I am not a woman (obviously) but I am a fighter in the SCA (and a knight and a duke, just for the record). I have attended Ms. Beck’s seminars and I have read her book. As a fighter and a trainer of women fighters, I find the technical details of her book generally accurate and helpful. Although she (by necessity) paints her observations of female physiology with a broad brush, her advice and training suggestions are by-and-large on-target.
Where Beck’s book really shines is in its insights into the mind of the female fighter. Men who take up fighting (or any martial art, I imagine) have _no_ concept of the “battle” a woman must go through just to set foot onto the fighting field or into the arena. Beck knows the baggage and “inner demons” that ladies must wrestle with (she calls it the “lizard brain”), and her advice on how to win that mental battle is laser-beam accurate.
I have been in Beck’s seminars and seen, at the conclusion, a room full of women in tears because Beck’s words addressed their frustrations and struggles so directly. If you have ever felt “unwelcome” on the fighting field, or felt like you had to let a man win a fight in order to be a “good girl,” or felt tears uncontrollably welling up in your eyes when you received a particularly good “butt wrap,” then there’s a message in this book that you need.
I know women who have read this book who, after years of SCA fighting, finally felt like they had achieved real insight, and were ready to break down mental barriers that they had only been vaguely aware of.
Men who read or review this book may say, “I don’t see what the big deal is.” Believe me, this is a book that will be extremely helpful, on a very primal level, to nearly any woman who wants to put on a suit of armor. “The Armored Rose” isn’t so much about SCA fighting as it is about empowerment.
Incidentally, I’d suggest this book for _any_ woman who is struggling with what seems to be recurring failures or frustrations in just about any competitive field - sports, business or politics, for example. Although you’ll get a lot of pictures of women swinging swords that you don’t really need, you may find the advice on how to “play with the boys” and overcoming what Beck calls the “Five Hurdles” worth the cover price.
