Kenji Tomiki Books

[Please visit our sponsor:]

[Jeffrey Brown]

Anyone familiar with the books of Kenji Tomiki? I found four books listed on ebay, two I was familiar with and two I was not. One was listed as being about goshin jutsu and the other was learning aikido the rational way: atemi waza and kansetsu waza. All four books were in Japanese. thanks for your help.

thanks
Jeff

[L. Camejo]

Tomiki Sensei wrote a lot of books on Judo, Aikido and Budo as a whole.

The ones I know of are:
Judo and Aikido (aka Judo: Appendix Aikido)-available in English
Budo Ron (this one is in Japanese I believe)

If I come across more I'll let you know. I have a list in one of my other books around here somewhere.

LC:ai::ki:

[L. Camejo]

This is quite a good online listing - http://home.scarlet.be/~ewolput/Shobukai's%20archief.pdf

It includes almost all of the written material on Tomiki's approach to Aikido including those written by his students in English and other languages.

Hope this helps.
LC:ai::ki:

[crbateman]

I cannot speak to any purely Judo books Tomiki may have written, but the only Aikido-related book I know of in English is the aforementioned Judo Appendix/With/And Aikido, written in the 1950's. There are many other books out there written by Tomiki Aikido stylists.

[mrfeldmeyer]

Jeff,

Nice to see a thread from an aikidoka so close to home. I have a couple of copies of "Judo and Aikido" by Tomiki. It is a very nice read. It breaks down the systems in a very technical, but understandable way.

It is however, very hard to come by in English for a reasonable price. I paid somewhere around $180 for my 8th ed. copy and somehow the ebay seller threw in a 1st ed. without realizing what it was. Great deal for me. Good luck in your search.

Matt

[crbateman]

I should add that the English book we have been discussing was written early on, before Tomiki Sensei finished putting together the formal system of Aikido that bears his moniker. Although the material in his book is sound, you would probably be better served by obtaining the more contemporary works written by his personal students and proponents, such as Lee Ah Loi, Neil Saunders, Nobuyoshi Higashi, Senta Yamada and others. Also, one further word on the Judo/Aikido book: As mentioned, it is scarce and expensive, and the quality and type of paper and binding materials used do not bear up well under frequent usage.

[davidafindlay]

... you would probably be better served by obtaining the more contemporary works written by his personal students and proponents, such as Lee Ah Loi, Neil Saunders, Nobuyoshi Higashi, Senta Yamada and others.And a significant other would be Shishida and Nariyama:

Seems to even be on Amazon these days. (http://www.amazon.com/Aikido-Tradition-Competitive-Fumiaki-Shishida/dp/0964708329/ref=sr_1_2/102-7042403-8012926?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174647890&sr=8-2)

And you may also like Scott Albright's (http://www.amazon.com/Aikido-Randori-Scott-Allbright/dp/1861264984) take on things.

Cheers,

[Jeffrey Brown]

thanks for all of the feedback. I have the Nariyama and Shisida book. I am looking into grabbing Lee Ah Loi's book and I also have an interest in reading Karl Geis' Book of Twelve Winds.

Jeff

[crbateman]

I am looking into grabbing Lee Ah Loi's book...
Lee Ah Loi actually has four books, one of which is a re-edited derivative of two others. I would recommend the recent Tomiki Aikido: Randori & Koryu No Kata, which is a compilation of the earlier Tomiki Aikido: Book One and Book Two. Also, look for Tomiki Aikido, Past and Future. Enjoy!

[Jeffrey Brown]

Clark,

I was under the impression that all three books were reprinted in Tomiki Aikido: Randori & Koryu No Kata. Thanks for the info. Any info on the Geis book. They should both arrive in the next week.

Jeff

[crbateman]

Jeff, not all the info from Tomiki Aikido: Past and Future is reproduced in Randori and KNK, and you seem to want the best bang for the buck, hence the suggestion to get both, although you probably could find Past and Future at your library or on inter-library loan, and just read it once. As for Twelve Winds, it's a good book, but it's more about Karl Geis and his personal insights than about Tomiki Aikido.

[Jeffrey Brown]

Clark,

I received my copy of Tomiki Aikido by Dr. Lee Ah Loi. It is a very well done book. The book did include all three books, not sure the third book was complete (book three was only 35 pages). Very interesting stuff. I hope the Karl Geis book comes up today!

Jeff

[crbateman]

Glad to see you are enjoying them. If you are a real book junkie, try this link: http://www.aikidojournal.com/bibliography.php. You can enter "Tomiki" in the "Search Summaries" field for a good list of other relevant titles. I have them all, so if you have questions about a particular book, just let me know. Have fun!

[Jeffrey Brown]

Clark,

I am indeed a book junkie. Thanks for the link. I have a few books I am considering selling. I put them up on e-budo for sell but have not had any bites. Have you ever sold books via ebay?

Jeff

[crbateman]

To be perfectly honest, I have never sold a book, on eBay or anywhere else. I have bought many through eBay, and I have swapped dupes in the past to get something I covet, but I just can't bring myself to sell "my babies"...