Nadine Champion – 10 Seconds of Courage (Literature Review)

“Some shots are unavoidable. But it’s how we take those shots that matters.”

– Nadine Champion (TEDx Sydney 2015)

While not your average self-help memoir, Nadine Champion’s 10 Seconds of Courage is a story to remember.

Nadine Champion fell in love with martial arts at a young age, first with The Karate Kid and then while she was watching her brother attend classes. After begging her parents to let her participate, she found a natural affinity with the sport and it sparked a passion that remains with her to this day.

Though she was a good student, Champion lost her way both in the commitment she had to her studies and her beloved martial arts training.

 

With her dreams of pursuing a career in law seemingly over and no obvious path to an easy future, Champion took on numerous positions in security, where slowly, her love of martial arts returned and became a coping mechanism as she came to terms with grief after the sudden passing of her father.

Determined to make the best of things, Champion journeyed overseas, and eventually found herself in the US. There, she was invited to work with Sensei Benny “the Jet” Urquidez, where she would secure her black belt and go on to find her way back home through his unusual yet effective training methods.

Thanks to Urquidez and Champion’s devotion to martial arts, and applying these techniques to life itself, Champion can now call herself a world champion martial artist, a highly praised motivational speaker, a university graduate, author and cancer survivor whose challenges have lead her to helping others.

Too often in these particular types of memoirs, you find that the author is content to wallow in their own self-pity for three quarters of the book, before miraculously making a change in the last few chapters.

10 Seconds of Courage isn’t like that. While Champion does talk about the challenges she has faced throughout her life and how they (along with martial arts) have lead her to where she is today, the way she talks about them is with an openness and frankness I have yet to encounter with other stories in this genre.

By simply breaking down the characteristics of the lessons taught to her by her Sensei, Champion explains how these techniques can be applied not only to the sport of martial arts, but to all of life’s challenges, whatever it throws your way.

But it is her determination and the way she tackles each hurdle as an opportunity for improvement rather than as a setback is what truly resonates with me particularly as a reader.

Style-wise, 10 Seconds of Courage is written in a way that is approachable, with each “chapter” laid out like a round in the martial arts ring. This makes it easy to digest and a pleasure to read. At no point in time did I feel like I was being preached to or lead on by some new age fad everyone is raving about.

10 Seconds of Courage is, without a doubt, the best self-help memoir I have read to date. It’s relatable and engaging, inspiring and unique. If you need something to lift you up and re-ignite the spark within, I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

To read about this title and others published by Allen & Unwin, visit their blog, “Things Made From Letters“.