Recommended Reading
Canada, Geoffrey. Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America. Boston: Beacon Press, 1995.
The author is a 3rd-degree black belt who grew up in the South Bronx and now teaches Taekwondo at a youth center there.
Hyams, Joe. Zen in the Martial Arts. New York: Bantam Books, 1982.
Spiritual lessons learned from martial arts legends (including Bruce Lee) and applied to every day life.
Kurz, Thomas. Stretching Scientifically: A Guide to Flexibility Training (4th Revision ed.). Stadion Publishing Company, Inc., 2003.
An excellent guide to warming up, cooling down, and tailoring your stretching exercises to the specific movements for which you are stretching. The author studied physical education at AWF (University School of Physical Education) in Warsaw, one of the top East European institutions that prepare coaches, instructors, teachers of physical education, and rehabilitation specialists. While still a student, he was appointed assistant coach of the students' judo team.
Lee, Grand Master Haeng Ung. The Way of Traditional Taekwondo, vol. A and vols. 1-10. Little Rock: American Taekwondo Association, 1997-2000.
The philosophy and tradition of Songahm Taekwondo, along with the entire curriculum from white through 1st-degree black belt. Contact us to order these books.
Mailer, Norman. The Fight. New York: Vintage Books, 1975.
An account of the Mohammed Ali-George Foreman "rumble in the jungle" in Zaire.
Miller, Davis. The Tao of Bruce Lee: A Martial Arts Memoir. New York: Harmony Books, 2000.
A combination of personal autobiography and (much better-written) Bruce Lee biography, with some unorthodox conclusions.
Remnick, David. King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero. New York: Vintage Books, 1998.
An account of Ali's early career, focusing on his two fights with Sonny Liston. Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of the New Yorker magazine.
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