Bolelli, Daniele

Berkeley, California: Frog, Ltd., 184 pages (2003)
ISBN: 1-58394-066-9

Recommended

This book is interesting as it relates to Daniele Bolelli’s philosophy regarding martial arts. His philosophy is clear and comprehensible, and seldom are the thoughts and concepts expressed in the book convoluted. It seems as though he writes the way that he does because he wants the reader to understand everything that he is stating. Ultimately, his goal is to convey his philosophy regarding a variety of subjects that are related to martial arts. He is successful is doing this because throughout the entire book he expresses his views on many subjects while simultaneously providing background information that the reader can better grasp what he is actually stating.

One concept that is important to Bolelli is the spiritual and physical aspects of martial art. He maintains that both are important to martial arts, but stresses the point that the physical element of martial arts should not be considered less important than the spiritual. The author also discusses the role and definition of the warrior. In essence, he defines what a warrior is and applies the definition to the contemporary world. For example, he states that if one is a true warrior in contemporary society, they do not run from adversity or cowardly choose the easy way out. In his mind, a warrior in ancient times is not that much different than a warrior in contemporary times with respect to mentality and one’s outlook of life.

Bolelli also touches on other topics. He attempts to define various martial arts by categorizing them. It is interesting that prior to actually categorizing them, he acknowledges that it is difficult to do so for certain reasons. Various martial art forms overlap with each other when one attempts to categorize them. The categorizations he uses are performance arts, internal arts, weapon arts, self defense arts, and combat sports. It appears that he believes that the categorization that he uses is the most efficient.

One of the more interesting parts of the book is when he discusses the no-holds-barred competitions like the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He expresses his philosophy regarding its depiction of martial arts and the impact it has on the martial arts community. He supports its existence for a variety of reasons that are present in the book.

The last section of the book is dedicated to the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do and its creator, Bruce Lee. Bolelli incorporates a lot of topics in this discussion ranging from a break with martial arts tradition in Jeet Kune Do to Bruce Lee’s acceptance by western audiences.

In truth, the book provided a lot of information about martial arts. It is probably more useful to those who are not accustomed or well versed in the history and practice of martial arts. It should also be noted that there are some negative aspects about the book, such as its many generalizations. The existence of generalizations weakens the very foundation of some of his arguments because specific facts are not mentioned. In any case, even though there are some negative aspects of the book, it is still worth reading if one is interested in martial arts.

Annotated by: David Frazer (March 2007)

Martial Arts: Aikido | Hapkido | Iaido | Jeet Kune Do | Judo | Jujitsu | Karate | Kendo | Kung Fu/Wushu | Taekwondo | Xingyi |

Topics: history | philosophy |