Homehttp://www.shambhala.com/the-way-of-judo.html
Can anyone provide any feedback on this work?
Can anyone provide any feedback on this work?
+4
Jonesy
gester
finarashi
JFTW
8 posters
The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
JFTW- Posts : 27
Join date : 2013-03-14
- Post n°1
The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by JFTW Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:31 am
finarashi- Posts : 507
Join date : 2013-01-11
Location : Finland
- Post n°2
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by finarashi Wed Jul 17, 2013 4:36 pm
If you look at the page indicated you see
Shambhala Publications | 08/13/2013
this is a way to tell that this book will arrive to shops 13th of August. So not available yet to general public. John Stevens has managed to write "Three budo masters : Jigoro Kano (judo), Gichin Funakoshi (karate), Morihei Ueshiba (Aikido)" which has been translated into four languages and sold very well.
Shambhala Publications | 08/13/2013
this is a way to tell that this book will arrive to shops 13th of August. So not available yet to general public. John Stevens has managed to write "Three budo masters : Jigoro Kano (judo), Gichin Funakoshi (karate), Morihei Ueshiba (Aikido)" which has been translated into four languages and sold very well.
gester- Posts : 66
Join date : 2013-02-07
- Post n°3
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by gester Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:38 am
Available for preorder at Amazon for $11.90. Comes out on August 13.
gester
gester
Jonesy- Posts : 1070
Join date : 2013-01-02
- Post n°4
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Jonesy Sun Jul 28, 2013 9:44 pm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Judo-Portrait-Jigoro-Students/dp/1590309162/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375008074&sr=1-5&keywords=jigoro+kano
There are preview pages available too.
There are preview pages available too.
Jihef- Posts : 222
Join date : 2013-09-06
Location : Brussels, Belgium
- Post n°5
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Jihef Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:37 pm
Hello,
any one of our esteemed members could provide some advice or feedback ?
Do you believe this is worth picking up ?
any one of our esteemed members could provide some advice or feedback ?
Do you believe this is worth picking up ?
NBK- Posts : 1298
Join date : 2013-01-10
Location : Tokyo, Japan
- Post n°6
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by NBK Wed Sep 25, 2013 1:04 am
It appears Stevens introduces some of the characters that trained under Kano.
I assume it will introduce some facts not well known
NBK
I assume it will introduce some facts not well known
NBK
Jihef- Posts : 222
Join date : 2013-09-06
Location : Brussels, Belgium
- Post n°7
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Jihef Wed Sep 25, 2013 1:54 am
OK.NBK wrote:It appears Stevens introduces some of the characters that trained under Kano.
I assume it will introduce some facts not well known
NBK
I cannot say this looks like an enthousiastic endorsment.
Will dig deeper about Stevens then…
Cichorei Kano- Posts : 1948
Join date : 2013-01-16
Age : 864
Location : the Holy See
- Post n°8
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Cichorei Kano Wed Sep 25, 2013 2:04 am
You must not have met NBK ! Everything that does not end in you being struck down, gunned down, slashed down, is actually a gesture of appreciation, ha, ha, ha, ha !!Jihef wrote:OK.NBK wrote:It appears Stevens introduces some of the characters that trained under Kano.
I assume it will introduce some facts not well known
NBK
I cannot say this looks like an enthousiastic endorsment.
Will dig deeper about Stevens then…
Sorry, NBK, just kidding !
finarashi- Posts : 507
Join date : 2013-01-11
Location : Finland
- Post n°9
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by finarashi Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:35 am
I read it and ejoyed the parts that delt with Kano's students. The portrait of Kano part was similar to the ones that have been done several times in the past.
Cichorei Kano- Posts : 1948
Join date : 2013-01-16
Age : 864
Location : the Holy See
- Post n°10
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Cichorei Kano Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:39 am
Finarishi,finarashi wrote:I read it and ejoyed the parts that delt with Kano's students. The portrait of Kano part was similar to the ones that have been done several times in the past.
Does the book have bibliographic section ? If so, what kinds of sources are in there ? I am interested to know. I figure NBK might be curious too.
finarashi- Posts : 507
Join date : 2013-01-11
Location : Finland
- Post n°11
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by finarashi Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:47 am
I have the book on my table at home and I will answer when I get back there.
NBK- Posts : 1298
Join date : 2013-01-10
Location : Tokyo, Japan
- Post n°12
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by NBK Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:26 am
I thought I _was_ being generous in a tough love sort of way..... Maybe i shd use more smiley thingeesCichorei Kano wrote:You must not have met NBK ! Everything that does not end in you being struck down, gunned down, slashed down, is actually a gesture of appreciation, ha, ha, ha, ha !!Jihef wrote:OK.NBK wrote:It appears Stevens introduces some of the characters that trained under Kano.
I assume it will introduce some facts not well known
NBK
I cannot say this looks like an enthousiastic endorsment.
Will dig deeper about Stevens then…
Sorry, NBK, just kidding !
Stevens has written fairly light, easy to read martial arts intro books, and I'm sure he has introduced arts and their masters to a lot of people who'd never touch something that might please CK and his ilk. Or me. I think that a great thing. I think he teaches undergrads, not sociology PHDs.
I'll buy it because I am obsessive compulsive in my judo book collection, but I'll hate myself in the morning... :-((. But seriously I also think all decent efforts shd be supported and applauded.
Except for CK, who shd prepare to be slashed down. Nothing personal, it's just business.
NBK
Cichorei Kano- Posts : 1948
Join date : 2013-01-16
Age : 864
Location : the Holy See
- Post n°13
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Cichorei Kano Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:12 am
Agree. I am familiar with his book on Yamaoka Tesshu and that one I would certainly recommend.NBK wrote:
I thought I _was_ being generous in a tough love sort of way..... Maybe i shd use more smiley thingees
Stevens has written fairly light, easy to read martial arts intro books, and I'm sure he has introduced arts and their masters to a lot of people who'd never touch something that might please CK and his ilk. Or me. I think that a great thing. I think he teaches undergrads, not sociology PHDs.
NBK wrote:
I thought I _was_ being generous in a tough love sort of way..... Maybe i shd use more smiley thingees
But seriously I also think all decent efforts shd be supported and applauded.
Except for CK, who shd prepare to be slashed down. Nothing personal, it's just business.
NBK
I'll put my kunoichi on high alert tonight.
Jihef- Posts : 222
Join date : 2013-09-06
Location : Brussels, Belgium
- Post n°14
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Jihef Wed Sep 25, 2013 6:10 pm
NBK,NBK wrote:I thought I _was_ being generous in a tough love sort of way..... Maybe i shd use more smiley thingees
Stevens has written fairly light, easy to read martial arts intro books, and I'm sure he has introduced arts and their masters to a lot of people who'd never touch something that might please CK and his ilk. Or me. I think that a great thing. I think he teaches undergrads, not sociology PHDs.
I'll buy it because I am obsessive compulsive in my judo book collection, but I'll hate myself in the morning... :-((. But seriously I also think all decent efforts shd be supported and applauded.
Except for CK, who shd prepare to be slashed down. Nothing personal, it's just business.
NBK
you were being generous, that was understood.
And that made me look around about his previous work. Looks so-so. Especially that it seems he believed in Ueshiba's almighty ki…
Problem is, there are not so many books to read on the subject… if you don't understand japanese that is. Sadly.
JF
NBK- Posts : 1298
Join date : 2013-01-10
Location : Tokyo, Japan
- Post n°15
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by NBK Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:20 am
One expects that one doesn't make 7dan in the Aikikai, which is Professor Stevens' aikido rank (7 out of 8, mind you) without appropriate homage to Ueshiba sensei.Jihef wrote:NBK,NBK wrote:I thought I _was_ being generous in a tough love sort of way..... Maybe i shd use more smiley thingees
Stevens has written fairly light, easy to read martial arts intro books, and I'm sure he has introduced arts and their masters to a lot of people who'd never touch something that might please CK and his ilk. Or me. I think that a great thing. I think he teaches undergrads, not sociology PHDs.
I'll buy it because I am obsessive compulsive in my judo book collection, but I'll hate myself in the morning... :-((. But seriously I also think all decent efforts shd be supported and applauded.
Except for CK, who shd prepare to be slashed down. Nothing personal, it's just business.
NBK
you were being generous, that was understood.
And that made me look around about his previous work. Looks so-so. Especially that it seems he believed in Ueshiba's almighty ki…
Problem is, there are not so many books to read on the subject… if you don't understand japanese that is. Sadly.
JF
Jihef, there is not much at all in Japanese, either, only disjointed pieces - intros to books, articles, speeches...
I have the raw outline of a book that might interest you if I get it done. I've reached the point of diminishing returns on collecting sources, and no more shelf or floor space, so time, I think, to focus on organization and to start writing it. All I need is a couple of years. Maybe I'll raise a couple of million US$ on Kickstarter to fund my lifestyle from the
The problem is that I may have to leave Japan after and I'm not ready....
But it's all there, hidden in plain sight. If you look in the right places.
NBK
"The solutions all are simple... after you've already arrived at them. But they're simple only when you already know what they are."
- Robert M. Pirsig
finarashi- Posts : 507
Join date : 2013-01-11
Location : Finland
- Post n°16
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by finarashi Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:48 am
Here are my insights to the book.
It is mostly text and few pictures. Pictures are also mostly of Kano and from known sources. Only exceptions are pictures of kano's most known students like Hiro Takeo, Horota Koki, Toku Sambo (With young Mifune) and especially nice are photos of Kano's calligraphy in the end
Primary references; Collected works of Jigiro Kano vols. 10-13, Collected writings of Jigiro Kano vols. 1-3, Kano Jigoro 1964, Dainihon Judoshi, Kano Jigoro 1964, Kano Jigoro 1944, Kano Jigoro 2011, Kano Jigoro 1979 and books by Jigiro Kano Judo Primer
Secondary references; large number of Japanese and english biographies of Kano and his students as well as articles from Judo 1938 and Hiden 18 articles
References to these in the book itself I could not find.
Book consists of four parts
I Chapters 1&2 Kano
II Chapter 3 Creating Judo
III Chapter 4 Kano's students
IV Chapter 5 Teachings
The book is easy to read ans is recommended to all who want to find about Kano. Part I consists of (IMHO) similar text of Kano that has been repeated often. So if one wants to find something new it is not there, but for overview that is easy to read it is there. Also no negative comments or even hints of failures are presented. The most interesting parts deal with people who influeneced Kano like Bigelow, Fenollosa, Yanagi Soetsu, Okakuro Ttenshin and Kaishu Katsu. It is always good to read of influential people.
The second part of creating judo is very short pp. 95-111. This seems like bits and pieces have been thrown together.
The third part is the real gem of the book. This contains short bios of Kano's students. Even if one has read of the first students, then there are plenty more. Prominent japanese, female and even Chinese students are colourfully described and plenty of new material is found here in english.
The fourth part of teachings of kano is also very short pp. 191 - 202 and consists mostly of what Kano wrote as calligraphy.
If you want to find about kano's studentd do read the book. If you want to find about Kano this book contains all the standard stuff. If you want to find about the birth of Judo and its teachings we still have to wait.
It is mostly text and few pictures. Pictures are also mostly of Kano and from known sources. Only exceptions are pictures of kano's most known students like Hiro Takeo, Horota Koki, Toku Sambo (With young Mifune) and especially nice are photos of Kano's calligraphy in the end
Primary references; Collected works of Jigiro Kano vols. 10-13, Collected writings of Jigiro Kano vols. 1-3, Kano Jigoro 1964, Dainihon Judoshi, Kano Jigoro 1964, Kano Jigoro 1944, Kano Jigoro 2011, Kano Jigoro 1979 and books by Jigiro Kano Judo Primer
Secondary references; large number of Japanese and english biographies of Kano and his students as well as articles from Judo 1938 and Hiden 18 articles
References to these in the book itself I could not find.
Book consists of four parts
I Chapters 1&2 Kano
II Chapter 3 Creating Judo
III Chapter 4 Kano's students
IV Chapter 5 Teachings
The book is easy to read ans is recommended to all who want to find about Kano. Part I consists of (IMHO) similar text of Kano that has been repeated often. So if one wants to find something new it is not there, but for overview that is easy to read it is there. Also no negative comments or even hints of failures are presented. The most interesting parts deal with people who influeneced Kano like Bigelow, Fenollosa, Yanagi Soetsu, Okakuro Ttenshin and Kaishu Katsu. It is always good to read of influential people.
The second part of creating judo is very short pp. 95-111. This seems like bits and pieces have been thrown together.
The third part is the real gem of the book. This contains short bios of Kano's students. Even if one has read of the first students, then there are plenty more. Prominent japanese, female and even Chinese students are colourfully described and plenty of new material is found here in english.
The fourth part of teachings of kano is also very short pp. 191 - 202 and consists mostly of what Kano wrote as calligraphy.
If you want to find about kano's studentd do read the book. If you want to find about Kano this book contains all the standard stuff. If you want to find about the birth of Judo and its teachings we still have to wait.
NBK- Posts : 1298
Join date : 2013-01-10
Location : Tokyo, Japan
- Post n°17
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by NBK Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:13 am
I quickly read it.
I agree with Finarashi's assessment above.
Either John Stevens is secretly a Kano fanatic to have researched all this or he was a secret lurker at the old JudoForum website; there is a lot of info that seems to have come from hints on that site. Also, there is a lot more, much of original research in English, and mostly new in Japanese or very obscure. Wading through the reams of material available, particularly compared to the paucity of material on Ueshiba Morihei, must be a new experience for an aikidoka like Professor Stevens.
I found it very jarring that there are no direct citations, as I'd like to doublecheck what I think are some minor errors, particularly since Stevens is an academic. C'est la vie. Probably not pertinent to the mass market, but most of the references are collections of Kano's writings, which literally span decades and a number of publications.
Well worth reading if you want to understand better the influences upon and the influence and contacts of Kano shihan, and some of the universe of people touched by the long, active life of that fascinating man. Available on Kindle at a modest price, too.
NBK
I agree with Finarashi's assessment above.
Either John Stevens is secretly a Kano fanatic to have researched all this or he was a secret lurker at the old JudoForum website; there is a lot of info that seems to have come from hints on that site. Also, there is a lot more, much of original research in English, and mostly new in Japanese or very obscure. Wading through the reams of material available, particularly compared to the paucity of material on Ueshiba Morihei, must be a new experience for an aikidoka like Professor Stevens.
I found it very jarring that there are no direct citations, as I'd like to doublecheck what I think are some minor errors, particularly since Stevens is an academic. C'est la vie. Probably not pertinent to the mass market, but most of the references are collections of Kano's writings, which literally span decades and a number of publications.
Well worth reading if you want to understand better the influences upon and the influence and contacts of Kano shihan, and some of the universe of people touched by the long, active life of that fascinating man. Available on Kindle at a modest price, too.
NBK
Jihef- Posts : 222
Join date : 2013-09-06
Location : Brussels, Belgium
- Post n°18
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Jihef Mon Nov 04, 2013 6:50 pm
Thank you to both of you.NBK wrote:I agree with Finarashi's assessment above.
Richard Riehle- Posts : 79
Join date : 2013-06-22
Location : California
- Post n°19
Re: The Way of Judo: A portrait of Jigoro Kano and his students
by Richard Riehle Sun Jun 15, 2014 5:41 pm
JFTW wrote:http://www.shambhala.com/the-way-of-judo.html
Can anyone provide any feedback on this work?
I am reading it this evening. Enjoying it immensely. There are some of the well-known anecdotes, of course. However, Stevens does a good job of putting much of what we already know in the context of the era.
US$ = 15.95 for paperback version
Barnes & Noble has limited number in stock
Chapter 1 The Public Career of Jigoro Kano page 1 - 66
Chapter 2 Kano, The Man Himself page 67 - 93
Chapter 3 The Challenge of Creating Kodokan Judo page 95 - 111
Chapter 4 Kano and His Students Page 113 - 190
Chapter 5 The Teachings of Jigoro Kano page 191 -213
Resources and Bibliography page 215 - 224
Stevens is an excellent researcher and entertaining as well as informative writer. He manages to craft a book which, even though it contains much material that has been published before, is made more relevant by fixing each passage in its historical context. This helps us to understand what we thought we knew in a new light.
Chapter 5 is particularly interesting. Stevens describes many of Kano's early students such as the well-known "four kings/gods" of early Judo. He goes beyond that to give us insight into other early greats such as Munakata, Takeo Hirose, Reijiro Wakatsuki, Koki Hirota,
Ryohei Uchida, Kunisaburo Iizuka (especially interesting for me), Nagaoka, Mifune, and many more. This chapter alone made it worth my while to read the book.
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