Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes: John Rain

Barry Eisler is, in my opinion, the best thriller writer since the genre's glory days in the '60s, and his half-American/half-Japanese anti-hero John Rain is probably the coolest assassin in fiction, and one of the best characters since James Bond.

If you're in to fitness and martial arts, the Rain novels are must-reads. Eisler lived in Japan for many years, where he earned his Judo black belt at the famous Kodokan. He also knows a bit about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kali, Sambo, and other fighting arts. The fight scenes in the novels are brutal, believable, and realistic. If you practice a grappling art, reading Eisler will make you want to put down the book and find a partner to roll with. In fact, sometimes before a hard BJJ session, I find myself thinking a variation of Bruce Lee's "Be like water." I think: "Be like Rain!"

Want more proof of Eisler's martial arts cred? Check out this quote from the great BJJ site OnTheMat.com:

Grapplers should be excited to know that going against the typical grain grappling techniques are vividly described in the books many action sequences (in both John Rain's "field" work and in a visit to the famous Kudokan).

(Quick Aside: Barry Eisler's great website features a fantastic article called "Practical Martial Arts Tips from Assassin John Rain" that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the subject.)

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes: Quiller

There are two extremes of espionage fiction. On one hand, there is the glamorous, exciting, yet totally unrealistic world of Ian Fleming and James Bond. On the other, there is the believable, realistic, but occasionally dull realm of John LeCarré. Straddling the middle is Adam Hall (pen name for Elleston Trevor) and his flawed, vaguely neurotic spy Quiller.

Quiller a fascinating character. His creator describes him as "In his forties, he is as fit as an alley cat and his whole makeup is tense, edgy and bitten-eared." Unlike James Bond, he doesn't drink or smoke, nor does he engage in relentless womanizing. In fact, Quiller is quite respectful of women. In the words of Adam Hall...

Nor is he macho, and this may explain why more than half the people who write me are women. In Murmansk, where Liz is applying Tiger Balm to our bruised and bloodied espion, she asks him if he doesn't find it irksome to have his wounds licked for him by a mere woman. He scarcely understands her. "Where else would a man go, but to the earth mother?"

And while Quiller had few possessions and little wealth, anything he had was to go to a shelter for battered women should he die on a mission. This was a cause close to the author's heart as well. According to Elleston Trevor's obitituary, "Late in life he took up the cause of battered women, campaigned vigorously for that, and was generous with money."

Quiller hardly every uses a gun, preferring to use his wits or martial arts skills. (The author of the series was well-versed in both Shotokan Karate and Aikido.) Quiller is also the type of individual who relies on herbs and traditional Asian massage to deal with injury and illness. At one point he even mentions he once traveled to Tibet to meditate.

Often referring to himself as a ferret, Quiller had an affinity for animals. To again quote Adam Hall...

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes: The Crow

Since I'm still in a post-Cure concert euphoria, I figure it's the perfect time to take a look at

the Crow, both the film and the comic.

Lots of people love this movie. So do I, though with a bit of ambivalence. While it has some great scenes, a fantastic soundtrack, and a classic performance by the late Brandon Lee, I just felt the overall movie had some flaws in terms of the screenplay, and some of the departures from the source comic were ill-advised.

So why do I still  have a fondness for the film? Simple: As slender, sensitive guy with Goth tendencies, I loved seeing another slender, sensitive guy with Goth tendencies kick some serious butt.

And to this day I find Stone Temple Pilot's "Big Empty" a great song to listen to on a rainy night, driving home from a hard evening of training.

While I may be ambivalent about the cinematic interpretation of the Crow, I  am not at all conflicted about my feelings for Jay O'Barr's original comic. I love it, and probably reread it at least once a year.

The comic is full of cultural touchstones that have a great deal of significance for me: the music of Joy Division and the Cure, French decadent poetry of Rimbaud, the general tone of a dark horror story. I love the fact that the Crow is modelled on Iggy Pop and Peter Murphy. And of course, there's swordplay and cats.

But what really makes the Crow's story so powerful are the twin themes of loss and rage.

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes: The Bourne Trilogy

I was very excited when I first heard about The Bourne Identity. The idea of an old-fashioned thriller directed by Doug Liman (who had already directed the excellent films Swingers and Go) and starring Matt Damon sounded very promising. And then I discovered that Damon would be training in the Filipino art of Kali for the role. That was just the icing on the cake!

While I had not trained in Kali myself at that point, I was very interested in the art based not only on what I had read but on some family history. My grandfather—a Marine saber champion—knew some Kali from his time fighting in the Pacific during World War II. He was taught by Filipino rebels working against Japan. Plus, the idea of swinging sticks around just sounded fun.

Doug Liman explained how Kali was more than just Bourne's fighting style. It came to define the character.

The martial arts actually ended up being the thing that helped us define Jason Bourne and his entire character. Right after Matt agreed to do the film, we arranged for demonstrations of different martial arts and Kali really inspired us. It is ridiculously efficient. You don't break a sweat or expend any energy, you use your opponents energy against him. And we thought - that's Jason Bourne, that's how he'll do everything in this movie. He'll figure out the simplest, least energetic, most efficient way to get something done. For example, when the cops surround his car, he's going to calmly pull out the map, browse through it and figure out a route before he starts driving.

(I respectfully disagree about the "you don't break a sweat or expend any energy" line!)

Then when I actually saw Matt Damon's Jason Bourne in action, I knew this was what I wanted to pursue. The mixture of Kali, Boxing, and Jeet Kune Do looked practical, efficient, and (I must admit) cool. After all, the fight scene in Bourne's Paris apartment is far and away my favorite fight scene in any film.

When I finally got serious about martial arts training, I specifically looked for a school that would incorporate some Filipino martial arts as part of the curriculum. I ended up finding Burton Richardson's JKD Unlimited and Battlefield Kali,  which utilized not only Kali but also kickboxing, grappling, etc. I started training with Burton back in 2002 and haven't looked back. Not only am I still a student of Burton's, but I'm one of his instructors as well.

And all in part because of Jason Bourne. No wonder I still sometimes listen to Moby's "Extreme Ways" on the way to train!

The Bourne Trilogy is inspiring in other, non-martial ways as well. The character of Jason Bourne is street smart, with excellent survival and tradecraft skills. He also knows a variety of languages. These are qualities worth having. Plus, both Bourne (and Bond) are partially responsible for my love of simple black jackets.

Also, the films have a moral and political complexity not usually found in a Hollywood action movie, which I appreciate.

Amazingly, the Bourne Trilogy maintained a high standard of quality throughout all three films. (The Damon-less The Bourne Legacy is an outlier.) The final movie, The Bourne Ultimatum, even managed to beat the dreaded three-peat curse and proved to be just as good as the first film.

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes: Man on Fire

This book is probably best known as the inspiration for two films: The first made in 1987 starring Scott Glenn, the second in 2004 with Denzel Washington. Alas, I haven't seen the Glenn version, but I did enjoy the latter film, even if I thought the last third or so had some serious story flaws.

Unlike the 2004 movie, the 1981 novel Man on Fire takes place in Italy and around the Mediterranean. One thing in particular I liked about the book is how it describes the hero, Marcus Creasy, getting back into shape after being seriously wounded in a gunfight. He doesn't do anything fancy. Creasy instead retreats to a small island of Gozo in Malta, where he spends his time going on long ocean swims and helping villagers with projects such as building stone walls out of heavy rocks. 

I'm a big fan of ocean swims, especially for active rest days. Sometimes when I'm out there and the currents feel especially strong, I think of Creasy's hard swims and it helps to motivate me to keep going.

A beach in Gozo.

The novel Man on Fire is also rich in characterization. You learn quite a bit about the characters, and Creasy in particular is given a good back story. The sense of place is also strong. After reading the book, you might very well want to take a trip to Italy and Gozo.

Actually,  a fair number of Japanese travelers have made the trip to Gozo specifically because of the Creasy collection. In an interview on an excellent A.J. Quinnell fansite, Quinnell said

The Japanese connect to Creasy. They see him as a 'Ronin' - a disgraced Samurai warrior who spends his time trying to redeem himself by doing good deeds. 

Quinnell with some of his Japanese fans.

Incidentally, Man on Fire is the first of a series featuring the character of Marcus Creasy. I can't comment on the rest of the books as I haven't read them, though at some point I will.

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes: Atticus Kodiak

The Atticus Kodiak series by Greg Rucka follows the adventures and (more importantly) transformation of a ex- U.S. Army soldier turned bodyguard.

The first four books of the series are very well-done but fairly straight-forward thrillers. A few things make them standout among the competition.

For one, the characters are interesting and nicely developed, especially Atticus himself. There's a certain melancholy to him that becomes more and more apparent as the series progresses.

Also, I like the fact that Rucka is not afraid to delve into social issues and get political. This sort of thing can be a big turn-off for many readers, but I think it adds depth and substance. Also, I was a Political & Historical Studies major in college so I might be biased. A word of warning: If you are in the Vince Flynn/Brad Thor/Tom Clancy political camp, Greg Rucka might not be for you.

Then there's Rucka's writing style, which is brisk yet atmospheric.

The fifth book in the series, Critical Space,  marks a turning point in the series. While the first four books were essentially bodyguard-based crime novels, from here on the books become something more akin to international thrillers. Many fans were not happy with the changes, but I think the series went from good to great with this book.

While all the Kodiak books are worth reading, this one really stands out from an inspiration standpoint. Atticus Kodiak finds himself on an island in the Caribbean, where he spends months making learning to be one hell of a badass. The chapter in Critical Space detailing his regimen is one of the best of its kind I've ever read. It's sort of like a written version of a training montage from a movie. Essentially, Atticus spends his time strength training (with lots of pull-ups) and practicing martial arts. To aid in balance and recovery, he uses yoga and ballet. (Don't scoff at ballet; it's far more challenging and even dangerous than people realize.) He also goes on long ocean swims. As for diet, Atticus gives up alcohol and caffeine while eating lots of fresh fruit (especially watermelon) and seafood.

By the end of his training, Atticus Finch is essentially a new man. Critical Space is a great example of how a committment to fitness and wellness can lead to something akin to a personal rebirth.

The remaining books in the series, Patriot Acts and Walking Dead, are also great books. I particularly loved Walking Dead, which deals with human trafficking and the sex trade. It's very dark and gripping, and reads sort of like a thinking-man's version of the Liam Neeson film Taken.

Finding Real Life Inspiration from Fictional Heroes

I admit it: I have some geekly fanboy tendencies, with a real passion is for well-done crime and thriller stuff, especially if there is an espionage element involved.

I'm not alone. We spend countless dollars on action films and thriller novels. But here's the question: What do we get out of them besides entertainment?

Personally, I find fictional heroes to be good sources of inspiration. By serving as larger-than-life role models, they help me to focus on what aspects of the characters I like and want to in some way emulate.

Some people may dismiss looking to action heroes for personal inspiration hopelessly pathetic and dorky. These naysayers are all too willing to say "Who do you think you are? You'll never be like [fill-in the blank]." And I will partially concede their point: You never will be just like your favorite fictional character. (Nor should you want to be; you are you!) But how about if you were just a little bit like your favorite fictional character?