Customer Reviews

Three Budo Masters: Jigaro Kano (Judo), Gichin Funakoshi (Karate), Morihei Ueshiba (Aikido) (Kodansha Biographies)

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This book provides an interesting overview of three men who were instrumental in guiding their disciplines into the modern age. Each of these men appear to have been fascinating characters, but they do not receive adequate coverage because of space limitations - some important details seem to have been glossed over or omitted entirely. The writing style is a little irritating in parts and there is a annoying lack of proofreading. However, it is still worth a read.

John Stevens has written short biographies of three major figures of modern martial arts: Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern karate and Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido. As a student of several martial arts, including aikido and judo, I was interested in a book that provided a snapshot of such prominent men. The profiles of Kano and Funakoshi are not bad and one can learn a bit about their lives from this book.

The section on Ueshiba, however, is simply ridiculous. Aikido is often viewed as the most spiritual of the martial arts. Although Kano was active decades before Ueshiba, he brought a rational approach to judo in order to demonstrate that martial arts still had a place in modern Westernized Japan. Ueshiba, however, infused aikido with more spirituality that has remained with the art to this day. Unfortunately this spiritual aspect of aikido has allowed for it to be interpreted in some rather bizarre ways by some of its practitioners. John Stevens, who practices aikido, is clearly one such person.

In the section on Ueshiba we learn that, after having an "earth-shattering transformation," Ueshiba could displace boulders and leap unbelievable distances. Wow! Just like the Incredible Hulk! We also learn that Ueshiba had a sixth sense that allowed him to divine the direction of bullets fired by the Chinese army and thereby avoid them! Gee! Just like Spider-Man when his 'spider sense' is tingling! Stevens repeats the story that Ueshiba dared six riflemen to try to shoot him from a distance of 75 feet and that, upon actually being fired upon, he magically appeared behind the shooters themselves without anyone seeing him move. Ueshiba was so amazing that he did this not just once, but twice (which Stevens compares to a miracle of Jesus). And, of course, Ueshiba had such power swirling around him that objects would rattle when he entered a room.

This drivel is simply embarrassing to aikido. Ueshiba saw aikido as a way to spread harmony throughout the world and this type of hocus-pocus interpretation denigrates Ueshiba and the art he created. Stevens' description sounds like that of a schoolgirl whose heart is aflutter by the sight of the football captain. The schoolgirl might have teenage hormones to point to for such an over-the-top description. Stevens does not.

After the various sections on each of the budo masters, Stevens provides a final section comparing the three. But does anyone really need details? After all, two of the men, although excellent martial artists, are mere mortals. The third is a Christ-like demigod. Could the result of the comparison possibly be in doubt? Of course not.

For an overview of three major arts, a little history, or just an enjoyable read, Stevens does an admirable job. Although he does have some slight bias toward Ueshiba and Aikido, the book is largely unbiased and provides a good, quick overview of Judo, Shotokan Karate, and Aikido. If you're looking for some basic understanding and that quick bit of history, this little book is a good choice.

Being a life time student of several martial arts such as karate, judo, jujitsu, kenjutsu, kendo, hanbo-jutsu, krav maga, and practical combatives, I found this little book very interesting and informative. Jigoro Kano(1860-1938) is, of course, known world wide as the father of judo. He took what he felt was the best parts of various jujitsu systems and created a safe sport to practice many of the techniques. Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957) is recognized as the father of modern karate and his Shotokan style has become one of the most popular Japanese karate systems. Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969)after studying several Aiki-jujitsu based systems created the art of aikido. This volume takes a look at each of these budo leaders and compares them in the final section. It also has a section on further reading, which lists books to find out more about these great martial artists. In conclusion, this is a book that will be of interest to anyone who is serious about the martial arts.

Rating: 4 stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Karate Self-Defense Techniques: Practical Combat Karate for the street).

This is an excellent historical work comparing the three great masters and founders of Judo, Karate, and Aikido.