Recommended reading for the martial arts. This is my personal library list. I practice Okinawan Te or "Ryukyu Ti." My system is derived from two others, one being the main influence of Shorin-ryu and the second Goju-ryu. The branch under Shorin-ryu is Isshin-ryu as developed by Shimabuku Tatsuo Sensei.

I wanted to create a library reference blog where I can provide a listing of the books I have in my library, present and past (past in that some have been lost in transit over the years). I will provide a graphic, if available, a short description, if available, and the bibliography. When possible a link to Amazon will be provided.

"Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider..." - Francis Bacon


Reader's of this Blog

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Samurai Capture a King

Bibliography:
Turnbull, Stephen and Hook, Richard. “The Samurai Capture a King: Okinawa 1609 (Raid).” Osprey Publising. Westminster, MD. 2009.

Review: Another of those obscure books that you come across by accident. This one was referenced by Andreas Quast, author of Karate 1.0, in one of his articles on the Internet. I have read a small portion so this review is going to be short but sweet. It is an excellent book on the Okinawan history as to the Japanese invasion of the Satsuma clan in 1609. 

Unlike a lot of "dry" history books this one remains interesting, well written and the facts are supported although the author will express the tenuousness of those historical facts since they were pieced together from three major sources. All those sources are also subject to the embellishments of the authors, i.e. similar to how it is believed that history is often written by the vanquishers rather than the vanquished so it may be a bit biased.

Yet, this book is interesting and informative to say the least. 


More to come as I read the rest of the book. 

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