I am not a huge fan of most aikido books. Half of them are about putting the founder on a pedestal and proclaiming him to a an enlightened being. Good for him! Doesn't help me much though.
Another huge chunk is very dry technical logs, that I humbly suggest since the creation of you tube have become obsolete.
Now my favorite book about aikido is the Tai Chi Classics.
Tai Chi Classics
Now how can a tai chi book be an aikido book? Well I humbly suggest everyone get past the silly name game thing we play and realize what we are all shooting for, maximum efficiency with minimum effort. Get information where ever you can.
I've been told that Taika Oyata has said that ultimately, there is only one martial art.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! This book came to by accident (a casual rescue from a tag sale by a friend), and the minute I read it I was fascinated by what I thought were applications in our Goju.
ReplyDeleteA given martial arts style is fundamentally just a training method.
ReplyDeleteAs a Tai Chi guy who has also done some Aikido, I can appreciate this.
ReplyDeleteThe best regular Aikido book I have (of many) is Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere".
The drawings and discriptions are much better than pictures.
Next, you should look at the Cheng Bagua systems. I think they are closest to Aikido, and there are persisting rumors that Uyeshiba borrowed from that system, which he saw in China.
The best book on the Tai Chi Classics is Douglas Wile's "The lost tai chi classics of the late Ching dynasty". Wonderful book, including passages on Dim Mak and pressure-point technique.
Thank goodness the true art is being re-discovered.
As a Tai Ji/Hapkido player I am convinced of the similarity that exists between aiki principles and tai Ji/yin yang principles. I am glad that you felt that (or a similar) resonance while reading the classics.
ReplyDeleteIn my Hapkido school "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere" is required reading for the higher gubs.
Have you read Peter Ralston's "Zen Body Being"?