Recommending Reading

[Visage]

Just thought I'd try and get a book list together of recommended reading for Martial Arts. Appologies if this has been done before.
What books on Martial Arts do you have, and would you recommend them to other martial artists?
I have;

The Art Of Shaolin Kung Fu, By Wong Kiew Kit. 10/10. Highly recommended. Lots of information about the origins of Shaolin, weapons used, and some of the training techniques used in Lohan, as well as Chi Development and meditation techniques.

Tae Kwon Do, State Of The Art, By Master Sung Chul Whang, Master Jul Chul Whang. 8/10. A good look at the development of Taekwondo from its earliest roots. Diagrams of the Poomse, step by step of the basic techniques, and information on the application of technique and improving sparring ability.

JuJutsu, White Belt To Green Belt Syllabus
JuJutsu, Blue Belt To Brown Belt Syllabus
JuJutsu, Black Belt Syllabus, by Robert Clark (Proff, 9th Dan), 6/10. Good books, but i didnt find they offered much more than the basic "how to" guide on each technique. No background info on the style and very little on effective application. Very much "this is how it should be done".

"Know The Game" Karate, 5/10. Aimed at beginners in MA. Basic looks at all aspects of the art. History, styles, techniques. Good for beginners, but more advanced students would find it lacking.

"Know The Game" Jujutsu, 4/10. The same as the Karate version, but with slightly less insight into the art. No mention of various styles, and the history is scratchy at best.

Tao Of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee, 7/10. loads of good ideas and stratergies. Not meant as a step by step kung fu book, and as such, it focusses on ideas for more advanced application of various arts.

Hagakure - The Book Of The Samurai, 8/10. Not really an MA book. A friend of mine described it as "containing little bits of wisdom". As such, i recommend it.

Anyone else got any books to add?

James

[Franki]

There's a whole bunch of excellent books on martial arts, but one in particular comes to mind:

Secrets of the Samurai: A Survey of the Martial Arts of Feudal Japan
ISBN 0804816840

A word of warning though - while the content is first class, the language used has quite an academic tone to it and can feel a bit "heavy".

[stratiotes]

Here's a few that I feel were pretty good.
I'm more into "technique" books more so than history.

"Brazilian Jiu-jitsu - theory and technique" (by renzo and royler gracie) 7/10 I like this one just because it has great pictures really. It does give some background on the gracie family, and their style.

"Brazilian Jui Jitsu - self defense" (by Royce and Charles Gracie) 5/10 Good pictures and instructions on how to perform techniques, but many of the techniques really don't appear to be practical for the given situations.

"Freestyle Sparring Strategy" (Woo Jin Jung) 7/10 I'd recommend this for beginners that are just getting into sparring.

"Cabales Serrada Escrima" 6/10 This book shows some of the history, culture, and techniques of cabales serrada escrima style.

[dori_kin_86]

Mine are as follows:

Tao of Jeet Kune Do-nuff said
Book of Five Rings-good philosophy and principle
Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere-very in dept look into Aikido, includes many techniques too, excelent for those who want to look into Aikido and its philosophy

[Franki]

I too recommend "Aikido and the dynamic sphere". It's actually from the same authors as "Secrets of the samurai".

"Brazilian jiu-jitsu - Theory and technique" is good for newbie grapplers. The techniques are presented with detailed images and plenty of text. I think this book works best as a basic grappling manual for strikers wishing to widen their horizon.

[iolair]

Geoff Thompson "Dead or Alive"
- indispensable and realistic manual on self-protection, including info on the psychological side.

I second "Book of Five Rings" ("Go Rin No Sho") ... just because!

[Thomas]

Geoff Thompson "Dead or Alive"
- indispensable and realistic manual on self-protection, including info on the psychological side.

I second "Book of Five Rings" ("Go Rin No Sho") ... just because!

I completely second these suggestions!

[Ular Sawa]

The Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia
by Donn F. Draeger

[AaronK]

Dynamic stretching and kicking by Bill Wallace, Great book (but from '81)

[TigerAnsTKDLove]

"Tao of Jeet Kune Do" By Bruce Lee... love this book

[R Strausbaugh]

In no particular order:

Indonesian Fighting Fundamentals - Orlando
Training and Fighting Skills - Urquidez
Cheng-tzu's Thirteen Treatises on Taijiquan - Lo(trans.)
Flashing Steel- Shimabukuro
Mastering Karate - Oyama
Small Circle Jujitsu - Jay
Kenpo Karate: The Law of the Fist and Empty Hand - Parker
Old Frame Chen Family Taijiquan - Chen
Cultivating the Ch'i - Olson
The Book of Five Rings - Cleary(trans.)
The Essence of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques - Arakaki
Analysis of Shaolin Chin-na - Yang

[monk-ki]

Beyond the Black Belt: Secrets of Advanced Karate Ranks
Gary Purdue

Living the Martial Way: A Manual for the Way a Modern Warrior Should Think
Forrest E. Morgan

The first book is an indespensible manual for what you should expect when you reach higher ranks (black belt and above), and how to exceed your current rank to advance.

The second is a manual you should read and re-read. Very good.

[rick_nz]

In no particular order

The book of 5 rings
Training & fighting skills- Benny the Jet
Teaching Martial arts - Tony Gummerson
Tao of JKD -
Eskrima,Kali,Arnis - Diony Canete
Fillipino Martial arts "Espada y Daga"-Diony Canete

Non Martial arts related ,But found it has helped with my martial arts are;
Ken Blanchard books (One minute manager )
& Steven Covey (The 7 habbits )

[Combatant]

Small circle ju jitsu- Techniques.

Inside the lions den- Motivation

Us marines close quarter combat manual-Deadly, basic fighting.

Dead or alive (and pretty much any book by geoff thompson except those dodgy little books because they are just a rip off IMO as they could all fit in one book and be a tenth of the price- sort it out Thompson! :mad: ) -More then just a self defence book

[booksie_girl]

Angry White Pyjamas - Robert Twigger
It gives a whole new meaning to the word perseverance, and it reads like a novel. Makes you want to go out and train really really hard.

I've moved this to books ;)

[ap Oweyn]

Iron & Silk by Mark Salzman (sp?)

In Search of the Warrior Spirit by Richard Strozzi Heckler

[UlTi]

lets not forget Lord of The Rings ;)

[Visage]

Unless im mistaken, Lord Of The Rings is fictional.

[Visage]

Two more books i recommend. They were just delivered today;

"Throws For Strikers - The Forgotten Throws Of Karate, Boxing & TaeKwonDo" - Iain Abernethy. A good book with in depth descriptions of throws that were at one time common throughout striking arts but have in some cases been neglected in recent times.

&

"Karate Fighting Techniques - The Complete Kumite" - Hirokazu Kanazawa. A great book that gives indepth details on various types of Kumite, from onestep to free sparring. Complete with diagrams. Written by one of Gichin Funakoshi. Very worth reading.

[Matt_Bernius]

Same books, over and over.

Personally, I'm not big on learning techniques from books. I just don't think it's the best thing. So I look for more idea based books that can supliment anyone's training. As such:

The number one book of ideas for all martial artists is...

Zen in the Martial Arts
Joe Hymas
Takes about two hours or so to read cover to cover and it should be read b everyone. It's full of valuable martial and life wisdom. Immediately applicable to anyone's training. Plus it's cheap.

The number two book is...

Living the Martial Way
Forrest Morgan
It's already been mentioned. Longer and more indepth, it's one to return to time and time again to reexamine. I don't agree with everything in it and Morgan's prose can be bombastic at times, but it challenges you to rethink what it means to be a martial artist.

After that the list blurs...
Book of Five Rings can be good. It all depends on which translation.

Tao of Jeet Kun Do. Frankly milage varies. I think Tuttle's other books of Bruce's writings are better.

Art of War. Again, varies based on translation.

Karate-Do: My way of life, Iron and Silk, Angry White Pajamas, Martial Musings - all excellent memoirs that offer lots of insight, but not necessarily revolutionary information. They help extend you breadth and depth of knowledge, but not as the first two do.

And there are a host of technique books out there like those already mentioned. And there are other great cultural and historical research books out there by authors like Smith, Draegger, and Wiley.

- Matt

[shootodog]

my book list includes

1) the unfettered mind by takuan soho (the monk who supposedly beat miyamoto musashi with a wooden stick ina kenjutsu match)

2) go rin no sho by musashi miyamoto

3) the art of war by suntzu

4) training & fighting skills by benny urquidez

5) nhb by mark hatmaker

[Matt_Bernius]

Oh, just came up with a couple interesting entries:

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Probably one of the most influential books for my overall approach to things. It's not a self help book but rather the record of a clinical social study of the common factors of peak performance. It's a must read for anyone serious about learning and about the martial arts in my opinion.

also consider

Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives
by Dan Millman

While sometimes a bit too touchy feely for my tastes it's still an interesting and quick read that touches on a lot of important ideas for living and the martial arts. While I wasn't a big fan of it the first time I read it, I recently revisisted it (about five years later) and it resonated with me far more.

- Matt

[ap Oweyn]

Thinking Body, Dancing Mind by Chungliang al Huang and... the other guy

Fighting Fit (Boxing Workouts, Techniques, and Sparring) by Doug Werner and Alan Lachica

[Mengcunman]

i got one ....
the fighters body from turtle press

very nice tips on what you should eat to keep enough energie during training, how to combine weight training and MA .... and such

I read it just in time .... started to grow and I'm not meaning up :D

[ap Oweyn]

I read it just in time .... started to grow and I'm not meaning up :D

Right there with ya, man. Have to check that one out.

Stuart

[Shortfuse]

all the MA books that i have really read arent too good. but i guess "Real Ultimate Power" was ok

[Visage]

all the MA books that i have really read arent too good. but i guess "Real Ultimate Power" was ok

I hope your joking Shorty. Unless your not talking about the same "Real Ultimate Power" that im thinking of.

[slideyfoot]

I haven't found any of the MA books I've read useful, but I have found them interesting - that would include the aforementioned Book of Five Rings, Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts by Draeger and Smith, The Fighting Spirit of Japan by E.J. Harrison, various Bruce Lee literature and several training style books on various MA.

Books that I want to read that do sound useful are Renzo Gracie's Mastering Jujitsu, which I'm constantly seeing great quotes from, The Fighters Notebook, which looks pretty awesome just rather pricey, and Clyde Gentry's No Holds Barred, which is more interesting than useful but does extremely so of the former. :) Would also fancy picking up some of those John Little books on Bruce Lee which look quite fun, though again more an interesting read than useful, IMO anyway.

And obviously would second (third? Fourth? Whatever number we're on :p) any Geoff Thompson recommendations, but thats purely going by the constant praise his book gets from various people I respect in MA, such as Dave Turton.

[tl Eric]

Only 2 people mentioned "art of war"... its a great read but impossible to take it all in in just a few reads. It's packed with great stuff