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Brian Jacks - The Mindset of a Champion
Brian has released a book about his life entitled; The Mindset of a Champion. It follows his early days as a young boy all the way through to his success at the Munich Olympics, his Superstars career and beyond. It is an honest, inspiring and certainly entertaining roller coaster ride through the life of Britains best-loved Judo great.
578 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 15, 2018
I really enjoyed this book and it was good to get an insight into the events and mindset of a real champion and a life well lived. If you are considering reading this book, listen to Brian's raspberry ape podcast, which gives a a very good taste of what the book is like.
It's a great story of determination which is only let down by the editor. It's such a shame that for somebody who spent so much of his life in pursuit of excellence, that what will be used to remember him doesn't maintain that standard. Sections of the book are riddled with small errors such as sewing his oats, thermally ill monks or Easter bloc countries and others that a spell check would have detected. The foreword looks as if it was dictated to Siri in places. The sections after superstars should have been edited for brevity as they contain a lot of unnecessary details. At 578 pages it's an enjoyable read but a good editor could have reduced this slightly and made it a fantastic one. The reader is left wondering why it was self-published and if the usual publishers demanded too high a fee. Having said this, these shortcomings are like a minor injury that you continue to train with, they reduce the enjoyment a fraction but are not a reason not to continue. In short: a tremendous life, a great man and a good book.
It's a great story of determination which is only let down by the editor. It's such a shame that for somebody who spent so much of his life in pursuit of excellence, that what will be used to remember him doesn't maintain that standard. Sections of the book are riddled with small errors such as sewing his oats, thermally ill monks or Easter bloc countries and others that a spell check would have detected. The foreword looks as if it was dictated to Siri in places. The sections after superstars should have been edited for brevity as they contain a lot of unnecessary details. At 578 pages it's an enjoyable read but a good editor could have reduced this slightly and made it a fantastic one. The reader is left wondering why it was self-published and if the usual publishers demanded too high a fee. Having said this, these shortcomings are like a minor injury that you continue to train with, they reduce the enjoyment a fraction but are not a reason not to continue. In short: a tremendous life, a great man and a good book.
September 29, 2022
The book was dictated to a pro writer, but you get the full flavour of the era and the hardships and struggles from being a naive youngster to become a world class Judoka. In mid-twenties with Olympic European medals etc he realised he had the medals but no money. He went on to get some and very wide recognition via Superstars. Which was interesting as an event but Mickey Mouse stuff compared to his great achievements against considerable odds in judo. I could relate because it was my era and I knew or remember many of those mentioned. He has no acrimony, but his comparisons of our judo set up with no state sponsorship or media interest compared to France etc still makes my blood boil--it is amazing what the UK achieved in Judo in that era when one considers this. Well done, Brian--Dave Starbrook and all the others.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews