arts and can appeal far beyond martial arts enthusiasts to anyone who has an interest in the human condition. From the perspective of the author as a student of numerous martial arts philosophies throughout the story, we learn the common denominator of all forms of combat in which humans play a part (even a few involving animals, like dog fighting). The author does not hide the grim reality of injuries that result from participating in these martial arts, as he receives a good deal of punishment in the course of learning, all of the events that transpire are in the spirit of exploration of the common denominator.
Activities the author studies range from Tai Chi to Muay thai to western boxing to Brazilian Jujitsu and beyond. When I began reading the book I was mildly interested in the author's experience studying Muay Thai abroad, my initial motivation for reading the book, but by the end I could appreciate in more depth the motivations of practitioners of violence from MMA fighters to pit bulls.

There are several major appealing factors of this book.
1) It attempts to make hand-to-hand combat relevant even to the non-fighter
2) The sheer scope of styles covered can be a draw to anyone with a general interest in martial arts
3) Even those who do not condone physical combat can appreciate the honesty of of the author in his quest for understanding the fighting spirit
4) The author is a great storyteller, and spins his yarn to engage and relate to the reader

I'm a poor reader, generally speaking, but I could not put this book down once I started reading it. I highly recommend it.

I never too much interest in fighting before a couple months ago, but I recently started doing muay thai (kickboxing) and a friend told me about this book. If you're not a fighter, but have ever wondered why people make such a fuss over these brutal spectacles, this book will give you a peek into the mind of a fighter. If you are a practitioner of combative sports, I think you'll be able to relate to Sam, his questions, and his adventures all the more.

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Justin

2/3 good, 1/3 meh.

January 19, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Started out as a great read... then he veered off towards the end and got away from what I felt was the core of the book. I wish he'd continued more of the martial arts experiences, but then again, it seems as if every time he came close to actually fulfilling the experience, he got hurt, skipped out, or left town. I can sympathize with the physical hurt and inability to keep going, but sometimes it felt as if the author just got *this close* and decided, "nah, I'm done now."

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El Don

Intelligient Look at Fighting

January 1, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I've trained off and on a good portion of my life and recently had my best years training in BJJ. Most would consider me a normal guy who loves his family, who's professional and has a good education with a solid career. Point is most people don't get my love of martial arts the desire to test myself by competing.

This brings me to my review. The reason I enjoyed this book so much is because it explains why a guy like me enjoys the sport of fighting. Not just as a "watcher" but as a "participant". The beginning and end of the book captures and explains these points very well. On the downside I was under the impression the author was going to live out more aspects of a fighter's life than he actually did. That's not to say he was not game it's just to say things didn't always work out the way he'd hoped. I won't say more for those who have not read the book. Also, I found some chapters in the middle of the book and their points a bit of a stretch as it relates to fighting.

Overall, an excellent book and my hat is off to the author for putting into words what so many of us feel but can't articulate as well as he did.

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John Kim

Great book with interesting experiences

March 31, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

As a MMA fan I thought this book was very interesting especially with MMA being much more taboo than it is nowadays. Sam travels to the hot spots of many specialty fighting arts (Thailand for Muay Thai, Brazil for jiujitsu) but also goes into unexpected territory such as learning the art of meditation and even learning a few things from old taichi masters. Overall a good read for those unfamiliar with the sport and especially those who are into the sport. A journalist who takes a few pro fights and throws himself into the fray with professional fighters deserves a lot of respect.

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W. R. Mulkey

A Fighter's Heart

December 27, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

An honest account without self-aggrandizement. Sheridan lets us know up front his trepidations about the journey he embarks on, and never poses beyond his real accomplishments. What he does accomplish is, nonetheless, considerable, and qualifies him as a fighter/martial artist far beyond the dabblers who spend years at the dojo and never take a real punch.

As a writer, he provides real insight not just into the world of fighting but the world of men and why we go there. He is frank about his abilities and fears, and by the end of the narrative has come to a place of real humility and enlightenment.

I highly recommend "A Fighter's Heart." I'm looking forward to his next adventure.

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Boney Maroney

good intro to the (now) old school world of mma

June 14, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Sam Sheridan travels the world, studying different styles with different masters, culminating in his own ring battles. read this along with some old pride dvds and you will get a good idea of what mma was like during the 'hay day' of pride and early-middle ufc days, when the nogiera brothers, fedor, and the miletich fighting system were ruling the roost. the stuff about training in thailand was great. another essential to your collection of books about fighting.

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