What are your Top Ten Books??

[Wilson]

I was hoping all of you with more/different experience and time in martial arts could help me in my search for knowlege by recommending books that you have read on the Martial Arts, Martial Philosophy, and general Eastern philosophy. I tried to put a list together and found that I only have 9 that I've read and would recommend. As you can tell, I have a long way to go. In no order:

Art of War - Sun Tzu
Zen in the Martial Arts - Joe Hyams
Living the Martial Way - Forrest Morgan
Kodo - Ancient Ways - Kensho Furuya
Book of Five Rings - Musashi (translation by Stephen Kaufman)
Warrior Within - John Little
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Tao of Jeet Kune Do - Bruce Lee
Tao of Gung Fu - Bruce Lee

Please list title and author so I can look them up and get a better idea of the content. Thanks for your help.

[dwid]

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Shunryu Suzuki

Teachings on Love - Thich Nhat Hanh

The Sword Polisher's Record - Adam Hsu

[Wilson]

I looked up the books and they all seem extremely interesting. Just what I was looking for. I hope others will add to the list.

[Marshdrifter]

I agree that Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, the Book of Five Rings, and Tao of Gung Fu are good books. Other's that I'd
add to the list are:

Zen and Japanese Culture by D.T. Suzuki
Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (the abridged William Scott Wilson version)
Complete Wing Chun by Robert Chu, Rene Ritchie, and Y. Wu
Samadhi by Mike Sayama
Warriors of Stillness: volume 1 (I haven't read volume 2 yet) by Jan Diepersloot
Principles of Aikido by Mitsugi Saotome
The Power of Internal Martial Arts by B.K. Frantzis

These are in no particular order and I don't necessarily like each
of these books for the same reasons, but I like these.

[jun_erh]

chinese boxing: masters and methods - Robert W Smith

[chen zhen]

Chinese boxing: masters and methods - Robert W. Smith

The secrets of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu - Lai Hung and Bryan Klingborg

The Zen doctrine of No-Mind - D. T. Suzuki

Zen Wisdom - Chan master Sheng-Yen

Tao of Gung Fu - Bruce Lee

[TaiChiStorm]

Iron & Silk ,by Mark Salzman !!!! THE BEST BOOK EVER !!!

[TaoBoy]

Anything by Alan Watts - especially "The Watercourse Way". "365 Tao" is good too. Yang Jwing-Ming's stuff. Oh so much to read.

I'm reading "A Brief History of Time" by Prof. Stephen Hawking at the moment. Mind blowing.

[dezhen2001]

Aikido and Dynamic Sphere - sorry forgot the author :( It explains the principles and philosophy of Aikdo pretty well as well as the skill.

Bubishi - patrick McCarthy - explains some interesting research about karate/te and the relation to chinese kung fu and culture. Has some interesting stuff about qigong and principles of styles etc.

dawood

[dezhen2001]

a few other good books, i forget the author though

the Water Margin
108 Taoist Masters

these are more like fantasy stories, and are just generally a good read! :)

dawood

[Sho]

No special order.

Siddhartha (Herman Hesse)
Art of Happiness (His Holiness, The Dalai Lama)
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (Sogyal Rinpoche)
How To Practice The Way to a Meaningful Life (His Holiness, The Dalai Lama)
Tao Te Ching (Lao Zi)
Hua Hu Ching (Lao Zi)
I-Ching
Miyamoto Musashi
Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi)
Art of War (Sun Tzu)

[HuangKaiVun]

1. The Bubishi (Patrick McCarthy) - great MEDICAL textbook. I use the vital point/meridian stuff all the time on my students. The quan at the end looks EXACTLY like my Seng Men kung fu system.

2. Xing Yi Quan Xue (Sun Lu Tang) - a truly complete manual on Xingyiquan, though the Chinglish is unintelligible. The pictures speak far more than the words do, though I've changed the postures for my own combat usage.

3. Brazilian Ju Jitsu (Renzo/Rorion Gracie) - the manual of the maneuvers of this great style. Beautifully done, very useful.

4. Wing Chun (Joseph Wayne Smith) - the best Wing Chun books I've seen so far. The 3 volumes have all of the basic maneuvers of the art.

5. Drunkard Kung Fu (Leung Ting) - Not a fighting manual, but a complete guide to a set of Southern drunken boxing. The moves CAN be used for fighting, contrary to what even the author believes!

6. Karate Do Kyohan, Karate Jutsu, My Life (Gichin Funakoshi) - anybody connected with Shotokan karate MUST read all three of these books. For me, "Karate Jutsu" was even more valuable and understandable than the "Kyohan" was.

7. Tae Kwon Do (Richard Kim, I think) - this mammoth text covers a lot of the old school Tae Kwon Do methods, including groundfighting and chin na.

8. Shaolin 10 Animal Form (Leung Ting) - Kwan Tak Hing is featured demonstrating this set, and the moves are very combat applicable. There's no better way to gain a preview of the Shaolin 10 animals than through this text.

9. Knocking on the Gate of Life - this textbook is a survey of Chinese qigong methods. Combined with the Bubishi, it can really help a person's health.

10. Iron Body Ninja (Ashida Kim) - A lot of people (here especially) trash Ashida Kim, but that didn't stop me from appreciating this book on MEDITATION. The 8-Section brocade and Ba To's 5 animal play are presented in this text, among other things. Only a FOOL would throw this baby out with the bath water.


I'd also like to get my hands on the 5-volume "Shaolin Kung Fu: A Course in Traditional Forms" books offered by Wing Lam Enterprises.

That text teaches modern day Shaolin kung fu as it's taught in Tagou.

[The Willow Sword]

BEYOND THE KNOWN(the ultimate goal of the martial arts)
by Tri Thong Dang

TOWARDS THE UNKNOWN(martial artist what shall you become?)
by Tri Thong Dang

THE ART OF PEACE; by Morihei Ueshiba

CITIZEN SOLDIERS; by Stephen E. Ambrose

MUSCLE/TENDON CHANGING MARROW/BRAIN WASHING CHI KUNG CLASSICS; by Dr Yang Jwing-Ming

TAO TE CHING; by Lao Tzu (proverb #16)


These are good reads and provide one with valuable information insight and profound words for introspection and reflection.

Many respects,,,The Willow Sword

[jun_erh]

108 movements f the Shaolin wooden men hall - Leng Ting