Being the author of several books on martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it’s definitely worth having. One of those books is “Zen Combat” by Jay Gluck.
This is a very well written book and I believe it is no longer in print. I ended up finding the copy I have in an old bookstore several years ago. This book provides you with outstanding information on the history of mainly Japanese martial arts and its philosophy.
1. The story of the bull; Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama and Karate Kyokushin-kai:
This section covers a large, albeit brief, biography of Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama and how he came to learn the art of Karate. Included in this biography are stories about his training style or technique, his first tour of the United States in the early 1950s, which was also the first time the art of karate was demonstrated in the United States. he visited another famous karate master, Gogen “Cat” Yamaguchi.
This section of the book concludes with some basic information from Mas on techniques and training methods, karate etiquette and principles, descriptions of various punches, blocks and kicks, kata or forms with Heian or Pinan Nidan described and illustrated. There is also a very good section on belt rank and its importance.
Of particular interest, there is an excellent section on how to form a proper Shuto or knife hand strike, and on how to condition your hands to deliver powerful blows.
2. Why the Zen of Zen Combat; Philosophy of martial arts:
This section is primarily devoted to the early history of martial arts and its philosophy, and how Zen complements them. This is actually a very good albeit short section on the history of martial arts.
3. Kendo; The way of the sword:
In this section, the author briefly talks about Miyamoto Musashi, who was the greatest samurai swordsman in Japan. In addition to Musashi, he also talks about the art of Kendo and the samurai sword, and the basic techniques used to produce a samurai sword. These techniques include; the proper grip, en-garde, strike, and the I-ai or “quick draw.”
The rest of this particular section is devoted to various weapons used by the samurai such as; the naginata, bo staff, spears, etc.
4. Kyudo; The path of archery:
This section begins with a brief history of the bow in Japanese history and then quickly dives into how Zen came to be incorporated into Japanese archery and why it is still practiced that way even today.
The author gives a very detailed explanation about the equipment, ritual, and techniques associated with Japanese archery. This is a very comprehensive and well presented, albeit basic, analysis of this impressive art form.
5. Dance; Dervishes of the Force:
We begin this section with a trip to Iran and its traditional dance in its House of Strength. This was very informative and totally new to me, even though the ideas expressed were not. The author also discusses the importance of dance and music for martial arts if one really wants to master them.
There is an excellent section included here that discusses how to breathe and train your body through the use of certain breathing techniques. It also has a section dedicated to cleansing the body through the use of “cold training”. This section ends with a brief history of the art of ninjitsu.
6.Aiki; Luke: 4-28:
This is perhaps the best section of this book and it covers the art of Aikido and its teacher, Morihei Ueshiba. This section is quite detailed and recounts various exploits of the Aikido master. It also briefly explains some of the techniques and principles associated with this amazing art form.
This book was originally written and printed in the early 1960’s and therefore I don’t know if it is still available or not. You may have to go online or search your local used book stores to find it, but if you do, definitely get your hands on it. You will not regret.