Budo Secrets: Teachings of the Martial Arts Masters

by John Stevens

Book Overview

In Budo --which can be translated as "The way of brave and enlightened activity"--martial arts and spirituality merge at the highest level of skill. Budo Secrets contains the essential teachings of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570629153
• ISBN13: 9781570629150
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Shambhala
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.6" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Good Stuff

John Stevens has given us some great books over the years. While my favorite is The Sword of No Sword by Tesshu and I have also enjoyed some of his Ueshiba books, Budo Secrets is really a nice book. Too often these collections include an excerpt from some larger work. Not really the case here. One of my favorites comes from the Bukyo Shigen Goden Ryu and describes the true rununciate master: 1) Experience cold, heat, and rain by scaling high mountains and crossing deep valleys. 2) Rest in open fields, and sleep in the mountians. 3) Never store money or food,and never wear warm clothes. 4) Travel everywhere to engage in contests. 5) Reside in graveyards, haunted houses, or among wild beasts. 6) Associate with dangerous criminals. 7) Live off the land among peasants. That was one hard-core crew (ryu) that rolled like that. Try spending a summer living outdoors away from people training. See what it does to you. This is really a must have book that requires multiple reads and deep meditation. It's brought me a lot of pleasure. Enjoy!

Great principles taken from various Budo masters of the past.

This small hardcover edition has become one of my favorite books in my personal collection. I have had the pleasure of reading this book numerous times. I do not know one book where you can find summaries of so many basic budo masters and their guiding principles. This volume contains three parts. Part one deals with the principles of budo. In this section you will find Ki-ichi-Hogen's secrets of technique, Musashi's self-precepts and nine articles, seven hardships for martial training, eight essentials for novice swordsmen, Gichin Funakoshi's twenty principles of karate, twenty rules for lifelong training and numerous other educational principles. Part two of this great book covers the philosophy of budo through various stories like the marvelous techniques of the old cat and Tesshu Yamaoka's secret art of the carpenter's plane. This section also has the teachings of Morihei Ueshiba. The final part covers the tales of the masters. In conclusion, this book should be in every martial artist's personal library to read and enjoy over and over. This is a book that is a pleasure to read. I give this book my highest rating (five stars). Joseph J. Truncale

Good Book But I Wanted More...

I enjoyed this book, but at the same time was a little disappointed with it because of the amount of information it contain. There are many gems which can be found in this small book, but I found it to be a little light, meaning that it is only 109 pages long and of those pages, there are many blank pages, empty space, and pictures. So the information that it does contain has merit, but I found myself wishing that it contained more. Stevens' states that the Budo texts are meant to be cryptic and that they aren't for "idiots." This is a way of saying that you do have to spend some time thinking about some of the tales, principles, and philosophies which are found in this book. Some are obvious and some are in fact a bit cryptic. Overall, I found this book enjoyable and did find it useful for those seeking the warrior lifestyle. My only problem with it was the amount of information that it contained. Bohdi Sanders, author of Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior

ALL the Great Budo Masters sayings, rules & precepts ALL in one place.

All the ancient and modern sayings of our great budo masters in a nutshell. Written in three parts;- Part 1) The Principles of Budo lists all the strategies and precepts of the greatest of Budo masters. No explanation or commentary given and I feel none needed. Part 2) The Philosophy of Budo - some thoughts on interest and ancient practices and stories. Part 3) Tales of the Masters of Budo - some short and enlightening stories of the budo greats. A great introduction to Budo, its secrets revealed and a short history of how it all came about. The subject seems to be gaining much popularity these days and when you read some of the old budo classics that this book refers to, you'll soon discover how the old masters already knew what we seem to be striving to relearn in our modern age. Learn the wisdom and mistakes of the past and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. The stories, rules and precepts are just as important today as they were when some of them where written down nearly a thousand years ago.

Elightening...

I must first say that i am not by any means an avid reader. Normally it would take me a month to get through a hundred pages. This book was the exception. I was completely absorbed by the contents of this book. Things that have been said to me over my 12 years of Aikido experience were finally made clear. I felt I had truly learned something after finishing this book and I plan on using that knowledge to teach my students more about what it is we are trying to accomplish in the dojo and in life. Thanks John for such a wonderful book. Truly enlightening.