Ratti and Westbrook's "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere" is a must-have in any aikido library. Next on my list would be "Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training" by Shifflett and Simcox. Also a must-have. I'm fond of "Center: The power of aikido" by Reeder and Meyer. And I very much liked "The Spirit of aikido" by Kisshomaru Ueshiba. Anything by John Stevens is great, although his newest books are re-writes and re-packages of his older material. Stevens went back to the original sources: original writings of O-Sensei, original artwork of O-Sensei, original pictures and films of O-Sensei, and he interviewed the first-generation people from all the lineages. His books are very informative. And don't forget the first English-language aikido book: "This is Aikido" by Tohei.
I would recommend any book written by morihiro saito, he was O senseis longest serving continous uchi desh for 24 years nobody else comes that close. his newest collection is called takemusu aikido vol 1-5 these are the very basics of aiki the most important rules to building good aiki
I would recommend " Best Aikido, The Fundamentals" by kisshomaru Ueshiba and Moriteru Ueshiba. and " Total Aikido " by Gozo Shioda. Both books are very informative.
The question of whether or not aikido is a grappling art is, necessarily, going to be governed by the definitions of grappling used. If the object is to wrangle over what the correct definition of a term is, then I guess I fail to see the point. However, if the question is more to determine if aiki techniques can be effective against styles that are considered to be more traditionally grappling (ie: wrestling, jujitsu, etc.) than the answer is emphatically YES! Of course, the effectiveness of the style is as much a reflection of the effectiveness of the aikidoka as it is indicative of the strength of the style....
