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Summary: A journey into understanding commitment to an art & life.
Review: Richard Heckler is a psychologist and akidoist who practices in the area of mind-body connection. He participated in a breakthrough training program that brought "new-age" awareness disciplines to the Green Berets. Very illuminating on what the role of a warrior is in this technological age. Delves deeply into how courage, vulnerability, compassion, and focus combine to create the warrior spirit. A must for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the military in today's world of morals-less technology.
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Summary: Spiritually-provoking
Review: Richard Strozzi Heckler grapples with the dichotomies we all face in life: how to be strong, yet sensitive enough to our own weaknesses; how to be disciplined in body and spirit, yet not overburdened by convention. The green berets that Heckler taught and got to know harbor the same challenge that many warriors face: that Man ultimately craves peace for himself, yet violence exists in us all (even those who abhor the military and its values), so how do we control it? Today's modern warriors crave peace as much as we all do; such highly-trained individuals as the green berets must also wonder, 'how would I truly face a battle situation?' Written in journal form (Heckler's writing ranks among one of the better essayists). Highly recommended.
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Summary: Amnesia
Review: The author claims he was a Marine, yet seems dumbfounded by the attitude of his soldier-students. I'm not sure what to make of this.
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Summary: Where are the women?
Review: This is a good book on many counts and covers a rarely discussed subject -- a serious engagement of the warrior archetype and the role of the U.S. armed forces from a humane, compassionate, dare I say, liberal stance. But where are the women? If not for the occasional mention of a wife, mother, or daughter, we might come to the conclusion that Heckler lives in an all-male world. His students, inside and outside the Army, seem to be all male. So are his fellow and guest instructors, as are the members of all the warrior-oriented groups (such as the pro-environmentalist "First Earth Battalion") to which Heckler belongs. If there are women to be found here, Heckler does not mention them in his book.At the beginning of the book, Heckler and his friend and co-instructor Jack encounter a female soldier and proceed to have a discussion in which they decide that women can be warriors too (a big relief for women everywhere, I'm sure) and that the warrior archetype is not limited to one gender. That's the last we hear of female warriors or the way the warrior archetype or the U.S. military relates to women. Heckler is obsessed with maleness to the point of the ridiculous. It's one thing to talk about male socialization and male fear of intimacy, another to describe the "male musk" smell of the aikido dojo and characterize a particular individual's response to an aikido attack as "male aggression." As a martial artist I can attest to the fact that there is nothing particularly male about either the smell of martial arts students as they work out or about an aggressive response to an attack. It's true that Heckler himself is a man and his writing style, which is highly autobiographical and personal, is bound to include his reflections on being a man. It might also be the case that Heckler has much of value to say about the social construction of manhood in our culture and the need to examine that construction. However, that is a different book. Heckler's stated goal in "In Search of the Warrior Spirit" and the book's title, are not primarily about 20th century construction of manhood in America. This is supposed to be a book about the warrior archetype, and this archetype is a human, not a male legacy, yet the book talks only about male warriors. Nor does Heckler (who does not hesitate to bring his political consciousness to bear on other matters) ever examine the way in which gender politics and sexism affect the construction of the warrior archetype. In this he does a disservice to men, as well as women. For example, there is no mention that at the time of the writing, as well as now, 16 years later, women are barred from entry into the Special Forces. For better or for worse, a female warrior, no matter how creative, competent or dedicated, cannot be a Green Beret because Army regulations do not permit it. This gendered politicization of the warrior extends to the tradition as a whole. Most of the cultures which Heckler examines have often sought to keep women out of the warrior class and have upheld warriorship as a right of passage into manhood. The effect of this on the warrior archetype has been profound and, consequently, the book misses much by overlooking this historical context. How much of the warrior ideal is about men trying to prove that they are not women (read not weak, vulnerable, etc.) and what is lost as a result? To what extent is the (largely male?) warrior cast enabled and supported by (mostly female?) non-warriors? What are the particular challenges and opportunities of being a female warrior? What innovations and insights can women bring to the warrior tradition? "In Search of the Warrior Spirit" does not address these questions.
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Summary: A must read for the modern day warrior
Review: This is one of the most important books in my martial arts library. I return to it at least twice a year and always learn something new with each reading.
I apply the lessons every day in my life as a husband, father, businessman, baseball coach and martial arts instructor.
Do not miss this book.
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Summary: THE WARRIOR SPIRIT - A UNIVERSAL QUEST FOR SELF
Review: What a unexpectedly wonderful find! Kudos to Dr. Richard Strozzi Heckler for challenging us to look at our beliefs and our use of our most precious asset, our lives. There is so much more to his book "In Search of the Warrior Spirit" than just the narrative chronicles of a military experiment. Over the years, with each reading and rereading of this saga, I find myself moved by the stories of the paticipants, in awe of the accomplishments of the brief Project Trojan Warrior and amazed at the apparently inappropriate post-project use of the paticipants and the results of the project by the conventional military "leadership" (and I use that word guardedly). As one peels back the petals of this literary rose, one is confronted with the inescapable fact that all of us - male or female, civilian or military, religious or someone who disavows religon - are on an eternal quest to discover more of the self that is our own personal Warrior Spirit. Each day is the journey and this book demonstrates that some of the best and brightest (the instructors and students in project) struggle when forced to focus on this quest. If people of of such caliber find that their attempts at personal improvement are not without labor and doubt, then perhaps we can feel not so alone as we go through our journey of self-growth. As a former soldier and as a medical doctor, I can strongly recommend "In Search of the Warrior Spirit" reading for military personnel in combat jobs (especially those in the so-called special operations type units), military historians, martial artists, and folks looking for insight into the common human condition that is espressed in so many individual ways. In short, this book can benefit anyone with an open mind and the desire to become the best person that they can be.
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Summary: Too self absorbed
Review: While this book is very well, even beautifully written, the author is overly engrossed, if not obsessed, with his own thinking and philosophising. He also has no sense of humor which lent a dry self importance to his writing. I often had the feeling that Srozzi Heckler is at war with himself, and his fascination with this is what lies at the heart of this book. Still, it does bring to light crucial issues and he should be applauded for delving into the spiritual and human facets of warriorhood - at least from a male perspective. (I found it disheartening and remarkable however that there is almost no mention of females , a mere mention of a wife or daughter and a "thanks" to a female who helped him with computer skills. I found this rather sexist and a blank spot in his examination of the classic warrior model: just open the cover of "JARHEAD" and you will smell the raw scent of male aggression and sexual passions if not brutality that entwine with military training. How could this reality have been so scantilly adressed and explored?) Indeed at times, Heckler seems overly attached to being the good guy, the perfect high-minded model of manhood. As a reader, it would have been more interesting and honest, in my opinion, if he had quit some of the fanciful reflecting and safe self- inquiry and exposed his own darker truths. It would have given this book more of a real and raw feeling that trainng for life-and-death battle must certainly evoke.
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