Reading List

Book Title	Author	Description	Rank
Karate-Do, My Way of Life	Gichin Funakoshi	Stories of Okinawan karate's forefathers and martial arts philosophies from the founder of Shotokan Karate.	Must own!
My Journey With The Grandmaster	Bill Hayes	Major Bill Hayes recounts his experiences in karate training while stationed on Okinawa as a US Marine following a tour of duty in Vietnam with Eizo Shimabukuro.	Must own!
Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth Behind Karate's Fighting Origins	Bruce D. Clayton	In-depth history of Shotokan's masters including contributions to the art and in-depth analysis of Shuri kata and techniques.	Must own!
The Unfettered Mind	Takuan Soho	Takuan's writing is light on sword-handling and heavy on the spiritual side.	Must own!
Hagakure	Yamamoto Tsunetomo	The most influential of all samurai treatises ever written.	Must own!
Yojokun	Kaibara Ekiken	Life lessons from a samurai.	Must own!
The Book of Five Rings	Miyamoto Musashi	Musashi's work should be studied, not simply read.	Must own!
Shotokan's Secret; Second Edition	Bruce D. Clayton	Includes extended history and more bunkai for defending a sword barehanded.	Must own!
The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate	Gichin Funakoshi	Guide to the spiritual practice of karate.	Must own!
The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do	Shoshin Nagamine	History of Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu including step-by-step walkthroughs of kata by Matsubayashi grandmaster Nagamine.	Must own!
Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques	Mark Bishop	History and current information on many styles of Okinawan karate and kobudo. Includes detailed lineage charts and accounts from some of karate's current and past masters.	Must own!
Tao of Jeet Kune Do	Bruce Lee	Practical fighting techniques and martial arts philosophy from Bruce Lee.	Must own!
The Bubishi, The Classical Manual of Combat	Patrick McCarthy	Ancient document of combat tradition and Chinese medicine handed down through karate's greatest masters.	Must own!
H2H: Hand To Hand Combat	Greg Thompson & Kid Peligro	An extensive guide on combat techniques and training exercises.	Must own!
The Fighter's Body	Loren W. Christensen & Wim Demeere	A complete guide to nutrition and exercises for the martial arts.	Must own!
Ultimate Flexibility	Sang H. Kim	The ultimate guide to stretching and increasing flexibility. Includes sets of stretches most effective for certain training sessions.	Must own!
Master Class Karate	Fay Goodman	A detailed guide to weapons, techniques, stretches and history of Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Judo and Shotokan karate.	Must own!
The Art of War	Sun Tzu	The Swiss army knife of military theory.	Must own!
Pressure Point Fighting	Rick Clark	How and when to use pressure points in combat situations. Includes bunkai of Shuri kata and lists of vital points.	Worth reading.
The Essence of Karate	Gichin Funakoshi	Funakoshi creates a narrative of karate, from it's origins to it's very essence.	Worth reading.
The Spirit of Okinawan Karate	Fusei Kise	A biography and history of Hanshi Kise and his dojo.	Worth readind.
Okinawan Karate-Do	OSMKKF (Okinawa Shorin-Ryu Matsumura Seito Karate Kobudo Federation)	A history of Matsumura Seito Shorin-Ryu.	Worth reading.
Practical Kung Fu	Waysun "Johnny" Tsai	An extensive guide to fast and effective street fighting self-defense.	Worth reading.
The Ultimate Guide To Conditioning	Mark Hatmaker	Illustrated book of strength training and core workouts to enhance your martial arts training.	Worth reading.
Bruce Lee's Fighting Method: Self-Defense Techniques	Bruce Lee & M. Uyehara	Effective street self-defense techniques anyone can learn.	Decent read.
The Karate Way, Discovering the Spirit of Practice	Dave Lowry	Martial arts philosophy and answers to your questions on the Way.	Decent read.
Karate's Grappling Methods	Iain Abernathy
Okinawa: Island of Karate	George Alexander
Shotokan Karate: A Precise History	Harry Cook
Karate-Do Kyohan	Gichin Funakoshi
Karate-Do Nyumon	Gichin Funakoshi
To-Te Justu	Gichin Funakoshi
The Weaponless Warriors	Richard Kim
Isshinryu Kusanku Kata Secrets Revealed	Javier Martinez
Isshinryu Chinto Kata Secrets Revealed	Javier Martinez
Isshinryu Naihanchi Kata Secrets Revealed	Javier Martinez
The Classical Kata of Okinawan Karate.	Patrick McCarthy
Unante, The Secrets of Karate	John Sells
Karate's History and Traditions	Bruce Haines
Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts	Patrick McCarthy
The Essential Karate Book	Graeme Lund
Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters	Shoshin Nagamine
The Way to Black Belt	Lawrence Kayne
Bunkai Jutsu	Iain Abernathy
The Life-Giving Sword	Yagyu Munenori
History and Traditions of Okinawan Karate	Tetsuhiro Hokama
Karate Do Dai Kan	Genwa Nakasone
Three Budo Masters	John Stevens
Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karate-Do	Eiichi Miyazato
Perfection of Character	Teruyuki Okazaki