Martial History Team

   Welcome to the September 2022 book survey, part three. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. Introduction In September 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes the last 8 books that I surveyed in September. Previous posts described the first two batches of 8 books each from September. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Decisive Judo: Step by Step Introduction, Des Marwood, 1998 Decisive Judo  is a unique book because the author is both the artist and a judoka. My copy is a used black and white paperback measuring 6 3/4 inches by 10 inches. It was originally published in 1992 as Critical Judo .  This is a short 128 page book, but I really like the presentation. Each technique features many line figures with arrows to show directions of motion. Each also includes variations based on uke reactions. The term "critical path analysis style" is appropriate for this sort of presentation.  Page 18 is also p...

    Welcome to the September 2022 book survey, part two. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. Introduction In September 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes 8 more books that I surveyed in September. A previous post described the first batch of 8 from September. A subsequent post will address the final 8 that I surveyed. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Kodokan Judo, Hikoichi Aida and E. J. Harrison, 1957 I bought a used copy of this book without a dust cover, so the image shows what that cover looks like. This is another title from the catalog of E. J. Harrison and features the instruction of then-8th dan Hikoichi Aida (1893-1973), later promoted to 9th dan, according to this review by Hal Sharp .  My copy is 282 pages, with 290 line-drawn figures. Mr. Harrison notes that this book is "the most valuable printed exposition of the art hitherto made available to Japanese readers," referring to the orig...

   Welcome to the September 2022 book survey, part one. I decided to break this month's survey into three posts. Introduction In September 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes 8 books that I surveyed in September. Subsequent posts will address the other 16 that I surveyed last month. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Karate: Its History and Practice: 空手道 その歴史と技法(英語版), Koyama Masashi, Wada Koji, Kadekaru Toru, Alexander Bennett (translator), 2021 Karate: Its History and Practice is a small paperback offering 483 pages. I had high hopes for this book, as one of my favorite martial arts authors, Dr. Alexander Bennett, was the translator. Unfortunately, this book is a largely incoherent collection of material. It contains no real insights into karate's origins. It sometimes repeats what other "famous" instructors wrote in their books, with no analysis as to whether what they wrote was correct or justified. Some material is interes...

   Welcome to the August 2022 book survey, part two. I decided to break this month's survey into two posts, as I did last month. Introduction In August 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes 7 more books that I surveyed in August. Part 1 addressed the first 8 that I surveyed last month. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique, Renzo Gracie, Royler Gracie, Kid Peligro, John Danaher, 2001 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Theory and Technique  begins our look at Brazilian jiu-jitsu books for this month. My copy is an 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch color paperback with heavy glossy paper and 256 pages. This appears to be the first book featuring the philosopher of BJJ, John Danaher. The book offers a section on theory, followed by 110 techniques, each occupying two pages. They are grouped according to rank (blue, purple, brown, black), but that appears to be more for organizational purposes. It's clear to me professo...

   Welcome to the August 2022 book survey, part one. I decided to break this month's survey into two posts, as I did last month. Introduction In August 2022, I (Richard) continued my reading plan. This post describes 8 books that I surveyed in August. A subsequent post will address the other 7 that I surveyed last month. Read on to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Bokuden Ryu Jujutsu: A Record of Intensive Lessons of Jujutsu, Otsuka Nobuyoshi, translated by Eric Shahan, 2016 Bokuden Ryu Jujutsu  is one of several Eric Shahan translations I've bought. This small paperback (also now available via Kindle) was written in 1916 and first published in 1917. There appears to be no real information on the author save his photograph.  There is some detail on the style founder, Tsukahara Bokuden, from a cited 1885 text. Dr Hall's great encyclopedia notes that Tsukahara Bokuden lived from 1489-1571 and was founder of Kashima Shinto Ryu. He was born into the Yoshikawa fam...