Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido

Books to do with Morihei Ueshiba are a must for the Aikido student, this book is loaded with great text and photos. Also recommend "The Art of Peace".

I originally bought this for my best friend, a random gift. He use to practice Aikido when he was younger and I was hoping to get him interested in it. However the book never left my house because I read the book and decided to keep it for myself. Greedy? Sure. The book is very nice because of the way it is written. It shows poetry written by O'Sensei as well as a brief story of his life. The most interesting part however is the fact that the person who created Aikido appears in the techniques. He is, by the looks of it, in his 30s and 40s, so he does not resemble the famous old man that people reconize. The photos, for there age, are quite detailed. I recommend this for any martial artist.

Includes a short description of O-Sensei's life. This book deals mainly with the aiki-bujutsu techniques as prescribed by O-Sensei. A must for anyone who intends to explore the full combat ability of Aikido. Most techniques shown require critical study as detailed description is not available.

Another important book for anyone interested in understanding O-Sensei's Aikido. Often we find people who express deeply held opinions on what the Founder said or believed based entirely on second and third hand information. This book contains the words of O-Sensei himself along with copious pictures of the founder doing technique. Dating from the 1930's these words and pictures come from a time in which O-Sensei's Enlightenment experience had reshaped his vision of Budo. At the same time at the age of around fifty years old he was still at the peak of his physical powers so the Aikido of this time illustrates the balance between the martial and the spiritual elements of Aikido more than at any other time in its history.

Introduced by a detailed biography of Morihei Ueshiba, and finalized with Very good pictures of O-Sensei performing various techniques. The only words to describe the book are ones in it.