Library's review
Ellis Amdur's writing on martial arts has been groundbreaking. In his first book, Dueling with Osensei, Amdur threw down a gauntlet to practitioners, that the moral dimension of martial arts is expressed in acts of integrity, not spiritual platitudes and deification of fantasized warrior-sages. In
Hidden in Plain Sight contents:
The Chinese connection
The birth of Daito-ryu
A unified field theory: Aiki and weapons
Aikido is three peaches
Hidden in plain sight
Circle, square, traingle: How to be O-Sensei in sixteen easy steps
Epilogue
In this volume, Amdur has radically reworked his iconoclastic essays first published on the website of Aikido Journal. Here, he attempts to establish the existence of something all but lost in Japaneses martial arts-a sophisticated type of training, encompassing mental imagery, breathwork and a variety of physical techniques that offered the practitioner the potential to develop skills sometimes viewed as nearly superhuman. Commonly referered to as 'internal training,' and usually believed to be the provenance of Chinese martial arts, Amdur asserts that not only was it once common among many Japanese martial traditions, but elements of such training still remain, passed down in a few martial arts-literally 'hidden in plain sight.'
As always, Amdur reminds us that this is a human endeavor and he provides vivid, even heart breaking, protrayals of some of the great practitioners of these skills, men who devoted their lives to an obsessive pursuit of power.
Ellis Amdur began training in various martial arts systems in the late 1960's, spending thirteen of these years studying in Japan. He is a recognized expert in classical and modern Japanese martial traditions, and has achieved instructor's level in two classical Japanese martial systems: the Araki-ryu and the Toda-ha Buko-ryu.
Since his return to America in 1988, Amdur has worked in the field of crisis intervention. He has developed a range of training and consultation services, as well as a unique style of assessment and psychotherapy. These are based on a combination of phenomenologcal psychology and the underlying philosophical premises of classical Japanese martial traditions. Amdur's professional philosophy can best be summed up in this idea: the development of an individual's integrity and dignity is the paramount virtue.
Aside from his martial arts books and DVD, Amdur has released a number of instructional books concerning communication with seriously mentally ill individuals and verbal de-escalation of aggression.
Contents
Dedication
Acknolwedgements
Forward
The Chinese connection
The birth of Daito-ryu
A unified field theory: Aiki and weapons
Aikido is three peaches
Hidden in plain sight
Circle, square, traingle: How to be O-Sensei in sixteen easy steps
Epilogue: 'Mada, mada: ('Not yet, not yet!')
Appendices
Cast of historical characters mentioned in the text
Find out yourself
Show More
his second book, Old School, he applied both academic rigor and keen observation to offer the reader as close a look as words can provide to some of the classical martial arts of Japan, leavening his writing with vivid descriptions of some of the actual practitioners of these wonderful traditions.Hidden in Plain Sight contents:
The Chinese connection
The birth of Daito-ryu
A unified field theory: Aiki and weapons
Aikido is three peaches
Hidden in plain sight
Circle, square, traingle: How to be O-Sensei in sixteen easy steps
Epilogue
In this volume, Amdur has radically reworked his iconoclastic essays first published on the website of Aikido Journal. Here, he attempts to establish the existence of something all but lost in Japaneses martial arts-a sophisticated type of training, encompassing mental imagery, breathwork and a variety of physical techniques that offered the practitioner the potential to develop skills sometimes viewed as nearly superhuman. Commonly referered to as 'internal training,' and usually believed to be the provenance of Chinese martial arts, Amdur asserts that not only was it once common among many Japanese martial traditions, but elements of such training still remain, passed down in a few martial arts-literally 'hidden in plain sight.'
As always, Amdur reminds us that this is a human endeavor and he provides vivid, even heart breaking, protrayals of some of the great practitioners of these skills, men who devoted their lives to an obsessive pursuit of power.
Ellis Amdur began training in various martial arts systems in the late 1960's, spending thirteen of these years studying in Japan. He is a recognized expert in classical and modern Japanese martial traditions, and has achieved instructor's level in two classical Japanese martial systems: the Araki-ryu and the Toda-ha Buko-ryu.
Since his return to America in 1988, Amdur has worked in the field of crisis intervention. He has developed a range of training and consultation services, as well as a unique style of assessment and psychotherapy. These are based on a combination of phenomenologcal psychology and the underlying philosophical premises of classical Japanese martial traditions. Amdur's professional philosophy can best be summed up in this idea: the development of an individual's integrity and dignity is the paramount virtue.
Aside from his martial arts books and DVD, Amdur has released a number of instructional books concerning communication with seriously mentally ill individuals and verbal de-escalation of aggression.
Contents
Dedication
Acknolwedgements
Forward
The Chinese connection
The birth of Daito-ryu
A unified field theory: Aiki and weapons
Aikido is three peaches
Hidden in plain sight
Circle, square, traingle: How to be O-Sensei in sixteen easy steps
Epilogue: 'Mada, mada: ('Not yet, not yet!')
Appendices
Cast of historical characters mentioned in the text
Find out yourself
Show Less
ISBN
9780982376201
Publication
Self-published