Judo Books C through D



	13 Books	*Judo Books: "C-D"*

	Canon of Judo. Kyuzo Mifune. Seibundo Shinkosha Publishing, 1956. One of the most valuable and useful books on Judo by the recognized master of 20^th century Judo, it also spends useful time on Mifune's particular specialties, such as counters. The English translation is difficult, however, and complex. The translator, who was Japanese, completely missed the point in a few areas resulting in some genuine howlers. He admitted that this resulted from his inadequacy with English but also his difficulty understanding Mifune's "classic"style of writing. He conceded that many passages left him "baffled." This may have been in part because of Judo's "Zen" aspects, and the inability to make "rational" what is by common sense quite irrational. Mifune understood Judo (indeed, Mifune very nearly defined Judo) but his translator did not, and that is a minor distraction of this book. In any event, this is an authentic classic, by an authentic genius in the art. His recitation of the history of Judo, and his philosophical explanation of Judo make this a one-of-a-kind. It is rare, and includes Judo Gi fabric as the book cover. If you can find it, it is worth any price to a Judoka. Get a photocopy if you cannot locate an original.
	Classical Budo. Donn F. Draeger. Weatherhill Publishers, New York, 1973, 1990. This is volume two of a three part series of books entitled "The Martial Arts and Ways of Japan." It is an outstanding scholarly review of Budo and Bujitsu by the premier historian of Japanese martial ways. This particular volume discusses the concept of "Do" from both a historical and a philosophical perspective. It is one of the best such discussions available. Draeger reviews various weapon systems that are considered "classical" but it is in Chapter 7, "From JuJutsu to Judo," that we find JuJutsu becoming increasingly "degraded" from older combat forms, and developing into "aesthetic" arts. Jigoro Kano saw the same thing, of course, and the history of Budo was forever changed. This book is wonderfully illustrated. Available through. Amazon Books
	Combat Judo. B.J. Cosneck (New York: Sentinel Books Publishers, Inc., 1959.) Softcover, 123 pp. Actually titled "American Combat Judo", this book shows that the idea of putting "combat" in front of a martial art name is neither a new idea, nor has the idea evolved much over the years, but it still sells. This book also exhibits the odd tendency, shown today in some forms of South American ju jitsu such as Vale Tudo, that somehow realistic fighting arts are done by wearing only speedos, and that this is a "realistic" approach. Apparently, somewhere, there is evidence that people are frequently attacked by assailants wearing only swim trunks and the danger posed by this justifies whole fighting styles devoted to defending against that kind of attack. Well, it is an interesting concept, and 16-year olds everywhere take it seriously. This book, you may have guessed, shows a variety of painful looking self-defense responses in scenarios between two grown men wearing speedos. The practicality cannot be underestimated such as p. 64, "forcing an unwilling person through the door," which of course should be "forcing an unwilling person wearing speedos through the door." Something that happens every day. [10/22/99]
	Complete Book of Judo. Bruce Tegner. Bantam Books, 1967, 1976. Bruce Tegner produced catalogues of techniques for an interesting variety of martial arts. His Judo catalogue is extensive, organized to accommodate progressive promotion through colored belt ranks. In addition to the Randori no Kata and Katame no Kata, he also includes Kime no Kata and Gonosen no Kata, which are unusual to find in an introductory book. Republished as "Judo, Beginner to Black Belt," and available at Amazon Books.
	Complete Book of Judo. George R. Parulski, Jr. Contemporary Books, Inc., 1984. This is an interesting and well written introduction to Judo, with a contemporary approach. The author brings some Yoga into Judo, which, while interesting, is not perhaps helpful. The actual Judo in the book, however, is very competent, the explanations good, the pictures are very useful, and there is even some holistic advice about Judo training and nutrition. Judo is among the most rigorous of the martial ways, and so any emphasis on how to eat and train, even if out of the mainstream, is useful.
	A Complete Guide to Judo. by Robert W. Smith. Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1958. This book contains some useful history and discussion of Judo. It contains a reprint of the touching obituary of Jigoro Kano which ran in the Seatttle Post-Intelligencer in 1938. One of America's outstanding sports writers, Royal Brougham, happened to interview Kano in a routine interview just days before his death, but caught Kano's wishes for universal humanity through the experience of international sport competition, and his quiet despair at what the Japanese government was doing in terms of militarism. In a short eloquent column, Brougham showed surprising understanding of Kano's sense of the role of Olympic Sport -- Kano believed Judo was an ultimate expression of "Olympism" -- in the great 20^th century tragedy that was enveloping the world at that time. Described were Kano's hopes for the role that the Olympic ideal could play, and his obvious sadness that all of his efforts to have the 1940 Olympic Games held in Japan as an antidote to the militarism of his government was, somehow, too late. Kano was a dedicated pacifist unlike virtually all of his martial art bretheren, and abhorred war. Brougham, reflecting on Kano's death a few days later -- officially attributed to pneumonia -- felt that this despair was what really killed Jigoro Kano on board ship, in 1938, on his way home to a Japan that he knew was enthusiastically preparing for war. The single page of this book containing this remarkable reprint makes it worth finding. In its additional discussions of jujutsu, karate, and aikido, it is clear that, at one point in time, Judo was considered an umbrella art for many other allied disciplines.
	The Complete Seven Katas of Judo. M. Kawaishi. Overlook Press, 1957. This is an interpretation of the basic officially recognized katas of Judo, originally translated into French, and then from French to English. A Useful book. At Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
	Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Donn Draeger and Robert W. Smith. Kodansha, 1997 republished. A well written, well illustrated comparison and commentary on a variety of martial arts. Available at Amazon Books
	Contest Judo. Roy Inman. Crowood Press, 1987. 201 pp. hardcover. Roy Inman, the well-known British Women's Judo team coach, has produced a very useful training text for primarily standing (tachi waza) competition Judo. His unique approach is to show, with very good, clear drawings, the successive development of a particular technique through several phases of the throw, and accompany these drawings with excellent photographs of the technique as applied by elite competitors in actual competition. Photos are by the indefatigable David Finch who seems to have photographed every European, World and Olympic Championship ever held. The last chapter, the "History of Judo" is actually Inman's discussion of the evolution of sport Judo, Jigoro's Kano's various statements about it (ambiguous at best, but surely not opposed). Inman, for instance, quotes T.P. Leggett as commenting that Judo before WWII at the Kodokan was so much "rougher" than the sport Judo that developed under the auspices of Kyuzo Mifune after WWII. We might think from this that Judo was coming closer, in technical proficiency, to Kano's ideal of Judo. Inman links this to the influence of Tani and Koizuma on the British Judo establishment, as well as noting the development of women's Judo competitions, and, in 1988 at the Seoul Olympic Games, the disappearance, probably forever, of the "premier event in Judo," the "open" category of competition. Overall, a well-written, well-informed book with the misidentification of Peter Seisenbacher as "Robert" Seisenbacher being an unnecessary error. [10/29/99].
	Contest Judo: Ten Decisive Throws. Saburo Matsushita and Warwick Stepto. W. Foulsham & Co., Ltd., 1961. Chapter one describes training in Japan; Chapter 2 describes training "for Europeans." The ten decisive throws are well-described, complete with Chinese characters for each throw. These are classic descriptions of these fundamental throws, including defenses and strategic uses. Available at Ippon Books Classics section. Demonstration of Gentleness: Ju-no-kata. Jigoro Kano and T.P. Leggett. W. Foulsham & Co., Ltd, 1964. 62pp. Hardcover. Photographs of Jigoro Kano, taken sometime during the 1930's, demonstrating the Ju-no-Kata. Remarkable photographs, given to Leggett in 1939 by Jiro Nango, then President of the Kodokan, showing Kano with remarkable skills into old age, with text by Leggett. Leggett provides an articulate overview of the role of kata, and particularly this kata, to the important zen principles of Judo.
	Dictionary of Judo. Kodokan. 2000. 174 pp. softcover. This is a Japanese-English/ English-Japanese dictionary of Judo. There are several interesting appendices of historical interest regarding representative schools of ju jitsu, location of important university Judo programs in Japan, charts of vital points, Japanese alphabet and numbers. The bulk of this little book, though, is a thorough listing of important Japanese terminology and its English explanation, and covers a broad range of technical, philosophical, and practical concepts in Judo, as well as historical events and important persons. This is really an invaluable book as it represents Kodokan's effort to standardize Judo terminology, but also to expose non-Japanese to a much broader range of concepts in Judo, through the use of the Japanese terms. Available at Kodokan Internet Shop. [12/2/2000].
		The Dragon Mask and Other Stories. Trevor Leggett. Ippon Books. 1995. A wonderful collection of stories of how Judo can change character and life for dedicated practitioners. Leggett is a prolific writer with as much experience in Judo as anyone alive, including recognition by the Japanese Government in 1984 with the "Order of Sacred Treasure." Ippon Books.