Customer Reviews

Invincible Warrior

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

 

 

I have spent a great deal of time reading books and articals on Aikido. None have given me the insight that this book has.. If you injoy this art and are looking for a deeper under standing of Aikido, you will find it here.

John Stevens, who I must admit has written many great Aikido books, outdoes himself with this book. With a feeling of actual fondness, Stevens seems to capture Founder Morihei's human side without in any way diminishing his almost supernatural presence. This is a must read for any follower of the art.

Morihei Ueshiba's teachings about The Art of Peace bring to balance and equilibrium two extreme entities in oriental martial arts philosophy, being in the other end Sun Tzu's masterpiece The Art of War. This book reflects the different fascinating paths taken by Moriehi towards an encounter with himself, the martial arts that he developed, and his unique understanding of the universe.

I've been studying Aikido for about a year now and always heard bits and pieces about O'sensei's life. I'm enjoying this book as it really is nice to fill in the story of his life. Granted, time has a way of exaggerating exploits but, knowing where he lived, and who he trained with and the background information is great. I can understand the movtivation of O'sensei and the reasons for his development of Aikido after reading the book.

As for the debate on the effectiveness of Aikido by Mark Twain. All I can say is it seems you have a closed mind and have already told yourself what you will learn and what you won't. So how can you learn to make Aikido effective when your limiting yourself like that? Aikido is one of the hardest martial arts to learn and effectiveness depends on the dojo and sensei as much as the student's willingness to learn. I agree some dojo's teach dance, so go elsewhere and find the real Aikido. I find my Aikido to be effective. You apparently did not. So be it. If you need and path to defend yourself fast I agree, Aikido probably isn't the best choice. Muay Thai, or Krav Maga would be my choices. Because a path is difficult, does not mean it should be avoided.

There's quite a bit of controversy on this book in the Aikido world, and I thought it might be important to interject some of what I've heard in my several years of training. First, this book was an entertaining bit of history, but I've heard it complained that Stevens "freely mixes actual history with rumor," and this certainly seems to be the case. This book seems to be symptomatic of the fantastical views of O Sensei in the Aikido world.

More generally, I recall George Ledyard-sensei weighing in on this topic - he mentioned that often, whenever stories of incredible exploits in this book are brought before Saotome-sensei, Saotome-sensei's stock reply is "For fifteen years I lived and trained with O Sensei, and never once did I see him do this 'magic-waza!' (magic technique)" Ledyard-sensei explained that Saotome-sensei is frequently irritated to hear Ueshiba-sensei's lifetime of work written off as being superhuman.

Nonetheless, the book makes for an interesting read, and though much of it is based on legend, it still gives a more complete picture of O-Sensie's life than I've found anywhere else.

For the student of Aikido or any budding martial artist, John Stevens " Invincible Warrior" is a title worthy of a good read.
Stevens chronicals the life of Morihei Ueshiba,the man who re-cultivated the meaning of "Budo" and from this created the art of Aikido.
We are taken through a trip that leads us to many "fantastic" places so to speak in this book.
From a young,sickly,Morihei,who wished nothing more than to gain physical strength and stature,to a man who is transformed by a flooding of images and feelings in his later life all the way to his passing in the late 1960's. This biography relives the historic and "mythic" events that colored the life of Morihei Ueshiba.

For many skeptic readers the more fantastic parts of this book will leave you scratching your head and coming to the conclusion that this old mans flights of fancy are no more than tall tales. My review is in no way attempting to persuade you're opinion either way.
But John Stevens does chronical events such as :

Ueshiba killing birds in mid-flight with his voice alone.
Dodging bullets.
Moving with lightning fast reflexes unmatched by his younger pupils.
And Ueshiba battling with invisible beings (Tengu),in sacred Japanese mountains.

Albeit,I have outlined a few of these events very cut and dry.
Despite whatever you chose to believe, in the end the one thing no critic or follower of Ueshiba's art can deny is the impact he has had on the world of martial arts since the formation of Aikido. Stevens colorful representation of this intriguing mans life at the very best outlines reasons why Morihei Ueshiba became the legend martial arts history has bestowed upon him.
He truley walked the path of the Samurai.

Esse livro mostra mais ainda que O Sensei era e ainda é um verdadeiro Mestre. Se você acompanha a obra dele, ou faz Aikidô, ou pretende fazer, essa é uma leitura obrigatória!

Os textos, as fotos, tudo dentro desse livro é belo e detalhista. Essse livro é de extrema importância na vida de todos que gostam ou fazem Aikidô e tem O Sensei como Mestre.

I bought this book as I was looking for a reasonably complete (though not necessarily exhaustive) biography of the founder of Aikido, preferably with a good number of photographs as well as text. This book fulfilled those requirements, and exceeded my expectations. The story is fascinating and compelling, and it is told in a very enjoyable and readable way.

The author is an American who has lived and taught in Japan for many years. He has developed a deep understanding of Japanese culture which allows him to present this material well to an English-speaking reader.

As to charges that this book promotes mythology about Morihei Ueshiba: I'm really not in a position to say for myself, not having had a chance to compare this book with other authors' work on the topic. Until I do, I will reserve judgment. In any case, I found Stevens' book to be a very worthwhile read.

This book should be put in the fantasy section of any bookstore.

I get terribly tired of the tales of Ueyeshiba's supernatural exploits. And sadly this book is replete with such nonsense. Seriously they should put this next to exploits of Drizzt Do'Urden or The Hulk.

A more interesting book would have chronicled the development of O'Sensei's early ideas on martial arts with his later crazy views. They are quite different, and moreover it is a progression you can see in the old photographs of him at work. Specifically, you see the journey he took from more or less practical aiki-jutsu to the flowery, ineffectual sillyness he wasted the latter years of his life on.

This book reads like a hagiography of Ueshiba - pardon, me I mean O Sensei. I mean, even though I never met him and don't speak Japanese I should be calling him O Sensei, right? Isn't that how you show that you're with it in the Aikido world? Look my friendly friends, Ueshiba may very well have been an exceptional man. But it is not professional or mature to write a book which is a syrupy-toned laundry list of Ueshiba's larger than life exploits. YOu know, like "The officers in the army were in the habit of raining blows down on the soldiers heads. But when Ueshiba came around, many an officer fractured his hands on Ueshiba's head!" Gee, that's swell. Imagine reading a biography of Wittgenstein that was like this. You know, he comes around and dazzles everyone, yet again. The End. Also, it is important to bear in mind that Aikido is a strangely flawed system of martial arts instruction. The students are led to do elaborate, highly choreographed, dance-like techniques against a very cooperative opponent. Aikido training certainly does not obey Occham's razor, i.e., the KISS principle, as in Keep It Simple, Stupid. Yes, yes, I know, I'm a lunkheaded philistine who doesn't unnerstand the beauty of the art, AND its deadly effectiveness. Well, I have no wish to argue with anyone. All I would say is that the student must think for himself. And ask himself in all honesty how likely it is that an attacker would wait around through all these fancy moves. Basic principle: when the defense is more elaborate than the attack, you're in trouble.