About this title: In 1999, after a series of wildly adventurous jobs around the world, Sam Sheridan found himself in Australia, loaded with cash and intent on not working until he'd spent it all. It occurred to him that, without distractions, he could finally indulge a long-dormant obsession: fighting. Within a year, he was in Bangkok training with the greatest fighter in muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) history and stepping through the ropes for a professional bout. That one fight wasn't enough. Sheridan set out to test himself on an epic journey into how and why we fight, facing Olympic boxers, Brazilian jiu ...
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Used-Good. Good condition. clean pages; book has minor shelf wear; creased spine; store stamp inside cover; Delivery confirmation available for every item shipped. Reliable customer service and no-hassle return policy. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781843547327ISBN:1843547325
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780802143433ISBN:0802143431
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Fine. Excellent condition. Appears unread. No writings/underlines/highlights. Pages are very nice and clean. Mionr shelfwear. Free deliver confirmation! Satisfaction guaranteed! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Grove Pr
Date Published: 2008-01-21
ISBN-13:9780802143433ISBN:0802143431
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780802143433. read more
Binding: book Softcover
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780802143433ISBN:0802143431
Description: Brand New. Brand new. Never read or owned. May have a remainder mark. 347 pages. 8.00 x 5.30 x 0.80 in. 14.1 oz. Recounts the personal story and international travels of a professional fighter, from his initial discovery of his passion for fighting upon his arrival in Australia, to his training at Bangkok's legendary Fairtex gym, to his research throughout the world in search of historical and contemporary fighting disciplines. Reprint. read more
Description: Good. Good condition, with first edition number line, but missing dust jacket. Comes from a non smoking and pet free home. Thanks for looking! ^_^ read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: ATLANTIC BOOKS Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781843547334ISBN:1843547333
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 320 pages. A memoir of one man's adventures in fighting. it tells how the author was in bangkok training with thailand's greatest kickboxing champion and stepping through the ropes for his first professional bout. illustrations, ports. (Paperback) read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780802143433ISBN:0802143431
Description: Good. Some shelf wear shown. a scuff on the back cover. Goodwillnyonline carries a wide range of quality new and used items at competitive prices. Goodwillnyonline is operated by Goodwill Industries of Greater New York & Northern New Jersey. A major provider of services for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. read more
Description: Good. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780871139504ISBN:0871139502
Description: Fine. Atlantic Monthly Press 2007 SOFTCOVER. Prerelease version. Glossy white and gold pictorial wraps. From BooklistSheridan joined the merchant marines after high school, eventually graduated from Harvard, and worked his way to Australia on a yacht. There, in 1999, he decided to indulge his fascination with fighting, hoping to test himself and explore what has become a mostly sublimated aspect of masculinity. After some months of training in Australia, he moved to Bangkok to train with a ... read more
Description: Fine. 0871139502. Advance Reader's Copy. Like new. Sports/Fighting/ARC. Pasadena's finest independent new and used bookstore.; 1.3 x 8.9 x 6.2 Inches; 320 pages. read more
"Intrigued by the mindset of the fighter, Sam Sheridan embarks on a journey of pain, sweat, and self-discovery in this light but thought-provoking book. What makes a fighter spend a lifetime training to ignore every instinct for self-preservation that nature saw fit to give him? What strange bonding process occurs during the handful of minutes in which two men trade blows? Is bravery measured in blood? By the end of his journey, Sheridan comes to find answers to these questions, and his readers get to come along for the ride. Don't expect a rollicking sports adventure, or a rags-to-riches tearjerker ala Rocky: A Fighter's Heart isn't about a man determined to climb to the top of combative sports. It's about a man who seeks to understand combative sports and test his own limits as he pursues that understanding. Inspirational and entertaining, Sheridan's book demystifies the combative arts even as it venerates their visceral, bloody-knuckled purity."
"A better name might have been "A Writer's Heart".
Sam Sheridan is a smart and stable guy who wanted to put himself in the fight game to test his limits, and he found them quickly. He essentially took all the money he had to his name and used it to travel the world, studying various martial arts with legendary trainers at the most exclusive locations, with intentions of running a gauntlet of fights in boxing, MMA, and eventually a bare-knuckled, headbutts-permitted brawl in Myanmar.
Though Sam presents great insight and background stories on every person he meets and place he visits, he projects a serious inability to stick with anything he starts long enough to master it. The way he tells it, all his coaches are pretty much fine with this, which seems unlikely. His first Muay Thai fight in the book is short and disappointing and he cancels or declines every other bout opportunity presented him for the rest of the book, a period of six years, according to his own account.
Most of the book was still interesting, as Sam traveled and studied in an effort to fully understand the fighting world. Unfortunately he fills in the final pages with a walk through the world of dog and cockfighting, making paper-thin connections between that world and respectable, legitimate sports. Finally, he drags us through his time serving as an extra in a Paul Walker film I'd never heard of. By the end of the book I was flipping back through in disbelief at what was included in the final pages.
Sam admits early on that he sold this story as a means to pay for his travels and it shows. There's a fair amount of filler that's poorly sold as genuine content and some of the events and exchanges that took place seemed unusual in some spots and improbable in others. By the end of the book I no longer wondered why I'd never heard of the author in either the literary arena or that of career fighters.
Two stars awarded for the inclusion and mention of better work by other authors."
"This book reminded me a lot of Jarhead in the way it explores the nature of manhood. Aside from some ill-advised chapters on dogfighting and tai chi, it was great. I totally lost myself in Sheridan's very personal story, and it gave me a lot to think about. I'd recommend this book to any guy, but women will hate it."
"Sheridan writes about studying martial arts around the world, from boxing in Oakland to meditation in Thailand (and why meditation is like fighting). He talks about what draws him to fighting, about violence and "gameness".
Referring to _On Agression_, by Konrad Lorenz, he says "The ability to love and form bonds has evolved as a way to temper agression, to turn it into something more powerful when defending hearth and home. Friendship and love are essentially evolutionary by-products of agression."
One of the most interesting sections to me was about dogfighting. I feel like I have maybe a little understanding of what it's about.
As a fan of Mixed Martial Arts, I also loved the sections about the world famous athletes he trains with and gets to know, from Jens Pulver and Pat Militich to Mario Sperry and Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera."
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