Until you’ve consumed all of the best Aikido books, can you even claim to be a true fan?
1. The Art of Peace: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido (1992)
These inspirational teachings show that the real way of the warrior is based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature. Drawn from the talks and writings of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the popular Japanese martial art known as Aikido, The Art of Peace, presented here in a pocket-sized edition, offers a nonviolent way to victory and a convincing counterpoint to such classics as Musashi’s Book of Five Rings and Sun Tzu’s Art of War….
2. Aikido Basics: Everything you need to get started in Aikido – from basic footwork and throws to training (Tuttle Martial Arts Basics) (2018)
Are you ready to learn aikido, but don’t know where to begin? Are you intimidated by the unfamiliar terms or the powerful aikido techniques? With Aikido Basics you’ll become an expert in this Japanese martial art in no time! Whether you are considering taking up this martial art, or you’ve already started, this aikido book offers an easy, yet comprehensive introduction to everything you need to know to feel confident and be successful….
3. Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere: An Illustrated Introduction (Tuttle Martial Arts) (2001)
Aikido was created in Japan in the 1920’s by Morihei Ueshiba, also known as Osensei. To possess the skills, techniques and attitude of the faithful practitioner of aikido, one must achieve a very high level of integration of the powers of mind and body, the harmonious combination of physical means and ethical motives. By controlling body position and learning how to harmonize important physical and mental abilities, anyone (regardless of size, strength or weight) can fend off attacks using this sophisticated martial art.Written and illustrated by husband/wife team, Oscar Ratti…
4. Aikido in Japan and The Way Less Traveled (2014)
As the sign in the martial arts school changing room in Los Angeles read, “Not even a million dollars can buy back one minute of your life”. W.T. Gillespie resigned from a developing professional career as a trial attorney in Los Angeles, leaving too his position as an assistant instructor in his home aikido dojo (training place), and cast aside all the enviable benefits and considerable comforts of life in Southern California to move to Tokyo for a year of intensive study of martial arts at the Aikikai World Headquarters. Set against the calendar of annual events at the Aikikai World…
5. Aikido: An Everyday Approach To The Martial Art That Can Transform Your Life & The World (2016)
An everyday approach to understanding and using the core principles of the martial art Aikido written by a teacher and student of Aikido for over twenty years. The book is fun to read and the exercises can done during the course of one’s everyday activities….
6. The Language of Aikido: A Practitioner’s Guide to Japanese Characters and Terminology (2017)
Researched and written by a professional linguist with decades of experience as a student of Japanese language, culture, and martial arts–including living and training in Japan for 10 years–"The Languageof Aikido: A Practitioner's Guide to Japanese Characters and Terminology" was designed specifically for students and teachers of the Japanese martial art Aikido, but will also be of interest to Japanese language enthusiasts who practice other martial arts such as Karate, Judo, Jujutsu, Iaido, and Kendo. Translating martial arts terminology using a standard Japanese-to-English dictionary is…
7. The Spirit of Aikido (2013)
Aiki is the power of harmony, of all beings, all things working together.Aikido–a modern Japanese martial art unique in its synthesis of classic forms with a well-defined spiritual base–offers a key to the art of living naturally and unselfishly in a complicated world. This book explains it in reference to the founder’s philosophy of mind–and action. In addition, the history of aikido’s prewar development as a non-competitive new martial art is described, with a consideration of its international role….
8. Aikido’s Hidden Ground Techniques (2018)
Do you want to have the edge in your ground grappling skills? Would you like to add a new, effective and unique approach to your ground defense techniques that the competition is missing? Then look inside to read more about the power of the Mukei No Ryu aikido-newaza system. “Aikido’s Hidden Ground Techniques” has hundreds of descriptive photos including a rare photo of O’Sensei, as well as strategies and insights into ground grappling for the street. -Mukei No Ryu aikido is a highly eclectic, improvisational system of aikido. Since no single martial art is totally effective against all…
9. The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido (1995)
Morihei Ueshiba, who founded Aikido early in this century, intended that his martial art would give form to profound spiritual truth, and lead to a unification of the world’s peoples. He saw Aikido not as a fighting method or as a competitive sport but rather as a means of becoming one with the laws of universal order–ki, or life energy. Unfortunately, the subtleties of Ueshiba’s teachings, veiled in the esoteric terminology of Shinto, can be puzzling for even the most advanced practitioners. They are not passed down today, and have never been introduced to the West. Gleason, a fifth-degree (Godan) black belt in Aikido,…
10. Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido (2013)
Morihei Ueshiba is rightly known as one of the world’s greatest martial artists for his creation of aikido, the synthesis of his superb technique and his profound spiritual insight into the nature of the universe. Aikido is much more than just another fighting style, it is a holistic approach to life that Morihei described as “a divine path inspired by the gods that leads to truth, goodness, and beauty.” Sadly, Morihei left few writings to explain his martial arts philosophy, preferring to teach his disciples by direct example.Aikido students will be familiar with photographs and film footage of Morihei as an…
Best Aikido Books That You Need
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some aikido books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Aikido as Transformative and Embodied Pedagogy: Teacher as Healer
Author(s): Michael A. Gordon
Publisher: Springer International Publishing; Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2019, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2408922
AiKiDô: The Trinity of Conflict Transformation
Author(s): Winfried Wagner (eds.)
Publisher: Springer, Year: 2015, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1377197
Total Aikido: The Master Course
Author(s): Gozo Shioda
Publisher: Kodansha International, Year: 2012, Size: 16 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2340263
Aikido Exercises for Teaching and Training
Author(s): C.M. Shifflett
Publisher: Blue Snake Books, Year: 2009, Size: 10 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 254431
Aikido and words of power : the sacred sounds of Kototama
Author(s): Gleason, William
Publisher: Destiny Books, Year: 2009, Size: 31 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2081703
Aikido secrets to calm success
Author(s): Gary Weigh
Publisher: , Year: 2008 , Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2117063
Aikido Toho Iai
Author(s): Michael Russ
Publisher: Meyer & Meyer Fachverlag und Buchhandel GmbH, Year: 2006, Size: 11 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 186206
Art of aikido
Author(s): Kisshomaru Ueshiba
Publisher: , Year: 2006, Size: 93 Mb, Download: djvu
ID: 363534
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are absolutely hot items according to USA Today, others are written by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.