The Heart of Kendo: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Art of the Sword [Hardcover]

Darrell Max Craig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 1999

     Here is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to Kendo, the Japanese "way of the sword," the ancient martial art that originated in the Japanese samurai tradition. Kendo is a way of life shaped by the discipline that produces perseverance, alertness, concentration, and introspection. It is very closely tied to Zen: it adepts traditionally also train in Zen meditation, and numerous Zen masters have been adept at the art of Kendo. Kendo's principles of ethics and mindful action have had a formative effect on the other Japanese martial arts practiced in America, such as Aikido.
     
     This book includes the history of the art of the sword, the basic equipment used, a glossary of terms, and instructions for all the basic forms – illustrated with more than 230 line drawings.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An informed and informative guide . . . an excellent introduction and resource to the physical and spiritual depth of this challenging martial art."— The Midwest Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Darrell Max Craig has black belts in ten different martial arts. In 1973 he was awarded the title of Shihan or master teacher—the equivalent of a knighthood in Japan and an honor rarely bestowed upon foreigners.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala Publications (December 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570624070
• ISBN-13: 978-1570624070
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,038,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of The Best Introductory Books of Kendo., February 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Heart of Kendo: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Art of the Sword (Hardcover)

While there are other books going in to more detail of shinai kendo (e.g. "Kendo : The Definitive Guide" by Hiroshi Ozawa), this book offers a deeper view of the philosophical aspects of kendo. Almost the entire second half of this book is dedicated to kendo kata. The illustrations and diagrams are clear, and the accompanying text describes the more delicate details, making it a great reference for this part of kendo.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heart of Kendo, March 30, 2001

By 

Mark A. Kerstein (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heart of Kendo: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Art of the Sword (Hardcover)

As a person who has practiced Kendo and Iaido for almost twenty years, I judge The Heart of Kendo to be one of the best martial arts books ever written. One of the serious challenges any author in the martial arts field faces, is the need to convey concepts and ideas in a manner that provides guidance for the beginner and the experienced practioner. Craig Sensei meets that challenge. The Heart of Kendo is the type of martial arts book that will appeal to persons who are seriously studying a traditional Budo and to those who are just beginning their journey on this path.

As one of Craig Sensei's students, I can vouch for the amount of work and many hours that were spent by Craig Sensei writing and rewriting the book's text. The section of the book containing some of Craig Sensei's many conversations with Chiba Harutane Sensei is absolutely priceless and conveys a sense of the connection between our modern society and Kendo as it was taught to Chiba Sensei by his father in an almost feudal atmosphere.

I sincerely recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn and understand more about the practice, and daily application in the real world, of a traditional Japanese martial art.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good on the philosophical parts., June 22, 2004

By 

J. Leigh "jleigh7" (chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Heart of Kendo: A Comprehensive Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of the Art of the Sword (Paperback)

The thing to remember is that even though an author may be described as an expert with a kzillion honors, it does not necessarily mean they are any good at teaching (or writing). It's the same as having brilliant professors in college who can't teach. These are smart people but since they are already highly fluent in the material, they forget how to present the information to complete novices. This book is a perfect example of this.

The philosophical introductions and the interviews are excellent and worth reading.

But the organization of materials could have been better.
For example, the bogu (armor) is introduced before any of the basics like etiquette or basic foot work are explained. Most beginners will not see a bogu for 8 months. What a typical beginner needs is buried late in the book in the section on technical kata.

Drawings are ok but lack detail. In some cases a photo would have been more useful. Eg a photo of the shinai parts would have been better than the line drawings which don't communicate anything useful. The diagrams are labeled with numbers rather than names so you have to hunt thru the text to find their names. Why not just put the labels next to the arrows? This isn't a model kit! Whoever did the design of the visuals does not know anything about visual communication.

Worst of all some of the diagrams are simply wrong!

This book is ok to fill in a few missing parts in ones Kendo instruction, but be careful of errors. The descriptions of the kata are in the form of sentences so you have to read several paragraphs over and over again to clarify what is in the diagram. It would have been more effective to have each step enumerated in a list and then correspond the enumerations with the pictures.

The coverage of waza is very small. There is a page on identifying openings but it is written rather confusingly.

Also there is no index in the book.