Review: Tapped Out

 I remember enjoying American Shaolin, so when I saw that Matt Polly had a follow-on book called Tapped Out, I decided to check it out and read it.

Matt Polly is a funny guy in writing. For instance: 

When I was at the Shaolin Temple, I studied iron forearm kung fu, which involved repeatedly banging your forearms against a tree trunk for thirty minutes a day in order to make them tough enough to block a full kick without injury. When I returned to Kansas, my father saw me practicing against a tree in the backyard. After I finished, he put his arm around my shoulder and said, “I don’t know what we did wrong raising you, but whatever it was, I’m sorry.” (page 95)

Unfortunately, the topic, MMA isn't actually as exciting as it sounds. Matt Polly has a hard time explaining the differences between the martial arts styles, and his performative incompetence doesn't make you feel like it's  a sport worth watching or participating in, despite him stating near the end of the book writing that his blood pressure went from 145/100 to 118/80 in 2 years of serious training for his fight.

Throughout the book, Matt Polly name drops what are obviously famous people in the MMA world. Unfortunately, those references were lost on me. I guess I'm not really the audience for this book. You pretty much have to already be a fan of MMA to thoroughly appreciate this book.