A Beginner's Guide to Aikido

I loved this book because it was so encouraging and I could not believe that I was reading an interview by Steven Seagal, my hero. I am taking aikido and he pointed out that one should empty oneself like a cup and be humble in the dojo. That is what I tried to do.

I found A Beginner's Guide to Aikido to be most informative. It covers everything that a beginning aikido student needs to know. It is easy reading and has excellent information for future reference. I particularly enjoyed the comments by Aikido Masters Steven Seagal, Mitsunari Kanai and Mitsugi Saotome respectively. This text is recommended for my students study.

Reynosa Sensei has gathered the essentials and details of the day-to-day practice of Aikido, as well as in-depth interviews and articles with Aikido masters, and brought them into one comprehensive guide. Japanese dojo etiquete is complex and seemingly random to outsiders. This book provides the Aikido practitioners, beginner and experienced alike, with a manual to these nuances. Concise explanations to any number of practices can be found here, and the interview with Steven Seagal Sensei provides a rare view into the mind and motivations of the most famous and accomplished of Aikido masters since O-Sensei himself! Interviews with other masters of this gentle art round out the abstract portion of this presentation. If you're curious about the art, this book is for you. If you've recently signed up for Aikido and remain unsure of how to act or the meanings behind things, this is for you. If you've been studying Aikido for a number of years, you'll still find a number of revelations. No picture book, this is cover-to-cover information, including terminology, descriptions of basic techniques, etc. I heartily recommend it; Reynosa's book is required reading for my students.