Philosophy of Fighting-Morals and Motivations of the Modern Warrior

'There is a world of ideas out there that martial artists need to consider or else the world will pass them by and they will become obsolete.'

For the first time, the thoughtful writings of Keith Vargo, the popular author of Black Belt's Way of the warrior column, are compiled in Philosphy of

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Figting: Morals and Motivations of the Modern Warrior. Comprising a decades's worth of discourses, Philosophy of Fighting allows readers to explore the stimulating ideas, obervations and arguments addressed by Vargo in the world's leading marital arts magazine.

With the watchful eye of a trained psychologist, Vargo entertains and provokes readers by examining the trends, traditions, thinkers, cultures and fields that shape the martial arts. Like Freud, Vargo leaves no stone unturned, touching on topics that include the purpose of champions like Royce Gracie, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenomenon, powerful but lesser-known arts like tres personas esrima, the great debate between mixed martial artists and traditional artists, the psychology of winning and losing, the reality of self-defense, the lessons of great epics and much more.

Philosophy of Fighting: Morals and Motivations of the Modern Warrior will keep fighters and readers actively engaged in the philosophical questions and considerations that define the modern warrior in a contemporary world.

Keith Vargo is a writer, martial arts instructor, active fighter and researcher based in Tokyo, whose columns and features regularly appear in Black Belt. He is the only foreigner to earn a first-degree black belt from the world-renowned Takada Dojo, where he has trained with MMA legends like Akira Shoji and Kazushi Sakuraba. Vargo also holds a degree in psychology and a certificate in multicultural self-defense from Radford University in Virginia.

Contents

Preface
Why are som many fighter afraid to loose?
What really works, anyway?
Where has all the jeet kune do gone?
A taste of immortality
Mind, matter and the martial arts
Fighting the gender double standard
Why wrestling is not a martial art
The road to wisdom
Martial arts experts galore in the Philippines
Sources of wisdom from around the world
Arnis Grandmasters, Part 1: Crispulo Atillo
Arnis Grandmasters, Part 2: Timoteo and Rodrigo Maranga
Why wrestling is still not a martial art
Royce Gracie is only human
Arnis Grandmasters, Part 3: Pacito 'Chito' Velez
The joke's on us
Lost horizons
The reality of violence
Whom do you trust?
Don't think, just do
The arc of life
Defining the martial arts
Martial arts weirdness
Japanese baseball and American karate
The search for inner peace
Now you see it, now you don't
Fighting like animals, Part 1 and Part 2
Why do we continue?
Metaphysics and the martial arts
The budo mind lives on in Japan
Japanese archery revisted
The dark side
The enigma of kenpo
Eulogy for Andy Hug
Who do you love?
The dark side of full-contact fighting
What it means to be a hero
Kazushi Sakuraba and the Takada Dojo, Part 1 and Part 2
Virtue of martial arts films
The agony of defeat
Rickson Gracie
What's hidden in a kata?
Make it last
A different point of view
Fighting in the amateur PRIDE Tournament
The concept of jeet kune do
Debts to the past
The rise of NHB Fighting as a sport
The ethics of fighting
Finding truth
The age of mastery
Don't take anything at face value
Tunnel vision
Star wars geeks
The reality of self-defense
Martial artist on TV
Martial art for martial science?
The competitive edge
Takada's last dance
The meaning of the martial arts
Essential advice for living and training in Asia
A tast of reality
Setting a standard in print
Myths and martial arts
It's all in your head
Defining the warrior
The choice is yours
Standing Vale Tudo?
Abandoning tradition
The star treatment
Truth seekers
Supporting cast
The insecurity argument
Mind-body unification
Exposed
Goinging from amateur to pro in Japan
Innate tendencies
Do the fight thing
Sumo's goodbyes
The ideal martial artist
Mentors
Anger is blindness
Judo finally embraces MMA
Monists and pluralists
Infinite diversity
Critics of the traditional arts
Real humility
Taikiken: Full-contact tai chi?
Cynicism
Martial arts idealism
We're the bad guys?
Martial arts in the 22nd century
Tilting at windmills
The core significance
Mere mortals
Teaching and learning
The time of your life
The truth around the edges
Myths keep the truth alive
Questioning authority
The promise of transfmoration
Building good faith
Eastern perspectives
On form and beauty
A fighting legend retires
Why Japan loves mixed martial arts
Taking a shot at shootboxing
Virginia Tech and the spirit of self-defense
Enduring values captured on film
Improving on nature
The roots remain
Being practical
What happens if everything goes right?
Big in Japan
Making the cut
The legacy of wapons
Kicking heads and making friends
Martial arts fathers

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