Martial History Team

   Welcome to the June 2023 book survey, part one. I decided to break this month's survey into four posts. The themes for this month are diverse, but include Japanese arts, Filipino arts, and European arts. These are generally the last print books in my library that have not been previously surveyed. Introduction In June 2023, I (Richard) continued my book survey plan. This post examines several books on Japanese arts. The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art, Stephen K. Hayes, 1981 I have both digital and physical copies of  The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art , originally published in 1981. Tuttle appears to repackage it every few years with a new cover. I included the covers of the two versions in my library. My softcover print copy measures 5 1/4 inches by 8 inches with 156 black and white pages. This was not Mr. Hayes' first book on ninja. His first appears to be a pamphlet published in 1975. He also wrote a six volume set beginning in 1980, but this book does not...

  "The way that most men deal with traditions, even traditions of their own country, is to receive them all alike as they are delivered, without applying any critical test whatever...  So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Text: Thucydides (471/455- c.399 BCE), The Peloponnesian War , as cited in The Classical Greek Reader , Kenneth J. Atchity, 1998/2014 Image: Roman copy (c. 100 CE) of an early 4th Century BCE Greek original, Pushkin Museum; photo by Shakko Kitsune

  “Judo is originally a teaching of the literary and military arts, and one must begin with ‘waza’ [physical technique] when embarking on the ‘do’ [way, pronounced "dough"] of Judo. How many people, although they make rapid progress with waza, require a great deal of training in order to reach the point at which they can appreciate the do.”   Professor Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, as quoted in "Mind Over Muscle" (Kodansha International, 2013), p 65. Credit to PreserveHmongRoots for the colorization.

   Welcome to the May 2023 book survey, part three. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. The themes for this month are judo, judo, and more judo! Here is part  one  and here is part two . Introduction In May 2023, I (Richard) continued my book survey plan. This post examines 7 books on judo, featuring three about or for women. 50 Great Judo Champions, Simon Hicks, Nicolas Soames, 2001 I bought my copy of 50 Great Judo Champions directly from the publisher. Hicks is cofounder of Fighting Films and Soames is founder of Ippon Books. My copy of their book is a hardcover measuring 7 3/4 inches by 10 1/2 inches with 118 pages. Pages 1-86 are black and white while 87 to 118 are in color. This is a pretty neat book. It celebrates the founding of the International Judo Federation in 1951. I wondered if they might produce another edition in 2026 for the 75th anniversary? For each of the 50 champions, the authors offer a multipage biography with key stats a...

   Welcome to the May 2023 book survey, part two. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. The themes for this month are judo, judo, and more judo! Here is part one . Introduction In May 2023, I (Richard) continued my book survey plan. This post examines 7 books on judo, primarily from a non-US aspect. Judo: History, Theory, Practice, Vladimir Putin, Vasily Shestakov, Alexey Levitsky, 2004 I bought my copy of  Judo: History, Theory, Practice before the (latest) Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since that time, the International Judo Federation suspended Vladimir Putin's status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the IJF , and  World Taekwondo withdrew the honorary 9th dan black belt conferred to him in November 2013 . I'm not sure how much of this book Putin wrote anyway, as he tends to attach his name to judo projects like the 2008 video Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin and then has others do the work. I read the excellent biography by ...