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"True karate is this: that in daily life one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice."

 - Gichin Funakoshi
 
 
"Originally this was the most important thing about martial arts - to reach a higher level, to become a strong human being. Strong doesn't mean big arms. It means who can be a more strict human being with himself. That is the ideal of martial arts."
 
 - Tsutomu Ohshima

Reading List

Required:
  • Karate-do Kyohan The Master Text by Gichin Funakoshi
  • Karate-do: My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi
  • Notes on Training by Tsutomu Ohshima (Out of print)
  • The Heart of Karate-Do by Shigeru Egami
 
Highly recommended:
  • Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (Bantam Books)
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  • The Sword of No-Sword: Life of the Master Warrior Tesshu by John Stevens
  • The Unfettered Mind: Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master by Takuan Soho
  • The Sword and the Mind by Yagyu Munenori,
  • Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
  • Ideals of the Samurai: Writings of Japanese Warriors by William Scott Wilson
  • The Code of the Samurai by Yuzan Daidoji
  • Karate-Do Nyumon: The Master Introductory Text by Gichin Funakoshi
  • The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate by Gichin Funakoshi
  • Karate Jutsu: The Original Teachings of Gichin Funakoshi
  • Three Budo Masters by John Stevens
  • Forty-Seven Ronin Story by John Allyn
  • Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
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