Classics III: Modern Works
Below are significant works on bushido by present-day authors.
Morehei Ueshiba: Budo, The Essence of Aikido, various poetry
Morehei Ueshiba, also known as O Sensei, has become a legendary figure in the worlds of the samurai and martial arts, due to his invention of the art of aikido and his spiritual writings. He began his career as a military weapons expert. Just prior to WWII he made a fateful decision to avoid teaching his skills to the Japanese army by registering a new empty-hands martial art and taking a set of students to a remote dojo. This new art was based in traditional weapons moves and a new perspective on controlling the encounter to preserve life. It eventually became known as aikido, taught at his Kobukan dojo and later at the Toyama Military Academy. O Sensei published Budo in 1938 as the only written instructional manual for aikido. In The Art of Peace, a clear play on words from the Art of War, Ueshiba establishes his perspective on budo as a way to cultivate harmony among people. Ueshiba believed in extraordinarily intense training as a way to reach enlightenment, and his dojo gained a fearsome reputation among students. Yet, Ueshiba himself was known to be genial and very spiritual, and so aikido has become known as a martial art that is accessible to everyone. In current day, his writings have also influenced the field of conflict resolution.
- partial text of Budo from Google Books
- partial text of The Art of Peace from Google Books
- partial text of The Essence of Aikido from Google Books
- chronology of events and media coverage of his life
- PDF of his poetry, translated and analyzed by Roderick Kobayashi and Robert Frankovitch
Nakamura Taizaburo (1912-2003): IaiKendo
Nakamura Taizaburo will be remembered as a public teacher of sword, through his books and many television appearances. By the time of his passing he had been designated a National Living Treasure by the Japanese government. He bagan his teaching career at the Toyama Military Academy. After WWII, Nakamura was one of three teachers who resumed the teaching of sword techniques to the public. During this time, however, Nakamura began to borrow from kendo and other sword ryu to develop his own ryu. He was known for not only having an extensive knowledge of sword techniques and styles, but also for questioning the logic and effectiveness of those techniques currently in use. He also was influenced by the art of calligraphy and Zen Buddhism. We now know his style as Nakamura Ryu Batto-do, a style that allows students to connect with the realities of the battlefield as well as the Way of the Life-Giving Sword.
- Thoughts on Iaido an article in the March 28, 1988 issue of Nippon Budo Monthly. Translated by Guy H. Power and Takako Funaya
- Suitable Swords for Iai and Test Cutting translated by Guy H. Power
- A history of Nakamura Ryu Batto-do, with some nice pictures of Nakamura and the Toyama Academy
- A memorial page with biography, photographs and other historical information
Training the Samurai Mind: A Bushido Sourcebook by Thomas Cleary
Because I have not yet had time to read it, an excerpt from the publisher: Training the Samurai Mind gives an insider's view of the samurai world: the moral and psychological development of the warrior, the ethical standards they were meant to uphold, their training in both martial arts and strategy, and the enormous role that the traditions of Shintoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism had in influencing samurai ideals.
- partial text from Google Books
Secrets of the Samurai: A survey of the martial arts of Feudal Japan by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook
Written in an academic style, this book is an attempt to codify the arts of bujutsu in a systematic way and place it within the historical and cultural context of feudal Japanese society. The first chapters comprise a thorough history of the development of the samurai and their cultural views from the very beginnings of Japan's history, from the farming clans to the rise of the urban clans. The latter chapters are an attempt at a systematic classification of the various arts.
full text from Google Books
Page updated 07/07/2014
full text from Google Books
Page updated 07/07/2014