I have chosen some of these books as they go further than just showing techniques or forms, to be honest most books are of little or no use to most martial arts practitioners.

They dont go into what actually makes the techniques work, or how to train them.

There are many books out there and I am by no means saying they are no good, I just feel these books listed here impart more than just the normal information found in most.

Whilst I have probably read hundreds maybe thousands of martial arts books over the years, I have not read all. So please excuse me if i have left out some great ones. If you know of any that I can add to this list. Please tell me so i can read it and hopefully agree with you.

 

 

the making of a butterfly - phillip starr

martial mechanics - phillip starr

martial manouvers - phillip starr

hidden hands - phillip starr

 

book of five rings - miyamoto musashi

 

fist fighting - jake dempsey

 

close in fighting skills of chow gar southern praying mantis kungfu - paul whitrod

 

autumn lightning,the education of an american samuria - dave lowry

moving towards stillness - dave lowry

 

look beyond the pointing finger-the combat philosophy of wong shun leung by david peterson

 

complete wing chun-the definitive guide to wing chuns history and traditions by robert chu,rene ritchie, and y.wu

 

A Killing Art - the untold history of tae kwon do by Alex Gillis

 

kodakan judo by Jigoro Kano

 

The canon of judo-classic teachings on principles and techniques by Kyuzo Mifune

 

okinawan karate -teachers,styles and secret techniques by Mark Bishop

 

The art of Hojo Undo - power training for traditional karate by Michael Clarke

 

Chinese martial arts training manuals - A historical survey by Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo

 

dynamic karate - M Nakayama

 

 

The bible