The editor agreed to read what I had written. It was piece on the art of Indonesian Silat. He called a few days later and said, "If you keep writing like this, you'll have a place here for a long time." When the first piece was published, the heading above the title read "Burt Offerings". The magazine editor had come up with that, and I proceeded to write the "Burt Offerings" monthly column for the next decade.
Here you have a collection of many of those columns, along with some selected articles from other magazines and two interviews. As I reread each piece that made it into this work, I had a many precious memories flow back into my consciousness along with many flashbacks of pivotal moments in my Martial Arts development. To each of you reading this book, I trust that you will enjoy the stories and I sincerely hope that many of the lessons I learned, often the hard way, will help you to better your own training and life.