Why We Fight: One Man’s Search for Meaning Inside the Ring

In his erudite yet solipsistic memoir, former Fightland editor-in-chief Rosenblatt contemplates the impulses that brought a 33-year-old, self-proclaimed pacifist and dandy to the cage. After Rosenblatt realized that “part of me had always been attracted to the idea of fighting,” he began studying Krav Maga, then Muay Thai, Brazilian jujitsu, and boxing until, seven years later, he entered his first mixed-martial-arts competition. As the date of his bout approached, Rosenblatt grappled with anxiety, self-doubt, and self-denial, and he offers musings on the mental and physical aspects of competing, including one on a moment he’d been dreading: the weigh-in a week before the fight, when, if he was over his target weight, he’d have to forfeit (“On the day of the weigh-in I consume nothing at all.... I run on the treadmill for twenty minutes somehow wringing from my dehydrated body a few last drips of sweat”). He also discusses histories of combat sports (until the late 18th century, “the jab was viewed skeptically by boxers... for being insufficiently masculine”). Rosenblatt can distract with internal monologues (as an Ashkenazi Jew, “shame is in the blood... the thought that my people didn’t do enough to defend themselves, in Kishinev or Odessa or Auschwitz”) rather than focus on his sparring partners, training, or coaches. Instances where his gaze does turn outward are vivid and entertaining but all too infrequent. Ultimately, Rosenblatt makes it hard for readers to care about his story, or perhaps even remember that he’s training for a fight. (Feb.)