Aiki News Encyclopedia of Aikido

Aiki News Encyclopedia of Aikido, by Stan Pranin.

Book Review



Aiki News Encyclopedia of Aikido

by Stanley Pranin

Stanley Pranin lived a number of years in Japan, where he practiced aikido (mainly but not only for Morihiro Saito) and ran the first significant aikido magazine: Aiki News (later renamed Aikido Journal). He worked extremely hard at documenting the history of aikido, interviewing just about every instructor in Japan and collecting old films of Osensei.

    He put his vast knowledge into this encyclopedia, which was at the time a veritable fountain of aikido facts — especially regarding aikido teachers of any significance.

    The book was originally published in 1991, a bunch of years before Internet, Wikipedia and all that. At the time it was a completely unique compilation, surprisingly trustworthy in spite of the difficult task at that time of getting all the facts right. Now we have the web, but Pranin's book still holds its ground as a source to knowledge about aikido and its many pioneers. By this feat of his, Pranin can count among them.

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My other reviews

I've reviewed some other books about aikido and related topics.

Click to see the other aikido book reviews >>>



My Own Aikido Books


Aikido Principles

Aikido Principles, by Stefan Stenudd.Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art. The principles, philosophy, and basic ideas of aikido. It's not about the aikido techniques, but the thoughts and ideas behind them. You could call it a book on aikido theory. It was my first book, initially in Swedish. It has also been published in German and Czech. The first edition of the English version had the title Aikido — The Peaceful Martial Art. It's still around, but I recommend this edition called Aikido Principles.

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Attacks in Aikido

Attacks in Aikido, by Stefan Stenudd.How to do kogeki, the attack techniques. All the attack techniques in aikido explained, and how to do them correctly. This is an often neglected field in aikido training. We focus on the aikido defense techniques but forget to learn the attacks properly — but then the development of our aikido skills will suffer. So, I wrote this book. As far as I know, it's the only one on the subject.

Click to see the book at Amazon >>>


Aikibatto

Aikibatto, by Stefan Stenudd.Sword and staff exercises for aikido students. I developed a comprised system of sword and staff exercises (aikiken and aikijo), initially for my own students to get familiar with these things. Other aikido students seemed to appreciate it, so I made this book. The exercises are explained in detail, with practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, how to teach them, equipment for training, and more.

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Qi — Increase Your Life Energy

QI — increase your life energy, by Stefan Stenudd.Ki, the life energy, is a very important aspect of aikido. This is evident already in the name of this martial art. It's the same as the Chinese concept qi (also spelled chi or ch'i). Although essential in many ways, far from all aikido students know how to deal with it and integrate it in their training. Therefore, I wrote this book explaining ki, with several simple basic exercises on how to awaken, increase, and use the life energy.

Click to see the book at Amazon >>>


My Aikido Books

Click the images to see the books at Amazon (paid link).
Aikido Principles. Book by Stefan Stenudd. Aikido Principles
Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art. The basic principles, philosophy and traditional budo concepts in aikido.
More about the book here.

Attacks in Aikido, by Stefan Stenudd. Attacks in Aikido
How to do kogeki, the attack techniques. All the attack techniques in aikido explained, and how to do them correctly.
More about the book here.

Aikibatto, by Stefan Stenudd. Aikibatto
Aikiken Sword Exercises for Aikido. The aikibatto exercises, practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, advice on equipment for training.
More about the book here.

Aikido Menu

Aikido Menu


AIKIDO PRACTICE

Introduction
Aikido Techniques — all the basic moves
Attacks in Aikido
Ikkyo Complete
Kotegaeshi
Nikyo
Tenchinage
Sankyo
Kokyunage
Yonkyo
Koshinage
Shihonage
Kokyuho
Iriminage
Suwari kokyuho
Tantodori — knife defense
Aikiken — aikido sword techniques
Jo 31 Kata in four directions
Aikibatto sword and staff exercises
Aiki — joining energies
Ki exercises
Aikido Video Clips
Aikido Photos
My aikido dojo in Malmö, Sweden
My aikido seminars


AIKIDO THEORY

My Aikido Bio
Aikido Glossary
Tanden, the Center
Aikido Inks
Aikido as Self-Defense
Running a Dojo
Aikido is True
Osensei and Einstein
AikiWeb Columns
Aikido Books Reviewed
Die deutsche Version meines Aikido-Buches online
Aikido på svenska


About Cookies


My Other Websites


CREATION MYTHS
Myths in general and myths of creation in particular.

TAOISM
The wisdom of Taoism and the Tao Te Ching, its ancient source.

LIFE ENERGY
An encyclopedia of life energy concepts around the world.

QI ENERGY EXERCISES
Qi (also spelled chi or ki) explained, with exercises to increase it.

I CHING
The ancient Chinese system of divination and free online reading.

TAROT
Tarot card meanings in divination and a free online spread.

ASTROLOGY
The complete horoscope chart and how to read it.

MY AMAZON PAGE

MY YOUTUBE AIKIDO

MY YOUTUBE ART

MY FACEBOOK

MY INSTAGRAM

MY TWITTER

STENUDD PÅ SVENSKA



Stefan Stenudd

Stefan Stenudd


About me
I'm a Swedish author of fiction and non-fiction books in both English and Swedish. I'm also an artist, a historian of ideas, and a 7 dan Aikikai Shihan aikido instructor. Click the header to read my full bio.