After recently reading and enjoying a book called ‘The Zen of Muhammad Ali and Other Obsessions’ by David Miller, I felt compelled to write something about it as it provided a fascinating insight into some of the people I admired and drew inspiration from as I was growing up.

The book is a collection of essays and memoirs written by Miller with a surprising writing style that humanises and at times even humbles the people he admires so much. What is so fascinating is that he clearly has so much admiration for the hero figures that inspired him, yet he manages to keep an objective view that makes the subjects accessible in a way that I had never thought of them before.

The first section of the book tells of his personal experiences with Muhammad Ali and how he befriended his childhood hero. The second section tells of his personal experiences with Sugar Ray Leonard, and also contains an essay he wrote about Bruce Lee. All three of these people were big sources of inspiration for me as I was growing up, and I used to constantly compare myself to them as a benchmark for measuring my own personal progress. To read about them in such an honest light was fascinating. I’m sure some people would maybe be disappointed to read that they were in fact fallible and had their weaknesses – but I found it made what they had accomplished so much more impressive. They are ultimately human just as we are.

The third section of the book is a collection of personal experiences and a fictional piece. I didn’t enjoy the fictional piece as much as it was missing the observational examinations that he has such a talent for. However, the real life accounts that followed are truly excellent. In particular, I found the piece called ‘a secret’ quite emotive, and can to some extent relate to it from my own personal experiences beginning as a traditional martial artist, not discovering boxing and kickboxing until later on.

In these pieces, Miller saved his biggest observational examination for himself, and this honesty throughout the book completely reflects on the greatness of the three subjects.

Check it out, you won’t be disappointed!