Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A Complete Guide to Koryu Jujutsu

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding for study but not so much application
Review: This is one of those books that belongs in every serious martial artists libraries. It is not a "how-to" beginners guide,even though it demonstrates the proper techniques; if you are searching for a guide to martial arts without the dojo this is not for you. However, if you are already practicing martial arts and wish to find every in-depth and quality source of reference to expand your knowledge of the martial arts, their origins, and the spirit that is within them, then this book is top of the line and a must have. This book will intrigue anyone eager to just learn a little more...or maybe alot more, depending on the person. It is VERY high quality with many photos (mostly b&w). It is well written, and very clear in most areas. I would think it to be fairly confusing to the novice, who has little or no in-depth knowledge of Japanese martial arts however, because it traces the lineages of the main Japanese styles to their roots. But that is what this book is about: studying the techniques as they began, and following their evolution. Basically, I find this book to be an outstanding addition to my library, in a class of its own; but once again it is not the "master book of martial arts", but the ideal addition to the ones you may already have of similar subjects. Serge Mol is an outstanding writer and a very qualified authority on the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for scholarly study
Review: I recently used this book heavily in writing a paper on martial arts for a graduate course in the culture of Japan. This book is a gem in the rough when it comes to intelligent books on the subject of martial arts. Although the author is a practitioner of the art, this is not an instructional manual. It is very intelligently written. The author uses a lot of primary sources, as well as his own extensive experiences, to teach the reader a lot about the classical martial arts of Japan. It painted a picture of feudal Japan that is interesting for its violent yet honorable culture and much more complex than what is often painted in other books and media. There was a lot more to the life of the samurai than just the sword and, although they lived to a high moral code, their combat was quite fierce. I think this is a great read for one interested in Japanese culture and history, as well as one interested in martial arts.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for scholarly study
Review: I recently used this book heavily in writing a paper on martial arts for a graduate course in the culture of Japan. This book is a gem in the rough when it comes to intelligent books on the subject of martial arts. Although the author is a practitioner of the art, this is not an instructional manual. It is very intelligently written. The author uses a lot of primary sources, as well as his own extensive experiences, to teach the reader a lot about the classical martial arts of Japan. It painted a picture of feudal Japan that is interesting for its violent yet honorable culture and much more complex than what is often painted in other books and media. There was a lot more to the life of the samurai than just the sword and, although they lived to a high moral code, their combat was quite fierce. I think this is a great read for one interested in Japanese culture and history, as well as one interested in martial arts.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent history on Japan's Fighting arts.
Review: In general, the West was introduced to oriental martial arts through Kano's judo, followed by karate. Many literature on karate trace its origins to Okinawa, and from there, to China. So many believe China, with its fabled Shaolin temple(s), to be the origin of most of the oriental martial arts.

This detailed and very well researched book gives a different perspective. It shows that Japan had its own schools of martial arts, virtually independent of foreign influence.

The book lumps these arts under the general term, "jujutsu" -- although it also gives various origins, synonyms and explanations of this word.

The methods in jujutsu were developments of the battlefield of those times. Armor-clad warriors faced each other, first from a distance using bows and arrows, then coming closer to use swords and later, grappling techniques.

As such, the arts included everything that was feasible for those times and battle conditions: use of various weapons, techniques against armor clad opponents, even techniques of tying up captured enemies. All that in addition to what most of the world knows of oriental fighting arts: striking and grappling technics.

Some "revelations" from the book which may surprise many modern day martial artists (like myself):

1. "Kenpo" is not a translation of the Chinese "kung fu" or "chuan fa" as many are made to believe. The term was long used in ancient jujutsu schools in times probably ante-dating known Shaolin temples.

2. "Judo" is not a word originally coined by Jigoro Kano. This term, too, was used long before Kano was even born and was even used in names of certain schools (ryuha).

While each of the above just had a sentence or two in the book, it shows the depth of the research of this book. There are a lot of such "revelations."

The book is, first and foremost, a history book. It shows the development of Japanese fighting arts in the time before the relatively peaceful Meiji period -- the time when techniques really meant life or death to the warrior in the battlefield. The various schools are presented, their origins, developments, notable characteristics, and lineage traced to as near the present as possible.

Martial artists looking for techniques would only be treated to a sampling. The illustrations of techniques were more for clearer understanding of particular schools, or even words, rather than being a "how-to" presentation.

In this regard, the title may be considered deceptive. The "complete"-ness of the book is only as far as history goes, not on technique presentation.

Another "fault" of the title is that it gives the impression that "Koryu Jujutsu" is a particular style or school of jujutsu, when actually, "koryu" simply means classical, or traditional. This is a problem to one who does not know Japanese. But this is an English book and the problem should have been addressed right on the cover, and not several pages later in the Introduction.

Something else about the title: It could give one the impression that it deals with all arts, and this is even reinforced by the subtitle. But the book only deals with the schools it considers jujutsu, and only those that originated before the Meiji period. While this is explained as one reads the book, the title could be misleading.

This enumeration of the problems I had with the title does not decrease the value of the book in any way. It is an excellent book. But the buyer must know what to expect out of it.

More than half of the book (the latter half) is devoted to the origins and lineage of the schools. As such, it would be boring for those not interested in such topics. However, there are some interesting bits of information scattered here and there among the discussion, such as stories about certain masters and students, both mythical and factual. The author even tries to resolve some controversies in certain stories.

The first half of the book is devoted to very revealing historical backgrounds, terminology and definitions, weapons, and presentation of mythical as well as actual origins of schools.

I would have preferred that the author stuck to English terms. In the book, a Japanese term is given with English translation(s) in parenthesis. And then, for the rest of the book, only the Japanese term is used. So you should remember the English meanings of all those terms as you go through the rest of the book.

I would have preferred the opposite: use the English, with the Japanese term(s) in parenthesis. Or better yet, have a glossary for all those terms! (it doesn't)

Overall, the book is an excellent work on the history of jujutsu.

Rating:
Summary: Classical Fighting Arts of Japan
Review: Koryu Jujutsu is one of the original fighting styles of Japan this books gives you a good overall summary of this martial art,(Koryu Jujutsu).This book also tells you about one of the most popular martial arts today that was based on a part of Koryu Jujutsu , Judo.This is one of my favorite martial arts based book.This book is very good for beginners and advanced martial artists I recomend it for anyone who is big into martial arts.

Rating:
Summary: Interested inJapanese traditional martial arts? - Buy it !!
Review: This is the best books I have ever read on the subject of Jujutsu. It begins with the first recorded Japanese grappling duel and traces the history of the most popular koryu (old-arts) schools. There are B/W photos of techniques from many styles as well as photos of makimono (scrolls). Anyone who enjoys traditional Japanese martial arts must buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: Not Very Good
Review: To be honest, I bought this book in the United States when it first came out. I read it and my reaction was less than stellar. If I had not been exposed to other far better writings offered up by say, Koryu Books (ie Koryu Bujutsu) I would have thought it was great and would have been satisfied with my purchase and choice of reading material. However, anyone buying this book with serious intentions to study koryu is better off not wasting money.

On the plus side, there are nice pictures and at least it's in English!