Watching Your Back: Chinese Martial Arts and Traditional Medicine

by Anthony L. Schmieg MD

The term “martial art,” like the title, The Art of War, has a dissonant ring. To associate art, that sublime expression of the human spirit, with the enterprise of maiming and killing seems almost profane. Similarly, the martial arts have long been associated with traditional medicine. But, how can the art of healing ally itself with the art of killing? Watching Your Back applies Daoist notions of wellness and survival to reconcile these apparent paradoxes and unveil the origins and rationale of the unexplored symbiosis of Chinese medicine and the martial arts. It discusses the applications of Daoist philosophy and its practitioners, explains how creative arts are simultaneously conserved and advanced within a traditional Chinese lineage, and clarifies the differences between the separate, but parallel, martial and military disciplines.

Drawing from history, philosophy, medicine, linguistics, and the realities of combat, Dr. Schmieg convincingly describes how early proponents of Daoism responded to sociopolitical events in China to shape a unique martial arts tradition and how this ancient system evolved into modern combat forms. Throughout he makes ample use of entertaining anecdotes taken from his years of study under a Daoist physician scholar and “old school” boxer. Written with both the layperson and scholar in mind, Watching Your Back examines the full spectrum of the martial arts while demystifying its philosophy and debunking its myths, and thus brilliantly reveals the true majesty of the ancient Chinese art of self-defense.

248 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[Philipp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't impress me to much. There are many interesting tidbits (that's the reason I gave it 2 stars instaead of 1), but Schmieg comes along as a kind of Richard Dawkins, only difference that instead of Religion here he deals with Chinese Martial arts and everything surrounding it. There is nothing special about those martial arts according to him, Tai Chi is only 150 years old or so, the original taoists didn't believe in any deity, everything about Chi is just fairy tales, etc.....I could contradict almost all (I'm saying "almost all", because on some issues he is spot on) his opinions and statements regarding above matters with facts, scholarship and eyewitness accounts. You don't need to go too far for that. As someone who has been interested in everything Taoism and/or Chinese martial arts for over 20 years, and has spent considerable time (and money) researching and investigating to satisfy my personal curiousity, I can only say that one thing is to have your opinions, another thing is to pronounce them as truth. I don't think that is a logical and respectful approach. Again, Schmieg's approach reminds me of atheists like Harris and Dawkins who instead of just mentioning their opinions and the reasons for those, go and try to tear down everything related to religion, as if they had the "ultimate truth". Nobody knows everything, that's why we have the scientific approach and this book is not a very good example of that.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Schmieg philosophizes about Martial Arts. There is also some Chinese history and sociology thrown in as well. Not that it wasn't interesting or thought provocking in parts but overall this book didn't do much for me. Plus Schmieg comes off like one of these white guys who believe everything Asian is superior to everything "western". I just wasn't that impressed with Watching Your Back.