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-   -   Koretoshi Maruyama book Aikido with Ki (http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15082)

MM 09-08-2008 03:30 PM

Koretoshi Maruyama book Aikido with Ki
 
Finished reading Koretoshi Maruyama's book, Aikido with Ki.

http://www.amazon.com/Aikido-Ki-Kore...0909394&sr=8-2

Here I thought John Stevens book, The Secrets of Aikido, was bad. This one is competing for that title.

Again, all my thoughts are towards aiki...do. Take them with a grain of salt if you're doing aikidoTM.

The bad: You'll get a lot more detailed information on AikiWeb about the "ki" in "aiki". Not much (some) of any kind of historical information either. Goes over Tohei's four principles, but a lot is left out and you won't get anywhere near as good as Tohei by reading this book. Save your money.

The good: Hey, it has detailed descriptions of what to physically do for some techniques. If you are new and want something to help you remember where your foot goes and what your hands are doing, yeah, this will get you by.

Overall, I'd skip this book. Worthless to anyone wanting to find deeper meaning to aiki in aiki...do.

gregstec 09-11-2008 02:16 PM

Re: Koretoshi Maruyama book Aikido with Ki
 
Koretoshi was the Ki Society's first chief instructor and his book it just a reflection of Tohei's principles and methods of instruction. The book is not as comprehensive as Tohei's 'This Is Aikido', but it is simply an introduction to the basic techniques of the Ki Society and it was never intended to be in depth answer to what is aiki - it just follows Tohei's simple esoteric view and explanation of Ki. However, the book has some value as a collector's item.

Greg Steckel

MM 09-11-2008 02:50 PM

Re: Koretoshi Maruyama book Aikido with Ki
 
Quote:

Greg Steckel wrote: (Post 215953)
Koretoshi was the Ki Society's first chief instructor and his book it just a reflection of Tohei's principles and methods of instruction. The book is not as comprehensive as Tohei's 'This Is Aikido', but it is simply an introduction to the basic techniques of the Ki Society and it was never intended to be in depth answer to what is aiki - it just follows Tohei's simple esoteric view and explanation of Ki. However, the book has some value as a collector's item.

Greg Steckel

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the reply. I probably should state somewhere that I'm reviewing the books and looking for sections where the authors talk about aiki or structure in relation to aiki...do. That's why I'm placing the reviews here in the non-aikidoTM section. It has nothing to do with whether the book is useful in some other venue. Some of them do have value elsewhere. Nothing wrong with that at all. :)

gregstec 09-11-2008 04:08 PM

Re: Koretoshi Maruyama book Aikido with Ki
 
Quote:

Mark Murray wrote: (Post 215959)
Hi Greg,

Thanks for the reply. I probably should state somewhere that I'm reviewing the books and looking for sections where the authors talk about aiki or structure in relation to aiki...do. That's why I'm placing the reviews here in the non-aikidoTM section. It has nothing to do with whether the book is useful in some other venue. Some of them do have value elsewhere. Nothing wrong with that at all. :)

Hi Mark,

Understood on your focus of aiki...do - Koretoshi does do aiki..do, but he does not train it; at least not back when I trained with him in the late 70's. His approach then was the standard Tohei method; which will give you a good foundation for mind and body coordination, but as Mike S has stated, he does not take it to the next level.

I have a pretty extensive Aikido library (no where near as large as Clark B's though) and I have not found any of those books to be very explanatory on the aiki stuff; other than the standard esoteric babel prevalent with most of the senior Japanese shihans. However, some of the Chinese books will delve into more of an explanation, but I have not really seen any that will give you a simple road map to this stuff.

If you find that elusive aiki for dummies book, please be sure to share it with the rest of us.

Greg

Graff 09-11-2008 05:14 PM

Re: Koretoshi Maruyama book Aikido with Ki
 
Quote:

Mark Murray wrote: (Post 215959)
Thanks for the reply. I probably should state somewhere that I'm reviewing the books and looking for sections where the authors talk about aiki or structure in relation to aiki...do.

You might check out "Ki and the Way of the Martial Arts" by Kenji Tokitsu. He describes using contraction to "integrate general tensions of the body with the breath". It's about as close as I've read to the tidbits of info I read here.

http://www.amazon.com/Way-Martial-Ar...1173686&sr=8-1


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