Reading Recomendations
Living The Martial WayBy Forrest E. Morgan, Ma USAF 1992, Barricade Books 150 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10011 312pp, $16.95 Living the martial way is a book that belongs into every black belts library. It focuses on the difference between the people training two to three times a week and those who are truely living the martial way every single day. If you read this book carefully and answer all questions honestly you will find that you most likely do not belong to the warrior caste but rather to the group of people enjoying a good workout with self defense benefits several times a week. This book tells you how to devote yourself to the martial way and how to become a warrior in its very meaning. I personally find this book so outstanding because it's not focusing on a specific art, or explains with 'good' technique, 'bad' technique how to reach a physical superior. This book tries to teach you the mental skills and mindset a true warrior has and how and when to widen your view to other martial arts and thus extending your skills, to become a fighter who is able to defend himself in every situation. Varol Okan
The Book Of The Five RingsBy Miyamoto Musashi, around 1650 Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub 116pp, $10.95
The Art Of WarBy Sun Tzu Oxford Univ Pr 197pp, $8.95 The essence of life is struggle and its goal is domination. This book should be understand not only as a book of martial warfare but also as a tool which improves you working and private lifes. It was used by many schools around the world to teach the basics of Management. After all, business is a war that is fought not on the distant front in a unknown country. If your company is loosing contracts, it will affect your personal life too. If you want to succeed in life you need to know how to win. It doesn't
really matter if you are a general, a CEO or simply an employee, the
strategies to become successfull are always the same. Sun Tzu was the General of Ho Lu, king of Wu, who lived 500 B.C. and was considered the greatest General of its time
Martial Arts AmericaBy Bob Orlando, 1998, Frog Ltd./North Atlantic Books, 180pp, $14.95 This is not a book for those merely wishing to learn new techniques or kata. While there are some pages devoted to discussion of techniques to use in self-defense situations, that is not the primary purpose of the book. Instead Orlando seeks to challenge the traditions and myths that far too often accompany the teaching of the martial arts in the West. Many of us who pride ourselves on practicing traditional karate will find his ideas unsettling, perhaps even off-putting. I know I did when I first started reading the book. After all, who are we to question why shotokan, or any other art, is taught the way it is. We know our instructors to be men and women of high character who have devoted many years to the art. If it was good enough for them it should be good enough for us. But as I read further I found myself nodding my head in agreement. One of Orlando's main points is this: many American martial arts students spend years training without doing that for which Americans are famous--asking why and can you prove it. Orlando is not just questioning tradition for the sake of sensationalism. In fact, he quotes Gichin Funakoshi, who, in his book "Karate-Do" wrote "Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too...I have no doubt whatsoever that in the future, as times change again, and then again, the kata will [even] be given new names. And that, indeed, is as it should be." As karateka we learn early on not to stand out; if we heard it once we've heard the old adage that the nail which stands out gets hammered down. We often use that as a reason not to ask questions such as why. But as the book notes "philosophies and methods of instruction must match the culture of those being instructed." Orlando's contribution is in reminding us that it neither insulting or disrespectful to ask our sempais and senseis why. After all if our founder, Funakoshi Sensei, could embrace change so can we. David Isenberg HOME eMail :
dckarate@gmail.com
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