By Esther Talbot Fenning
Special To The St. Charles County Post
* Dean Clerc says his training in various techniques gave him a deeper understanding of himself and a higher level of awareness.



Dean Clerc's training in the martial arts transformed his life. He wrote about the experience in a 125-page illustrated book titled "The Mindset of a Martial Artist." First Books Library of Bloomington, Ind., published the book two years ago. In the past 12 years, Clerc (pronounced "clair") has been exposed to aikido, isshinryu, jeet kune do, jujitsu, kickboxing and tae kwon do - among others. For several years he served as the head sparring instructor for the Tracy Martial Arts Studio in St. Peters.

Clerc said that his broad exposure to the techniques and movements of the martial arts gave him a deeper understanding of himself and a higher level of awareness. It allowed him to establish his own ideas as to how effectively to apply basic self-defense principles in realistic situations. He said the book is appealing because it is based on a collection of martial arts elements that are not bound to the confines of any one style.

Anyone with an inquisitive mind and a passion for learning that goes beyond the martial arts will find the book enlightening, he said. The book deals with the issue of how to control emotions and understanding the roles ego and emotion play in self-defense. In that context, he said the book teaches you how to think, be aware and use good judgment in a dangerous situation.

"When people first start to spar and randori (grapple on the ground) they're nervous, anxiety stricken and have no idea what's going on around them so they're consistently being told to relax and calm down," he explained. "Eventually they begin to view their surroundings with a new consciousness and to make the techniques so instinctive that they carry over into many situations."

Clerc said the book was spawned from a black belt requirement in which he was asked to express his thoughts in writing about the martial arts.

"I wrote the book because you rarely see anybody publish personal material about the martial arts," he said. "Most are technical manuals that don't relate."

Clerc, 35, is a strength engineer-a branch of structural engineering. He is employed by the Boeing Co. branch in St. Charles, where he designs converter kits for guided bombs. He is married to Julianna Clerc, a nurse at Christian Hospital Northeast in St. Louis County. The couple live in St. Charles with their daughters, Caitlin, 5, and Lauren, 3. Clerc took 18 months off from work to write the book. His wife had just given birth to their second daughter, and he also served as a stay-at-home dad - an experience that he suggested was worthy of another book.

"Someone had just gifted us with a puppy, and I remember that between the girls and the dog it was a major accomplishment to leave the house to get to the mailbox, which was 50 feet in front of the house," he recalled.

Clerc has marketed the book through articles published in health and fitness magazines and a self-designed Web site. He priced the book at $7.95, he said, to make it more accessible -including to those who have no experience in the martial arts. The word-of-mouth marketing method seems to have worked, said Clerc, who added that reaction has been positive. A couple of martial artists traveled to St. Charles from Switzerland to train with Clerc after reading about the book on the Internet.

"About that same time, I got a glowing review from Steve Golden, who was one of Bruce Lee's personal students," Clerc said.

Clerc, 35, was born and raised on a farm in Prairie du Rocher in Southern Illinois. His father, Gene Clerc, is a retired engineer who still works the farm that has been in the family for 150 years. Clerc's mother, Arlene Clerc, was a stay-at-home mom and amateur painter who raised six children. Arlene Clerc designed the cover of her son's book. Dean Clerc created a Web site for his mother, who Clerc said is thrilled to hear from people around the world about her paintings of pastoral scenes.

In his spare time, Clerc skis, lifts weights and spends time with his family. "I think Caitlin understands that I've written a book and she's proud of it," he said. "In her eyes, I'm a hero."



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Dean Clerc

* Age: 35.

* Residence: St. Charles.

* Family: Wife Julianna and daughters Caitlin, 5, Lauren, 3.

* Employer: Boeing Co. in St. Charles.

* What: Wrote "The Mindset of a Martial Artist."

* Published by: First Books Library in 2000. Cost is $7.95. Available through local bookstores, Amazon.com or Clerc's Web site, martialarts1.com.




This article was published in the St. Charles County Post section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday, April 1, 2002. This article is posted with permission from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Copyright (C)2002, St. Louis Post-Dispatch