I am currently reading Aikido Shugyo this book is by Gozo Shioda. It was trainslated a few years ago into english. This is a great book for any aikido student to read or for those interested in aikido. For those of you who don't know who Shioda Sensei is here is a quick run down. He was the founder and head instructor of Yoshinkan Aikido(founded 1955). He was a 10th dan before his death and uchideshied for Ueshiba Morihei Sensei(O Sensei) for 8 years starting at the age of 18. He passed away July 17, 1994. You can get this book at www.shindokanbooks.com/. Please add aikido books that you want to share.

I would suggest total aikido: the master course by the same author as the book ur reading, goza shioda.

The school of Aikido i learned is yoshinkan so I can say this book teaches techniques very much the same way the school does, step by step and emphasizing fundamentals as they progress into more complicated techniques, and it is all very structured.

This book has so many pictures that are easy to see what is going on, and the pictures are taken at good angles. It also gives the japanese and english name for each technique along with step by step clear instructions on how to perform the technique, so it is helpful if studying for tests.

It also goes through the basic movements that we practiced everyday in class so it is a very helpful resource for training.

The only thing this book lacks are philosophical teachings and anecdotes, but purely for learning the physical techniques I would say this book is among the best and is the next best thing aside from actually being in class to learn the techniques.

I ordered Best Aikido: The Fundementals by Moriteru Ueshiba and Kisshomaru Ueshiba, I reply to tell u if it is any good.

IMHO, any of the Ueshiba family books are great. Go to the source.

Yer thats the reason why im getting that one, its looks really good but the book shop who I ordered from is still trying to get it and its been a month since I ordered it.

Best Aikido is a great compliment to your training (especially if you are a begginer) plenty of photo's of techniques and explanations of technique.
I reccomend looking at the table of contents.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/47700276...00B#reader-page

I've always liked "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere". The line drawings by Oscar Ratti seem to somehow convey things in a way better than many books using photographs. I would not say this of any other books on MA featuring line drawings though.

"Budo: Teachings of the Founder of Aikido" conversely features the pre-war style of aikido with very picturesque photographs of the Ueshiba Morihei evoking a certain romance associated with the budo practise from a bygone era.

aikido:kyohan by Roy Suenaka