'Must Read' Recommendations

chef · Post by **chef** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:31 am

I am sure this has been discussed over the years in several of the forum already. However, I don't wish to have to use the search engine and look through years of commentary.

My question to you is which 5 books would you consider as 'must reads' for us Uechi karateka or any serious martial artist? Which would be the most useful and helpful books you could recommend be read?

Feel free to include links you have on this subject matter.

Regards,
Vicki

CANDANeh · Post by **CANDANeh** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:37 am

Bubishi

author Patrick MacCarthy

Interesting historical perspective and certainly well researched.
Plenty of references to Uechi Kanbun, Kanie and the Hou connection which makes it particularly interesting for Uechika.
I highly recommend it.
http://www.flipkart.com/bible-karate-bu ... a7w3fkjl5c

Bubishi by Pat McCarthy

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:26 pm

I'm not a fan of many karate or martial arts books and could come up with a list of what I wouldn't recommend.

Here's a list of books that I did like and why.

By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions
I found this one interesting as in many ways the history of use of the sword mirrors the recent history of modern martial arts (1800-present).

Medieval Combat; A Fifteenth-Century Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat by Hans Talhoffer
A very old German guide for combat that shows how developed Western martial arts were.

Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police by Robert Twigger
An entertaining story about how the author goes from 0 to Aikido black belt in 1 year.

Kata, The Folk Dances of Shotokan Rob Redmond.
A real book, that you can download for free as a pdf. Goes into history and throws out some ideas on history and why, where and what kata is. Rob is an excellent writer and being free there is no excuse not to read this.

Sabaki Method by Ninomiya. Mostly sport based but it's just so well put together and is what other karate books attempting to teach technique should be.

If I think of any others I'll list them.

AAAhmed46 · Post by **AAAhmed46** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 4:50 am

MikeK wrote:I'm not a fan of many karate or martial arts books and could come up with a list of what I wouldn't recommend.

Here's a list of books that I did like and why.

By the Sword: A History of Gladiators, Musketeers, Samurai, Swashbucklers, and Olympic Champions
I found this one interesting as in many ways the history of use of the sword mirrors the recent history of modern martial arts (1800-present).

Medieval Combat; A Fifteenth-Century Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat by Hans Talhoffer
A very old German guide for combat that shows how developed Western martial arts were.

Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police by Robert Twigger
An entertaining story about how the author goes from 0 to Aikido black belt in 1 year.

Kata, The Folk Dances of Shotokan Rob Redmond.
A real book, that you can download for free as a pdf. Goes into history and throws out some ideas on history and why, where and what kata is. Rob is an excellent writer and being free there is no excuse not to read this.

Sabaki Method by Ninomiya. Mostly sport based but it's just so well put together and is what other karate books attempting to teach technique should be.

If I think of any others I'll list them.

Thankee, downloaded the shotokan one and i intend to read it.

i got the sabaki method, i love it. Sport based or not, the PRINCIPLES are pretty sound.

Have you read Fighting karate by Ashihara?

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 11:07 am

Uechi-specific
GEM's books
Alan Dollar's book
Art Rebasa's book

Violence/mindset discussions
Gavin Debecker; The GIft of Fear
Rory Miller; Meditations on Violence
Tobi Beck; the Armored Rose

Iron shirt stuff:
Mantak Chia: Iron Shirt ChiGung
Mantak Chia: Tendon Nei Gung
Mantak Chia: Bone Marrow Nei gung

Lam Kam Cheung: Chi Gung Way of Power
Lam Kam Cheung: The Way of Energy: Mastering the Chinese Art of Internal Strength with Chi Kung Exercise

Okinawa specific
Shoshin Nagamine: The essence of Okinawan Karate Do
http://www.kadena.af.mil/library/factsh ... sp?id=7289
http://www.virtualokinawa.com/about_oki ... lture.html
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/tra ... ulture.htm\

one more:
http://www.okinawahai.com (blog)

Jake Steinmann · Post by **Jake Steinmann** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:15 pm

1. Meditations on Violence
http://astore.amazon.com/httpsitesg0e8- ... 1594391181
Whether you train for self-defense or not, you ought to read this just to have the understanding of the difference. If you are an instructor, doubly so.

2. The Book of Five Rings
http://astore.amazon.com/httpsitesg0e8- ... 1590302486
For a couple of reasons: one, it's a very good book, if you take the time to really think about it and understand the lessons there (and I do not pretend to have given the book nearly the time it deserves). Two, it's a very widely quoted book, and if you're going to be a martial artist, you ought to have read this at some point.

3. Living the Martial Way
http://astore.amazon.com/httpsitesg0e8- ... 0942637763
While I think Morgan gets a little carried away with some of his love of Samurai culture, the book is an excellent guide to figuring out exactly what you want out of your training, and how to about getting it.

4. Never Gymless

Because being physically fit is a benefit, no matter what martial art you're doing. All of Ross's stuff is great, but this one is particularly valuable for those who are working out in non-gym conditions. It also has some excellent nutritional advice.
http://www.rosstraining.com/nevergymless.html
5. Something historical/style-specific. Not being a Uechi-ka, I'm not up on what's good Uechi reading and what's not. For a general intro to Asian martial arts, I like Draeger's Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts.
http://astore.amazon.com/httpsitesg0e8- ... 0870114360

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:31 am

The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho.

Karatedo my way of life Gichin Funakoshi

Moving Zen CW Nichol

Kodo Ancient Ways Kensho Furuya

These are 4 which I can recall the name of and the author even though in some cases I read them 10+ years ago. That always says something for the book.

F.

chef · Post by **chef** » Sat Apr 10, 2010 3:34 am

Great ideas posted on books!

I will make sure to add these to my 'must read' list.

Any more thoughts along this line?

Thanks,
Vicki

chef · Post by **chef** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 2:59 am

I thought for sure Bill would chime in on this.

Too bad, he would have had some good thoughts.

Vicki

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:52 pm

Bill has been busy.

All recommendations above are good, so I won't repeat.

I am surprised that no book by Lt. Col. David Grossman is on the list.

On Combat

If you're into martial arts to compete in sport fighting, do something exotic, lose weight, or socialize, then fine. You don't need to read these books. However if you have any designs on using your martial art to defend yourself, work as a LEO, or work in the military, then a book by Grossman is a MUST read. Otherwise you're engaging in a serious (and dangerous) exercise in self-delusion.

Nothing in a standard martial arts curriculum prepares you mentally to hurt or kill someone. The closer your martial art engages with the enemy, the more problems involved in "pulling the trigger." Given that the REAL style Kanbun brought back from China is a bad-breath-range fighting style with brutally efficient weapons, I cannot stress this enough. Read Grossman's work to find out if you're really cut out for hurting someone when/if your life depended on it. Otherwise... enjoy your physical activity for nothing more than just that.

Emotional Intelligence

Goleman's work is the classic. To engage in conflict requires one first to know oneself and then to know others. This is a very general book about a brand new field that applies very well to engaging people on any level.

Photography and the Art of Seeing

This is a good "general" book that will get you out of application "brain lock" mode and into independently being creative with the application of your art. IMNSHO, there are too many bone-headed "standard" bunkai for Uechi Ryu. Most of these are the way they are because of an emphasis of Uechi Ryu as a striking and/or sport style. Meanwhile the Chinese style from whence it came is an infighting style that bridges the gap between striking and grappling. Folks wonder sometimes how and why I'm able to "see" applications in Uechi kata that others can't. Part of it is my diverse martial background, part of it is my research mind (by nature and by nurture), and part of it was unlocked by this book.

If you're a photographer, this is a "must have." It was recommended to me by a professional who was a staff photographer for a Charlottesville newspaper, had been hired to shoot for sports-oriented books, and aspired to National Geographic style work.

If you're an artist of any kind, it will unlock your rigid mind.

That's a start...

- Bill

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 8:57 pm

Moderator

Please edit Leo's post so that his long hyperlinks don't screw up the screen formatting. As such, it's almost impossible to read the thread.

Rather than dump the url down as Leo did, check out how I did it. (Open my post up into edit mode.) It takes a little more work, but it's eminently more readable

Thanks.

- Bill

Jake Steinmann · Post by **Jake Steinmann** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 2:08 pm

I didn't put Grossman on there because i was limited to 5 books. If we're breaking that limited, he's the first one I would have added back in.

Of course, I'd keep going until the shelf was breaking, if it were up to me...

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:10 pm

Moderator

If you need help per my reformatting message, please contact. It's very difficult to continue the thread "as is."

Muchas gracias.

- Bill

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 1:15 pm

You should use Firefox instead of IE. Firefox auto-wraps URLs and keeps Bill Gates from watching where you go.

I'll go fix.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:46 pm

Dana Sheets wrote:
You should use Firefox instead of IE.

It just goes to show that you're as smart as you look. I DO use Firefox; it's just not on this computer. I don't have admin rights on this machine.

- Bill