The Martial Art of Writing and Other Essays

The Martial Art of Writing and Other Essays PDF Author: Alan Baxter
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
ISBN: 1922479071
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 55

Get Book Here

Book Description
“The thing about an art — and one of the things I love about both Kung Fu and writing — is that you’re never finished. No matter how good you get, no matter how much you achieve, you can always get better.” In these essays, Alan Baxter—the author of cult horror hit The Roo, the Eli Carver series, and the Australian Shadows Award-winners Crow Shine and Served Cold—explores the relationships between horror fiction, a writer’s craft and discipline, and the lessons brought to writing from his almost 40 years as a kung-fu practitioner and instructor. Drawn from presentations, blog posts, and articles exploring his own process, The Martial Art of Writing features Baxter’s interrogation of the similarities between his kung fu and writing practices, the next steps that need to be taken when you realise your book is broken, writing killer fight scenes, embracing your darker impulses as a writer, and much more. Whether you’re a fan of Baxter’s dark imagination looking to plumb the origins of his nightmarish fiction, or an aspiring writer with a penchant for action and dark themes, this chapbook provides a glimpse into the mind and processes of one of Australia’s most prominent writers of horror fiction.

The Martial Art of Writing and Other Essays

The Martial Art of Writing and Other Essays PDF Author: Alan Baxter
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
ISBN: 1922479071
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 55

Get Book Here

Book Description
“The thing about an art — and one of the things I love about both Kung Fu and writing — is that you’re never finished. No matter how good you get, no matter how much you achieve, you can always get better.” In these essays, Alan Baxter—the author of cult horror hit The Roo, the Eli Carver series, and the Australian Shadows Award-winners Crow Shine and Served Cold—explores the relationships between horror fiction, a writer’s craft and discipline, and the lessons brought to writing from his almost 40 years as a kung-fu practitioner and instructor. Drawn from presentations, blog posts, and articles exploring his own process, The Martial Art of Writing features Baxter’s interrogation of the similarities between his kung fu and writing practices, the next steps that need to be taken when you realise your book is broken, writing killer fight scenes, embracing your darker impulses as a writer, and much more. Whether you’re a fan of Baxter’s dark imagination looking to plumb the origins of his nightmarish fiction, or an aspiring writer with a penchant for action and dark themes, this chapbook provides a glimpse into the mind and processes of one of Australia’s most prominent writers of horror fiction.

Essays in the Art of Writing

Essays in the Art of Writing PDF Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: The Floating Press
ISBN: 187752736X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 99

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although several of Robert Louis Stevenson's major works -- Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -- have been enshrined in the Western canon of popular literature, these novels represent only a fraction of a prodigious body of writing that spans virtually every genre. Stevenson was a prolific and preternaturally skilled writer, and in these essays, he offers insight, tips, and inspiration that will capture the imagination of both fans of his work and would-be writers.

Old School

Old School PDF Author: Ellis Amdur
Publisher: Freelance Academy Press
ISBN: 193743947X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 397

Get Book Here

Book Description
Koryu, literally, 'old flow from the past,' refers to Japanese martial traditions that predate the sweeping cultural changes that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868. They generally have a very different character and tone from modern martial arts, such as kendo, judo or aikido which followed. More than the study of antique weapons, self-defense or a form of athletics, these martial traditions are a cultural legacy and a window to another time and place. In the first edition of Old School, Ellis Amdur, a renowned martial arts researcher, and himself an instructor in two different surviving koryu, gave readers a rare glimpse into feudal Japanese warrior arts, both as they were in the past and as they live on today. Nearly a decade later, he returns to the subject in this new, greatly expanded edition, bringing readers inside the dojos of a number ancient schools, providing details analysis of the evolution and morphology of uniquely Japanese weaponry, addressing the myth and reality of Japan's naginata-wielding warrior women, and discussing the modern relevance of the blood oaths, magical ritual and mysticism that often permeate the koryu. Finally, he looks at the challenge of preservation and transmission, especially as more and more practitioners of the koryu exist outside of Japan itself. Writing with a combination of the initiate's passion for his subject, and the scientist's rigorous search for the truth, Amdur asks critically: do the ancient traditions still meet the objectives of their founders? Are they successfully passing their ancient legacy down to the next generation? Over a third larger than the first edition and filled with new artwork and photography, Old School: Japanese Martial Traditions Expanded Edition will be an invaluable addition to the library of old readers and new alike.

The Art of Writing and Other Essays

The Art of Writing and Other Essays PDF Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English literature
Languages : en
Pages : 94

Get Book Here

Book Description


You Feel So Mortal

You Feel So Mortal PDF Author: Peggy Shinner
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022612780X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Get Book Here

Book Description
“[A] smart, witty, bittersweet book of writings about her own body . . . the author examines the journey of life inside that most imperfect of vessels.” —Chicago Tribune Feet, bras, autopsies, hair—Peggy Shinner takes an honest, unflinching look at all of them in this collection of searing and witty essays about the body: her own body, female and Jewish; those of her parents, the bodies she came from; and the collective body, with all its historical, social, and political implications. What, she asks, does this whole mess of bones, muscles, organs, and soul mean? Searching for answers, she turns her keen narrative sense to body image, gender, ethnic history, and familial legacy, exploring what it means to live in our bodies and to leave them behind. Over the course of twelve essays, Shinner holds a mirror up to the complex desires, fears, confusions, and mysteries that shape our bodily perceptions. Driven by the collision between herself and the larger world, she examines her feet through the often-skewed lens of history to understand what makes them, in the eyes of some, decidedly Jewish; considers bras, breasts, and the storied skills of the bra fitter; asks, from the perspective of a confused and grieving daughter, what it means to cut the body open; and takes a reeling time-trip through myth, culture, and history to look at women’s hair in ancient Rome, Laos, France, Syria, Cuba, India, and her own past. Some pieces investigate the body under emotional or physical duress, while others use the body to consider personal heritage and legacy. Throughout, Shinner writes with elegance and assurance, weaving her wide-ranging thoughts into a firm and fascinating fabric.

The Art of Writing and Other Essays

The Art of Writing and Other Essays PDF Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781500555849
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 54

Get Book Here

Book Description
On some technical elements of style in literature -- The morality of the profession of letters -- Books which have influenced me -- A note on realism -- My first book: 'Treasure Island' -- The genesis of 'the master of Ballantrae' -- Preface to 'the master of Ballantrae'

Other Girls to Burn

Other Girls to Burn PDF Author: Caroline Crew
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820360449
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 129

Get Book Here

Book Description
Other Girls to Burn is a collection of essays that explores the relationship between women and violence within such contexts as the 2014 Isla Vista shooting, early Christian virgin martyrs (discussed in relation with modern true crime stories), mixed martial arts, and rape culture. Formally inventive and lyric leaning, these essays shift between cultural criticism and personal essay and cohere around a central motif of female mystics. With them, Caroline Crew asks, What does it mean for women to be complicit in the violence of the patriarchy? How do women navigate risk as well as revel in thrill? What does it mean to both fear and perpetuate violence? The essays explore disparate cultural touch points, such as contemporary feminism, race, hagiography, the Salem witch trials, dementia, fairy tales, Eurydice, indie music, gender performance, Anne Boleyn, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, family dysfunction, and vaginismus, to name a few. Together, this collection is in conversation with contemporary nonfiction writers such as Maggie Nelson, Sarah Manguso, and Anne Boyer.

Martial Arts are Not Just for Kicking Butt

Martial Arts are Not Just for Kicking Butt PDF Author: Antonio Cuevas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description
Martial Arts Are Not Just for Kicking Buttbrings together the best of North Atlantic Books’ martial arts writing with several special features, including an ode to the late aikido master, Terry Dobson, and an illustrated lesson on 'hard' and 'soft' systems. Provocative and humorous, this collection looks at a variety of martial disciplines. From Japan to Brazil, and from the U.S. to the Philippines the editors navigate an odyssey that portrays the legends and systems of the warring arts, exploring the history, philosophy, music, power, and techniques for kicking butt and keeping the peace.

Martial Arts and Philosophy

Martial Arts and Philosophy PDF Author: Graham Priest
Publisher: Open Court Publishing
ISBN: 0812696840
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
Martial arts and philosophy have always gone hand in hand, as well as fist in throat. Philosophical argument is closely paralleled with hand-to-hand combat. And all of today's Asian martial arts were developed to embody and apply philosophical ideas. In his interview with Bodidharma, Graham Priest brings out aspects of Buddhist philosophy behind Shaolin Kung-Fu -- how fighting monks are seeking Buddhahood, not brawls. But as Scott Farrell's chapter reveals, Eastern martial arts have no monopoly on philosophical traditions: Western chivalry is an education in and living revival of Aristotelian ethical theories. Several chapters look at ethical problems raised by the fighting arts. How can the sweaty and brutal be exquisitely beautiful? Every chapter is easily understandable by readers new to martial arts or new to philosophy.

Martial Arts in the Modern World

Martial Arts in the Modern World PDF Author: Thomas A. Green
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Get Book Here

Book Description
Martial arts, once restricted to a few specific locations and practiced by small groups of devotees, have truly spread throughout the world. The plethora of tae kwando and karate dojos in U.S. shopping malls attests to the popularity of various kinds of martial arts in this country. Though generally perceived and advertised as means of self-defense, body sculpting, and self-discipline, martial arts are actually social tools that respond to altered physical, social, and psychological environments. This book examines how practitioners have responded to stimuli such as feminism, globalism, imperialism, militarism, nationalism, slavery, and the commercialization of sport. In a series of chapters devoted to Asian, African, and European systems of the late 19th to early 21st centuries, the authors examine the forces and philosophies that shaped fighting arts in diverse cultural settings. Because of political, social, and economic factors, this period witnessed the spread of martial arts to areas outside of their original contexts. Some of these arts flourished in their new environments, but others did not. The authors demonstrate that martial arts are not the conservative strongholds of tradition posited by conventional wisdom, but are instead responsive and mutable barometers of change. This book is essential for students of multicultural dialogues and devotees of martial arts performance and practice.