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Facing The Double-Edged Sword: Art Of Karate For Young People
This book can help kids, parents, teachers, and counselors who are searching for healthy, nonviolent, humane ways for young people to deal with conflict. It gives readers a context in which to help young people understand and respond to violence.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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September 7, 2014
From the dedication page, splashed with the words “solving conflict non-violently”, the author’s mission is clear: to show the reader that martial arts is a path to peaceful resolution of difficult situations. Every chapter serves to reinforce the chosen message in some way, though not all to the same degree. With the primary target readership being 10-12 year old students, it’s a simplified and sometimes simplistic view, yet powerful in that simplicity.
And it’s a good message, one that starts a beginning student on the path to Gichin Funakoshi’s vision that "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."
The writing is accessible and straight forward, making the text easy to digest and easy to see exactly the winding path it takes to its conclusion. While the primary method of the book to appeal to emotions is not without some criticism, the fact of the matter is that when you’re reacting to an emotionally charged situation, those emotions are important and it’s critical to understand them and how to deal with them.
It’s also worth noting that humans are emotional creatures. While perhaps some more specific facts and figures regarding conflict and violence in society would add to the narrative, they would also mainly be lost on the target audience, or lose some of them. However, the “note to adults” at the end of the book would benefit from some harder factual information even though, as a whole, Dr. Webster-Doyle makes an excellent case, emotionally, for dealing with conflict non-violently not just children but for everyone.
And it’s a good message, one that starts a beginning student on the path to Gichin Funakoshi’s vision that "The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants."
The writing is accessible and straight forward, making the text easy to digest and easy to see exactly the winding path it takes to its conclusion. While the primary method of the book to appeal to emotions is not without some criticism, the fact of the matter is that when you’re reacting to an emotionally charged situation, those emotions are important and it’s critical to understand them and how to deal with them.
It’s also worth noting that humans are emotional creatures. While perhaps some more specific facts and figures regarding conflict and violence in society would add to the narrative, they would also mainly be lost on the target audience, or lose some of them. However, the “note to adults” at the end of the book would benefit from some harder factual information even though, as a whole, Dr. Webster-Doyle makes an excellent case, emotionally, for dealing with conflict non-violently not just children but for everyone.
Displaying 1 of 1 review