MMA. Mixed martial arts.

When one thinks of mixed martial arts, terms and names like UFC, Tito Ortiz, Ken Shamrock, Brazilian jujitsu, and vale tudo come to mind. In the world of MMA, ‘brutal’ is the word that best describes the totality of the sports. In the book A Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting, authored by mixed martial arts practitioner, he discusses various disciplines, from dogfighting to professional prizefighting to Hollywood stunt fighting. It is not just a book with instructions on how to become the best mixed martial artist, nor is it a self-help book for the downtrodden.

Sheridan’s book has a man’s insights on how fighting can carve a man out of someone and how it can free a person from the bonds that have spiritually and emotionally held him. It is, in essence, a fighting man’s philosophical take on fighting.

It is quite evident that that author is passionate about his subject as Sheridan writes down his belief that fighting not only educates men about nobility, violence, and honor but that it also enables men to learn the “responsibility to existence.”

Telegraph’s Kasia Boddy reviewed A Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting as a well-written book if it does away with the philosophizing and focus mainly on the technical details of several fighting disciplines.

A Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting is published by Grove Press.