Wednesday, December 21, 2016

3.5 Ninja Stars for "The Lost Samurai School" by Antony Cummins with Mieko Koizumi

In the interest of full disclosure, I was given this book for review purposes.

Title: The Lost Samurai School: Secrets of Mubyoshi Ryu
Author: Antony Cummins with Mieko Koizumi 
Publisher: Blue Snake Books 
Format: Softcover
Pages: 377 
Price: $24.95

    This is the second book of Mr. Cummins' that I've reviewed, the first being Samurai and Ninja, and I've done a podcast interview with him (Episode XX of Martial Thoughts Podcast).  Whether in his writing, or in speaking to him, one thing that always comes through with Mr. Cummins is his enthusiasm for the subject.  You almost get the kid in the candy store feel from him.  This book is no different, there is a definite love and passion for ninja, and translating ninja works.  And even though this book is about an art called Mubyoshi ryu, which was a "samurai martial art," there is a lot about what we would consider today to be "ninja techniques."

Content

    The book starts off with an overview of the history of a koryu called Mubyoshi ryu, including is origins from Shinjin ryu and the permutations it went through to get to the form that it exists in today.  It also includes an introduction to how this information was found, and the difficulties and triumphs of getting this work translated.  However, the main portions of this book are the actual translations themselves.  These include all the pieces that would make up a martial arts school/style from the time period including, sword techniques, infiltration methods, anti-infiltration techniques, shuriken (throwing star/spike) types and methodology used by school, and the "magic" section.

Pros

    One of the things I really liked about this book, I already mentioned was the apparent enthusiasm for the subject.  The other is the thoroughness of the translation.  Many of the historical translations I've read only include one portion of the school's techniques.  It might concentrate on the kenjutsu (sword techniques), or just the taijujtsu (body techniques).  This book gets a full schools worth of teaching.  Everything that was taught in the school, kodachi (short sword), taijutsu, chain and sickle, and even the more mystical methods that are often ignored today are included and translated.  There are also lots of pictures demonstrating, or illustrating many of the techniques and strategies.  These were fun.  They were also mainly perpetrated by the author and his friend Ben.  My favorite picture is on page 181.  This is in the section for proper seppuku (ritual suicide), kaishakuin (assistant), and head presentation.  The bloody head that they are presenting belongs to Mr. Cummings.  That's awesome!

Cons

    The only complaint I have about the book isn't really about the book itself.  There is a sort of shotgun approach to the material.  As in, here's a bunch of material, and absorb what you can without going in depth of the material.  This is probably due to the original scrolls however.  I'm assuming the reader of the scrolls were already in the school/system and already knew the techniques, this was just a written record of them.  As the book keeps saying, at the end of every section, "the rest is oral tradition."

Conclusion

    This book is fun, and gives a legitimate sourcing of what a particular group of samurai were learning from a specific time period.  I really enjoyed the read, and techniques presented, even the more mystical aspects of some parts.  I think its value lies in seeing into the mindset of the samurai of the time.  I don't know if these are typical for the times, but at least it gives a keyhole view to their world.   The pictures, which frequent readers know I'm very critical of, are done well, and do a good job of showing the ideas presented.  Overall, I'm going to give this book 3.5 out of 5 Ninja stars.  It is definitely worth a read, but my rating system is based on how useful it would be for all the martial artists of the world, and unless you're doing a Japanese art, or interested in ninja and samurai, I don't know how useful it would be.  That being said, it is a good book, and I will definitely have it on my bookshelf as a reference.

Monday, December 5, 2016

4.5 Ninja Star Review for "Research of Martial Arts" by Jonathan Bluestein

In the interest of full disclosure, I was given this book for review purposes.

Title: Research of Martial Arts
Format: Softcover
Pages: 418 (This is a large, thick book)
Price: $36.00 (on Amazon)

    I always read a book with a highlighter.  As I go through I highlight and make comments on anything that I want to know more about, or I should write down in my martial arts journal.  Usually there are a couple good quotes and such that I like and conglomerate into my own martial arts philosophy.  This book, I had to have highlighters of several colors just to make sure the ideas didn't just run together.  That should be an indication of the amount, and value of information present here.  

Content

    Research of Martial Arts is almost three books in one.  As such, it is divided into three parts.  The first being a deliberate and  in depth look at the ideas of Internal and External martial arts.  Although often used to speak of Chinese martial arts, Mr. Bluestein does a good job of showing other martial arts apply the same principles.  The second portion is more like a collection of short essays and observations on martial arts by the author, with two articles by guest authors.  The third is a collection of insiteful interviews with the martial artists that the author has studied with, and has used as examples throughout the book.  If that wasn't enough information for you, there is an extensive bibliography with 190 references, and an appendix with a couple of articles mentioned specifically in the book.  If nothing else, the volume of work in this book makes it worth it.

Pros

    If you can't tell, I like academic books on martial arts.  I'm an intellectual at heart.  This book hits that spot for me.  The first portion, the tretise on External vs. Internal martial arts, is well researched, and well refereced (did I mention the 190 citations?).  It also doesn't take a "mine is better than your" approach.  Sifu Bluestein explains where the strengths and weaknesses of each approach lie.  He also gives examples of how other arts choose some aspects of both to make their art work.  The second part, the article portion is also well written, and insiteful.  I had my highlighter out a lot for this section as well.  The third section, the interviews, are generally very good, and certainly give you many different views, and approaches to martial arts.  

Cons

    I don't really have anything bad to say about the book.  The first section, was very thick with information, and I'll probably have to read it again to make sure I got most of the ideas.  It was a bit academic, although written from a lecture point of view rather than a textbook style, so it wasn't as dry as some others I've read. 

Conclusion

    I don't know if this book is meant for every martial artist, but every martial artist can get something out of it.  This book apparently was published in 2014.  I wish I'd known about it then.  I felt that a certain level of martial arts experience was necessary to fully understand the first section, as well as a general familiarity with many different types/styles of martial arts.  That being said, I would easily recommend this book to my more academically minded friends and colleagues.  This wasn't a right before bed read, or read during the commercials type of book.  This book required my full attention, but it gave me a lot if I paid attention.  That's why I gave this book 4.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars.  It was a really dense book that I'm going to have to look at again, but I really enjoyed it.  Besides, any book that mentioned both Donn F. Draeger and Hiyaa! had to be that good!