Customer Reviews

Dynamic Aikido

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great reference book for all Aikidoka, especially for those who practice Aikido for self defence needs. This book provides a basic look at the Yoshinkan style of Aikido, the style taught to the Tokyo police for self defence. It includes detailed pictures and explanations of all the basic techniques and includes an area at the end that illustrates the effectiveness of these Aikido techniques in typical scenarios that require self defence. As an instructor, it provided me with a great basis from which to develop other Aikido techniques into more practical self defence forms.

I bought this book when I was training in the Aikikai style of Aikido, and it didn't make sense. Everything was quite different from what I have been taught.
Now I train in the Yoshinkan style of Aikido (which is much more structured and logical, in my opinion), and I rediscovered this book, which now makes perfect sense.
I think the book should state more clearly that it is relevant only for one particular style of Aikido, otherwise it's misleading.
The book is good as a reference and, accordingly, is very technical. If you are interested in reading more about the principles of Aikido or about its philosophy, then this book is not for you!

First of all, this book is the reason why I started aikido. It's just great! The pictures are excellent, and the explanations are very clear. You can actually learn from them! I learned sankajo long before I ever joined aikido. Not that this book is a substitute for good quality instruction, it's a pretty basic book, but it's as clear as books get.

This book explains basic techniques of Aikido as taught by the Yoshinkan Aikido orgnanization, though it has something to teach to all aikidoka. It includes very explanatory pictures of the techniques from varied points of view, so that the reader may actually get a good idea of the way a certain move is done and in which direction to apply his or her weight.

I highly recommend it.

This book has one of the best step-by-step illustrations. Very clear and informative.

Dynamic Aikido by Gozo Shioda Sensei is the first book on Aikido I ever bought. To date I have not seen any book so well written and thought out as an introduction to Aikido as a martial art.

Many other books on the market concentrate on the spiritual or even meta-physcial aspects of Aikido and to be honest, should be stocked in the Theological or even fantasy / Sci-Fi sections of the book store.

This book brings it all down to the ground, and shows step by step with amazing detail and accuracy all the basic techniques of Yoshinkan Aikido.

Though no substitute for a real class, this book is the ultimate text book for the beginner Aikidoka.

This book is iconic in nature, and was Shioda Kancho's first stab into mass-market media. First appearing in the late 60's, it is certainly the first glimpse Westerners got at the Yoshinkan style, and possibly the first book many saw about Aikido, period, since it went into a more affordable paperback version relatively early, with many reprints to follow. That said, the material is pretty basic and dated, but has not hindered its popularity.

Gozo Shioda was the founder of the Yoshinkan school of Aikido and studied for many years directly under Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido. This book gives the reader a good overview of the art, with easy to understand photo series that break the different techniques down into easily understood stages. I really like the photo series at the back of the book that demonstrate practical uses of Aikido for self-defense.

I bought this book a long time ago not knowing if it was good or not. At the time I was not practicing Aikido,but I always wanted to learn something about it. I had a few years of experience in other martial arts. I think this is a good book. The pictures show fairly good the techniques. Some angle may be confusing if you are not a martial artist, but for the most part you can understand the purpose of each technique. A book will never replace a Sensei but is a good guide. I highly recommend it, because of the pictures display on each technique. The general information on Aikido history is pretty good too. Bare in mind like other have said that some schools of Aikido may do some things a little different, but in theory everything is the same. I also bought Shioda Sensei latest book that should tell you how much I liked this one.

I now practice Aikido and appreciate better having bought the book years ago. I hope this helps.

I own several Aikido instructional and philosophical books and this book, I found, is the most helpful. It breaks down the fundamentals of the art with descriptive pictures and commentary. I thoroughly recommend this book to beginners and advanced Aikidoka.