"Budo is religion. It's not something you dilly-dally with, practice, and go home. It's part of your life. All martial arts should become that way, part of your life."—Pat Yoshitsugu Murosako, from The Warrior's Path The Warrior's Path presents the timeless wisdom of contemporary masters of the Japanese martial arts—men and women who brought martial arts into the modern era and whose lives have been defined by their devotion to training. Here they share their personal stories, offer perspectives on what martial arts study can offer people today, reflect on the role of formal competition, and describe what it's like to train as one grows older. The masters featured here began their training in the early twentieth century—a seminal time in the history of Japanese martial arts. They studied with some of the pioneers of judo, karate, aikido, iaido, kendo, and naginata—masters who emphasized that these battlefield arts were best understood and practiced as budo, or martial arts for self-development. These engaging stories, accompanied by the author's striking photographs, make this book essential reading for students and teachers of martial arts.
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"A handsome well-designed volume that few will regret taking down from the shelf."—Dave Lowry, Journal of Asian Martial Arts
From the Inside Flap
?Budo is religion. It?s not something you dilly-dally with, practice, and go home. It?s part of your life. All martial arts should become that way, part of your life.??Pat Yoshitsugu Murosako, from The Warrior?s Path
The Warrior?s Path presents the timeless wisdom of contemporary masters of the Japanese martial arts?men and women who brought martial arts into the modern era and whose lives have been defined by their devotion to training. Here they share their personal stories, offer perspectives on what martial arts study can offer people today, reflect on the role of formal competition, and describe what it?s like to train as one grows older.
The masters featured here began their training in the early twentieth century?a seminal time in the history of Japanese martial arts. They studied with some of the pioneers of judo, karate, aikido, iaido, kendo, and naginata?masters who emphasized that these battlefield arts were best understood and practiced as budo, or martial arts for self-development. These engaging stories, accompanied by the author?s striking photographs, make this book essential reading for students and teachers of martial arts.
The Warrior?s Path presents the timeless wisdom of contemporary masters of the Japanese martial arts?men and women who brought martial arts into the modern era and whose lives have been defined by their devotion to training. Here they share their personal stories, offer perspectives on what martial arts study can offer people today, reflect on the role of formal competition, and describe what it?s like to train as one grows older.
The masters featured here began their training in the early twentieth century?a seminal time in the history of Japanese martial arts. They studied with some of the pioneers of judo, karate, aikido, iaido, kendo, and naginata?masters who emphasized that these battlefield arts were best understood and practiced as budo, or martial arts for self-development. These engaging stories, accompanied by the author?s striking photographs, make this book essential reading for students and teachers of martial arts.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
one for the coffee table...,
By
This review is from: The Warrior's Path: Wisdom from Contemporary Martial Arts Masters (Paperback)
As a coffee table book this one deserves 5 stars. Very nicely done, short stories, easy to read, arty photos, excellent lay-out, sure to impress someone who isn't even interested in martial arts. But, if you ARE interested in martial arts this book will probably disappoint you. The stories are too short and too shallow. The book is comprised of maybe 10 or so martial arts masters each telling a short autobiographical-type story. A few of the entries seem very pointless. Most of the masters tend to share the common theme of complaining that "things just aren't the same as they used to be". They complain that "attitudes are different", "students don't practice as hard as in the old days", "things are changing for the worst"... not much wisdom here. One laughable interview is with a Japanese woman who is a naginata expert. It is as if she says nothing at all. She explains some of her life story but there is no real opinion or wisdom offered at all. Like trying to learn something by watching a glass of water! Hmm... maybe that was her intention. Seriously, The problem with this book is that there is truly very little offered of any value or substance. The short stories presented by each expert were not very interesting even from a readability perspective, much less to be of any value for the serious martial artist. So, the question is: what was the point in making this book? The answer is that it is like a piece of art. Like an abstract painting one might hang on their wall to impress guests with. Looks beautiful. Creates a mood. I was hoping for some deep insights, mind-blowing philosophy, helpful tips, and maybe even a few interesting stories from all these masters, but instead, the author (translator, interviewer) serves up a bunch of fluff. I gave it 2 stars because this book is so lovely that even a nun wouldn't mind flipping through it. But, it reminds me of one of those fastfood hamburgers that is all bun, little meat and plenty of eye-dazzling condiments. I hope you find this review helpful because I really tried to be fair in my assessment of this book, and hope to forewarn anyone who might have the same initial hopes for this book that I once had before I stupidly wasted money on it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Look Into the Mind of the Masters,
By
This review is from: The Warrior's Path: Wisdom from Contemporary Martial Arts Masters (Paperback)
This is an interesting book that takes you into the mind of some of the older martial arts masters. I believe that we can learn much from the elderly. They have lived many years and have gained a lot of wisdom from their journeys. This book contains some candid conversations with some elderly martial arts masters and they give you some valuable insight into the world of martial arts.
These masters actually guide you as to what true martial arts were meant to be. They discuss their lives, their journeys through the martial arts, how martial arts have changed, and what they think of modern martial arts. I found it interesting to see what these elders had to say on the subject. Although I didn't pull a ton of useful wisdom from this book, it was an interesting read. Bohdi Sanders, author of Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding collection of views from modern budo teachers,
By Toronto_Matt (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Warrior's Path: Wisdom from Contemporary Martial Arts Masters (Paperback)
The Warriors's Path is a really extraordinary collection of interviews of practitioners of the modern "Martial Ways" ( Gendai budo )who have filled their lives with training, are nearing the end of their lives and are able to ruminate on the significance that training has held from a perspective that few practitioners can. It is, I think, a perspective of great value to those young and not so young practitioners of modern budo today.
The text deals exclusively with Japanese budo teachers living in Japan or abroad. The similarity in world views of the teachers interviewed here and the consistancy of their answers regarding the deeper meanings of budo practise is still very surprising even in such a homogeneous group. Proof positive that regardless of whether one is practising Atarashii Naginata or Shorinji Kenpo the path is one and the same. Strangely the cover displayed on this page of a Shorinji Kenpo practitioner is different from the "Karate-ka" cover I have. I found the pictures sometimes to be a bit TOO abstract at times. I found myself wishing to see the practitioners in action at times. Also barring this book from receiving a 5 star rating was the fact that mine came with several pages of text missing. I'm sure that this can't be a problem with all the copies, though. In terms of content I would say that this is one of the more important books on budo I've read in the last 10 years.
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