Customer Reviews

Aikido: The Peaceful Martial Art

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What you will notice immediately when you start reading the book is how easy to read it is. Or perhaps you will not notice at all, only to find yourself in the middle of the book after what seemed like a short while.

After reading, or at least peeking into, several books about martial arts and eastern philosophy, I can tell that this alone is a remarkable achievement.

Some books about martial arts are filled with unexplained terms, some are terse or even enigmatic, some focus on more or less precisely describing techniques, etc. Based on what one expects from a book about aikido this additional burden on the reader may be justified, but it certainly does not mirror the experience of aikido training in practice. The spirit in which this book is written comes very close to this natural, immersive and fun experience, and this makes it a perfect book for an aikido beginner. It is not a manual, instead it focuses on the principles and basics and does it very well. I believe that anyone doing aikido, no matter how advanced, can enjoy it. It could also be a great book for someone wants to have an idea what aikido is about without or before practicing it.

Now you are probably wondering whether this book isn't just a watered down version of the other more technical books. It is not, it just focuses on different parts and is written to be read from cover to cover. There is a downside to this: I'm not sure whether I would really benefit from reading the whole book again and it also isn't very suitable for looking up specific bits of information. At times it also seemed a bit too repetitive, but that's alright, and even helpful, as long as you read it for the first time. That shouldn't stop you from buying the book.

That said, there are parts of the book that I will return to, to name at least two: for practical reasons-the glossary (about 18 pages) which covers more vocabulary than you will encounter in the main text and one chapter that stands out: Kototama - the soul of words. It makes for a wonderful ending and it made me curious to learn more about how aikido was developed, about kototama and Osensei.

I'm giving the book four out of five stars because: (1) I probably won't reread it (packing more information in the 200 pages wouldn't make sense, but I can imagine a bit longer version I would return to). (2) The quality of typography and print (especially the cover) doesn't make justice to the content, that's a shame.

I've been learning aikido for about two months and I feel that the book helped me to have a more complete picture and to know what to focus on during the training. At the same time it was fun to read. If you are in a similar situation, don't hesitate and buy it!

Nowadays there are many books available on the subject of aikido. The greater part of them is more technical, with lots of pictures showing the visible part of aikido. But aikido (all martial arts) has also the invisible part, inner elements, difficult to catch when only watching and that is what this book is about. It definitely belong to the smaller group of aikido books, which try to deal with subjects like Ki, Ai, Do, Tanden and lot more - that what may call the very principles of the art. I am not afraid to say, that author was quite successful thanks to being both - profound martial artist and writer.

Stefan Stenudd's "Aikido: The Peaceful Martial Art" is patently clear--more so than any other Aikido books, DVD's, and/or articles which I have studied and to which I have been privy to benefit from their tutelage--about the imperative truth of the CENTER as the source and the ultimate return destination of all Aikido movements, after they have traversed their elliptical and spiral-configured paths. This abiding awareness itself is what makes Stefan Stenudd's insights golden. The reader then is able easily to fit into the otherwise confusing dynamic context of the pragmatic art of Aikido the over-arching principle of CENTER. When this is done by the reader's holding the concept of CENTER uppermost in his/her mind, the art and practice of Aikido congeal into a fusion that brings you to the realization that it is your opponent who unwittingly guides your way to the unification of self at your CENTER.

I couldn't get past the first few pages before I had to put this one down. I think there are probably some wonderful ideas lurking in these words but the words themselves are clumsily assembled and difficult to endure. I don't know if this was the fault of a translator but it reads like it was. I hope we will see another version with better English in the future.

Aikido: The Peaceful Martial Art has long been a popular title in Sweden, so I was pleased when it was recently released in English. Both of my sons also own a copy of this title. It provides an excellent foundation for the beginner as well as insight for the more experienced practitioner. What makes this book unique, and sets it apart from other titles on the topic, is the very personal narrative from the author of his own journey of discovery.

is a basic book like many ,buts still there is a difference
it at just a little more then ,end that is what make the book good.