martial art book you like most

[TallAdam85]

i was at the store the other day looking at martial arts book alot of the books i did not like but was like someone must buy them cause they sell them but just wonder what is your fav and why

[chinto01]

My favorite martial arts book would have to be Karate-Do My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi. It gives insight into the life of a true karate master and will also make you look at your training and the way you carry yourself alot different. If interested I will give you a list of some of the better books I have read.

[OC Kid]

American Freestyle Karate, A Guide to Sparring, It a awesome book. It has everything a teacher/fighter would need. The techniques havent changed a bit in the 20 plus years of fighting Ive done. It is very a comprehensive collection of techniques, footwork , theory ect.
And its written by a former National/World champ who I knew when He was competiting and had hair..:>)

plus He's one of our own who post here.......

Super Dan Anderson

[Ronald R. Harbers]

I have just finished a good read. "The Lone Samurai", by William Scott Wilson. It is the first English version of a history of Musashi Myomoto. It even covers some of the older works along with a history of fiction and movies about this outstanding man.

[DavidCC]

"Secret Tactics" by Tabata. Contains excerpts from and essays on Budo classics by Musashi, Munenori, etc. very good survey of Japenese classic budo literature.

[bignick]

right now i'm reading Canon of Judo by Mifune....though my favorite would probably be either Kodokan Judo by Kano, for the sheer completeness, or some of Dave Lowry's essay books

[Randy Strausbaugh]

My personal favorite is The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (both the Harris and Cleary translations). I've read it countless times and I have yet to exhaust its potential.

[Gin-Gin]

Hello,

I have two recommendations: one is a book from a particular system, and the other is a general reference book for Martial Arts (since I'm not sure which you would prefer). First, I would like to recommend Ed Parker's "Infinite Insights into Kenpo, Vol. I: Mental Stimulation." It has a little bit of everything: a brief general history of martial arts, Mr. Parker's philosophy of the Art (which you may or may not agree with), his arguments for people taking martial arts, and his explanation of some of Bruce Lee's most misunderstood quotes [since Bruce Lee stayed at Mr. Parker's house for a while and they were friends until Lee's death]. It usually costs around $20 or less, and can be purchased at most American Kenpo schools or on the Internet [via Amazon.com or martialartsmart.com].

However, if you want to read a general reference book, "The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia" by Emil Farkas and John Corcoran is a good overview of the various martial arts, their traditions/philosophy, their history, and Who's Who (pioneers, famous tournament fighters, etc.). The copy I have is dated from 1992 or 1993. I'm not sure if it's still in print or not, but you might call various bookstores and/or search the Internet to see who might sell it.

Good Luck in your search.

Respectfully,
Gin-Gin :asian:

[GAB]

My favorite martial arts book would have to be Karate-Do My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi. It gives insight into the life of a true karate master and will also make you look at your training and the way you carry yourself alot different. If interested I will give you a list of some of the better books I have read.
Yes, that is one of the better, I think an early book by Ed Parker was also very informative. Kenpo Karate.... Law of the fist and empty hand. It was his first try and a good one it was. IMHO. Fit well into my time frame anyhow.

Regards, Gary

[Shurikan]

My favorites were the series of "MACE the year of ..."

[DoxN4cer]

The Warrior's Edge by Colonel(Ret) John Alexander

[ThatWasAKick]

You guys have given me a pile of books to read, as if I don't have enough stacked up already! <rubs hands in anticipation>

You may not qualify these as MA books, exactly, but two that I love are the Tao Te Ching (Lao Tzu) and The Gift of Fear (Gavin de Becker).

My favorite "martial arts" book is definately The Warrior Within by John Little.

[Marginal]

I've found Living The Martial Way to be a very good read.

[bignick]

by forrest morgan?

it's actually sitting on my dresser right now...my buddy was going to borrow it but he forgot...

[Radhnoti]

Let me second "Living The Martial Way" by Forrest Morgan. That book was very inspirational to me.

[ppko]

Any book by GM Dillman

Any book by Wally Jay
Any book by Remy Presas
and The Mighty Atom by Ed Speilman (not a true MA book but has a lot of the guidlines to make it one)

[Marginal]

by forrest morgan?

it's actually sitting on my dresser right now...my buddy was going to borrow it but he forgot...

That's the one. Don't really care about the living as a samurai today stuff, but how he talks about developing strategy etc is great. Way too many books just show various techniques and combinations without bothering to get into that area at all.

[TallAdam85]

fighter's fact book
ben the jets book


one day soon my books lol as long as i can get a person to fix the grammer!

[Paul B]

"Complete Aikido: Aikido Kyohan" by Roy Yukio Suenaka

Just an all around good book. The personal martial biography is very entertaining! Stories of Osensei,Tohei,founding of Shin Shin Toitsu Do,the "split" from the Aikikai,barfights on Okinawa,studying with Hohan Soken of Hakusturu Ryu/Katsusomething Karate,Fusei Kise.this Sensei studied with important people, Mitose,Okazaki...the list goes on. Just a great read!

[Dronak]

Well, I don't have the kind of library I think some people around here do, but I've got a small collection of books, mainly on tai chi. One of the ones I tend to prefer is _The Dao of Taijiquan_ by Jou, Tsung Hwa. The chapters are Roots, Philosophy, Foundation, Classics, Experiences, and Push-hands and I think it's a pretty good summary of the aspects of tai chi. If you see it in a store, give it a skim and see what you think.

[RanaHarmamelda]

Heh -- I'm a big fan of anything written by Yang, Jwing-Ming. Also, there's this one random TKD book that is frickkin' huge, forget what it is called -- but has most all the forms/techniques in it from ITF, WTF, and other systems. It rocks -- if you like TKD.

[DeLamar.J]

The warrior within by Bruce Lee.

[vatis]

My fav book is called

Moving Zen

Author: C.W. Nicol (sp?)

It is the story of a western man's experiances in or arround the 1960's (or their abouts) training in Japan.

I found it a good read.

Kind regards.

Bruce.

[YouAgain]

The Bubishi

[RRouuselot]

I like several.....one is "The Quest" by Kyoshi Steve Stark.
It's about training "the old way".

[An Eternal Student]

Any of volumes of Bruce Lee's notes are quite good.He had quite a fascinating mind and some brilliant ideas.I also find The Book Of Five Rings to be quite useful.

[RRouuselot]

My fav book is called

Moving Zen

Author: C.W. Nicol (sp?)

It is the story of a western man's experiances in or arround the 1960's (or their abouts) training in Japan.

I found it a good read.

Kind regards.

Bruce.

C.W. Nicol is a friend of a friend of mine.
Nicol is a funny guy and writes some really funny and perverted books about his life in Japan. He is also on several TV adverts selling ham and whisky....as well as being one of the leading people in a nature conservation group. He gets around.

[Sin]

How did you come to be friends with him?

[RRouuselot]

How did you come to be friends with him?


I am not "friends" with him I only met him through a mutual friend.

[Sin]

C.W. Nicol is a friend of a friend of mine.



Sorry must have missinterpreded

[The Kai]

I like several.....one is "The Quest" by Kyoshi Steve Stark.
It's about training "the old way".
Where would on e find this book?
Todd

[Aaron Little]

My favorite martial arts book probably changes weekly. Right now I would say that I am getting a lot out of Winning Wrestling Moves (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0873224825/qid=1098459051/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-8943531-6308938?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Mark Mysnyk, Barry Davis, and Brooks Simpson.

[Patrick Skerry]

The martial art book which impresses me the most has to be Best Judo by Isao Inokuma.

I haven't seen too many other books that surpass Inokuma for sheer intensity of the demonstration.

[Ronin Moose]

Martial Art America by Bob Orlando

Fighter's Fact Book by Loren Christiansen

Sensei by John Donahue (good fiction read)

[MichiganTKD]

Living the Martial Way is a good book indeed, and this is from someone who generally thinks martial arts books suck.

Tae Kwon Do: The Korean Martial Art by Richard Chun. One of the best books about traditional Tae Kwon Do ever written. Anyone who thinks Tae Kwon Do is just about tournament sparring should read this. Being older (mid 70's), it contains the Palgue forms.

But if you want tournament sparring, Tae Kwon Do Kyorugi by Sang Kim and Kuk Hyun Chung is pretty much the best book I've seen about Olympic-style TKD sparring. Covers about everything you need to know (techniques, drills, diet, stretching etc.).

[jmann06405]

Although technically not a pure 'martial arts' book, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman is an excellent read, and contains a lot of the precepts that a matial artist uses in their training.

[jesse sutton]

Hagakure by Tsunemoto.

I love it. I've read it numerous times. Plus i'm into the writings by Ed Parker.

[jmann06405]

I have a lot of Ed parker's books as well. He quantifies a lot of interesting concepts. Another good one is 'The Way of the Empty Hand'; I do not know the author. It is an American's story in the dojos of Okinawa. A very good read, even if you don't train karate.

[Chronuss]

I'd have to say the Infinite Insight series by SGM Ed Parker and The Journey by Gilderoy Publications.

[jdam76]

Best Judo

[blackbeltedbeauty]

The Tao of Jeet Kune Do definitely. Bruce Lee forever, baby! :)

[mattkulma]

Living the Martial Way, Angry White Pajamas, and The Book of Five Rings

[Adept]

The Tao of Jeet Kune Do definitely.
Damn, beat me to it. It contains a wealth of information for the moderately experienced Martial Artist.

[Paul Genge]

'Dead or Alive', by Geoff Thompson. The information contained in this book can help any martial artist bridge the reality gap between their training and the real world. I have used concepts from this book for years and they have stood up to presure when it really mattered.

'Systema Guide' book by Vladimir Vasiliev is an great read for anyone interested in Systema.

'Essence of Ninjutsu' is a good read for those interested in the Bujinkan Martial Arts.

Bubishi has a nice selection of information on the presure points used in Karate and Chinese systems.

The last book I would like to recommend is 'Illusions', by Richard Bach. This is not a martial arts book in any way, but has had a profound inpact on what I do today. I won't spoil it by telling you what is about, just go out and get it.

Paul Genge
http://www.russianmartialart.org.uk