Japanese Martial Arts

Code of the Samurai is a 400-year-old explication of the rules and expectations embodied in Bushido, the Japanese Way of the Warrior. With a bright, conversational narrative by Thomas Cleary, this book is indispensable to corporate executives, students of Asian culture, martial artists, or anyone sincerely interested in Japan and its people.

Beginning students in Japanese martial arts, such as karate, judo, aikido, iaido, kyudo, and kendo, learn that when they are in the dojo (the practice space), they must don their practice garb with ritual precision, address their teacher and senior students in a specific way, and follow certain unwritten but deeply held codes of behavior. But very soon they begin to wonder about the meaning behind the traditions, gear, and relationships in the dojo.

This piece of writing by famed samurai Musashi (1584–1645) is the single-most influential work on samurai swordsmanship, offering insights into samurai history, the Zen Buddhist state of "no-mind" that enables warriors to triumph and the philosophical meaning of Bushido — "the way of the warrior."

The Complete Book of Five Rings is an authoritative version of Musashi's classic The Book of Five Rings, translated and annotated by a modern martial arts master, Kenji Tokitsu. Tokitsu has spent most of his life researching the legendary samurai swordsman and his works, and in this book he illuminates this seminal text, along with several other works by Musashi.

The study of budo, or the Japanese martial arts for self-cultivation, is a lifelong path toward perfection of character. Here, Dave Lowry, a sword master who has practiced and taught budo for over 40 years, addresses the myriad issues, vagaries, and inconsistencies that arise for students of karate-do, judo, kendo, kenjutsu, aikido, and iaido as their training develops.

Zen in the Art of Archery, and Zen in Swordsmanship are two of the most read and respected texts which, paradoxically, bring Japanese martial arts into the fold of Buddhism with its deeply peaceful attitude to life. How did this happen, and how does it work? These are classic studies from two...

The classic book of strategy A Book of Five Rings is now available on CD. Miyamoto Musashi was renowned in his own time as an invincible warrior, a master artisan, an author, and philosopher. Today, his philosophy is still revered by the Japanese and used as a guide for daily...

We collectively refer to things such as judo, kendo, karate, and sumo as martial arts. 柔道や剣道、空手、相撲な