Tales of Old Japan

Bibliography:

Freeman-Mitford, Baron Algernon Bertram. "Tales of Old Japan." Indy Publishing and Amazon Kindle. Britain. 1910.

Review: First, this book is free on Amazon in the kindle edition. It does not get any better than that guaranteed. 

Second, this book was first published in 1910 and written with the intent to provide greater insight into the culture and belief of the Japanese during a period of time that has deeply influenced how Japan is in modern times. 

Third, anyone be they martial artist or just interested in learning about Japan will benefit from this book. As an example there is one small quote that adds to the explanation in the practice of sitting in a Zen posture under a waterfall during the coldest times of the year in Japan. In a nutshell it is about cleansing the soul as that is perceived by Japanese. 

An excellent edition to anyone's library and the expense is "nothing." :-)

PDF Books Available

Greetings and Salutations All: I have worked toward compiling two small pdf books as an exercises and learning effort on terminologies for martial arts as well as my interpretation of the karate koan most call the ken-po goku-i. I didn't do this to publish for money and I don't plan on trying to charge for these two pdf books in the future.

I am making them available free to whomever wishes to obtain them for study and reflection. If you would be interested in reading them simply send me an email address that I can send them to as attachments. Please note that I am still editing them both so you will find errors and omissions within as to grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. I have a friend who is an editor who has graciously consented to edit the ken-po goku-i effort. When it is done I plan of notifying those who ask for a copy so they can have an updated and hopefully fully edited final edition.

The terminology pdf book is not what you might normally find as it does not give technical/technique oriented terms but rather terms of a teaching/martial philosophical nature. I had this one as a blog for a while but decided it might better serve those who are interested to have a pdf version available to either read and use via electronic means, i.e. either a computer like the iPad or a kindle reader type thing. 

So, send your email to isshin.do.karate@gmail.com and I will gladly send you one or the other or both for your reading pleasure. I would ask that if you do that you give me your review of them, if you wouldn't mind, when you have read them. - Thanks!

Samurai: The Last Warrior

Bibliography:
Man, John. "Samurai: The Last Warrior." Bantom Books. London. 2011.

Review: One quarter way through as of 13:17 hours on January 24th in the year 2013. I am impressed and will follow up with a more comprehensive review when reading is completed. I can say with enthusiasm that this one should be in any martial art library.

I am stunned by the misconceptions we have regarding both the samurai of Japan and the martial arts that have come to being from as far back as the feudal era to present day.

February 13, 2013: Satsuma, a family name many who practice karate recognize as the family of samurai who conquered Okinawa around the 1600's. It appears that this samurai tribe had far more influence on the changes that Japan, and by osmosis Okinawa, endured during the restoration period.

This book looks at one of those samurai who had a huge influence on this period of history, Saigo. It goes through his associations and connections with Japan, the Shogun and the Satsuma. It is an excellent book on the history, culture and belief of Japan that had a strong influence on its subjects of Okinawa.

Nice addition to the martial library and it will open some eyes as to how things transpired and affected the martial practices of modern times.

Happy Holidays Everyone

As the week progresses we get a bit closer to the annual celebration we call Christmas. Since there are many who celebrate in different ways I tend to just wish every one a happy holiday since regardless of beliefs those who reside here in the America's tend to take that time as a holiday I felt it generic enough to express happiness and joy for the season while, hopefully, not offending anyone.

I will be at work till this Friday which means I will be in the Bloggersphere but after Friday until the morning of the second of January "2013" I will be on holiday with my wife, three cats and poodle dog. Have a great holiday everyone if I don't hear from you; I wish us all the best for 2013!!!!

The Study of China Hand Techniques

Bibliography:

Itoman, Morinobu and McKenna, Mario (translation). "The Study of China Hand Techniques." Mario McKenna Publisher. 2012.

Review: A very interesting and validating book to say the least. Mario McKenna has gone to a good deal of trouble to translate this book from a copy that is apparently on display at the Hawaiian Karate Museum run by Charles Goodin. I find this book a refreshing one and recommend it for your collection of karate or martial arts library. 

The only drawbacks is the clarity of the snapshots but assume they are copies of older and less clear shots when this book was originally published. 

Leading the Way

Bibliography:

Bown, Tim and Miller Rory. "Leading the Way: Maximize Your Potential as a Martial Arts Instructor." Rachelle Bown. Kindle. 2012

Review: Rory Miller was right, this is a solid book all martial arts sensei should read, and, read again and again and again. I would have loved to see what Tim Bown would have produced in other writings if not for his untimely passing.

I agree with Bown Sensei that this professional teaching requirement is missing from many dojo, training halls and gyms. It is a shame that upon earning the coveted black belt those new yudansha don't or have not already acquired the ability to "teach or lead the way" and often fall back on inadequate teaching methods simply because it was the way my sensei did it so it is good enough for my students.

Get this book, make it a part of your studies and then deliver the benefits to your students. 

Campfire Tales from Hell

Bibliography:

Overland, Clint; Anderson, Drew Dr.; Kane, Lawrence; Trahan, Terry; Burrese, Alain; Demeere, Wim; Eisler, Barry; MacYoung, Marc; Miller, Rory; Miller, Kamila. "Campfire Tales from Hell: Musing on Martial Arts, Survival, Bounding, and General Thug Stuff." CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2012.

Review: What can I say, another effort headed up by Rory Miller. There is not much else that anyone can say about the efforts he has made in this genre and those other authors have their own expertise that is passed along in this book. I thought to myself, what else can be said in the subject of violence than another book arrives on Amazon and I am blown away once again. 

This book is worth every penny. It is something to be used as a teaching guide to anyone who is working in the profession or who is teaching about defense against violent conflict. 

Scaling Force

Bibliography:

Miller, Rory and Kane, Lawrence A. "Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision-making under Threat of Violence." YMAA Publisher. New Hampshire. 2012

Review: I just got this book yesterday, the 3rd of October 2012, and have read only one foreword, by Clint Overland. That one foreword was enough to get me thinking about self-defense, violence and martial arts if not for the previous books by Rory Miller, Lawrence A. Kane, and others - impressive credentials on violence and impressive articulation of the importance of this book and how all of us perceive  self-defense, fighting and violence. 

It feels like one of those fictional page turners you spend the next forty-eight hours straight reading - no sleep, no shower, no food but the book. It is one of those, for me, that tunes me out of this world and takes me into another whole different world. I sit here now writing this review with such anticipation that I will stop now and get back to reading the book. 

Do I need to say any more? Thanks Mr. Overland for you outstanding foreword, it made a difference and I will take your advice and truly study this book. Domo! ありがとう

Zensho

Bibliography:
Aiello, J. "Zensho." A Warriors Broadcasting Network. 1994.

Review: It has been a while since I read this one so the review is going to be terse in nature. This book interested me as it presents a view from the author into a bit of the culture that inspired the ancient masters who created the various systems.

It states that the author is a modern Zen master who has been inspired by his studies and attempts to bring the ancient cultural beliefs he perceives to have existed in those ancient dojo or for Okinawan's the tombs, yards, and fields where they practiced the empty hand called "Ti or Toudi."

A good read and worth the money if you can find a copy.

My Library Listings - work in progress

I still have a good deal of books to add to this blog. I have lost many books over the years but have a list of one hundred and seventy-eight on hand and listed in an excel document. 

I will be adding them one at a time with reviews starting with the "A's" and skipping over the one's that are already listed below. I will add the data first and then put in a photo of the book cover's later as time permits.

I look forward to sharing my reading of books and hope to hear some suggestions from the blog members.