Martial Arts Autobiographies

I haven't read it yet. Book is out of print.

While stationed in Okinawa with the Marines, Armstrong studys Isshinryu Karate under Tatsuo Shimabuku. It follows him back to the U.S., and leaves off discussing the fragmention of Isshinryu karate. This book goes in, and out of print.
 

I don't own it.

The text in the first half of the book is in Dutch, part of which is repeated in English in the second half of the book. It lacks any formatting such as paragraphs. It seems to have been translated into english by someone whose english is a second language. It is filled with spelling errors, and poor grammar. It has alot of great photos (all black and white). The author spends alot of time talking about how he did things for people, and then they backstabbed him. He also talks about how the Kyokushinkai orginization is corrupt, and how the legend of Mas Oyama is more manufactured myth than fact.

First half of book is autobiograpy, and second half is judo techniques, and training. It is a little dry to read. There are some interesting things, but the majority is recounting her wins and losses throughout her tournament career. Book is out of print.

Author started learning Shotokan karate at 13, and had his black belt at 16. After moving to Venezuela, he goes to a Shito Ryu school where they doubt his rank, and he is constantly being tested. He switches to a Tae Kwon Do school. Moving back to the USA, he makes the AAU All-American Karate Team, only to injure his wrist in his first outing. He goes to study Ryobukai karate in California. He competes in the Sabaki Challenge. He also recounts some of his experiences a police officer. Much of the book he uses to denounce traditional karate as not usuable for real fighting.

Book is about half autobiography, and about half history, and overview of Tai Chi. Author lives in the Vancouver, Canada area. Autobiographical stuff is not comprehensive, but is made up of a series of short experiences relating to Tai Chi.

Jackie Chan describes growing up in a Peking Opera school, as pretty much an indentured slave. Alot of his training would be considered child abuse in the United States. One of his 'big brothers' goes on to become Sammo Hung, and one of his 'little brothers' is Yuen Biao. The book details Chan's starting out in the movies as a stuntman, and on to his eventually starring in dozens of movies. There is a brief mention of a sparring match between Sammo Hung, and Bruce Lee which was interesting.

This is not a full autobiography, but a series of autobiographical episodes. The stories he relays are interesting. They are honest, and not necessarily self-flattering. A very good book that has me reading other titles by the same author.

Clarke grew up in the fringes of a Manchester gang getting in a lot of street fights. He ends up in jail. When he gets out he starts learning karate. He works his way up to Nidan. Upon failing his test for Sandan, he and his girlfriend travel unanounced to Okinawa to study with Morio Higaonna. The rest of the book discusses his goju ryu training under Higaonna.

Author studies Chito-ryu Karate under Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose in Japan while serving in the U.S. Army. He returns to the U.S. and after a time, opens a dojo, bringing Chito-ryu Karate to the United States. He eventually becomes one of Chitose's most senior students, and almost a son to his Sensei. Towards the end of the book, he describes how some of his students attempt to take control of his dojo, and the U.S. Chito-ryu organization that he started.

The books describes the rough and tumble world of karate in America during the 1960's, as Donnelly learns Isshinryu karate. It follows the author from the day he started learning karate, until the end of the book when he is a 6th dan. There are some great descriptions of tournament kumite.

Author learns martial arts while in Okinawa and Japan while serving in the military. He fights in a big tournament similar to Bloodsport. Returns to US to become a secret agent. In one scene he fights a guy with just one thumb, and the other hand behind his back (like Sean Connery in The Presidio). In another scene he claps his hands together, rubs them, and then tends to an injury (like Pat Morita in The Karate Kid). In another, he is killing people with throwing stars, etc, etc. My 'crap detector' was going off through the entire book. I think the author watches too many movies.

The Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport was based on the martial arts exploits of Frank Dux. Most of this book, however, details his career as an agent in the CIA, with only a small amount devoted to martial arts. There are some cool pictures though. Dux is a controversial person. People have brought forth proof that he made up much of the content of this book, but he does have his followers. This book is out of print, and hard to find.

Author starts learning sikaran and goju-ryu karate in college. Later goes on to study tae kwon do and get his black belt. After spending a year South America living with a tribe, he returns, regains his skills, and get his yidan. He then travels to Japan and studies Hontai Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu, Toyama Ryu Iaido. He wins the All Japan Toyama Ryu Iaido competition. Each chapter ends with philosophy.

A classic martial arts book that describes various events in Funakoshi's life. In this book he tells how he based his life on the philosophy of karate-do.

I just ordered it, but it appears to be by a woman who was a karate champion, but then became christian, and now sees the martial arts as occult.

I am currently reading it. Scarce.

The author is stationed in Okinawa after serving in Vietnam. He goes to study karate at the dojo of Grandmaster Eizo Shimabukuro. He already is a 2nd degree black belt, but discovers he has a lot to learn. This book is usually out of print, and very hard to find. But occasionally it is reprinted by the author. He can be contacted at oldstudent@adelphia.net

The author goes to teach Aikido to a group of Green Berets, but much of the book seems to deal with him trying to get them in touch with their feelings. There is too little aikido in the book. Way too touchy-feely.

Having studied karate under such teachers as Ed Parker, and Bruce Lee, the author uses the telling of various stories from his life to teach philosophical ideas.

Author discusses how he started karate by learning from books as a kid. A college student boarding with his family takes him to watch her shotokan karate classes. He learned mostly by watching. At 13 years old, he started takign Tae Kwon Do classes. In college, he switched to Isshinryu karate after he saw Master Joseph Smith practicing in his college gym. Some of the book talks about his applying karate to his job police officer. He also talks about the state of Isshinryu today.

I haven't read it yet.

I don't own it.

I don't own it. Read English Translation

The autobiographical part is short, being only about 30 pages out of 191 pages of the book. While interesting, it is superficial. The rest of the book consists of friends, family, and students talking about Grandmaster Kise, along with photos, and history. The english language version of this book is limited to 2000 copies.

Katsu, a low level samurai in early 1800's Japan, wrote the book in his elder years describing his misspent youth. He was a bit of a thug who stole from friends and family, lied, scammed people. He also was pretty tough, fighting, and beating many people. It has some funny scenes. It is a nice glimpse into life in Japan during that period.

This is a biography/autobiograpy of Michael Randall. The majority of the book is Michael Randall telling his own story, with short bits about Randall from people who knew him. Covers his starting karate in Britain, and studying under Vernon Bell, and the Hirokazu Kanazawa.

I am currently reading it.

While Joe Lewis may indeed be one of the best, if not the best karate tournament fighter in American history, he comes across as very arrogant in this book. The first part of the book has some biography, and autobiography. The second part cover his 'Joe Lewis American Karate Systems'.

Just started it.

Growing up in the suburbs, the author becomes the student of a Japanese neighbor, and learns kenjutsu. There is alot of history of the Samurai, and kenjutsu in old Japan mixed in with the autobiographical stuff. The kenjutsu described in Lowry's books is the old style koryu kenjutsu, as opposed to the new kendo, and iaido styles. He describes how he was taught sit, eat, and even go to the bathroom in Samurai fashion. Pretty interesting.

In this sequel to Autumn Lightning, this book follows the author several years later traveling to Japan to meet up with his teacher again, and as he expands his knowledge of Japan, and kenjutsu. There is more history in this book as well, but I think a little less than what was in Autumn Lightning.

The book details McSweeney's career in the military, and martial arts experiences. He started in judo, then moved to jujutsu, and then was refered to Ed Parker. He was one of Ed Parker's early students. Much of the book covers various encounters he has had, and shows the techniques he used. It seemed to me that many of his encounters could have been walked away from, but were fought out of ego. This book is very rare.

This is not truly an autobiography. It is a fictional account of a true story, written mostly from the viewpoint of Lenny Greenman. Greenman meets Steve Rinaldo, a kung fu adept, and troubled young man. Rinaldo begins teaching kung fu to Greenman and some others. Rinaldo challenges Yang, a crooked "kung-fu karate" teacher who also teaches on campus which triggers some attempts on Rinaldo's life. At the end of the book, Rinaldo faces Yang's top student in a full contact tournament. I thought it had a similar 'feel' to Karate Is A Thing Of The Spirit by Harry Crews.

Pretty much this book ticked me off. Author recieves incompetent karate instruction as kid, and then procedes to get his butt kicked in his first fight. He uses much of the rest of the book bad mouthing karate, and learning kung fu from apparently by watching Bruce Lee movies. There was a blatent factual error (refering to "page eleven of Masutaku Oyama's Best Karate"...Oyama didn't write the Best Karate books, Nakayama did. Then he describes Oyama's kicks as slow, stiff and impractical...) that left me scratching my head. I emailed author asking him about this, but he never bothered to email me back. On the other hand, he did write a revealing biography of Bruce Lee as opposed to many of the books that describe Lee as a god on earth.

The author talks about how he started in karate as a kid, and later starts to learn Kyokushin karate in it's early days under Mas Oyama. He goes to America and becomes a high ranking person in the Kyokushinkai organization. He later leaves to start his own school called Seido Juku. The book does not paint a pretty picture of Mas Oyama. In the last quarter of the book, the author talks about how his school is set up, and his philosophy. 

Nicol goes to Japan to learn karate. After exploring the various major styles, he decides to study Shotokan karate. Among his friends is Donn Draeger. This book was out of print for a long time, and has just recently come back into print. This book is a classic, and is referenced by many other books. Pick it up before it goes out of print again. 

The book starts out with Ninomiya studying Judo, and then discovering Kyokushin Karate. He set his goals on winning the All-Japan karate tournament, which after some failures, he eventually does. He leaves the Kyokushinkai organization to create his own style called Enshin karate. 

Norris learns Tang Soo Do while stationed in Korea. Later in the book he describes winning various tournaments in the U.S., and starting his own schools. Finally going on to star in many movies. Some of his interactions with Bruce Lee, and Ed Parker, and even Elvis Presley are described in the book. This book is out of print. 

This is about 2/3 biography of Ozawa (written with Ozawa), and 1/3 autobiography by Ozawa. Ozawa trained in karate under various Okinawan karate masters such as Kenwa Mabuni, and Gichin Funakoshi. He served as a kamikaze pilot surviving when his plane crashed. The book follows his life in a rollercoaster ride of being rich, then poor, then rich again, and then poor again. Additional info from publisher

Excellent book. I had a hard time putting it down. Pulver is brutally honest in telling his story. The story starts with his abusive drunk father sticking a shotgun in young Jen's mouth threatening to kill him. He is really harsh on Seattle describing it as a hellhole. (I grew up there, and it is not nearly like he describes -RJ) The follow his involvement in wrestling from boys club to college. His life gets messy, and he drops out of college. Eventually he manages to pull things together. He gets involved in mixed martial arts. The book follows him from the Shamrock training camp to the Miletich training camp to his winning the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and then defending his title. Great book!

Jhoon Rhee recounts his relationship with Bruce Lee. Includes a lot of coorespondence between the two. A little self serving, but still interesting.

The author starts learning kenpo karate while stationed on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam war. He is exposed to other styles while in various ports. The book skips forward to his being back home in the U.S., and furthering his karate training, and eventually opening up his own dojo. He skips over large segments of time, which might have been interesting, and makes a reference to a teacher of questionable credentials, but doesn't go into detail. Reading about the author's style of dojo, he reminds me of John Kreese from the Karate Kid movie. 

This is a classic! Author travels in China, teaching english, and learning various forms of wushu from different people including Pan Qingfu, and meeting many interesting people. Also made into a movie under the same name.

Salzman tells of his growing up in the suburbs in the 1970's watching Kung Fu on TV, and Bruce Lee movies. He practices his TV learned kung fu in his Connecticut basement wearing black dyed pajamas, and a bald wig, until he finally starts taking kung fu from a real teacher. He laters goes off college to study Chinese. Salzman has a great sense of humor in his writing. The descriptions of the kung fu classes in the book actually sound like a karate class. This a fun book to read. 

This is the author's true autobiography as opposed to Spirit Of The Empty Hand. He describes having learned judo, and having a judo school. He began learning karate from a book. Soon people were asking him to teach them karate. After teaching karate for a while, he was convinced to go to Japan, and formally study karate. He went to Japan for a few months, and was given a brown belt. He returned to South Africa, and continued to teach. The book follows his experiences up to his achieving 7th dan.

I don't own it. Read English Translation

I am currently reading it.

Sutton travels throughout Asia studying different forms of taijiquan and baguazhang from various masters. The book is kind of slow and jumps around alot. I did learn a lot about tai chi chuan.

I just got it, and haven't read it yet.

Thompson had studied martial arts including karate and judo, but was full of fear of violence. He decided to face his fears by putting himself into a situation where he would have to face violence. He took a job as a doorman (bouncer) at an english pub in a very rough area. He soon decided that traditional martial arts wouldn't cut it in real street situations, and began to learn street fighting techniques. There is a little bit of martial arts in here, but mostly street fighting stuff. Lots of British slang. This book is out of print. 

Twigger, the author, while living in Japan decides to take Aikido with his roomates. He ends up in the special, much more intense Riot Police program where endurance, and survival are stressed.

Author and wife meet Tai Chi Master Henry Wang in Taiwan and begin to study Tai Chi. Upon returning to Canada, they open the way for Henry to emigrate to Canada. Author goes on to become a senior student. Book slowly goes from being a chronological autobiography to discussing Henry's Tai Chi philosophy.

Book written from video taped conversations. There is some redundancy as the video taped conversations seemed to have been at different times, and repeated some material. It covers his time as a kid before karate, and then starting and running a school. Almost none was devoted to his actually learning karate. I would have liked to have read more of that.

I don't own a copy. I have never read it.

The first half of the book describes Shamrock growing up as a pretty wild kid, to eventually being adopted. He is pretty large, and learns wrestling. He competes in some toughman contests, and does well. He learns of shootfighting in Japan, and finds he has alot to learn. The book follows his figthing career in the Ultimate Fighting Championships, and gives some interesting behind the scenes looks at the UFC. The second half of the book is an overview of Shamrock's shootfighting system.

This is a biography of Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushinkai karate. It describes his harsh training in the mountains punching trees, and his bull fights where he killed bulls with a punch. It is an overview of his life. It is by no means complete, but it is interesting. 

This is written as an autobiography, but is actually based on detailed research by the author. It is written as what it would have been like actually training under Gichin Funakoshi. Book is out of print.

This is not truly an autobiography. It is written as an autobiography, but is based on the amalgamated history of multiple people, with a large part coming from the author's own experiences. It describes someone starting karate as a white belt working their way up to Nidan, then travelling to japan to study, and earning their Sandan.