Martial History Team

  Welcome to the November 2021 reading survey!  Introduction In November 2021, I (Richard) continued my reading plan that prioritized print books that have been on my shelf for months, or years. This post describes books on Bodhidharma, Shaolin, Tai Chi, and budo. The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, Jeffrey L. Broughton 1999 I turned to The Bodhidharma Anthology to try to find a reliable source for the semi-mythical figure who many assume brought martial arts to the Shaolin Temple. That is basically a myth, as later books in this survey series will reinforce.  The author is Dr. Jeffrey L. Broughton. His biography on the California State University Long Beach Emeritus Faculty site notes: "Professor Broughton’s specialty is Buddhist Studies (early Ch’an texts). He has a B.A. from Columbia University in English Literature and Oriental Studies and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical Chinese from Columbia’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. We c...

Introduction I (Richard) enjoy comparing translations of texts. For example, last year I published Comparing Translations of Itosu’s Ten Precepts of Karate  and Did Miyamoto Musashi Say Something Like "There is nothing outside of yourself..."?  Translation is key to this post as well. Douglas Wile Today I started reading T'ai Chi's Ancestors: The Making of an Internal Martial Art by Douglas Wile, 1999. I had just taken a look at his 1996 book  Lost T'ai-chi Classics from the Late Ch'ing Dynasty . In the 1999 book he includes the following story on pages 3 and 4: "Allusions to soft-style martial arts theory go back to the classical period. Chinese history and literature record two interesting encounters between martial artists and monarchs. The Wu-Yueh ch'un-ch’iu , Annals of the states of Wu and Yueh ) compiled during the Han (206 BCE - 221 CE) relates a dialogue between the King of Yueh and a woman warrior named Yueh Nu. In response to the King’s pl...

Welcome to the October 2021 reading survey!  Introduction In October 2021, I (Richard) continued my reading plan that prioritized print books that have been on my shelf for months, or years. This post describes the biographies of a collection of martial artists -- some famous, some not. The Life and Tragic Death of Bruce Lee, Linda Lee, 1975 Linda Lee (Cadwell) published  The Life and Tragic Death of Bruce Lee  in 1975. This is the London-based Star Books edition. In the United States, the book appeared as Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, via New York-based Warner. This book seems ghost-written, but it might not be the case. It integrates some material from the late Mr. Lee's (1940-1973) writings, most or all of which have subsequently been published.  I like this book because it is one of the earliest by a family member, and it contains bits of information not seen elsewhere. For example, Ms. Lee notes that Mr. Lee participated in reserve military training as a stude...

In September 2021, I (Richard) started a new reading plan. I prioritized print books that have been on my shelf for a while, or those that I had read decades ago. The result is this month's book survey, which lacks a coherent theme compared to previous months. I will return to theme-based surveys once I read the print titles sitting in my library Introduction This month's survey includes several books on Bruce Lee, a few books on famous judoka, and a mix of other excellent titles. The Secret Power Within: Zen Solutions to Real Problems, Chuck Norris, 1996 The first title,  The Secret Power Within: Zen Solutions to Real Problems , has been in my library for 25 years, but only while reading it the second time did I recognize that there is little chance Mr. Norris wrote this book himself. While Mr. Norris credited his ghost writer, the famous Joe Hyams, in his first book, The Secret of Inner Strength: My Story (1988), he appears to have stopped that practice beginning with this b...

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My (Richard's) reading theme for August 2021 was books on judo and associated topics. This was my last set of books from my old reading plan. I'll talk about my new plan at the end of the post. Introduction I started August 2021 with a plan to read books on judo history. I made progress with a list I had made, then decided to take a detour when I saw the release of Rickson Gracie's biography, Breathe: A Life in Flow . I also managed to borrow a copy of  Unlocking the Secrets of Aiki-Jujutsu via inter-library loan. Soon the month had ended, and I still needed to write this post. I thought it best to post the notes I had and press on with my new plan. Judo in the U.S.: A Century of Dedication, Michel Brousse and David Matsumoto, 2005 Judo in the U.S.: A Century of Dedication , Michel Brousse and David Matsumoto, 2005 I am a fan of books by Dr. David Matsumoto, although most of them are out of out of print and some are difficult to find. This book, Judo in the U.S.: A Centu...