the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Hey guys --

I'm not sure if one or several of these threads have been started, but I view books as a great vehicle to challenge our everyday thinking.

So if you could list your top (1, 5, 10, or 50) books related to Martial Arts, Martial Science, Combat, etc. what would they be?

Recent in my mind are:

Col. Grossman's "On Combat"

Sgt. Rory Miller's "Meditations on Violence"

Park Bok Nam's "Fundamental of Pa Kua Chang" (Probably the best book I've read thus far from someone who actually knows his martial Baguazhang.)

Jess O'Brien's "Nei Jia Quan" (Wonderful hearing the extremely varied but also similar opinions on IMA; also opinions on training strategy)


Hit me up!

Cartmell throw book

Bruce Lee Tao book

The Legend of Dan Gable: The Wrestler , A Story of Determination, Perseverance, and Dedication
Even though I had wrestled in grade school and high school I had never thought about using wrestling as a martial art until I read this book.

Flow by Csikszentmihalyi
Effortless Combat Throws by Tim Cartmell
The Demons Sermon on Martial Arts by Issai Chozanshi and William Scott Wilson
Let Every Breath... Secrets of the Russian Breath Masters by Vladimir Vasiliev
Book of 5 Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho
Championship Fighting: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defense by Jack Dempsey and Jack Cuddy
Militari by Vegetius

Jeff Cooper's Princples of Personal Defense

Sun Tzu's Art of War

King Solmon's Proverbs

Edited: The Far Side Gallery 2009.


D.

Sarcasm. Oh yeah, like that´ll work.

"Miyamoto Musashi, His Life and Writings" - Kenji Tokitsu
(An astonishing investigation of how a true master develops himself.)

"Effortless Combat Throws, Principles and Analysis" - Tim Cartmell
(especially the first two chapters; important for all martial arts)

"Xing Yi Nei Gong" - Wan Ji Wu (translated Cartmell and Miller)

"Xing Yi Quan Xue" - Sun Lu Tang

"Championship Fighting" - Jack Dempsey
( available w/illustrations at http://www.freecirclefighting.com/jdbook.pdf )

"The Record of Linji" - Thomas Yuho Kirchner and Ruth Fuller Sasaki
(You've toughened your muscles and hands; now, toughen your mind)

"On Killing" - Col. Dave Grossman

"Hara, the Vital Center of Man" - Karlfried Graf vonDurckheim

"Light On Yoga" - B.K.S. Iyengar
(Not a martial arts book, you say? Apparently, you've never studied with Mr. Iyengar.)

"The Mixed Martial Arts Instruction Manual: Striking" - Anderson Silva
(For my money, more detailed and valuable than Fedor's book.)

I like the "Flow" book as well, and I know how to pronounce the author's name; so, that's a plus.

kshurika wrote:
"The Mixed Martial Arts Instruction Manual: Striking" - Anderson Silva
(For my money, more detailed and valuable than Fedor's book.)

I really like the Fedor book. Gonna have to check out Silva's.

Looks like currently,
Sun Tzu
Cartmell
Dempsey
are winning the popularity contest.

The Mighty Atom by Ed Spielman

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

I asked for wonder by Abraham Heschel

Auden: Poems by W.H. Auden

"Books don't hit back."

I liked the Fedor book too. I just think Silva's is a little more practical for people who want to learn how to fight.


When I learn how to READ, I'll probably tackle some of those books I put on my list.

thus spoke zarathustra - Nietzsche
hara - Graf vonDurckheim
principles of effortless power - ralston
the perrenial philosophy - huxley
the kingdom of god is within you - Tolstoy

These are the martial arts related books I have read; and learned something from:
Mastery =George Leonard
Japanese Yoga=HE Davey
Dueling with O sensei=Ellis Amdur
Old school= Ellis Amdur
Fight=Eugene Robinson
Chinese boxing masters and methods=Robert W Smith

Tom Bisio's A Tooth From the Tiger's Mouth is a good one to keep around...

josh wrote:Tom Bisio's A Tooth From the Tiger's Mouth is a good one to keep around...

Agreed, it's such an awesome book.