Harnessing Anger: The Inner Discipline of Athletic Excellence

by Peter Westbrook, Tej Hazarika (Contributor)

To Peter Westbrook, "harnessing anger" means controlling one's fury and channeling it in a positive direction. Westbrook's success in what he once called "that strange white sport" is really just one expression of the self-discipline that has led him to beat the odds, again and again.
In Harnessing Anger, Westbrook tells how he came to be the first African American to win a national gold title in sabre fencing. The son of an African-American father and a Japanese mother, Peter was aised by his mother alone in poverty in a Newark ghetto. Becoming a fencer at an early age gave him the confidence and the discipline to use an ancient martial art to his advantage both in swordplay and when facing the vicissitudes of daily life in the inner city.
The autobiography of this six-time Olympian, 13-time U.S. National champion and the only book on his amazing life, Harnessing Anger tells us how Westbrook has overcome strong adversaries on and off the fencing mat.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Peter Jonathan Westbrook was an American saber fencer. He was a 13-time national and 3-time Pan American Games saber champion, and an Olympic bronze medalist. He was also the founder of the Peter Westbrook Foundation (PWF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit that uses fencing as a vehicle to help young people from under-served New York City communities develop life and academic skills.

Reviews

[Juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this slim book.
I only have positive feelings and impressions of Peter Westbrook; my coach glows when he talks about him.

I have minor quibbles about his writing style, though. Westbrook excruciatingly details the basics of the sport: the different blades, the target areas, what’s a parry. He lovingly describes the shape of a sabre. (I totally get it. I love my sabre, Henry, too, and I’ll wax poetic over his curves and scars. He needs a new grip, though.)
But, randomly, he drops a stray thought without any introduction.
I was humming along, reading about his various tournaments, and he writes,

When I entered the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, I felt certain that this event would mark the end of my competitive career. My work at the Peter Westbrook Foundation was really taking off….

(70). Wait, what? When did he start the Westbrook Foundation? I flipped back to see if I’d missed his starting the whole amazing foundation for New York City kids. I didn’t miss it. He didn’t tell us about starting the foundation until Chapter 10, which starts on page 149.
Then he inserted this little tidbit of fencing history,

The Italians dominated sabre fencing and in general sabrists were accustomed to wrist fencing. Then the great Milanese fencing master Giuseppe Radaelli discovered elbow fencing, a style that made the sport more colorful.

(86). I can infer what wrist fencing is, since my coach chides me if I move my forearm and shoulder. “Wrist and fingers,” he says. “Only move your wrist and fingers.” But I’d never heard of elbow fencing in my scant 4 years of sabre. What is elbow fencing, and why did he keep this knowledge from me?
I asked him, and he said, “Ah, I haven’t heard that phrase in a long, long time.” (OK, then, Obi-Wan Kenobi.) Then he explained it, and the history behind it, and why we don’t use it anymore.
But what about the 10 year old kid who is doing a book report on a great athlete and who doesn’t have access to a fencing coach to explain these tiny details?

I really enjoyed the second part of the book, when Westbrook reveals the man behind the athlete. He doesn’t shy away from parts of himself that may cast him in a bad light (i.e., his relationship with his father), and that only made him more endearing and believable. He does not set out to proclaim his own sainthood.

I left the book with three feelings:
1. I wish I were a better fencer and writer so that I could pitch a second book to Mr. Westbrook to add flesh to this slim volume.
2. I want to make sports more diverse and accessible and accepting for all children. (And middle-aged people like me who are just starting out.)
3. The more I learn about Hungarian fencing styles, the more I want to learn about Hungarian fencing style.

[Trice · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my college fencing friends talks about the year she started fencing. She learned sabre early on (I know, I know) and one of her first nights at the NY Fencers Club her instructor casually pointed to Peter Westbrook in the general fencers mill and suggested he might be a good person to fence. Being the ignorant newbie she went right up to him and asked if he wanted to fence. Nothing like starting with an Olympic bronze medalist. I've never met him myself, but from hearsay and from what I've learned of his organization and the impressive fencers (including several young Olympians) who emerge, he seems like a pretty cool guy in addition to being an excellent fencer (despite being devoted to sabre instead of e.g. epee! ;) ). This is his story. The writing isn't so hot, but what it reveals about his life was well worth the read.

[Taryl Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good inspiration book and ever since I saw this story on TV, I wanted to read the book. The preservernce and preciseness of fencing is so interesting.

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started fencing in the 1980s in high school in New Jersey and I knew about Peter Westbrook from early on for his story, skills, and accomplishments. This is an interesting book - it fills in pieces of the story and reflections that I think are interesting from both a cultural as well as athletic perspective. It starts to lose some focus at times and then writing isn't brilliant but it is a good read and a nice story of the evolution of a man from angry teen to athlete to mentor.

[Jeff Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uplifting and encouraging story of a man who beat many odds to establish a name in fencing for African-Americans; and yet this book also leaves such a sour note of sorrow for those that lead a life dealing with anger issues. Families are broken, enemies are made, and resolution does not come easy for people like Peter Westbrook, so this is where I as the reader and as a fellow fencer, find encouragement in his words.

[Gary Lewis]

Great story!