Invincible Warrior tells the fascinating story of the life of Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), whose quest for the true meaning of warriorship lead to the creation of the martial art called Aikido, "The Art of Peace." Ueshiba?whose name means "abundant peace"?is considered by many to be one of the greatest martial artists who ever lived. His documented ability to disarm any attacker, throw a dozen men simultaneously, and down and pin opponents without touching them has accorded his life legendary status. Invincible Warrior presents the real story behind Morihei's achievement, illuminating the man and his message. Stevens describes the people, events, and ideas that influenced Ueshiba's lifelong spiritual quest, which culminated in the development of unique teachings of Aikido. Illustrated with two hundred photographs of Morihei in action and filled with revealing anecdotes about his life and times, Invincible Warrior also offers valuable discussion of the Founder's conception of Aikido as a path of harmony and love, unifying body and mind, self and others, humans and the universe.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Ugh Comment: This book should be put in the fantasy section of any bookstore.
I get terribly tired of the tales of Ueyeshiba's supernatural exploits. And sadly this book is replete with such nonsense. Seriously they should put this next to exploits of Drizzt Do'Urden or The Hulk.
A more interesting book would have chronicled the development of O'Sensei's early ideas on martial arts with his later crazy views. They are quite different, and moreover it is a progression you can see in the old photographs of him at work. Specifically, you see the journey he took from more or less practical aiki-jutsu to the flowery, ineffectual sillyness he wasted the latter years of his life on.
Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent overview biography, a lively read! Comment: I bought this book as I was looking for a reasonably complete (though not necessarily exhaustive) biography of the founder of Aikido, preferably with a good number of photographs as well as text. This book fulfilled those requirements, and exceeded my expectations. The story is fascinating and compelling, and it is told in a very enjoyable and readable way.
The author is an American who has lived and taught in Japan for many years. He has developed a deep understanding of Japanese culture which allows him to present this material well to an English-speaking reader.
As to charges that this book promotes mythology about Morihei Ueshiba: I'm really not in a position to say for myself, not having had a chance to compare this book with other authors' work on the topic. Until I do, I will reserve judgment. In any case, I found Stevens' book to be a very worthwhile read. Customer Rating: Summary: Interesting, but dubious Comment: There's quite a bit of controversy on this book in the Aikido world, and I thought it might be important to interject some of what I've heard in my several years of training. First, this book was an entertaining bit of history, but I've heard it complained that Stevens "freely mixes actual history with rumor," and this certainly seems to be the case. This book seems to be symptomatic of the fantastical views of O Sensei in the Aikido world.
More generally, I recall George Ledyard-sensei weighing in on this topic - he mentioned that often, whenever stories of incredible exploits in this book are brought before Saotome-sensei, Saotome-sensei's stock reply is "For fifteen years I lived and trained with O Sensei, and never once did I see him do this 'magic-waza!' (magic technique)" Ledyard-sensei explained that Saotome-sensei is frequently irritated to hear Ueshiba-sensei's lifetime of work written off as being superhuman.
Nonetheless, the book makes for an interesting read, and though much of it is based on legend, it still gives a more complete picture of O-Sensie's life than I've found anywhere else. Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent Background Info Comment: I've been studying Aikido for about a year now and always heard bits and pieces about O'sensei's life. I'm enjoying this book as it really is nice to fill in the story of his life. Granted, time has a way of exaggerating exploits but, knowing where he lived, and who he trained with and the background information is great. I can understand the movtivation of O'sensei and the reasons for his development of Aikido after reading the book.
As for the debate on the effectiveness of Aikido by Mark Twain. All I can say is it seems you have a closed mind and have already told yourself what you will learn and what you won't. So how can you learn to make Aikido effective when your limiting yourself like that? Aikido is one of the hardest martial arts to learn and effectiveness depends on the dojo and sensei as much as the student's willingness to learn. I agree some dojo's teach dance, so go elsewhere and find the real Aikido. I find my Aikido to be effective. You apparently did not. So be it. If you need and path to defend yourself fast I agree, Aikido probably isn't the best choice. Muay Thai, or Krav Maga would be my choices. Because a path is difficult, does not mean it should be avoided. Customer Rating: Summary: Hagiographic in tone Comment: This book reads like a hagiography of Ueshiba - pardon, me I mean O Sensei. I mean, even though I never met him and don't speak Japanese I should be calling him O Sensei, right? Isn't that how you show that you're with it in the Aikido world? Look my friendly friends, Ueshiba may very well have been an exceptional man. But it is not professional or mature to write a book which is a syrupy-toned laundry list of Ueshiba's larger than life exploits. YOu know, like "The officers in the army were in the habit of raining blows down on the soldiers heads. But when Ueshiba came around, many an officer fractured his hands on Ueshiba's head!" Gee, that's swell. Imagine reading a biography of Wittgenstein that was like this. You know, he comes around and dazzles everyone, yet again. The End. Also, it is important to bear in mind that Aikido is a strangely flawed system of martial arts instruction. The students are led to do elaborate, highly choreographed, dance-like techniques against a very cooperative opponent. Aikido training certainly does not obey Occham's razor, i.e., the KISS principle, as in Keep It Simple, Stupid. Yes, yes, I know, I'm a lunkheaded philistine who doesn't unnerstand the beauty of the art, AND its deadly effectiveness. Well, I have no wish to argue with anyone. All I would say is that the student must think for himself. And ask himself in all honesty how likely it is that an attacker would wait around through all these fancy moves. Basic principle: when the defense is more elaborate than the attack, you're in trouble.
