Rob Smiths candor about his lifes journey provides the reader with keen insights that one should apply to their own life. -Col. Arnold Scheller, M.D. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to pursue excellence in life. Grand Master Joseph Esposito, Kenpo Karate From an internationally known Sport Psychologist This is a memoir-style account of the determination, adaptability, faith, and humility it takes to earn a Black Belt in Kenpo style karate. Psychologist and First Degree Black Belt Rob Smith candidly shares his personal successes and failures, and how they eventually lead him to pursuing the martial arts and, ultimately, the Black Belt journey in his personal and professional life. In this book, Dr. Smith offers a rare look at what happens behind the scenes during an intense, 16-week Black Belt test, with unprecedented access to the training techniques, test requirements, and high standards set by his dynamic sensei, Grand Master Joseph Esposito.Black Belt For Life serves as a must-read manual for how to physically and mentally prepare for a life of continuous self-improvement. The book concludes with a summary of some key lessons Dr. Smith has learned so far in his Black Belt journey. The Foreword of this book is written by a man who has embodied the Black Belt path. Col. Arnold Scheller holds a Black Belt in Hapkido, served in the elite U.S. Army Rangers, and served as the team physician for the Boston Celtics from 1987-2005. Excellent . . . and thanks for writing this book Rob Jacob, author of Martial Arts Biographies: An Annotated Bibliography

Develop and maintain a healthy body using advanced Taekwondo training principles. In Black Belt Fitness for Life, Grandmaster Tae Sun Kang applies his four decades of experience to guide you through an innovative method of fitness using Taekwondo principles. Whether you're a beginner or veteran to stretching and exercise, you can easily follow Grandmaster Kang's 7-week routine based on the belt system of Taekwondo, an ancient Korean martial art. With each week of the regimen, you will learn new skills and techniques that culminate in the mastery of the techniques necessary to continue exercising and eating right for life. Through the use of Taekwondo stretches and movements, this black belt "Combined Dynamic Stretching" method will improve your flexibility and balance, stamina and strength, as well as your focus and mental health. You'll stretch multiple parts of your body at the same time, improving circulation and building mental strength while warming up to minimize injuries. As part of his holistic approach to health and fitness, Grandmaster Kang also outlines an eating plan designed to help you lose weight naturally. Unlike extreme diets and workouts that emphasize drastic results quickly, the Grandmaster's approach is a balanced, easy-to-follow, and--most importantly--realistic plan designed for your life. Friend and longtime student of Grandmaster Kang, actor Michael Imperioli wrote the foreword for the book and shares his experience in training under Grandmaster, as well as the benefits he has received in following Grandmaster's philosophy.

Visions of the Black Belt offers a rich cultural overview of the emblematic core of Alabama known for its prairie soils, plantation manors, civil rights history, gothic churches, traditional foodways, and resilient and gracious people.

While anyone can lead, and everyone is leading someone, not everyone leads with Black Belt Excellence. A lack of effective leadership not only limits your potential, it limits the potential of those who are following. What if you could learn to develop the same skills and character traits required to earn a black belt in the martial arts, and apply this to learning to become a Black Belt Leader in Life? In this book, you'll learn 10 of the essential character traits of a black belt, and how to apply these to become a more effective leader. Whether you're leading your family, employees, a congregation at church, a classroom, sports team or a volunteer organization, this book will help you bring out the best in yourself and others.Yes, you can become a Black Belt Leader in Life that leads with Black Belt Excellence. Black Belt Leadership 101 can help you learn what it takes, so you can not only lead...but lead yourself and others well.

Melanie Gibson was an independent woman with a good job, multiple college degrees, and a condo in the trendy part of town. She also had a few mental illnesses, a minor substance abuse problem, and rotten relationship skills. She was a high-functioning crazy who needed a good kick in the pants, literally and metaphorically. In early 2013, as a last desperate means to save her sanity, Melanie turned to a nearly forgotten childhood activity: the Korean martial art of taekwondo. As if the universe were listening, she discovered her West Texas childhood taekwondo instructors’ Grandmaster operated a taekwondo school a few miles from her home in Fort Worth, Texas—and she decided to start her training over as a white belt. In taekwondo, Melanie felt like she had a fresh start in more ways than one. She found an inner peace she’d never known before, a sense of community, a newfound confidence, and a positive outlook on life. The kicking and screaming she was doing in class quieted the long-term kicking and screaming in her mind. Funny and frank, Kicking and Screaming: A Memoir of Madness and Martial Arts is the story of Melanie’s life-changing journey from troubled, lost soul to confident taekwondo black belt.

There is nothing glorious or elegant about the process you must go through on the road to your vision. The glory comes in knowing who you have become thanks to the process itself. Beginner with a Black Belt is a story of strength, survival, and courage. Interconnecting the different cultures that impacted her own life, Ana Stevanovic combines the teachings of East andWest in order to overcome immense obstacles and define her own values. In this inspiring and insightful take on how one can become the master of their own life journey, readers are presented with a brilliant blend of lessons learned through the struggles of life and lessons learned in Bujinkan (a practice of ancient Japanese martial arts). Ranked as a 7th Dan in Bujinkan, Ana understands the meaning of hard work. After discovering the three most important questions on the road to self-mastery, she set out on a mission to find her answers. Regardless of one's status in life, the important principles and illuminating message communicated in this book can serve as a point of direction for anyone seeking a more purposeful existence.

As the official defensive tactics system of Israeli police, military, and elite special operations units, krav maga has proven its effectiveness from front lines to back streets. "Black Belt Krav Maga" teaches and illustrates the discipline's most lethal fighting and self-defense moves in book format.