Philosophy of Fighting

“There is a world of ideas out there that martial artists need to consider or else the world will pass them by and they will become obsolete.” – Keith Vargo


For the first time, the thoughtful writings of Keith Vargo, the popular author of Black Belt’s Way of the Warrior column, are compiled in Philosophy of Fighting: Morals and Motivations of the Modern Warrior. Comprising a decade’s worth of discourses, the book allows readers to explore the stimulating ideas, observations and arguments addressed by Keith Vargo in the world’s leading martial arts magazine.


With the watchful eye of a trained psychologist, Keith Vargo entertains and provokes readers by examining the trends, traditions, thinkers, cultures and fields that shape the martial arts. Like Freud, Keith Vargo leaves no stone unturned, touching on topics that include the purpose of champions like Royce Gracie, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenomenon, powerful but lesser-known arts like tres personas escrima, the great debate between mixed martial artists and traditional artists, the psychology of winning and losing, the reality of self-defense, the lessons of great epics and much more.



Philosophy of Fighting: Morals and Motivations of the Modern Warrior will keep fighters and readers actively engaged in the philosophical questions and considerations that define the modern warrior in a contemporary world.


Keith Vargo is a writer, martial arts instructor, active fighter and researcher based in Tokyo, whose columns and features regularly appear in Black Belt. He is the only foreigner to earn a first-degree black belt from the world-renowned Takada Dojo, where he has trained with MMA legends like Akira Shoji and Kazushi Sakuraba. Keith Vargo also holds a degree in psychology and a certificate in multicultural self-defense from Radford University in Virginia.