Review of "Jeet Kune Do Basics" and "Kung Fu Basics"

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

Title: Jeet Kune Do Basics

Author: David Cheng
Publisher: Tuttle 
Format: Softcover
Pages: 190
Price: $9.99 Cover Price

Title: Kung Fu Basics

Author: Paul Eng

Publisher: Tuttle

Format: Softcover

Pages: 190

Price: $9.99

I'm going to review both of these books together, as I received them both together, and they both follow along similar themes.  One of the hardest things to do is start something new.  Martial arts may be one of the hardest things to start for adults.  Most of us probably haven't been moving around being physically active for a while, and there's someone looking at you, judging you as you "perform."  If you are interested in a martial art, there's a lot to choose from.  So let's say, you're a Bruce Lee fan and have decided to study what he studied.  So you want to study either Jeet Kune Do, the art he created, or Kung Fu, the art he studied first.  Well... what now?  Both of these books answer these questions.

Content

Both of these books have many similarities in content.  They both start out with the history of their art.  Kung Fu, being a more generic term, explains the difference between kung fu, wushu, and then gives the generalized history of Chinese martial arts.  Both also talk about the philosophical basis of Chinese martial arts.  Which is important, as it is a large part of the art.  It then goes into what to expect from a class, including what the art is based on.  One of the more unusual things, is the Kung Fu Basics, at the end goes over what injuries you can expect, and how to deal with minor strains, injuries, and sprains.

Pros

These are great books if you are starting either kung fu classes, or enrolling in a Jeet Kune Do academy.  Both provide the basic information about the art.  They both mention the different branches that occur in the arts, but without being "my art is better than your art" type of dialog.  They are also great if you practice another art, and are curious about kung fu, or JKD, and need a place to start your own research.

Cons

If you have a basic knowledge of what kung fu, or JKD is, then these may seem a little... well... basic.  But to be fair, they did put that right in the title.

Conclusion 

I would easily recommend these to anyone that was starting up their new martial path, and wanted to know what to expect from the kung fu that they signed up for, or even how Jeet Kune Do differs from other martial arts.  If you're already in the class, and have been studying for a while, then these may not be the books for you.  If I taught a kung fu, or JKD class, I might hand these out when any new student joined up.  It gives them a good basic of the art.  That being said, I'm going to give both of these books four out of five Ninja Stars.  I think they're great for what they're for, learning the basics of either kung fu or JKD.  But, beyond learning that, I don't know how useful they are to more advanced students.

4 Ninja Stars for Martial Arts in the Arts: An Appreciation of Artifacts

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

Title: Martial Arts in the Arts, An Appreciation of Artifacts

Compiled by: Michael A. DeMarco, 
Publisher: Via Media Publishing
Publish Date: 2018
Format: Softcover
Pages:150
Price: $15.95 Cover Price

I think most readers would know by now, that I'm an academic at heart.  My degree is in zoology.  So I love that there was an academic journal dedicated to martial arts.  However, by the time I was ready to appreciate the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, it had become defunct.  Overtime, when I can, I'm spending more than they originally cost on eBay to collect old volumes of the JAMA.  That's why I love these compilations.  Not only are they collections of old articles from JAMA, but they are also grouped by subject.  Normally in an issue, they would all be interesting articles, but only 1 or 2 directly dealt with me and my martial art.  With the compilations, I know what article subjects I'm getting

Content

All together the reader gets 14 different articles that talk about and describe some of the physical, and artistic representations of martial arts.  There are articles about museum collections, about the connection between brush paintings and calligraphy to martial arts, and even some on artifacts.  My favorite was the article on Oshigata by Anthony DiCristofano.  Oshigata is a form of detailed sword rubbing to accurately capture all the details of both the hamon and the forging of Japanese swords.

Pros

I like the academic approach to martial arts, and martial arts related subjects.  This collection is a good example of how to appreciate other aspects of a culture that originated the martial art.  If you study a Chinese martial art, having some appreciation of Chinese art is probably a good thing.  If nothing else, it may help explain some of the philosophical underpinnings of your martial art.  

The production value of this book is also very high.  There are many great reproductions of art and museum pieces which are accurately portrayed in this book.  Sometimes you can get grainy pictures, to where you cannot tell what the picture is supposed to be.  This book, dealing with art pieces, doesn't do that at all.  

Cons

I understand that this may not be everyone's favorite type of martial arts book.  There is very little that is directly tied to martial arts, or the study of it.  However, I feel the book adds value to any martial artist who reads it.  

Conclusion

This collection of articles is sort of... martial arts adjacent.  It looks at other aspects of a culture, by using martial arts as the keyhole through which it peers.  I've always said this is the difference between a martial artist, and someone who practices a martial art.  Do you see martial arts as a holistic experience, or as one segment, one part of your daily life?  If you answered yes to the former, then you should read this book.  It provides excellent examples of how to use martial arts as a gateway drug activity to studying another culture, or at least a different time.   For that reason, I'm going to give this book 4 out 5 Ninja Stars.  I really liked it.  But at the same time, I can understand why people may not think of this as a martial arts book, or at least one that adds to their own understanding.

5 Ninja Stars for Musashi's Dokkodo by Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder

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

Title: Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Editors: Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder
Publisher: Stickman Publications
Format: Softcover
Pages: 245
Price: $15.95 Cover Price

I just deep a real deep dive into who Musashi was in my podcast, (Martial Thoughts Podcast).  Even though he lived about 500 years ago, his writings still inspire us today.  Most people, if they know of Musashi's writings, know about Go Rin no Sho or as the title is often translated into English, The Book of Five Rings.  However, right before he died in his cave, he actually produced another little writing, which he entitled "Dokkodo."  This was set up as 21 Precepts to live a life of complete dedication to an art, like martial arts, as he did.  It was left for his disciple.  This book goes over these precepts in detail.

Content

Obviously 21 precepts would be a very short book, so what did the writing team of Kane and Wilder do to fill the pages?  Easy.  They looked at each precept, dedicated a chapter to it, and applied that precept to modern life.  To make it even more useful, they gathered the learned opinions of other professionals to look at each precept from a different point of view.  Each precept is therefore, examines from the point of view of a monk, a warrior, a teacher, an insurance executive, and a businessman.  They all give a different view on how and why each of the precepts can apply to life today.

Pros

I really liked this format.  It's one thing to give your opinion of a piece of ancient writing, its another to gather together several opinion and place them all in the same book.  It ends up feeling like you are the proverbial fly on the wall listening to a great, well thought out conversation about the various subjects covered by the 21 precepts.  I also like that it wasn't all just a "praise Musashi"-fest, where he can do no wrong because he is Musashi.  There were times that his words were either disagreed with or at the very least, modified to work with today's world.

Cons

The only point I could make as a negative would be, if you were looking for a book of Musashi's secret's techniques, or something along those lines, this isn't the book for you.  This is looking at his last written words and applying them, for good or bad into today's world, from several different perspectives.

Conclusion

I enjoyed reading this book for a number of different reasons.  I enjoyed looking at Musashi's crazy words.  His rigorous, aesthetic lifestyle was not what most people would want.  However, through reading the different interpretations, I could see the value of what he was saying.  The true value is getting the different opinions and interpretations.  This helps you, the reader, pull out what you would think valuable.  Overall, I'm going to give this book the rare 5 out of 5 Ninja Stars rating.  I think it does a wonderful job of explaining everything as well as giving different view points.  I think, like Book of Five Rings, his writings can apply to all martial artists, and probably all people.

Episode LXXXI-Crud the Martial Artist Hear and How to Deal with It-Part I

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Intro Music: Theme from Enter the Dragon by Lalo Schifrin
  Scott Bolan
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Part II on whistlekick

Good Martial Arts Movies for Non-Martial Artists by Scott Bolon

Bad Martial Arts Movies for Non-Martial Artists by Jaredd Wilson

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Outro Music: Voodoo Child-Jimi Hendrix/Guyageun ver. by Luna