What book are you reading?

[DarthPenguin]

Currently i am reading the Bladeborn saga by T C Edge. Was very pleasantly surprised by this and it was also available on Kindle Unlimited which makes things a lot more accessible

[pandaGIRL]

On 4/19/2025 at 1:37 PM, KarateKen said:

Have you read The Stranger by Albert Camus?  

Looks interesting, I'll check it out!

[Patrick]

On 4/23/2025 at 8:08 AM, DarthPenguin said:

As a Scot i can wholeheartedly recommend Still Game though in the interests of fairness i am not sure how well the humour will translate to some other countries! When i lived in England they didn't understand it at all!

My wife and I love it, and that led to my brother loving it. We discovered it after it was already all done. So funny. We do use subtitles, but as the show went on, we needed them a little less. I've recommended it to many people. Finished the comic, as well, and loved it. I bought two signed copies (one for my brother) and an unsigned one, and they sent me three signed ones! We also have a couple of their Jack and Victor logo glasses even though I don't drink.

We totally plan to visit "Craiglang" one day. My wife has actually been to Glasgow, but I never have.

[Patrick]

On 1/29/2025 at 4:26 PM, Patrick said:

Finally got the 17th Moriarty the Patriot book from the library!

The 18th was published in English on January 7 (I think that's what I was referring to here). And the 19th just came out on April 1. Our library system got it quickly, so I've already devoured it! Really enjoyed the series! Not sure yet if I will watch the anime or not.

[DarthPenguin]

11 hours ago, Patrick said:

My wife and I love it, and that led to my brother loving it. We discovered it after it was already all done. So funny. We do use subtitles, but as the show went on, we needed them a little less. I've recommended it to many people. Finished the comic, as well, and loved it. I bought two signed copies (one for my brother) and an unsigned one, and they sent me three signed ones! We also have a couple of their Jack and Victor logo glasses even though I don't drink.

We totally plan to visit "Craiglang" one day. My wife has actually been to Glasgow, but I never have.

Glad to hear you enjoy it - it is a bit of an institution here! Is also amusing when you see how much younger most of the cast was than their characters. I live in Glasgow and they did film it in a few parts of the city itself though Craiglang itself is made up.

If you enjoy their humour they did a sketch show beforehand called "Chewin the Fat". Not something i would usually recommend to a non-Scot (would be definite subtitles plus not sure how well it would translate)  but if you like Still Game you may like it. It is also where they first introduced the characters Jack and Victor (Still Game was actually a spin off!). Have always had a soft spot for it after one of my friends had a run in with Ford Kiernan years ago and they included a character with his name in one of the sketches to make fun of him! Pretty harsh when looked at now but at the time it was hilarious

[bushido_man96]

Currently cutting through Okinawan Karate: A History of Styles and Masters, vol 2, Fijian Antecedents, Naha-te, Goju-ryu, and Other Styles.

[KarateKen]

2 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

Currently cutting through Okinawan Karate: A History of Styles and Masters, vol 2, Fijian Antecedents, Naha-te, Goju-ryu, and Other Styles.

Sounds interesting. 

[bushido_man96]

I enjoyed it, and have enjoyed reading this author.  He's even shed a touch of light on some TKD master history. 

Now I'm reading Okinawan Kobudo: A History of Weaponry Styles and Masters.  The author is Christopher M. Clarke. He's got another book I'd like to read, Saving Japan's Martial Arts.

[bushido_man96]

Karate, It's History and Practice, by Koyama Masashi, Wada Koji, and Kadekaru Toru, translated by Alexander Bennett, and published by the Nippon Budokan.  I am not enjoying this book nearly as much.  More overview, less of the digging that Clarke did in his books.

[Zaine]

5 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

Karate, It's History and Practice, by Koyama Masashi, Wada Koji, and Kadekaru Toru, translated by Alexander Bennett, and published by the Nippon Budokan.  I am not enjoying this book nearly as much.  More overview, less of the digging that Clarke did in his books.

Something that I like about Clarke's approach is that it's analysis. I've read enough history to understand the overview, there's only so much I can learn at a surface level. In all, I find that martial arts has fewer people critically engaging with the history than I would like. The why of history is really important, and we tend to focus on what happened. Even then, however, I find that a lot of the critical engagement is less about looking for truth and more about saying that this tradition is more correct than that one.