Reference and Reading

Japanese and Korean History

Sources of Korean Tradition, Volume 1 (Peter H. Lee and William Theodore de Bary, editors) Columbia University Press.

Korea Old and New: a History (Eckert, Lee, Lew, Robinson, Wagner, et. al.) Korea Institute, Harvard University Press, 1990.

Court and Bakufu in Japan (Jeffrey P. Mass) Yale University Press, 1982.

The Art of Zen Sword: the History of Shim Gum Do (Chang Sik Kim and Maria Kim) American Buddhist Shim Gum Do Association, 1985.

The Way of the Samurai (Richard Storry).

Bushido: The Way of the Warrior (John Newman).

The Sword of No-Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu (John Stevens).

Japanese Swords

The Japanese Sword (Kanzan Sato) Japanese Art Library: Kodansha Books. A beautiful book, the first book to buy to appreciate the art of the Japanese sword. --RTJ

The Samurai Sword (John Yumoto) Tuttle Books. A must-have for the sword collector. --RTJ

The Craft of the Japanese Sword (Leon and Hiroko Kapp and Yoshindo Yoshihara). A must-have for the sword restorer. --RTJ

The Japanese Sword (Gregory Irvine).

Military Swords of Japan 1868-1945 (Fuller and Gregory)

Swords of Imperial Japan 1868-1945 (Jim Dawson)

Japanese Master Swordsmiths: The Gassan Tradition (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

The Connoisseurs Book of Japanese Swords (Kokan Nagayama) Kodansha Books. Highly technical. --RTJ

Arms and Armor of the Samurai (Ian Bottomley and A. P. Hopson) Crescent Books. A mix of history and the development of armor. --RTJ

Korean and Japanese Weapon Martial Arts

The Fighting Weapons of Korean Martial Arts (In Hyuk Suh and Jane Hallander) Unique Publications, 1988.

Muye Dobo Tongji: The Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts of Ancient Korea (written by Yi Duk-moo and Park Je-ga; Sang H. Kim, PhD, translator) 2000.

Koryu Bujutsu: Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan (Diane Skoss, editor) Koryu Books, 1995.

Bokken: Art of the Japanese Sword (Dave Lowry) Ohara Publications.

Bo: Karate Weapon of Self Defense (Fumio Demura) Ohara Publications.

Shinkage-ryu Sword Techniques (Tadashige Watanabe) Sugawara Martial Arts / Japane Publications.

This Is Kendo (J. Sasamori & G. Warner) Tuttle Books.

Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts (Donn Draeger and Robert Smith)

Legacies of the Sword: The Kashima-Shinryu and Samurai Martial Culture (Karl F. Friday awith Seki Humitake) University of Hawai'i Press

Modern Bujutsu and Budo (Donn Draeger)

Ninjutsu: The Art of Invisibility (Donn Draeger)

Western Sword Books

Medieval Combat (Hans Talhoffer).

Records of the Medieval Sword (Ewart Oakeshott).

An Historical Guide to Arms and Armor (Stephen Bull).

A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor (George Cameron Stone). A dated yet still impressive (and massive) catalog. --RTJ

The Secret History of the Sword (J. Christoph Amberger) Multi-Media Books, 1998. This is one of my favorites. --RTJ

The Archaeology of Weapons (Ewart Oakeshott).

The Book of the Sword (Sir Richard F. Burton).

Martial Philosophy and Zen

The Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi, Cleary trans.).

The Art of War (Sun Tzu, Cleary trans.).

Tea Life, Tea Mind (Soshitsu Sen XV).

One Arrow, One Life (Kushner).

Zen in the Art of Archery (Eugene Herrigel).

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