The Bubishi - The Classic Manual of Combat

[Bruisbe]

Hello everyone!!

I am 33 years old and my 5 year old son and I just recently started taking classes at a local dojo. The people there are wonderful and very patient with every student no matter their belt rank. They teach Shuri-ryu and alot of what I have learned so far is similar to what I was taking when I was 15-17 (I don't remember the exact style).

At any rate, I have been looking for different books pertaining to the Shuri-ryu style, however none of the good books from Grandmaster Trias are available without paying a ridiculous price on Amazon or Ebay. I have found several articles pertaining to the styles history and lineage, however nothing that I would imagine compares to somethings such as The Pinnacle of Karate by Grandmaster Trias.

I came across the subject line book, and while it is not specifically a Shuri-Ryu book, the reviews on it are excellent. From everything that I gathered, it is a great book on Okinawan heritage. My question is, Do you think getting this book is something that I should look into for a better understanding of Karate-Do in general or would there be other books that pertain to Shuri-Ryu that would be more fitting.

Thanks in Advance for reading such a long first post.

Cheers!

[Wastelander]

Ridgely Abele Sensei has written some books on Shuri-Ryu, which I understand to be quite good, but they are also very expensive. Since Trias created Shuri-Ryu, and it is a relatively small style, there just isn't a great wealth of material covering it, specifically. You can definitely find valuable information elsewhere, though!

The Bubishi is a good choice from a historical and cultural perspective, and a very interesting read. I would also suggest Mark Bishop's books, of which there are several to choose from, for an exploration of Okinawan styles. The best book for karate history is going to be Karate 1.0 by Andreas Quast.

[Bruisbe]

Thank you for the reply. I will take a look at these for sure!!!

[Bruisbe]

I know this is going to come off as a double post, however I found a great book written my O'Sensi Robert Bowels, whom is the current Chief Instructor and 10th Dan of Shuri-ryu.

http://www.shuri-ryu.com/store/page3.html

While at first glance the $86 price tag seemed to be quite a bit, however it was free shipping and when I got it, I was thoroughly impressed.

Every single kata, block, punch, etc that one would need to learn and refine from 10th - 1st Kyu is covered in this book with pictures for reference. While this of course is not a replacement for actual training, it is a great device that I have found that allows at home training in-between classes to help remember and confirm what it was that you learned while in class.

[Bulltahr]

As far as the Bubishi goes, the 2nd edition has just been released with significant improvements apparently, so if you do buy new, make sure it's the new edition.