Product Description
Josh Waitzkin knows what it means to be at the top of his game. A public figure since winning his first National Chess Championship at the age of nine, Waitzkin was catapulted into a media whirlwind as a teenager when his father's book Searching for Bobby Fischer was made into a major motion picture. After dominating the scholastic chess world for ten years, Waitzkin expanded his horizons, taking on the martial art Tai Chi Chuan and ultimately earning the title of World Champion. How was he able to reach the pinnacle of two disciplines that on the surface seem so different? "I've come to realize that what I am best at is not Tai Chi, and it is not chess," he says. "What I am best at is the art of learning."In his riveting new book, The Art of Learning, Waitzkin tells his remarkable story of personal achievement and shares the principles of learning and performance that have propelled him to the top -- twice.With a narrative that combines heart-stopping martial arts wars and tense chess face-offs with life lessons that speak to all of us, The Art of Learning takes readers through Waitzkin's unique journey to excellence. He explains in clear detail how a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning is what separates success from failure. Waitzkin believes that achievement, even at the championship level, is a function of a lifestyle that fuels a creative, resilient growth process. Rather than focusing on climactic wins, Waitzkin reveals the inner workings of his everyday method, from systematically triggering intuitive breakthroughs, to honing techniques into states of remarkable potency, to mastering the art of performance psychology.Through his own example, Waitzkin explains how to embrace defeat and make mistakes work for you. Does your opponent make you angry? Waitzkin describes how to channel emotions into creative fuel. As he explains it, obstacles are not obstacles but challenges to overcome, to spur the growth process by turning weaknesses into strengths. He illustrates the exact routines that he has used in all of his competitions, whether mental or physical, so that you too can achieve your peak performance zone in any competitive or professional circumstance.In stories ranging from his early years taking on chess hustlers as a seven year old in New York City's Washington Square Park, to dealing with the pressures of having a film made about his life, to International Chess Championships in India, Hungary, and Brazil, to gripping battles against powerhouse fighters in Taiwan in the Push Hands World Championships, The Art of Learning encapsulates an extraordinary competitor's life lessons in a page-turning narrative.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 68 reviews)

I picked a dud by reality check (Pretoria)

2 Stars
November 07, 2009
I almost always love the books I buy, it is rare that I pick a book and read it and then have it turn out a disappointment. Josh Waitzkin's book is a book that picked with high hopes, and it turned out to be a dud. I enjoyed his lectures on Chessmaster, and liked "Searching for Bobby Fisher" the movie about his chess career. Bases on this movie and chess program, I was certain that the book would be good, but it was not. Much of it is taken up with detailed descriptions of his recent "Push Hands" competitions, which I had to skip as they bored me stiff, and the "lessons" he gleaned from them I found to be nothing that I cold use in my life. I understood from other reviews that the title is a misnomer, and that this book is a biography more-or-less. This did not put me off, as I was interested in the reason why he quit chess, and whether he would ever take up the game again. Regrettably these questions were explained unsatisfactorily, too cursory. There were a few mildly interesting pages, but they were few. I could not finish his book!

Learning theory told through master level experience in chess and tai chi by Rolf Dobelli (Switzerland)

4 Stars
September 01, 2009
Author Josh Waitzkin has mastered two complex, esoteric disciplines: chess and tai chi, a martial art. He won national chess titles as a youth, and national and world championships in "push hands," or partner tai chi. In this book he presents his theories about learning and high level performance, using as a case study his own rise to excellence in highly competitive sports. Even without the theoretical speculation his story is engaging - but his theories make the book useful to anyone trying to learn a new skill. getAbstract recommends it to those who wish to raise their level of performance, find out about mind-body connections or enjoy a good story.

Useful only to a limited audience by Maxim Weinstein (Medford, MA USA)

2 Stars
June 03, 2009
If you're interested in gaining insight into the mind of a child chess prodigy turned adult martial arts champion, this is a decent book. It's reasonably readable and has a lot of interesting stories about the author's chess and marital arts careers. As an inspirational or how-to book, though, it falls short. Maybe it would be helpful if you're interested in single-minded, highly-focused training in chess, martial arts, or another highly technical, subtle, and competitive pursuit. But, despite his claims that his road map for learning can be applied to any discipline, the author is unable to illustrate his ideas with examples from outside his own two fields. He also does a poor job of pulling the ideas together into specific, actionable advice. Instead, he goes on at length about the philosophy and abstract principles and how they helped him achieve his chess and martial arts goals. I kept reading, hoping it would get better, but it never did. Overall, a disappointment.

Interesting read, but more of an autobiography by satinyg (Silicon Valley, CA)

3 Stars
April 06, 2009
I saw an interview with Josh on Google Authors series. I was hoping for more of an essay on learning theory. Instead, it was more of an autobiography - an interesting read, but not an applicable as I had hoped for.

Brilliant by Corey Winicour (Mundelein, IL)

5 Stars
February 15, 2009
As a chess fan and a "Searching for Bobby Fisher" fan, following Josh's journey throughout the book and being inspired by the depth to which he learns was so much fun. I bought two more copies for friends who also love to learn. If you're a chess lover, reading this is a no-brainer, but it's a great book for anyone squeezing the marrow from life in any endeavor.

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