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Anf
Anf's picture
Real history books

Hi all.

I've come to realise that over the years, I've read all the wrong books. I've reached the conclusion that everything I thought I knew about the history and politics of martial arts is in fact a big pile of the stuff that makes the roses grow.

Which kind of brings me to a question. Can anyone recommend any decent books that give a more truthful version of history, or that at least debunks some of the more well established myths?

Wastelander
Wastelander's picture

Andreas Quast has done an excellent job of writing work that is very thoroughly researched and cited, which flies in the face of a lot of the mythology surrounding martial arts. The book "Karate 1.0" is his master text on karate history, but that is out of print now, so it may be difficult to find--I'm glad I got a copy when I had the chance! He does have other, shorter books available, though, which I would recommend you check out. Itzik Cohen recently released a book that is supposedly also very good, and I have purchased it, but haven't gotten to read through it yet.

Pepperpa
Pepperpa's picture

The Killing Art by Alex Gillis is a fantastic book, he goes through the history from about WWII to the present, including the ugly parts that you never hear about .  It's about the history of tae kwon do though, not karate, so I'm not sure if it's what you are looking for.  

Anf
Anf's picture

Pepperpa wrote:
The Killing Art by Alex Gillis is a fantastic book, he goes through the history from about WWII to the present, including the ugly parts that you never hear about .  It's about the history of tae kwon do though, not karate, so I'm not sure if it's what you are looking for.

Not just karate, which I know despite korean propaganda to the contrary, very heavily influenced taekwondo. I'm interested in the history of all the arts from the far East. A taekwondo history would be especially interesting, given that most authors seem to focus almost exclusively on the Japanese arts.

Pepperpa
Pepperpa's picture

In that case i think you will enjoy it.  The author certainly doesn't shy away from karate's massive influence!