Kicking and Screaming: A Memoir of Madness and Martial Arts

Description

-Gives a face to mental health issues: This story will resonate with the 1 in 5 adults in the United States who experience mental illness yet still encounter stigmas about mental illness in American workplaces and feel pressure to hide their symptoms and the stress it causes for fear of job loss and damaged relationships. -A memoir with a unique angle: Not quite a sports memoir and atypical of memoirs depicting severe mental illness, this book weaves together suffering and salvation with humor and frankness. It's a story of perseverance both on and off the mat. -Detailed look into martial arts training: Of the people who begin martial arts, many drop out and even fewer achieve the rank of black belt, and there are few martial arts memoirs in the marketplace.

Melanie Gibson was raised in Snyder, Texas, where she began taekwondo training at age ten. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Texas Woman's University, a Master of Library Science from the University of North Texas, and an MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington. She has worked in the healthcare industry since 2004, with roles as a hospital librarian, corporate trainer, and learning designer. Melanie continues to pursue advanced taekwondo black belt degrees, writes about taekwondo on her blog Little Black Belt, and is a competitive board breaker. She lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

"Melanie's story proves that mental illness can be overcome. That alone would be enough, but that fact that she rekindled her love of taekwondo and used it for its true purpose (inner peace) made it that much more compelling. A must-read for anyone looking to get out of a rut!" -Grayson Berry, actor on Cobra Kai "Gibson's sharp-witted, tenacious personality radiates throughout this spirited book, and her determination should prove contagious, spurring readers to discover a pathway through which they can combat mental illness and discover their true selves. . . . An inspirational, sharp, and disarmingly humorous account about taekwondo and mental health." -Kirkus Reviews "I am left in awe of Melanie's courage to reveal her darkest struggles in the hope of helping others. Her fight to find the light inside herself and share it with the world is a tale of inspiration for anyone-martial artist or not. Let the breakthrough in these pages be a call to us all to transform from our own worst enemy to our own best friend." -Ando Mierzwa, Happy Life Martial Arts