Book Review - Borrowing the Master's Bicycle (Mark Johnson)

Short Review: Johnson's follow-up to Jiu Jitsu on the Brain is less focused on immediate applicability to training, but is nevertheless an interesting and entertaining read. The central theme is one which Johnson has been developing on his blog for a good while now: understanding life through jiu jitsu. In the 1970s, Robert Pirsig famously used motorcycle maintenance to explore broader concepts, such as the nature of society's relationship with technology. Johnson does something comparable, but through jiu jitsu, trying to develop what he calls 'Jiu-Zen'. Available to buy for your Kindle here for $5.17 (or in the UK, here, for £3.20).

Full Review: This is the second book from Mark Johnson, following Jiu Jitsu on the Brain (which I reviewed earlier this year). Since then, Johnson has received his black belt from Pedro Sauer, which automatically means this book should garner more attention. Fellow black belt author Kid Peligro has written a foreword, which again lends considerable credibility, given Peligro is easily the most prolific author of respected BJJ books (such as The Gracie Way and BJJ: Theory & Technique). Peligro doesn't say anything especially noteworthy in his foreword, but then forewords are often just there to lend legitimacy rather than deep insight. Peligro's book The Gracie Way does the same thing, where the foreword is written by Royce Gracie.

As with Jiu Jitsu on the Brain, this new release is not a typical instructional volume. Instead, it is a collection of Johnson's thoughts on BJJ. In Jiu Jitsu on the Brain, there was a cohesive structure that meant it can function as an instructional of sorts, geared towards beginners or people still just thinking about starting BJJ. Hence why I would be happy to recommend that first book as the only BJJ instructional volume currently available which is completely 'safe' for beginners (as there is no danger of them being overwhelmed with technique).

Borrowing the Master's Bicycle is different, though there are still useful bits of advice (e.g., set yourself small goals, learn to breathe properly, cultivate an attitude of constant learning, etc). With each chapter, Johnson takes the opportunity to muse about potential broader meanings in jiu jitsu, generally unconnected to the previous chapters. Still, there is an overarching theme, which Johnson has mentioned numerous times on his blog: jiu jitsu as a vehicle for understanding the universe. Indeed, the pdf version he sent me for review was entitled Jiu Jitsu and the Universe.

Like Jiu Jitsu on the Brain, there are a few slips which can probably be blamed on the spellchecker, like 'affective' instead of 'effective' or 'preformed' instead of 'performed', among others. A few full-stops have also gone astray, then there are occasional things like 'to' instead of 'too' (though I am sure the spellchecker is also to blame in that instance rather than Johnson's grammar, given that he is a high school English teacher). That's to be expected with a self-published book and the mistakes are quite minor.

If Jiu Jitsu on the Brain was a Hagakure for BJJ, the comparison that springs to mind for Borrowing the Master's Bicycle is, appropriately, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Johnson's book doesn't have the narrative flow of Pirsig's work, but there is some of that same sense of reaching an understanding of universal principles through a focus on the specific. For Pirsig, it was getting his hands dirty working on his motorcycle on a long journey across the US. For Johnson, it is perfecting his jiu jitsu over the course of a lifetime.

Like Pirsig, Johnson peppers the text with anecdotes, intended to elucidate a philosophical point. For example, in one chapter Johnson discusses how BJJ has helped him become calm, to the extent that he now barely even argues. To do so, Johnson draws a contrast between two evocatively described episodes from his past: his aggressive response to a theft back in his college football days, compared to his polite withdrawal from a potentially volatile situation after he had begun training in jitsu.

The only other book I've read in BJJ that is in at all the same field, aside from Johnson's own previous work, is Carlos Machado's Putting the Pieces Together, which I recently reviewed for Jiu Jitsu Style Magazine. Machado's volume would fall firmly into the self-help category, consisting of a series of inspirational quotes. Though I wouldn't put Johnson's book in that same category, there is an element of this in Borrowing the Master's Bicycle, although Johnson accomplishes his philosophical aims through more considered and expansive parables.

It is difficult to discuss spiritual concepts without coming across as pompous, especially in the blogosphere from which Johnson's book grew. Even the word 'spiritual' has developed connotations of hokey New Age posturing. However, Borrowing the Master's Bicycle does a decent job of avoiding that tone. Johnson's fondness for throwing in references to pop culture is another reason he doesn't float off into clouds of incense. Darth Vader, Yoda and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin all make appearances. Then there is his language, which remains colloquial: the book has liberal helpings of "cool", "dude" and the odd "shit".

I was particularly intrigued by the idea Johnson shares in his last section, where he started to analyse the eighty-eight techniques required to gain a blue belt from Pedro Sauer (the question of whether or not formal testing is a good thing is a different topic, about which I have strong views, but it isn't directly relevant here). I would be very interested in reading an entire book along those lines, if that's a project Johnson ever decides to expand upon in a future release. Borrowing the Master's Bicycle is available to buy for your Kindle here in the US for $5.17 (or in the UK, here, for £3.20).

Book Review - Jiu-Jitsu on the Brain (Mark Johnson)

Short Review: This is perhaps the only instructional BJJ book which is completely 'safe' for beginners. There is no chance of overwhelming a fresh white belt with overly complex technique, for the simple reason that this book does not contain any techniques. The only photograph is on the cover. What the Pedro Sauer brown belt offers instead is much more valuable for a beginner: sound advice, from how to put on your gi to dealing with meatheads. Available to buy for your US-registered Kindle device or app here, or for £3.33 in the UK, here.

Full Review: Mark Johnson has been training in Brazilian jiu jitsu since 1998, which by the time he wrote this book had brought him to the rank of brown belt under Pedro Sauer. In 2002, he opened West Side Academy in Utah, which is not only still going strong, but now has several affiliates. Johnson is also an English teacher, a position which often uses the power of words to try and make a positive impact and lasting influence.

All of that experience makes Jiu-Jitsu on the Brain an interesting addition to the expanding number of BJJ books currently on the market, particularly as this is not what readers have come to expect from an instructional book. You won't find a step-by-step description of techniques, or any photographic representation of jiu jitsu. Instead, Johnson's book of parables and vignettes could perhaps be described as a sort of Hagakure for the jiu jitsu practitioner, trimmed of that 18th century volume's cryptic references and stiff prose.

Johnson's language is irreverent and colloquial, with the cursing you'd expect from the vernacular (though Johnson is thankfully no Dana White: he says 'fuck' three times, along with an infrequent 'shit' or 'crappy'). It's also not going to take up much of your time, which means that unlike all my other reviews, I don't want to get too in-depth and spoil your enjoyment of the contents. Jiu-Jitsu on the Brain reminds me of the beautifully compact 33⅓ series of books, perfectly sized to accompany you on an intercity train journey or a short flight.

Fittingly for a short book, Johnson chose to publish through Kindle (I should note here that the file I was sent for review was pdf format, but I presume there aren't any major differences to the Kindle version). There are the occasional slips in proofreading that you would expect from self-publication, but nothing major (presumably thanks to Johnson's day-job.) Mostly it's the typical spell-check killers, like 'are' instead of 'our', 'accept' instead of 'except', etc.

Jiu-Jitsu on the Brain developed out of Johnson's thoughtful blog. Having followed that site for some time, I expected this book would be similar to the posts I remember, epigrammatic anecdotes where Johnson develops a life lesson sometimes related to jiu jitsu, sometimes not. Elements of the blog do pop up, especially in the final chapter, but the book starts with some practical advice about what to wear to your first class. I also found a strong belief of mine echoed early on: "your gi is a tool to train with, not a fashion statement."

I was pleased to see that he is careful to always be gender neutral. It may seem overly PC to some, but personally I feel it's important to avoid excluding fifty percent of your potential audience, particularly as it isn't difficult to add in the occasional "or her". The first chapter is called 'black bar', in reference to the black strip on your white belt, which then progresses to '1st stripe' and '2nd stripe'. The advice of the first chapter bleeds into the second and third, but the theme is slightly different. It is all good advice, with a dose of observational comedy from a jiu jitsu perspective.

'3rd stripe' gets a bit more intermediate. It remains applicable to beginners, but increasingly Johnson is looking towards more experienced belts, who will find themselves nodding their heads in agreement with a smile. I could quibble with a few points, like Johnson's opinion on testing, but he tends to balance out his perspective with the other side of the argument.

The last chapter is about character, which is where I was most strongly reminded of the posts I read on his blog. The use of anecdotes and parables is far more noticeable here, shifting away from the practicalities of class to more philosophical concerns, like controlling your anger, not judging by appearance and being respectful even when others don't show you the same courtesy. It could easily have come across as trite, but Johnson manages to avoid both the banal and the pompous.

I can happily recommend this to anybody either in the early stages of their training, or those who are thinking of trying out jiu jitsu (with one proviso: don't worry too much about that stain he mentions, I've never seen it happen in my five and a half years on the mat ;D). Jiu-Jitsu on the Brain functions as an excellent primer on the basic dos and don'ts of training BJJ, in a concise but consistently readable package. Available to buy for your Kindle (or if you're like me, your Kindle for PC or Kindle for Windows Phone) in the US here, or for £3.33 in the UK, here.