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Kenneth Andrew Andres Leonardo, Hamilton College
(THE CONVERSATION) Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.
Title of course:
The Way of the Warrior
What prompted the idea for the course?
I am a lifelong martial artist who grew up training in both taekwondo and karate. During a pivotal point in graduate school, I realized that the study of martial arts helped me better understand political philosophy – and that revelation inspired this course.
Southern California contains a unique hub of martial artists, many of whom studied with Bruce Lee. When I was working on my doctorate at The Claremont Colleges, I discovered an exceptional school just down the street from campus and began to study Filipino martial arts, Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, and Rickson Gracie Jiu Jitsu. My teacher, Guro Jason Cruz, refined the method of training the body with the training of the mind in a way that is still unmatched.
At the time, I was studying political philosophy and education in ancient Greece, including the...
