Fist of Destiny : Memoirs of a Martial Artist by Karl Lancaster - HTML preview

Foreword

Looking back, my earliest childhood memory is one of me riding a three wheeled bike down Church Street Market, Marylebone, just off the Edgware Road. A shame really, because I mentioned it to my mum once, and she was adamant that it never happened. So, like a lot of things its almost certainly a fiction, something I dreamed up and convinced myself was real. A lot of people do that, and martial artists are no exception.

What I want to do here in these writing's is to give a nuts and bolts view of a martial artists life. What drove me to do martial arts, who I idolized, what I liked, hated, what made me sad. And along the way I want to blow away a few myth's. I also hope to inspire others to try the martial arts, or to succeed at them, or even just to view their own chosen sport, or even just their life, in a different way.

Also, as I spin out my own story, I would like to enlighten the reader where I can. This may seem a little presumpcious for some, but my aim is not to 'teach my granny to suck eggs', but to enrich the basic martial artist and non martial artist’s alike. I hope to do this partly with my own experience, partly by rehashing the history, philosophy and application of those arts I have been directly involved with.

I also want to recount some stories about martial artists I have known or who have had influence on me, be it all through a third or even 'forth' party. During the telling of this narrative I want to tell of some of the remarkable things instructors and great masters have done. But I also want to dispel some of the rubbish which has been put about. This last part may upset some people, and I will apologise now if I offend, it's not my aim, but it may be my duty to do so at times.

 Karl Lancaster March 2009