MASTERSHIP

Part memoir, part self-help book, this debut work chronicles how taekwondo gave a musician the tools he needed to restart his life after a major failure.

In 1996, Davidson and his wife, Carole, declared bankruptcy. He had been trying to support his family as a musician, but couldn’t make ends meet. The couple had three children to care for and not many options. The author began to study taekwondo at the suggestion of a friend. It was a good way for him to work out his frustrations at first. He had no interest in learning to fight. Not long into his initial training, he discovered what the martial art could do for him in terms of discipline, spirituality, and mental health. It forced him to set goals and gave him the motivation to achieve them, and the ability to respect and learn from mistakes. Getting into the training a bit further, he found he wanted to open his own school. He did this in fairly short order, which compelled him to learn how to run a business. The discipline he learned kept him anchored during tough times, when he was delivering newspapers to bring in an income and when his wife left him. And it led him to his greatest successes, becoming a taekwondo master and providing stability for his loved ones. Davidson got a lot of coaching along the way, whether it was from his taekwondo instructors, biographies of great leaders, or business books, and he offers this useful information to readers. He analyzes each step of his life in clean, clear prose; includes photos; and presents bullet points in hopes of helping people to change their own lives for the better. But there are some technical passages concerning the complex process of becoming a taekwondo master that many readers may find hard to follow. Still, the book should appeal to readers who want to know more about the martial art or those who need a little motivational push.

An inspirational account that delivers some valuable taekwondo advice.