Favorite MA Books

anything by donn draeger. i also really liked "the fighting spirit of japan" anything by harrison.

jf
 
anything by donn draeger. i also really liked "the fighting spirit of japan" anything by harrison.

jf


I to am of the cult of Draeger.

I like to say "When I was a little kid I wanted to be Snake Eyes a Ninja.
When I got a little bigger I got into Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris (OK I was also a big Benny the Jet fan).
In my early teens I got into Steven Segal and Van Damn.

Then I grew up and now look up to Donn F. Draeger!

On MA books, a quick list.

Kill or get Killed- Applegate
Anything Draeger.
Meditations on Violence- Rory Miller.
Anything by Peyton Quinn
Anything by Marc' Animal" MacYoung
The Koryu books
Judo Unleashed- Neal Olenkamp
Attack Proof- I forget the authors.
On Killing- David Grossman

And a few more. Note I never agree 100% with any author but all the above give lots of great food for thought and have had various levels of influnece on how I think and train.

I would advise martial artisit who are interested in the more combative side of MA to read books about war and Military memoires.

About Face- David Hackworth and Julie Sherman
The One Who Got Away- Chris Ryan
Soldier I SAS- Peter Wingnell
The Comapany the keep- Inside the US Army Special Forces
A German Sniper on the Russian Front
Caeser Life of a Colossus
The Complete Roman Army
The Viking Art of War
Blood on the Risers
Immeidiate Action- ANdy McNabb
 
The Book of Martial Power by: Steven Pearlman

Infinite Insights into Kenpo by: Ed Parker

Living the Martial Way by: Forrest Morgan

Karate-do: My Way of Life by: Gichin Funakoshi

Suitable and useful for any martial artist, regardless of style or system.

Joel
 
anything by donn draeger. i also really liked "the fighting spirit of japan" anything by harrison.

jf

Have you read the original "Fighting Sprit of Japan" which includes a picture of Maeda, or the later edition that has roughly 100 pages edited out? I prefer the 1913 edition to the 1955 edition.
 
Hello, Our home library is huge...over 100 martial art books collected over time..

Today reading "Living the Martial Way" and presently reading..

NOT a martial art book ..kinda related..

Hand book to a Higher consious...(this one has change my life for sure)reading it for the third time this past month...

Learning to live in the" here and now" ..

Aloha,
 
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (Thomas Cleary trans.)
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Pathnotes of an American Ninja Master by Glen Morris (ignore the title, it's a good book)
Martial Musings by Robert W. Smith
Zen Body-Being by Peter Ralston
Indonesian Fighting Arts by Bob Orlando
Karate-do, My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi
 
Wong Hon Fun: Book series for Northern Mantis. (pretty much all of them, only have 20 of though...)

Ving Tsun Trilogy: Moy Yat

Root of Chinese Qi Gong, Qi Gong the secret of Youth & Qi Gong meditation: Yang Jwing Ming

Essays on Chinese Martial Arts: Adam Hsu

Introduction to Northern Chinese Boxing, Entering Chinese Boxing: Matsuda Ryuchi

Sun Lu Tang's books

And quite a few others...
 
Dojo Wisdom,
by Jennifer Lawler

100 dojo examples applied to life's obstacles. Great examples, as much a testament to past masters infusing the martial arts with values, as to Ms. Lawler's choices and the connections she made to modern life. Ms. Lawler's a good writer, very pleasant personality, and to me, inspiring.

I have more book mark strips of paper in this book than any other (I think)! Peace.
 
Davis Miller's The Tao of Muhammad Ali and The Tao of Bruce Lee were pretty good reads in my opinion. Nice coming of age stories, also a very good (brief) biography on Bruce Lee at the end of the latter.
 
Out of the MA books I've read so far, these are my favourites:

Karate Do; My Way of Life - Gichin Funakoshi

Martial Arts Teaching Tales of Power and Paradox - Pascal Fauliot

Zen in the Martial Arts - Joe Hyams

(I'm a fan of spirituality in MA!)
 
20 Guiding Principles of Karate /Funakoshi

Karate-do, My Way of Life /Funakoshi

Angry White Pajamas /Twigger

American Shaolin /?

Zen in the Martial Arts /?
 
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