Roundtable Discussion 005: Books

“What is your favorite (martial art / inspirational) book that you own, and why?”

Sensei Brandon Vaughn:  “I don’t have one particular book that I read more than others but the one I find most interesting is one I actually saw and bought out of the Century catalog last November. It’s called The Way of the Warrior by Chris Crudelli and examines various styles from around the world, briefly going into their history, country of origin and common weapons used if applicable. Not only does this book delve into commonly know, traditional styles it also covers the more exotic and unknown arts as well as the more modern styles of self defense. I love learning about the meaning and history of just about any topic, martial arts related or not and this book speaks to the geek in me.”

Coach Johnny Kuo: “My favorite inspirational book that I own is “Peace Is Every Step” by Thich Nhat Hanh. Martials arts continue to be a personal passion not so much for the martial aspects, but more for the personal development. Sure, I enjoy learning the art of using the body to attack and defend. What keeps me training though is the expansion of the mind’s awareness and inner peace achieved from the training process. Thich Nhat Hanh’s writings mirror that inner development that I seek from my own martial training.”

Sifu Freddie Lee: “Tao Te Ching.  I’ve read it many times in many different translations. I own a few copies. It was the book that ultimately awakened me. A timeless book that is written so simple but yet with profound wisdom. Another great sage, Eckhart Tolle that I have been inspired by also gives great acknowlegement to the ‘Tao Te Ching.’ It dramatically changed my life from negative to positive and from darkness to light.”

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Sensei Robert Lara: “My favorite martial art book is Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido by O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba.  I love this book. It is a must read for any Aikido student. This is a very old book that O’Sensei wrote. Over so many years of reading it and training only now am I starting to understand some of the finer points from this text. This is a true treasure of Budo. I would love to see others from other arts read it as well. We are all one family and we need to learn from each other.”

Coach Michael Joyce:  “Al Chungliang Huang is a truly remarkable teacher.  For a young westerner trying desperately to understand the inner teachings of Taiji, this book got me to see what Dr. Yang and Master Jou Tsung Hwa could not show me.  It was not because Master Huang is a good teacher and the others are bad; nor is it because their book(s) are bad and Master Huang’s are good – this is not what I’m saying at all!  Embrace Tiger and Return To Mountain is a book that tells of a personal journey (one that I could easily relate too), a journey filled with mistakes, with questions, but always with lessons.  There still exists, a lot of confusion to what Taiji [Tai Chi] is.  This book managed to, in my opinion, give us the best ‘observation point’ for both internal & external progress in the art as far back as 1973 (when it was first published).  I’ve read it at least five times (it’s only 188 pages), because I love to remember Master Huang’s simple messages – messages that speak to the heart.”

 

What’s YOUR favorite book (that YOU own) and why?

Roundtable Discussion 003: Mentor

Six martial artists, from six different disciplines were asked,

“If you could train with any instructor/athlete/guru/etc (living or deceased) for a day, who would it be, and why?”

Gray Cook

JOHNNY KUO –  I had to think long and hard about this question. The simple answer would have been to pick my sifu Sam F.S. Chin, but I already get opportunities to train with him. Instead, I’m going to venture into the realm of physical therapy and pick Gray Cook.

I have a long-standing interests in strength and athletic training in addition to martial arts. The thing that carries over between those interests is functional movement. Any physical activity (sports, martial arts, or daily life) involves moving the body. Due to the sedentary nature of modern life, a lot of people don’t seem to move very well; people have tight muscles, immobile joints, weak muscles, weird movement compensations, poor proprioception, or just plain can’t fire their muscles in a coordinated fashion.

Since my primary non-work passions are movement based, I notice these movement dysfunctions all around me (and with myself also). As a teacher, I often have to correct movement patterns so that (a) the students don’t injure themselves and (b) the students learn what efficient and functional movement feels like. It’s not unusual for me to encounter a student with dysfunctional movement patterns beyond my ability to readily diagnose or correct.

I like hanging out with physical therapists and body workers because I learn so much about how the body is supposed to work and pick up little tricks for diagnosing and correcting poor movement. I realize there will always be students whose movement issues are beyond my abilities to correct, but I’m always striving to learn more and reduce the number of cases that elude my abilities.

Helio Gracie

ADAM DAVIS – Being the Jiu-Jitsu fanatic that I am I would train with Helio Gracie, the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He took the ground techniques (ne-waza) from Judo which could be applied using leverage and momentum by a smaller guy, like himself, on a larger man and molded them into what is now the complexity of Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie would be the best person for me to train with not only because of his knowledge of the martial arts but also because of his views on the relationship of life and competition. He saw competition as essential to training due to the exercise, diet, and sportsmanship which came with it. Fighting for sport is what BJJ became known for as a result of Helio Gracie’s ideas and it was always my dream to meet him after I read a book about the origins of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Unfortunately, Helio Gracie passed away on January 29th, 2009 at the age of 95. He lived an extraordinarily healthy life (I heard stories of him tapping out Ricardo Arona while he was in his 90’s, rumors…maybe) and left an extensive family, full of world champion fighters, to carry on his legacy. I have been fortunate enough to train with a couple of his children (Royce and Rodrigo) and my experiences with them assure me that Helio Gracie, at any age, would be the best person to train with.

O'Sensei

ROBERT LARA SENSEI -If I could train with any teacher at anytime in history for one day it would have to be under Morihei Ueshiba O’Sensei. The founder of Aikido. The reason why is because he founded the art that I live my life by. The art of peace. I know in just one days time with O’Sensei you would learn more of Aiki. In body,mind,spirit.

Some of my teachers were students of O’Sensei. And the stories they tell of their training under O’Sensei are so great. You won’t find most of those stories in books. These men and women who trained direct from the founder who are still with us are living treasures in my view point as they are links to the living teachings of O’Sensei.

The time I would love to train with O’Sensei is during the last years of his life. His Waza was so strong. Yet fluid and fully controlling. And upside to training in the internal arts is as you age you only get better at Aiki waza because you do not have the physical strength to over power. These are just my humble view points and I respect all arts.

Lao Tzu

SIFU FREDDIE LEE– I would love to meet and learn from Lao-Tzu.  Author to the “Tao Te Ching.”  The truth contained in the text is penetrating, that short simple text transformed my entire life and really got me to see the deeper meaning behind Martial Arts and life.  Bruce Lee died at an earlier age but there is still a decent amount of wisdom left behind from him of where you can grasp his spiritual essence, same with many sages and Artists.  But Lao-Tzu, there is very little known about him, I would be very interested in seeing his day to day way of living.  Applying the unique wisdom he had in a world filled with confusion.

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Jet Li

SENSEI BRANDON VAUGHN– I’m gonna have to go with Jet Lee for any living person. I think it would be an awesome experience and he seems like a really great guy who would be nice about showing you how much more he knows than you.

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Alan Watts

COACH MICHAEL JOYCE– I approached this question from a practical point-of-reference.  Being that the duration of said event is only a day, my choice is based on someone I could have a deep and meaningful conversation with over tea.  Alan Watts, the British philosopher and writer was (and continues to be) a huge influence in how I came to understand myself and my environment.  Say what you want about the man (he had his eccentricities), but he was both brilliant and articulate.  He had a way of describing things, and opening people’s minds to concepts that, to me, made “only good sense.”

I often contemplate our existence, who we are, and how it is best to live.  I am forever grateful to Alan Watts, and to his son Mark (who is now the curator of his father’s works) for being so prolific and giving.  Alan Watts has a free podcast that is available for subscription on Itunes.  I suggest everyone give it a try.  That is, however, if you wish to view the world and yourself with great clarity.