Welcome to AikiWeb Aikido Information
AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information
AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.

Sections
home
aikido articles
columns

Discussions
forums
aikiblogs

Databases
dojo search
seminars
image gallery
supplies
links directory

Reviews
book reviews
video reviews
dvd reviews
equip. reviews

News
submit
archive

Miscellaneous
newsletter
rss feeds
polls
about

Follow us on



Home > AikiWeb Aikido Forums
Go Back   AikiWeb Aikido Forums > General

Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history, humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced features available, you will need to register first. Registration is absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 12-14-2001, 11:25 PM   #1
abarnhar
Location: U.S.A.
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 20
Offline
Light reading?

What's the Aikido book that most influenced you or was the most help to your training?
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-15-2001, 09:44 AM   #2
Edward
Location: Bangkok
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 803
Thailand
Offline
Hello Adam,

My all-time favourite is late Doshu's Kisshomaru Ueshiba book "Aikido", as well as "The spirit of Aikido" by the Doshu also. The second does not have technical content but explains the philosophy behind Aikido and Osensei's position regarding many subjects. reding the spirit of aikido will make you a better person, not only a better Aikidoka, and I recommend it to all.

In order to remember my Jo 13 and 31 katas, I always use Christian Tessier book "Aiki-Jo" which is a great book, but unfortunately it's in french only.

I am still looking myself for a good book about Aiki-Bokken.

Cheers,
Edward
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-16-2001, 11:46 PM   #3
tedehara
 
tedehara's Avatar
Dojo: Evanston Ki-Aikido
Location: Evanston IL
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 826
Offline
Post Words, words, words

Quote:
Originally posted by Edward
...I am still looking myself for a good book about Aiki-Bokken.

Cheers,
Edward
This isn't about Aiki-Bokken, but you may still find it interesting.
Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword

The most influential book and the book that's most helped me in my training is the next book I'm going to read.

Actually, I'm ordering "The way to union with Ki" (Ki ni Gassuru no Michi) by Koichi Tohei. This was printed through private subscription and is not publicly available. It will cost me about $200 USD for one copy. Those who already have a copy say it is worth it.

It is not practice that makes perfect, it is correct practice that makes perfect.
About Ki
About You
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2001, 03:21 AM   #4
Abasan
Dojo: Aiki Shoshinkan, Aiki Kenkyukai
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 813
Malaysia
Offline
I like Aikido and the New Warrior for inspirational aikido stories and anecdotes.

Aikido in everyday life for the application of aikido in how we interact with people and situation.

And lastly my favourite book so far, but its not exactly aikido... Moving towards stillness by Dave Lowry. Great book towards understanding something about budo.

Draw strength from stillness. Learn to act without acting. And never underestimate a samurai cat.
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-20-2001, 03:56 AM   #5
ranZ
 
ranZ's Avatar
Dojo: Ki no Kenyukai/Jakarta
Location: Indonesia
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 60
Offline
since we're talking about book, has anyone ever heard/read the book titled "Ishido" by O-sensei?
what is it actually about? i heard it from a friend, tried to search in amazon n the net but couldn't find any info.
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2001, 03:42 AM   #6
otto
Dojo: Independent
Location: Maracaibo/Zulia
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 149
Venezuela
Offline
I really enjoyed "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere" , it's offer a bit of all , a brief definiton/introduction of the art , miscelanous info like dojo etiquette (very useful for a real begginer to MA like me ), then it goes to describing the technical aspects of the art (from warm-up exercises to actual single and multi-attacker techniques) , and finally a interesting conclussion about the practice itself.

I certainly recommend u to take a look on this book , it's doesn't have any photos on it , but the hand-made drawings are pretty illustratives.

Hope it helps..
Ottoniel Ojeda

"Perfection is a Process"
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2001, 11:29 AM   #7
Lenocinari
 
Lenocinari's Avatar
Location: Palo Alto, California
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 19
Offline
A Good Read

Good day to all,
One of my most favorite aikido books and books of all time is Aikido:Life Lessons From an American Sensei by George Leonard. It's pointed twards non-aikidokas but is just as fruitful, if not more, for one who does practice aikido. It explains aikido's principles that effect daily life with personal examples and observations of George Leonard himself. A really good book; I love it and I would strongly recommend it to anyone. Until next time,
Cheers,
Ben

In order to see the stars, you first have to turn off the lights.
  Reply With Quote
Old 12-30-2001, 12:24 PM   #8
JamesB
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 2
Offline
I would have to say the Dave Lowery's "Autumn Lightning" had the biggest impact because without it I probably would not have been seeking the budo to have found aikido.

Although I am a big fan of his writing, I am not terribly impressed with either his Bokken or Jo books. In my copies of both books the images are rather grainy and gray, and are thus hard to follow. Maybe I just need a real live sensei to understand technique.
  Reply With Quote
Old 01-04-2002, 11:32 AM   #9
Chuck.Gordon
Location: Frederick, MD
Join Date: Sep 2000
Posts: 509
United_States
Offline
Re: Light reading?

Quote:
Originally posted by abarnhar
What's the Aikido book that most influenced you or was the most help to your training?
Hmm. Aikido-wise ... it'd have to be the Shirata/Stevens book _Aikido: The Way of Harmony_. To be perfectly blunt, I tend to steer away from Stevens' work generally, but found this one a powerful and direct read with excellent photos and text.

EVERYBODY reads _Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere_, I think. And they ought to. It's a good book, despite the lapses in research and fact. However, given what the authors DID have access to, it was well done. And the art, of course, is priceless. Their _Secrets of the Samurai_ is similarly lacking in some areas, but is still a nice beginner-level overview of Japanese budo.

I truly and deeply enjoyed most of Gaku Homma's books, but found the last one (I think is was the last) _Foundations of Aikido_? Hard to follow and visually annoying.

The (fairly) recent translation of _Budo Training in Aikido_ was GREAT! Loved the illustrations and the doka! Of course, this was about Daito Ryu jujutsu and not aikido so some folks might hedge on that one a bit ...

I also highly recommend my dear friend Carol Shifflett's books _Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training_ and _Ki in Aikido_. As a non-aiki-fruity type (Hi Jon!), I found her approach to Ki refreshing. And HEY! I'm in 'em!

One of my first and still most fave aikido books is Shioda's _Dynamic Aikido_.

Aside from strictly aikido books, I always recommend:

Kano's _Judo_ (which contains a LOT of aikido if you read it carefully)

Sato's translation of _Sword and the Mind_

Diane Skoss' _Koryu Bujutsu_ and _Sword and Spirit_

Karl Friday's _Legacies of the Sword_ (We're working on getting him here in Indy in late May for a seminar by the way!)

EJ Harrison's _Fighting Spirit of Japan_

And a whole slew of others. I've been promising to put my dojo reading list on the web for a while. Sigh. I guess I'll have to try to squeeze that in.

Chuck

  Reply With Quote
Old 01-04-2002, 01:30 PM   #10
Greg Jennings
Dojo: S&G BJJ
Location: Springboro, OH
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,132
United_States
Offline
Morihiro Saito's Traditional Aikido and Takemusu Aikido series.

The former is very hard to find. The latter is available from http://www.aikidojournal.com/ .

They are the only books I regularly use for technical guidance.

Regards,

Greg Jennings
  Reply With Quote

Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Aikido Light Bulb Jokes... jxa127 Humor 16 07-22-2006 10:46 PM
Jimmy Sorrentino in West Reading, PA AikiWeb System AikiWeb System 0 06-09-2004 02:37 PM
Reading throws kensparrow Techniques 15 08-25-2003 10:12 AM
Will a book help me? Kat.C Training 46 04-12-2002 09:37 AM
Worthy reading? sjl001 General 6 01-22-2001 10:39 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:40 AM.



vBulletin Copyright © 2000-2024 Jelsoft Enterprises Limited
----------
Copyright 1997-2024 AikiWeb and its Authors, All Rights Reserved.
----------
For questions and comments about this website:
Send E-mail
plainlaid-picaresque outchasing-protistan explicantia-altarage seaford-stellionate