I want book talks about Martial philosophy

Hello:
I want to tell me about Martial arts book talks about martial philosophy...
you know that there is philosophy in fighting because when you fight, you are a human dealing with another human... and here the philosophy comes
can you tell me about book talks about this subject ? in English language only

Ive found many books on martial arts philosophy: The life giving sword by yagyu menenorie, the art of war by sun tzu, the book of the 5 rings by miyamoto musashi, karate-do my way of life by gichin funakoshi, the unfettered mind by takuan soto, hagakure by yamamoto tsunemoto, and my personal favorite: Inside U by grandmaster Byong Yu. That was a great book and a truly inspirational story.

'Bushido Shoshinshu' translation by Thomas Cleary; is also a good book, though 'The Hagakure' is more profound and quoteable
i would have to say the book of 5 rings is 'the daddy' of the excellent list posted by spectre IMO.
Also play the odd game of chess. Helps develop an eye for weaknesses, especialy your own

Both the HAGEKURE and Nitobe's book BUSHIDO were racist efforts intended to romanticize the failing traditions of the Japanese warrior class. Sorry, but I would not recommend either of these. Musashis' writings are a challenge and difficult to understand, but I think that is what make s A BOOK OF FIVE RINGS much more worthwhile. The fact that it can be grabbed on a number of levels by people at many different backgrounds makes this very worthwhile.

In like manner, THE SWORD OF NO SWORD by Stevens (a bio of the sword-saint Tesshu) is also an inspirational read. Yes, I know. Some people don't like Stevens. Honestly neither do I. But in this case I am looking at the material of the book and not so much the author and I think the value of the book out-weighes the authorship.

Two other books that relate to philosophy in a kind of oblique fashion are the Korean SAMGUK YUSA and the Chinese OUTLAWS OF THE MARSH. The former is a history of the Three Kingdoms period and the latter a collection of romaticized adventure stories apparently written in the 16th century. Both reflect the ideas of martial valor for their respective cultures of the time. And, yes, both are in English.

If you are looking for a more modern take on martial valor grab a copy of the autobiography of USMC General (Ret.) Chesty Puller. And if you still want to stay with Japan, but updated to the 20th Century I suppose you can use CHERRY BLOSSOM SQUADRON (Re: kamikazi-s) or AT DAWN WE SLEPT (Re: Pearl Harbor). And if you STILL want to pander about with things MA in the Japanese culture authors Meik and Diane Skoss, Ellis Amdur and David Lowry are the direction you want to move in. I have never been disappointed with any of these authors.

Your mileage may vary.

BTW: I noticed that someone mentioned Sun Tsu. Makes no difference to me but if you want to pursue Sun Tsu get his book ( ART OF WAR) in the collection translated by Ralph Sawyer (SEVEN MILITARY CLASSICS OF ANCIENT CHINA). In this way you have six other sources to bump Sun Tsu up against to get a true flavor of the Chinese attitudes toward warriors and warfare over a greater period of time. Enjoy.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

I have enjoyed reading and recommending to others the Joe Hyams book Zen in the Martial Arts - its a great, easy to read collection of short anecdotes of the authors experiences studying several martial arts with a variety of famous masters. Mixed in with the stories are many "words to live by" that I have used in my training, and pass on to students.

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I have enjoyed reading and recommending to others the Joe Hyams book Zen in the Martial Arts - its a great, easy to read collection of short anecdotes of the authors experiences studying several martial arts with a variety of famous masters. Mixed in with the stories are many "words to live by" that I have used in my training, and pass on to students.

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Yes, I enjoyed that book as well. It's good to go back and read the short stories from time to time.