I've already picked up some REALLY good websites from the folks at this forum, how about books?
My favorite is Living the Martial Way by Forrest Morgan.
Go ahead and list a few if you have to, I almost did myself. ;)
-Radhnoti
I've already picked up some REALLY good websites from the folks at this forum, how about books?
My favorite is Living the Martial Way by Forrest Morgan.
Go ahead and list a few if you have to, I almost did myself. ;)
-Radhnoti
Kodo: Ancient Ways (by Bishop Kensho Furuya).
Fun violent reading: Lone Wolf and Cub, Fist of the North Star, Crying Freeman
Ok, I'll throw in another to keep this alive.
The Martial Artist's Book of Five Rings, by Kaufman. Strangest thing that this book improved for me was my tennis game. :cool:
-Radhnoti
Ok, one more...but that's it! :D
The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, by Sawyer.
-Radhnoti
Adam Hsu's book. I'm not fond of his martial ability but I do like his book.
~ETB
"Secrets of the Samurai" by Ratti and Westbrook.
K. Mark Hoover
Yes, Adam Hsu's book is a must read. I don't agree with some of his opinions, but there's still a lot of good stuff in there. I have a book on Baji that my coach wrote(at least part of) that I like alot. It's all in chinese and I can't read it so I just look at the pictures :D Dr. Yang's books are a good read too.
Here are some of my favorites:
NONFICTION:
"The Unfettered Mind" by Takuan Soho
"A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy" - translated and compiled by Wing-Tsit Chan -- if you are more serious in delving into Eastern philosophy, skip the obvious and popular choices (Book of Five Rings, Tae Te Ching, Art of War, etc.) and check out this nifty book. It is a fairly comprehensive overview of almost all of the old great scholars. I was issued this text in a college philosophy course but have gone back to it time and time again for study - includes sections on Confucius, Mencius, Hsun Tzu, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, Mo Tzu, and many others as well as Taoism and other schools of thought. An excellent resource.
FICTION:
"The Tokaido Road" by Lucia St. Clair Robinson - a re-telling of the 'Tale of the 47 Ronin' legend
"The Laughing Sutra" by Mark Salzman
"Bridge of Birds" by Barry Hughart - while not really a martial arts tale, the story takes place in a imaginary ancient China - its a bit of a detective type story but has elements of action and fantasy and is remarkably humorous and engrossing
'Adversity is a mirror that reveals one's true self'
SPR.
Ditto Eight Trigram Boxer.
KF Fighting Styles, by Hall. (people gripe, but it's short and comprehensive).
The Way of the Warrior by Reid & Croucher.
Dao De Ching :)
It applies to martial art, philosophy, religion and life etc...
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
Historical fiction about the legendary swordsman, Musashi Miyamoto. Great story about dedication, honor, and swordsmanship.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Lo Guandong
LONG story of three sworn brothers, Lu Bei, Kwan Yu and Chang Fei, that swear to rid the empire of a powerful traitor, Cao Cao. Kwan Yu in the story is the originator of the Kwan Dao.
Outlaws of the Marsh-
Kind of like a Chinese version of Robin Hood. evil governor, rebels that live in a marsh,not forest though.
"Journey to the West" is a supurb novel, though it is rather hard to find in any other language than Chinese. The five-volume book, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is another of my favorite martial arts novels, though i have never seen it in English at all.
Fear.....Fear attracts the fearful.....The strong....the weak....the innocent....
Fear is my ally
Wong Kiew Kit's "Introduction to Shaolin Kungfu", all books by Yang Jwing-Ming.
Well, I'm ordering Adam Hsu's book and Romance of the Three Kingdoms tonight. Any more suggestions?
Thanks to all who took the time to answer.
-Radhnoti
Probably my favorite is Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods by Robert W. Smith.
Smith's writing style is enjoyable and funny, though I don't always agree with his views on certain things.
I like anything written by Marc "Animal" MacYoung.
Adam Hsu's Sword Polisher's Record (which is mostly a collection of old columns Hsu wrote for Black Belt magazine) is good.
Jim
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