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06-17-2003, 02:16 PM
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#1
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Dojo: Aikikai Foundation of Delaware
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 13
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Recommend any books?
Hello everyone, I am a new Aikidoka and I was hoping you could recommend some good summer reading to aid my training. My instructors don't typically give detailed instructions for techniques but rather expect students to mimic their movements or "learn by doing." (which I think is standard Aikido pedagogy). I appreciate the value of this approach, but I tend to learn best from reading. It would be nice to have a reference guide I could review and discover what the proper angle is or which foot I should be moving in such and such a technique when I become baffled.
Thanks!
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06-17-2003, 02:45 PM
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#2
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Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,615

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Anything by Gozo Shioda (Dynamic Aikido, The Master's Course)
Yoshinkan training manual (Koichi Inoue)
I just got the 150 basic techniques from the yosh on dvd...vitu vizuri sana!
Ron (very good stuff!)
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Ron Tisdale
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"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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06-17-2003, 02:47 PM
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#3
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Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 6,049
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In my mind, you can't learn aikido through reading. Only through doing the techniques physically can you learn aikido.
As far as books go, you should ask your instructor for recommendations, especially if you wish to get books on techniques. There are many different approaches in teaching techniques and, as a beginner, it could confuse your learning if you refer to a book that's showing you an entirely different way of doing a technique than your teacher does.
-- Jun
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06-17-2003, 03:30 PM
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#4
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Dojo: Enmei Dojo
Location: Florida
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 28
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Jun said: "In my mind, you can't learn aikido through reading. Only through doing the techniques physically can you learn aikido."
This is true, especially with regard to the details James was asking about, but books (and videos) can still help in a variety of ways, such as helping you learn movements like the jo kata, so that you can learn the details better in class.
There is a pretty good list of books on AikiWeb, many with review comments by knowledgeable folks.
Alan
http://hometown.aol.com/enmeidojo/
http://hometown.aol.com/spitzpublishing/
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06-17-2003, 03:33 PM
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#5
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Location: Santa Ana, CA
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 60
Offline
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Boyd, John. "Energy Manueverability."
Boyd, John. "Patterns of Conflict."
Cartmell, Tim. "Effortless Combat Throws" (Intoduction). Plum Flower Press.
Coram, Robert. "Boyd." Little, Brown. 2002.
Hewitt, Paul. "Conceptual Physics."
Lee, Bruce. (various books and articles).
Little, John. "The Warrior Within" (re: Bruce Lee). Contemporary Books. 1996.
Muryasz, Walter. "Precepts of the Martial Artist." Torrey Pines Aiki Press. 1984.
Musashi, Miyamoto. "A Book of Five Rings." (multiple publishers and translations).
Tzu, Sun. "The Art of War." (multiple publishers and translations).
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06-17-2003, 05:53 PM
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#6
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Dojo: Koshinkai Leeuwarden
Location: Leeuwarden
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 594

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Maybe the best books for you at this point are the ones you make yourself. Take a notebook to the dojo and write down what you did, how it felt, etc etc. Have your own growing personal reference guided.
Only condition fro this to work is that you actually train, but then it is much cheaper than any book you buy.
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06-17-2003, 07:51 PM
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#7
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Dojo: Numazu Aikikai/Aikikai Honbu Dojo
Location: Three Lakes WI/ Mishima Japan
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 837
Offline
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Hi James,
You write that you learn best by reading. Maybe you can use your Aikido practice to challenge yourself to learn in another way.
I'm making some guesses here, but it sounds like your instructors teach in a kinesthetic way, meaning you are supposed to feel your way through a technique. Your request for a book to show you about angles and how to move your feet indicates to me that you learn visually. These two learning styles are quite different and can cause trouble for people who are used to one or another.
Also, I would guess you like books because you can read someone's opinion or information and then have time to think about it on your own. If this all sounds about right to you, I have something you can try.
On your own, go over the techniques as if you are shadowboxing them. You can do this both as the attacker and the defender. Visualize what your partner might do and try to imagine what that feels like. The techniques are (or at least should be) logical. By really entering into the experience you can teach yourself correct angles, footwork, weight shifts, etc.
The test will then be when you go to class and find out how right or wrong you were.
Anyway, good luck.
Charles
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06-18-2003, 01:14 AM
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#9
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Dojo: Seigi Dojo
Location: Jakarta
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 247

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1. Dynamic Aikido and Total Aikido by Gozo Shioda
2. Best Aikido by Moriteru Ueshiba
3. Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training by C.M. Shifflett.
Good Luck in your training, make sure you train regularly. All the best!!
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06-18-2003, 03:39 AM
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#10
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Location: Essex
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 19
Offline
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I would go with the Gozo Shioda books. Very clear, especially Total Aikido. It is as thorough as any Aikido technique book I have seen but there are obviously many techniques left out.
Ron,
Where did you get the Yoshinkan DVD from please? Sounds interesting!
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06-18-2003, 08:39 AM
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#11
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Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,615

Offline
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http://www.budovideos.com/yosaikboxset.html
I've only gone through the first dvd, but so far its excellent! I really like the detail, and having met or trained with some of the people on the dvd, its kind of interesting to see them demonstate in a formal manner.
I like Erik's suggestion more than the books we've suggested...its what I do for seminars especially, and even for some classes. I highly recommend it. Having to put things in your own words really crystallizes what you learn.
Ron
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Ron Tisdale
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"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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06-18-2003, 09:26 AM
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#12
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Location: South West UK
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 216
Offline
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Ofcourse nothing can really be learnt through reading, but thats never stopped my Aikido and general martial art book collection exploding to some 100 books over the last year, due to my thirst for knowledge.
Anyway, I like the following books:
Essence of Aikido
Best Aikido
Aikido: The Coordination of Mind and Body for Self Defence
Total Aikido
Dynamic Aikido
Aikido and the competitive Edge
Ki in Daily life
COmplete Aikido
Aikido and the Dynmic sphere
Invicible warrior
Remembering O Sensei
Angry White Pyjamas.
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"Minimum Effort, Maximum Effciency."
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06-18-2003, 09:50 AM
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#13
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Dojo: Sunyata
Location: Oslo
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 114
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i'd just like to say that all the classical treatises on martial arts are not restricted by copyrights and are freely available online, in several versions.
eg 5 rings and art of war should be easy to find, as well as tao te ching and likes.
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06-18-2003, 09:56 AM
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#14
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Location: Essex
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 19
Offline
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Thanks for the link Ron, that looks like a very tempting although pricey purchase!
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06-18-2003, 10:16 AM
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#15
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Dojo: Aikikai Foundation of Delaware
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 13
Offline
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Thank you all for your advice. I hate feeling new and incompetent so I always work especially hard when I begin any endeavor. Since I've started Aikido, I've been attending classes for 4-5 hours per week and been reading voraciously, starting with Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere, which I really enjoy. Do you think the Book of Rings meshes well with the spirit of Aikido? The book begins something like: I am Musashi Minaymoto. I have killed sixty men in duels and in battle.
Thanks again for your advice!
Last edited by jvadakin : 06-18-2003 at 10:18 AM.
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06-19-2003, 12:28 PM
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#16
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Location: All over CA
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 137
Offline
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Re: Recommend any books?
Quote:
James Vadakin (jvadakin) wrote:
Hello everyone, I am a new Aikidoka and I was hoping you could recommend some good summer reading to aid my training. My instructors don't typically give detailed instructions for techniques but rather expect students to mimic their movements or "learn by doing." (which I think is standard Aikido pedagogy). I appreciate the value of this approach, but I tend to learn best from reading. It would be nice to have a reference guide I could review and discover what the proper angle is or which foot I should be moving in such and such a technique when I become baffled.
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Hi James!
I can appreciate the want to know through things other that the learn by doing, but you've got to understand that it is an important part of getting your body into it. Books and talk are good ways to supplement, but that supplement is really only 1% IMHO.
There is another aspect of which I am a victim as well. The 'you think too much' thing (maybe it's presumptious of me, I don't really know you). Your conscious mind is involved in the learning process, but you'd be amazed at how much of your brain is involved that is not part of your consciousness. Just by doing there are parts of your brain that are eliminating the superfluous movements, and honing things. Aslo, by doing this with a partner, you are beginning to train in ways that will allow you to quickly assess their movements as well and respond in the most effective ways.
That said, I think books are a good micro nutrient (1%). They serve to inspire and keep it in mind when training is logistically impossible. So here are the ones I'd recomend
Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere (A. Westabrook, O. Ratti)
It's A Lot Like Dancing (T Dobson)
Takemusu Aikido (a series of I think 5 volumes) (M Saito Shihan)
Everyone has a favorite technique book, it's important to see if it jives with the technique you are learning if you are new to aikido however.
At my dojo, we videotape all of the yudansha tests/demonstrations, this was another source of inspiration for me.

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"To educate a man in mind, and not in morals, is to educate a menace to society." ~Theodore Roosevelt
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06-19-2003, 05:13 PM
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#17
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Dojo: Canyon Aikido Club, Aikido of San Leandro & Aikido of Berkeley
Location: Contra Costa County, California, U.S.A.
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 20
Offline
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I'm kind of like you, I must do the physical practice and read, but also write to learn.
My favorite martial arts book is not an Aikido Book per se (although it is mentioned):
"Zen in the Martial Arts" by Joe Hyams.
http://www.epinions.com/book_mu-2787693
Enjoy!
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E.J.
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06-19-2003, 05:34 PM
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#18
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Dojo: UCO Budo Society
Location: Oklahoma
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 204
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Although I've not read it personally, the book Aikido: Principles of Kata & Randori
by Nick Lowry, 6th (now 7th) Dan comes highly recommended in my circles.
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DAVE
If you're working too hard, you're doing it wrong.
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06-24-2003, 12:14 PM
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#19
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Dojo: Emerson's Martial Arts
Location: Denver, Co
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 97
Offline
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Read about other styles. Get well rounded. Too many people don't get the BIG picture. The sooner you get it, the better off you will be.
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06-24-2003, 12:23 PM
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#20
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Dojo: Shin Budo Kai
Location: Manhattan
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 588

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I agree with Chad regarding reading about other styles.
I think the best source of information about martial arts in print is The Journal of Asian Martial Arts. They print acadmemic level papers, key interviews, and other interesting and high quality essays on all of the arts, aikido included.
www.goviamedia.com
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"The martial arts progress from the complex to the simple."
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06-24-2003, 08:29 PM
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#21
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Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,319

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Quote:
Lyle Bogin wrote:
I agree with Chad regarding reading about other styles.
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I don't. At least the point about sooner the better.
Read your insturctors recommendations first. Train for a bit, let's say six months to a year, and then start reading the works of other styles. I would say the same about cross-training within Aikido.
I have been told by one student who didn't stay long all that was wrong with my Aikido - he could also spout Steven's Doka translations with the best of them. I've read the same books but my impressions were quite different.
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06-24-2003, 08:50 PM
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#22
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Dojo: Numazu Aikikai/Aikikai Honbu Dojo
Location: Three Lakes WI/ Mishima Japan
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 837
Offline
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Hi Peter,
What were your immpressions?
Charles
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06-24-2003, 09:26 PM
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#23
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Dojo: Shodokan Honbu (Osaka)
Location: Himeji, Japan
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 3,319

Offline
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Quote:
Charles Hill wrote:
What were your impressions?
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So many books - so many doka.
This young man had major problems with some of the tsukuri drills that we do and lectured me in no uncertain terms. Apparently I was the first Aikido dojo he had trained in but he had been studying Aikido for quite some time.
Quote:
There is no attack in Aikido
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I distinguish between aggressive intent and sen no sen and don't see any conflict between my view and the of the doka or the writings of the uchideshi of Ueshiba M.
I think the doka are like the bible. You can always find something in them that fits your preconceived notions and happily ignore the rest.
He also had serious problems with the randori that we do. Of course he is not the only one who misunderstands it but really I wasn't that interested in someone who is more inclined to discuss his view than training. I actually sent him to an Aikikai dojo but I don't think he lasted long there either - if he even showed up.
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06-25-2003, 09:43 AM
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#24
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Dojo: Shin Budo Kai
Location: Manhattan
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 588

Offline
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Doka are worth studying.
I see no real reason not to read additonal material in the subject you are interested in.
Also, the gentleman Mr. Rehse mentioned sounds like many people I know. If you patiently show them the advantages of the kind of training you do, they often change their minds. It is simply a healthy argument. Were any of us always modest and clear headed during our time training?
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"The martial arts progress from the complex to the simple."
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06-25-2003, 12:17 PM
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#25
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 50
Offline
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Dont read any books until you are about a year into training. Just trust what the teacher says and go with that. After about a year then pick up some books that explain and add to what you have already learned. Use the books to amplify what you know, don't use them to tell you about things/techniques you haven't experienced yet.
My picks: Gozo Shioda's books
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