There's already a thread on this. Look there. Additional books: For philosophy and spirituality, read William Gleason's "The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido," Saotome's "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature," and the several books by John Stevens. For the connection to fencing, read Saotome's "Principles of Aikido."
visit your local amazon site they give you a rating on the book az well as being very cheap good luck
Aikido and Books I am looking to get into Aikido and have looked a a few books and I don't think Aikido can be learned efficiently with books. I think that is the one martial arts where you need personal instruction becasue of it's complexity. This is just the way I see it someone who has more training may be able to elaborate more on this.
I think the books coupled with the class environment and your own personal time spent training is a good experience, especially on the philosophy, also maybe some background into the art as well. Books that I suggest are: Philosophy oriented : The Spirit of Aikido The Spiritual foundations of Aikido The Unfettered Mind The Secrets of Aikido Aikido and the Harmony of Nature technique oriented: Budo Teachings of the Founder of Aikido Dynamic Aikido (I don't suggest this as a main way to learn, kind of hard to learn via book, you have to train your body to do the movements.) Background Abundant Peace - bio of Morihei Ueshiba Meditation Principles of Meditation Minding Mind Hope this helps
When you posted the techniques are hard to learn via book, did you mean that book in particular or in general? What techniques are in those books? Are there clssifications of techniques as basic ones and advanced ones as they are taught, and is there a basic pool of al moves? I am going to guess, but do you practice Aikido? lol.
its harder in general, in person you can see how you are supposed to move with respect to the person, the book can show you but a picture is 2d and there are only certain frames you can see. I suggest both due to the explanations with the pictures. Also from the books the pictures may be hard to see due to them being in black and white. The techniques are basic, but when you practice aikido even the basic techniques are not easy to get right, it takes dedicated practice with different types of people and that is something a book can't show you, a book can tell you and show you shots of what it is supposed to look like, also each technique is a little differently done with every person and you can learn more from other peoples aikido. Yes i practice aikido, just started a few months ago, but i love it and am hooked. Let me know if you want any other info.
I disagree lilbunnyrabbit. I think it is quite possible for a martial art to be learned through a book, however, it is completely dependent on an individual's skills, familiarity with the type of techniques, and ability for insight and vision. I have a very good time practicing and mimicing techniques, if I see it done enoughtimes at the right angle, I can get it. I have learned and remembered ju jitsu moves learn from video clips, if you practice, not that hard. I practice Tang Soo Do, I don't think there are any problems I would have with joint manipulations or any strike, providing the explanation complete and thourough, merely b/c I understand that principles and basics. I don't think you could tell me that I can't learn a system of karate or Tae Kwon Do b/c I don't have an instructor. With Aikido, I could understand the great difficulty. I wish I had the ability to see and instructor on that or on Judo, but I don't. I feel it will be a challenge to learn, and also a challenge to break the falls, I have basic trainig in Nak Paup, but I don't know if it applies to Uke breakfalling n the same way, I would have to compare and constrast Uke breakfalling to know. Amakasashi, thanks again for the insight. How would you explain breakfalls, and how many ways have you learned to break falls (for you currently)?
reply, The best book I would recommend, and I'm suprised noone else mentioned it is Aikido And The Dynamic Sphere. This gives good history, philosophy, and great illustrations of techniques. It is by far the best I have read concerning Aikido. "namaste"
Aikido Books I would also recommend Aikido And The Dynamic Sphere, however I would not recommend trying to learn Aikido or any martial art from a book. To learn properly you require constructive criticism from an experienced practitioner ... ie. a teacher.
I am still new to aikido and haven't really grasped breakfalls yet to know how to do them, I had to do one by mistake, well a half assed sort of break fall, The person did shiho nage to me, but was too far from my body so I kicked my legs up and went sideways in the air a bit to go with his technique, however someone tumbled underneath me when I was airborn and was starting to stand up, but had his one knee out and still kneeling and I landed on his knee with my ribs, they are still a bit sore a week later. to tell the truth i do not know much about break falls, I will later I am sure, I take it one day at a time, I am a slow learner butI take in as much as I can each day. It is definately an art and from what I have seen so far, learning from being uke is easier than I thought. Give it a shot, its a great art, I am not saying its better than anything else because its not, it is just different from anything else and should be tried a dojo. If you have anything else let me know
Your ribs landed on someones knee? Sounds nasty. You'll be pleased to learn ribs take agies to heal, so they'll be sore next week too. Sorry.
Taking it easy? Noooooo the best cure for pain is more pain ..... pain overload then you either feel no pain or pass out for a month. Beer helps too.
Lol.. pain for more pain, bruised ribs to punctured lungs, what could be better?.... anyway, bad sarcasm.. lol.. So how do you learn as you prgress through aikido, I was had the conception that you often were not thrown much until you learned to fall, is this wrongly thought?
na I agree, but I need time to rest from this week, no sleep and catch up on school work that I should have done during the week instead of doing nothing related to school lol, ribs are sore but I have been practicing on them anyway, just have to land a little differently. falling isn't tough to learn it is pretty easy, I don't know how to do a break fall or get thrown well yet, I can if the person is really skilled like the sensei's i have practiced with because I don't get hurt with them, I have to take it slow, but you learn to fall right as you go at least in the dojo that I am mainly going too, it fits really well I think. I don't know how other dojos are though.
