Reference Material

[Dimorte]

I am just curious as to how much reference material yall keep. Books, DVD's things like that. I know that I have been looking around all over the internet for books and DVD's concerning the styles I am taking, and I was just wondering if having things like that is worth while. What do you guys think? How do you approach these things? Are there any "must haves" for people in MA? Or, are they all just a waste of money?

[tallgeese]

Glancing over your list of areas of study, I'll throw out some recommendations.

On the BJJ front, the truly must have is Jiu JItsu University by Saulo Ribeiro. By far and away the best text on BJJ on the market that I have seen. Another excellent instructional on a related note is Wrestling for Fighting by Randy Couture. Excellent resource on all things takedown. There are other secondary volumes that are of note, but these are the big two I recommend putting in your grappling library.

I aikido is of interest to you, I think that Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere by Ratti and Westbrook is a good read. In fact, if one is in to any sort of energy redirecting or soft art, it's probably worth the read.

I seem to recall from your introduction that the first art you have listed has Japanese roots. If that is the case, I think that Secrets of the Samurai, again by Ratti and Westbrook, is an important historical read and should be on the shelf and required reading list of any martial artist.

Lastly, there are some general subject matter books that I think are important to anyone in the fighting arts. First up, Tao of JKD by Bruce Lee. Even though it's a haphazard (at times) collection of notes, they are worth reading and studying for anyone interested in making the most of his or her art. Next, Living the Martial Way by Forrest Morgan. Not haphazard at all, but instead a step by step manual for warrior thinking, this is a great start on how to live the arts. His methodology can be used across any discipline despite the authors love of kata. I also think anyone involved in the arts for self defense should read The Gift of Fear by DeBecker. It's an excellent psychological and behavioral analysis of self protection. Along those same lines, but dealing with the bodies physiological reaction to combat is Grossman's On Combat or Siddell's Wharpening the Warrior's Edge.

On a truly last note, I also think it's important to occasionally immerse oneself in the classics of the field. The Book of Five Rings, Art of War, Karate Do: My Way of Life, should all occasionally be revisited and pondered. I'm in the middle of slowly working thru Five Rings again and am finding that the wisdom in there never goes out of style and find much of it an applicable reminder of today.

[Groinstrike]

Glancing over your list of areas of study, I'll throw out some recommendations.

On the BJJ front, the truly must have is Jiu JItsu University by Saulo Ribeiro. By far and away the best text on BJJ on the market that I have seen. Another excellent instructional on a related note is Wrestling for Fighting by Randy Couture. Excellent resource on all things takedown. There are other secondary volumes that are of note, but these are the big two I recommend putting in your grappling library.

I aikido is of interest to you, I think that Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere by Ratti and Westbrook is a good read. In fact, if one is in to any sort of energy redirecting or soft art, it's probably worth the read.

I seem to recall from your introduction that the first art you have listed has Japanese roots. If that is the case, I think that Secrets of the Samurai, again by Ratti and Westbrook, is an important historical read and should be on the shelf and required reading list of any martial artist.

Lastly, there are some general subject matter books that I think are important to anyone in the fighting arts. First up, Tao of JKD by Bruce Lee. Even though it's a haphazard (at times) collection of notes, they are worth reading and studying for anyone interested in making the most of his or her art. Next, Living the Martial Way by Forrest Morgan. Not haphazard at all, but instead a step by step manual for warrior thinking, this is a great start on how to live the arts. His methodology can be used across any discipline despite the authors love of kata. I also think anyone involved in the arts for self defense should read The Gift of Fear by DeBecker. It's an excellent psychological and behavioral analysis of self protection. Along those same lines, but dealing with the bodies physiological reaction to combat is Grossman's On Combat or Siddell's Wharpening the Warrior's Edge.

On a truly last note, I also think it's important to occasionally immerse oneself in the classics of the field. The Book of Five Rings, Art of War, Karate Do: My Way of Life, should all occasionally be revisited and pondered. I'm in the middle of slowly working thru Five Rings again and am finding that the wisdom in there never goes out of style and find much of it an applicable reminder of today.

Agreed, I really need to read "On Combat", I recently finished "living the Martial Way" and it was a great reminder of how to conduct oneself as a martial artist.

"Five Rings", "Art of War", "Tao of JKD" are all classics and should be required reading in any martial arts class.

From a purely self defense standpoint may I recommed "The Little Black Book of Violence" It is a great resource of any martial artist that is wonderful at dispelling myths about the "Street fight". Awarness is the main focus of this work over technique, which i believe is paramount to defending oneself.

[bushido_man96]

All listed above would make for a great library. I have quite a few books myself. Some, I could do without. Some, though, I like to have on hand just because they have different ideas I don't think of. I love to read, so I tend to go a bit book crazy at times.

I don't think its necessary to have a huge library, but, I like to have as many as I can, just to reference different things, or study up on something I'm not familiar with. Then I can bounce questions off others here who have experience with the styles, and they can lend their take on things. Helps make for good discussion at times, as well.

[DWx]

Check out this thread for everyone's recommendations and reviews on their library:

http://www.karateforums.com/martial-arts-research-library-vt8082.html

Books are a great reference tool, I wish I had the money to buy more . But with the internet, nowadays there's plenty of material out there so its not absolutely crucial you have a huge library of resources. Only thing with the interwebs is that anyone can publish their stuff so you just have to be a bit careful and discerning as to which is junk and which is the real deal. If you're studying TKD, I highly recommend TKDTutor.com, 100's of good articles on there