Martial History Team

  My reading theme for April 2021 included additional books on Japan, on topics like Samurai, Zen, and war. These are a few thoughts on the titles that I (Richard) read.  Introduction I try to read 8-10 books with martial arts themes per month. Sometimes I can neatly group them into specific themes. Other times I loosely group them, as happened this month. I read four more books on Samurai, two books on Zen, and two books about sociology and Japanese martial arts. Previous posts of this nature are generally available via the blog's books tag. Secrets of the Samurai by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, 1973 Secrets of the Samurai by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, 1973 Tuttle first published  Secrets of the Samurai by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook in 1973. They are a husband-and-wife duo who practiced aikido together.  The publisher continues to release this book in new formats with different covers, sometimes with an additional introduction. This book reminded m...

My reading theme for February 2021 was Japanese history texts. These are a few thoughts on the titles I (Richard) read. There are many others, but these are the group I chose to read in February 2021. Introduction Each month I have a theme for my martial arts reading. In January 2021 the theme was Primary Japanese Samurai Philosophy Texts . This month I decided to get a better understanding of Japanese history. I selected a mix of general history texts, military history texts, and first-person accounts. Premodern Japan 2nd Edition and Modern Japan 5th Edition by Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, 2014 and 2012 Premodern Japan 2nd Ed , Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, 2014 Modern Japan 5th Ed , Mikiso Hane and Louis G. Perez, 2012 I present Premodern Japan and Modern Japan together as you could consider them volumes 1 and 2 of a general history of Japan. The authors each earned PhDs. While I could not determine the field for the late Dr. Hane (who passed away in 2003), I read tha...