Redemption

Michael Clarke was an angry,vicious kid, a street fighter. He grew up in the late sixties and earlyseventies in Manchester, England, in a tough neighborhood where, he writes,"Prostitutes worked the pavement opposite my home, illegal bookmakers took betsin back alley cellars, and street brawls were c [...]
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Michael Clarke was an angry,vicious kid, a street fighter. He grew up in the late sixties and earlyseventies in Manchester, England, in a tough neighborhood where, he writes,"Prostitutes worked the pavement opposite my home, illegal bookmakers took betsin back alley cellars, and street brawls were commonplace." He left school at fifteenand began his education as a pugilist on the streets. He fought in bars andclubs, at football matches, in parks, and in bus stations-and he was good. He reveledin the victories and the admiration they brought. It was a life of knucklesand teeth, of broken bones and torn flesh-and the arrests that followed. Clarkewas seventeen when a judge sentenced him to two years in Strangeways Prison, aninfamous place also known as "psychopath central." In prison he resolved tochange his life and stay out of trouble, but trouble was everywhere. Hediscovered a world of violent gangs, abusive guards, and inmates engaged in anendless struggle for dominance. Strangeways was a place where a person couldget stabbed to death for taking the bigger piece of toast. In time Clarke was released,but the transition was difficult and he almost fought his way back to prison.Thenone night he entered a karate dojo and his life changed forever. He began alifetime pursuit of budo, the martial way. He sought knowledge, studied withmasters, and traveled to Okinawa, the birthplace of karate. Redemption: A Street Fighter's Path toPeace is a true account of youthwasted and life reclaimed. Michael Clarke reminds us that martial arts are notsimply about punching and kicking. They forge the spirit, temper the will, and revealour true nature.