Martial Arts – The Lessons, Tomislav S. Perić, Gregson & Lestrade, 2021, 222 pages, $14.95
Taking action, I believe, is the most significant and common stumbling block we all confront. For most of us, inertia reigns supreme and, in fairness, having a whimsical dream or desire doesn’t really require action. It’s when a thought or idea passes beyond the daydreaming phase that we need to give it serious consideration. Martial Arts – The Lessons, pp. 209-210
In these dog days of summer, and while in the back of our mind the end of our vacation is rapidly approaching, I thought I would wait for the slew of reviews that I have in the pipeline and steer you to some lighter reading. The selection is motley. Most are fast-paced novels with trial advocacy or ethics tips worth pondering over. But if you are like me and sense the end of the summer as the time to give some serious consideration as to how or what the remainder of the year should yield, let me start with an amuse-bouche review of a nonfiction gem: Martial Arts – The Lessons, by Tomislav S. Perić.
Now you may be thinking what lessons can martial arts offer us and how can they possibly be related to what we do as lawyers? Or worst yet, is this one of those self-help books, peddling feel good advice. Ideas for application is our day-to-day affairs, but especially in our work, can come from anywhere – if, and this is a big if, one is persistently on the lookout. Anyone who has studied martial arts knows that it is not about obtaining skills to get into physical confrontations, to kick butt if you will, but about disciplining the mind and body.
While the skills one learns from any of the martial arts may come in handy on that rarest of rare occasions, it is the learning process of those skills – the tedious and relentless repetition of the basics, the fine-tuning of the various moves, the mind-over-pain drills – that pay dividends. On and off the mat; in and out of the dojo (workout space). And if one also competes in tournaments, where strategy and tactics come into play, just as exhausting preparation, skill-training, and homework (studying your opponents, knowing the rules, etc.), then much can be transferred to the preparation for a trial.
My point is simple. If we want to improve ourselves in our personal and professional lives, we should embrace ideas from anywhere. Considering that what we do as trial lawyers is a form of combat, many lessons can be drawn from martial arts.
Martial Arts – The Lessons is as informative as it is inspiring. The author, Tomislav S. Perić, a blackbelt in karate at age 20, ran his own dojo for several years, before going off to university, becoming a journalist and then owning his own public relations firm, before returning (some four decades later) to martial arts to study and compete in jiu-jitsu. The lessons he imparts are from his lengthy association of studying and observing all forms of martial arts, with the benefit of hindsight, introspection, and wisdom that comes with age, humility, and experience.
In total there are 21 lessons in addition to the introduction. Particularly instructive to anyone thinking of learning a martial art or to parents wondering whether their child should take up any one of the martial arts, each lesson is divided into three cogent parts. There is the general part of the lesson, spiced with lots of vignettes and reflective quotes, that sets up nicely the next two parts: a martial arts lesson and a life lesson.
Written in Hemingwayesque style (Perić is a self-proclaimed Darth Vader of the active voice), Martial Arts – The Lessons it is a quick and fun read, loaded with good old common sense, practical advice, dry humor, and self-deprecating stories.
I highly recommend Martial Arts – The Lessons.
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Good review. Well written. I just ordered the book.