Suggested Reading
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What follows is a necessarily incomplete list of things you should read as a part of your martial arts training. Most of them are pretty fun, too. Just remember that there is an academic portion to any quality training system. It’s your job to decide how much to trust any sources you happen to consult. This includes your instructors.
As a side note, I want to mention that many of these are available for free at your local library. Yes, that’s the big building with all the books in it. You know those things you used to have to read in school? Yes, books. I know in this day and age you are all used to just ordering everything from amazon (and if you still want to do so, please use my links and get me paid…), but it doesn’t necessarily have to be so (most large libraries even have music and videos now). While you’re there, check the calendar of community events and find something to do instead of watching so much damned television.
Creative Intelligence and Self-Liberation: Korzybski, Non-Aristotelian Thinking and Eastern Realization
- Falconar
I recommend this book in order to save you the pain of reading count alfred Korzybski’s “Science and Sanity”. S+S is an incredibly important work that Korzybski wrote after studying the thinking of Albert Einstein, and it draws out a theory of language use that may allow us to perceive a less abstracted picture of reality. Falconar makes Korzybski’s General Semantics accessible by providing examples of how people routinely confuse the map for the territory and some practices we can try to break our enslavement by the language in which we organize our thoughts. Most people will think this has nothing to do with Taido. Most people are usually wrong.
Flatland
- Abbot
A classic with which many of you are likely familiar. Stylistically dated, but it has interesting content. This book does to simple geometry what Taido does to karate. Avoid the social commentary (unless you’re into that sort of thing) and focus on the various perspectives on reality. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, 50 ways to leave your lover, and at least three dimensions in which Taido’s technique is can be applied.
Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension
- Rucker
Picks up where Flatland leaves off - non-euclidean geometry, infinity, and basic calculus - but really it’s interesting and has lots of drawings. I promise that you can understand this. Practice wrapping your brain around these ideas on paper. Then you can apply the same ideas to your concept of motion.
The Art of War
- Sun Tzu
Learn how to talk like a fortune cookie and understand the nuances of relationships. When you think about it, war really is all about understanding and responding to your opponent - just like any great relationship of any other kind. Herein lies the origin of the idea that “all’s fair in war” (the part about love was added later). Perhaps the greatest benefit of reading this book enough times to understand it is the ability to create analogies for almost any circumstance.
The Book of Five Rings
- Miyamoto
Like Art of War, a classic of strategy, but with greater emphasis on personal combat. Musashi was not a noble man - he was a mercenary and a murderer, but he was lucky enough to live through a great many life-or-death experiences. This book gives us the benefit of his experience without having to kill anyone or face threat of being killed ourselves. This is a good thing. Sometimes Musashi wants us to take his words literally; sometimes he does not, so reading this book requires more attention than the language seems to demand. Once you get a feel for it, its not too hard though.
Tao of Jeet Kune Do
- Lee
Great book. Here’s the problem: because Bruce had a hyped-up image, people think this is some kind of martial arts bible. They are wrong. There is no hidden wisdom in these pages, but this is OK since there is plenty of wisdom written in plain language on each page. Bruce gives us some great ideas about training and a good breakdown of the anatomy of a fight, but don’t try to read too much into what you see here. Bruce was no prophet (Lee, that is - Springsteen is a totally different story…). He was a training maniac and a very good fighter. Take this book for what it’s worth and you’ll learn a lot.
Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere: An Illustrated Introduction
- Westbrook, Ratti
Definitely among the best-illustrated martial arts books of all time and a real classic. The authors have clearly outlined the theory and general practice of Aikido in a convincing manner. While Taido includes many of these concepts, we can benefit by looking at them in a different light form time to time. Aikido is good light, and this book offers an easily digestible take on the way it works.
Prometheus Rising
& Quantum Psychology
- Wilson
Crack your head wide open. You may not believe everything Bob says, but you’ll have a lot more fun if you at least try to believe it (the same is true for that other “Bob” as well). If you’re not convinced after six months of doing the exercises, good for you. If you’re not convinced after a year, you haven’t been trying. If you don’t bother with the exercises, you may as well not bother with the books. Very highly recommended.
Quantum Consciousness
- Wolynski
One of the best books on meditative technique. Wolynski’s methods are easy to get started with right away. They start simply and build incrementally so that everyone can easily get the hang of the exercises. Wolynski’s tone is patient and helpful as well as new-age-crapolla-free.
A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision
- Wilber
Ken Wilber is everything I wish I were. He’s smarter and probably a lot more fun to hang out with. He meditates several hours a day and is one of America’s most influential philosophers. In this book, he outlines his integral vision - a vision I believe can be applied to Taido practice in ways that will benefit us all. While not as in-depth as his massive Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality, a Theory of Everything tells you all you need to know to start improving your life now and how this is important for the future of society. Very highly recommended.
Body-Flow & Three-Dimensional Performance Pyramid - Sonnon
These are books every martial artist should read. Learn about fear-reactivity and how it limits your performance. Learn how to reclaim your flow. Learn a systematic methodology for breaking complex movements down into their component parts for practice. Learn how to structure training for maximal effectiveness. There is enough insight in these two thin books to warrant several readings. The body of work which composes the RMAX curriculum can improve your performance in any sport, and these two volumes are the best place to start exploring the system.
Stretching Scientifically: A Guide to Flexibility Training
- Kurz
This is the stretching theory bible. The tiny photos don’t really show much, but that’s not why you should read this book. You should read this book for the dense info on how to structure a workout and stretch properly. Granted a lot of this is covered in Appleton’s stretching guide and on Kurz’s own web site, but this little book has everything you need in one place. This is information with which every martial arts instructor should have more than a passing acquaintance.
How to Make Collaboration Work
- Strauss
I don’t like the way martial arts organizations traditionally work. I think we can build a stronger organization, and thereby improve our art if we look into collaborative models of discovering and solving problems. This book is a simple exposition of just a few concepts that can be quite revolutionary if properly employed. The business world is awakening to the fact that when we work together, we can get better results. Cooperation and competition can work hand in hand in Taido just as well as they can in business. Remember - if we all help build it, we all get to use it.
Content of this page created by Andy Fossett exclusively for Taido/Blog.Tags: camp, info, list, methods, poll, practice, study, theory, training
please edit your information about bruce lee. everything is fine except that he was not a good fighter.
hell, he was better than i am…
he was a good example of good theories =/= good abilities. that is, you must pressure test yourself and your ideas.
I am suprised you didn’t include Karate-Do My Way of Life by Ginchin funakoshi. Although the organization and flow is a little broken it is definitely worth reading.
it’s worth reading, but i wouldn’t say it adds much value to a martial arts curriculum from any practical perspective. i say this as someone who read (and enjoyed) the book. i enjoyed his humilty, but was turned off by his didactic attempt as philosophy.
i think there is a tendancy to glamorize funakoshi’s role in popularizing karate in japan. he did some interesting things, for sure, but i would place judo’s kano well above funakoshi as a martial arts innovator. however, i don’t include any of kano’s writings here either (because most of it is full of meiji-wants-to-be-victorian sounding language that really annoys me).
Bruce Lee gets alot of disrep beccause of his movie careear. If he wasn’t a good fighter than why is Jeet Kune Do a required course in american special forces training, and CIA training?
Jacob:
Some flavors of JKD, especially that practiced by Straight Blast Gym, have indeed shown high efficacy. Some folks even go so far as to credit it as the original mixed martial art since Bruce Lee recommended taking the best of various disciplines and discarding forms (which he called “classical mess”).
However, modern JKD does nothing to prove Bruce Lee’s personal fighting prowess, which some will claim, rightly or wrongly, was lacking.
I tend to think that this is a matter of context. Just as we look back to earlier times in history and think “How could they have been so ignorant?” we look at fighters from the past and underestimate them. Guys like Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis also get a bad rap, but they kicked everyone’s asses in their time.
It’s easy to look back and say that these guys wouldn’t have been able to beat the likes of most UFC or Pride fighters, but sport fighting technology has come a long way in the past twenty five or so years.
In any event, I agree that Bruce was probably pretty good for his time. But be careful about extrapolating an art’s current utility with the prowess of its creator.