Me, Chi, and Bruce Lee: Adventures in Martial Arts.

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

“Chi is the Asian concept of the life force, the energy that created the universe, and continues to play out in every breath, every fart, every muscle movement, and every movement from birth to death, by every creature that ever lived.” Such is the cheeky tone of this hilarious and yet informative voyage of discovery by Brian Preston, a self-confessed “wuss.” Like many males, Preston was bullied as a child and his fear of being hurt runs so deep he confesses that even as a grown man he once ignominiously ran away from two foul-mouthed drunken 14-year-olds in Glasgow who were threatening to “cut” him. So suddenly, at the age of 47, freelance writer Brian Preston decides he wants to earn a black belt and write a book about the experience. This should take about a year, he believes. This idea came to him in the same way many great book ideas have come to writers, while drinking beer. It was actually his publisher’s suggestion, and at first Preston wanted nothing to do with the idea because he is not just a pacifist, he thinks he is a coward. Preston changes his mind eventually when he realizes that just maybe the martial arts can erase the negative image he has carried of himself since childhood. Thus begins a journey that takes Preston from improvised dojos in B.C. logger country to Taoist temples at the top sacred mountains in China. He reveals little known martial arts secrets such as the fact that besides inventing his own no-style kung fu Bruce Lee was once the cha-cha champ of Hong Kong. He meets the real deal—people who have dedicated their lives to the achievement of chi—and he meets dangerously ignorant thugs who can seriously hurt you in the name of training. He gets his ribs broken by an over-aggressive novice named Gord and meets Royce (pronounced Hoyce) Gracie, the soft-spoken Brazilian born Ultimate Fighting champion who is still forced to hold demonstration seminars in backwater towns to eke out a living. Preston is a highly entertaining writer who always manages to stay on subject and get to the point, usually with a punch line. Whether you are a novice, an expert, or just plain curious about kung fu and its myriad descendants, this book should be in your collection.