C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

     T o practice Zen or the Martial Arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserve - as if you might die in the next instant.       -Zen Master Taisen Deshimaru Korean Zen Martial Artist      This is the first in what will be a series of entries on “Zen combat”, as well as a basic explanation of what the term actually means here at Integral Strength.     The term comes from a book of the same name by the historian Jay Gluck, first published in 1963.  For early Karate-ka in North America, the book was exceptional reading, and it still remains so until this day.  For some reason, it hasn’t always remained in print, despite the fact that - unlike the entirely useless and pretty much awful book “Zen in the Martial Arts” by Joe Hyams, which has, for some odd reason, remained a seminal favorite - Gluck actually knew something about Zen and the martial arts.  Not to fault Hyams entirely, I suppose, since almost all martial artists I’ve come into contact with