The most recommended martial arts books

The Eastern tradition of "sports" is entirely different from the Western (indeed, many practitioners of martial arts in the East don't regard them as competitive sports at all, but disciplines where one competes, in a sense, with oneself). I wrote a piece on the history of karate for Smithsonian Magazine, since it is making its debut in Tokyo in August, and found this book (despite its dry and academic title) to be a fascinating introduction to the surprising growth of Japanese martial arts around the world.

Wuxia. Need I say more? Wesley Chu’s The Art of Prophecy has it all: an intriguing fantasy world, epic struggles between empires, battles, thwarted destinies – and martial arts.

It poses the fascinating question: what happens to the prophesied hero when it turns out the prophecy is wrong, and he isn’t a hero after all?

What I loved most about this book are the female characters: warrior Sali, assassin Qisami, and Taishi. The scene-stealer for me is Taishi. She’s a master of martial arts, she can travel on the wind, she’s harsh, bad-tempered, an exacting teacher to the unfortunate-prophesied-hero-who isn’t (Wen Jiang, a spoiled young man who has to learn the painful lesson that he isn’t the marvel he thought he was), and she’s old.

The story unfolds from their conflicting points of view, and an exciting story it is. I can’t wait to see how it continues in the… show more.

This is one of my favourite books and I believe it is essential reading for any golfer looking for the secret to performing under pressure. The lessons from Zen archery are a must for any player who has experienced the thrill of the perfect shot and wondered why it was so effortless. Using the detailed example of the archer’s training regime, this book explains how the breathing, the body’s physical centre, and true balance all unite in the moment the arrow is released towards the target. In the same way, I have tried to teach golfers about the fundamentals of the martial arts for creating a state of relaxed readiness, this book shares the author’s insights gained over many years of practice, to achieve the pure simplicity of action within non-action. 

I love all of the different Batgirls DC has introduced over the years, and this book brings them together in one delightful adventure. Barbara Gordon is the original Batgirl mentoring her two protégés, the snarky Stephanie Brown and the martial arts master Cassandra Cain. The trio is a mix of different personalities and strengths, but teamwork and sisterhood come first. Cloonan and Conrad craft a rollicking story in this first volume, and Corona’s bombastic artwork is a perfect vehicle for all three of these enjoyable characters.

East and West have massively different approaches to fighting. To how it’s trained, to what’s the goal of training… this book is about that contrast.

About the cultural shock experienced by the first American to study at the legendary Shaolin Temple, in China. That’s what my brain said, at least. But if I have to be honest, while I let Polly carry me through his report, I was mostly living the ultimate fantasy of any martial artist of my generation, which is becoming a Shaolin monk, just like those I grew up watching on TV. Thank you, Matt.

When asked to bring his favorite book to school, I had hoped my grandson would bring one of mine, but instead he brought Three Ninja Pigs because it was his favorite! The rhyme and meter are amazing, and it’s loaded with tons of ninja-related words to add extra depth! Dan Santat’s illustrations are fantastic!

“Many mixed martial artists claim they experience something like bliss at the moment they lose consciousness from a choke.” That’s a real quote from the book, which tells a personal journey of a 33-year-old man trying to to understand what it’s like to hit and get hit, and why some weirdos like me love it so much.

Count that as self-discovery if you’re fighter or an observational expedition if you can’t understand how someone can be one. Either way, keep that quote away from my wife, before she starts to rethink the decision to get our son into martial arts too.

The 34th grandmaster of ninjutsu, Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi has written many books on the art of the ninja. This is one of his best and examines over 1,000 years of the history and legends of the shadow warriors. A seminal book that provided the foundation to my own ninjutsu practise under one of Hatsumi’s students, Sensei Peter Brown. The secrets I learnt proved crucial to writing book 4 of the Young Samurai series, The Ring of Earth when Jack is taken in by a ninja clan.

This first book in Kelle Riley’s new series has it all—a plot full of twists and turns, a super-smart sleuth, and just a smidge of romance. I love that the sleuth doesn't act impulsively and instead observes and deduces. In addition, there are yummy recipes, a cranky rescue cat, and several quirky secondary characters. I especially like the couple who own a dog bakery and their trained dog that discourages the goose population.

A succinct insight into the Bodhidharma legend and some of the sutras he may have written or taught. Nothing much about martial arts, but a good insight into the man, and more importantly the thinking behind the study of the Way.

I read this classic sci-fi way back when I was a teenager and I think, over the years, it has been a quiet, persistent influence on my own writing.

Two groups of time-travellers go back and forth along ‘the corridors of Time,’ fighting to influence history their way. The protagonist is taken from a prison cell to join one group and has to catch up with what’s going on as he’s taken to the future, the seventeenth century, and the Bronze Age.

What stayed with me most vividly was Anderson’s recreation of the Danish Bronze Age and the fact that the main character chooses to give up his own time in order to remain in the Bronze Age with the people he has come to love.

This classic about a young American teacher’s adventures in post Cultural Revolution China set the standard for “travel memoir”. Salzman’s journey is captivating and unique because it is, at its core, a love story with the country, the culture, the people, and martial arts—the sort of adoration that could only manifest in youth. He gives himself entirely to the experience and, thus, takes the reader along with him. A wonderful book that lingers in the memory for decades.

This is a book for Japanese martial arts lovers like me. Every fight is described in realistic detail so I can ‘see’ every fighting technique. Emily is a half-Japanese teenager whose American father is ex-military and trying to hide his family from some mysterious threat. Of course, Emily is taught a bunch of special skills in case she ever needs them, such as various martial arts and bushcraft. Unlike other books like this, I find her training feels natural. She learned martial arts at a local dojo and her days in the woods with her dad were ‘camping,’ not obvious paramilitary training, so when she started fighting back, it felt right to me. This isn’t a true urban fantasy novel, but there’s enough intrigue and strange events that it seems imaginary. 

John Vincent, co-founder of restaurant chain Leon, gives us an up-close insight into how a clear ethos rooted in values and an infinite mindset that is developed through ongoing martial arts practice can be a great foundation for leading a business, and reaching sustainable levels of high performance in your personal and professional life.

Normally the two worlds of martial arts and business don’t overlap, but Vincent shows how powerfully they can interconnect and shares his first-hand, real-life business experience of bringing martial arts philosophy into the world of business.

Matt offers deeply personal insights into Buddhism, Eastern and Western philosophy, and life, inspired by his pilgrimage around the 88 temples of Shikoku, Japan.

The Hardest Path is a small book that punches well above its weight. It’s not really a travel guide for this famous pilgrimage but rather a series of insights derived from the author’s arduous journey. Matt is a talented writer and a well-read scholar and he delivers snippets of wisdom and astute observation at every turn.

At first I picked up the book because I thought it’d be a good laugh. I mean, with a title like “Beware of Chicken” how could it not be?

Turns out I was right but it was so much more than that.

As I read I found myself in a slice of life tale about farming. Which normally is not my jam at all. I love action and comedy. Slice of life stuff is just too slow for me. But the story picks up fairly quickly.

You know the cultivation/xianxia trope where some martial artist wants to grow to ultimate power and rule the heavens?

Yeah Jin wants nothing to do with that. The dude just wants to farm and be left alone.

But his chicken does.

So effectively we have a main character who wants to avoid all the standard tropes and a chicken who lives and breathes them.… show more.

PJ Caldas takes us on an absorbing, surprising, and exciting ride. This story has everything I want from a novel—it transports me, holds my attention (I couldn’t stop reading it), and creates a unique world that I’ve never visited before.

Always innovative, PJ builds his interdisciplinary narrative core by merging different domains—martial arts and artificial intelligence—all building a highly imaginative story about immortality and the future of human intelligence.

If you are thinking about what AI has in store for us or if you’re a martial arts fan or practitioner, The Girl from Wudang packs a walloping good time.

Unsouled is probably the book on my this list that most directly inspired how I approached the magic system within my own story.

It follows Lindon, a boy with only limited access to magic, who sets off on a journey to power up enough to save his homeland. I loved how each of the characters developed their own set of unique skills specific to them, which they then had to figure out how to level up over time as well as apply in various situations, many of which aren’t always obvious.

Given his initially weak access to magic, Lindon is also forced to get creative in order to defeat foes much more powerful than he is. I always appreciate any book that focuses on the clever applications of its magic.

This was the first book I ever read that changed my life. It came along at a time when I felt I was missing something. I didn’t know a lot about Buddhism at the time, and therefore didn’t recognize that what I was feeling was a universal phenomenon and that the Noble Eightfold Path was a secular template for contentment. I have read many other Buddhist books since then, but none of them have spoken to me like this one did. I have a notebook that contains entire passages of Buddhism Plain and Simple, and regularly refer back to those passages today.

Geoffrey Mann does a great job of laying out the history of Buddhism and Zen and its links to the martial arts. Thoroughly researched and widely referenced, it’s definitely the place to start, and the hardback edition makes a handsome addition to any martial arts library.