Predecessor of Judo and precursor of today's ultimate fighting styles, Jujitsu is a martial art developed by the elite samurai class during Japan's feudal days. For centuries, this method of unarmed... read more »

In plentiful detail from a huge range of historical sources, Secrets of the Samurai plots the development, principles and effects of the samurai culture of feudal Japan. Authors Oscar Ratti and Adele... read more »

Dave Lowry juxtaposes his singular experience as an adept student of kenjutsu (the art of swordsmanship) under a Japanese teacher in St. Louis with a riveting account of the samurai tradition... read more »

The Sword and the Mind is the merging of the ideas and experiences of Hidetsuna, Muneyoshi, and Munenori, three swordsmen in 16th- and 17th-century Japan. An exquisite guide to Japanese swordsmanship... read more »

Master swordsman, calligrapher, and Zen practitioner, Yamoaka Tesshu is a seminal figure in martial arts history. John Stevens's biography is a fascinating, detailed account of Tesshu's remarkable... read more »

So succinct are the author's insights that these writings have outlasted the dissolution of the samurai class to come down to the present and be read for guidance and inspiration by the captains of... read more »

With all the adventure, derring-do, and bloodcurdling battle scenes of his earlier book, Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, acclaimed historian Giles Milton dazzles readers with the true story of... read more »

The real way of the warrior is based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature. So taught the great Morihei Ueshiba (1883–1969), founder of the Japanese martial art of Aikido.... read more »

Persimmon Wind--part memoir, part martial arts history, and part travelogue--relates Dave Lowry's experiences as he travels to Japan to reunite with his sensei, visit the graves of others of... read more »