Aikido: The Peaceful Martial Art (Paperback)

~ Stefan Stenudd (Author)
Key Phrases: budo arts, aikido techniques, aikido training, Morihei Ueshiba, Magnus Hartman, Czech Republic (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Aikido is the peaceful martial art. There are no attacks in aikido, only defense, and this defense should be so gentle that even the attacker is delighted by it. It is an art that takes a lifetime to learn, and it gets increasingly fascinating by each year. This book presents the principles and fundamental concepts of aikido - deeply rooted in Eastern philosophy and the refined ideals of the samurai.

The first part of the book examines the aikido principles of how to find the peaceful solution, and how to enjoy aikido practice to the fullest. The second part explains the Japanese concepts used in aikido, such as ki, life energy, tanden, the center, and many more. There is also a chapter about kototama, the spiritual cosmology that was central to the founder of aikido. The third part includes an aikido glossary.

Stefan Stenudd is a Swedish aikido instructor, 6 dan Aikikai, and member of the Swedish Grading Committee, the Swedish Budo Federation Board, and the Directing Committee of the International Aikido Federation. He has practiced aikido since 1972. He is also a writer of both fiction and non-fiction.

About the Author

Stefan Stenudd is a Swedish author, historian of ideas, artist, and instructor in the peaceful martial art aikido. He has published a number of books in Sweden, both fiction and non-fiction. Among the latter is an interpretation of the Chinese classic Tao Te Ching, and of the Japanese samurai classic Go Rin no Sho by Miyamoto Musashi. His novels explore existential subjects from stoneage drama to science fiction, but lately stay more and more focused on the present. He has also written some plays for the stage and the screen. As a historian of ideas he studies the thought patterns of creation myths, as well as Aristotle's Poetics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (January 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419658794
• ISBN-13: 978-1419658792
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #458,412 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable, great for, but certainly not limited to, beginners, November 22, 2008

By	Adam Nohejl (Prague, Czech Republic) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What you will notice immediately when you start reading the book is how easy to read it is. Or perhaps you will not notice at all, only to find yourself in the middle of the book after what seemed like a short while.

After reading, or at least peeking into, several books about martial arts and eastern philosophy, I can tell that this alone is a remarkable achievement.

Some books about martial arts are filled with unexplained terms, some are terse or even enigmatic, some focus on more or less precisely describing techniques, etc. Based on what one expects from a book about aikido this additional burden on the reader may be justified, but it certainly does not mirror the experience of aikido training in practice. The spirit in which this book is written comes very close to this natural, immersive and fun experience, and this makes it a perfect book for an aikido beginner. It is not a manual, instead it focuses on the principles and basics and does it very well. I believe that anyone doing aikido, no matter how advanced, can enjoy it. It could also be a great book for someone wants to have an idea what aikido is about without or before practicing it.

Now you are probably wondering whether this book isn't just a watered down version of the other more technical books. It is not, it just focuses on different parts and is written to be read from cover to cover. There is a downside to this: I'm not sure whether I would really benefit from reading the whole book again and it also isn't very suitable for looking up specific bits of information. At times it also seemed a bit too repetitive, but that's alright, and even helpful, as long as you read it for the first time. That shouldn't stop you from buying the book.

That said, there are parts of the book that I will return to, to name at least two: for practical reasons-the glossary (about 18 pages) which covers more vocabulary than you will encounter in the main text and one chapter that stands out: Kototama - the soul of words. It makes for a wonderful ending and it made me curious to learn more about how aikido was developed, about kototama and Osensei.

I'm giving the book four out of five stars because: (1) I probably won't reread it (packing more information in the 200 pages wouldn't make sense, but I can imagine a bit longer version I would return to). (2) The quality of typography and print (especially the cover) doesn't make justice to the content, that's a shame.

I've been learning aikido for about two months and I feel that the book helped me to have a more complete picture and to know what to focus on during the training. At the same time it was fun to read. If you are in a similar situation, don't hesitate and buy it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The inner part of aikido, July 29, 2008

By	Jaroslav Sip - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nowadays there are many books available on the subject of aikido. The greater part of them is more technical, with lots of pictures showing the visible part of aikido. But aikido (all martial arts) has also the invisible part, inner elements, difficult to catch when only watching and that is what this book is about. It definitely belong to the smaller group of aikido books, which try to deal with subjects like Ki, Ai, Do, Tanden and lot more - that what may call the very principles of the art. I am not afraid to say, that author was quite successful thanks to being both - profound martial artist and writer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Opponent Unwittingly Guides Your Way to Unification of Self, August 13, 2008

By	Fred Byron "THE CRITICAL EYE" (New York City, United States of America) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stefan Stenudd's "Aikido: The Peaceful Martial Art" is patently clear--more so than any other Aikido books, DVD's, and/or articles which I have studied and to which I have been privy to benefit from their tutelage--about the imperative truth of the CENTER as the source and the ultimate return destination of all Aikido movements, after they have traversed their elliptical and spiral-configured paths. This abiding awareness itself is what makes Stefan Stenudd's insights golden. The reader then is able easily to fit into the otherwise confusing dynamic context of the pragmatic art of Aikido the over-arching principle of CENTER. When this is done by the reader's holding the concept of CENTER uppermost in his/her mind, the art and practice of Aikido congeal into a fusion that brings you to the realization that it is your opponent who unwittingly guides your way to the unification of self at your CENTER.