Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere
Book Review
Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere
by Adele Westbrook and Oscar Ratti
Westbrook and Ratti divided the work on this aikido classic, which was produced when they were fresh shodan. The former did the writing — of which I am not too impressed — and the latter made the wonderful drawings. I'm certain that these charming pictures, full of aiki vigour, made the book a constant best seller.
Oscar Ratti's elegant ink drawings have been copied and pirated massively — already long before the Internet made it so easy. When you leaf through the book you see why. Even people who have never experienced aikido will be charmed by it through his images. It's a pity that the text is no way near as captivating. But Ratti's artwork makes up for it, and then some.
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My other reviews
I've reviewed some other books about aikido and related topics.
Click to see the other aikido book reviews >>>
My Own Aikido Books
Aikido Principles
Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art. The principles, philosophy, and basic ideas of aikido. It's not about the aikido techniques, but the thoughts and ideas behind them. You could call it a book on aikido theory. It was my first book, initially in
Swedish. It has also been published in
German and
Czech. The first edition of the English version had the title
Aikido — The Peaceful Martial Art. It's still around, but I recommend this edition called
Aikido Principles.
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Attacks in Aikido
How to do kogeki, the attack techniques. All the attack techniques in aikido explained, and how to do them correctly. This is an often neglected field in aikido training. We focus on the aikido defense techniques but forget to learn the attacks properly — but then the development of our aikido skills will suffer. So, I wrote this book. As far as I know, it's the only one on the subject.
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Aikibatto
Sword and staff exercises for aikido students. I developed a comprised system of sword and staff exercises (aikiken and aikijo), initially for my own students to get familiar with these things. Other aikido students seemed to appreciate it, so I made this book. The exercises are explained in detail, with practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, how to teach them, equipment for training, and more.
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Qi — Increase Your Life Energy
Ki, the life energy, is a very important aspect of aikido. This is evident already in the name of this martial art. It's the same as the Chinese concept
qi (also spelled
chi or
ch'i). Although essential in many ways, far from all aikido students know how to deal with it and integrate it in their training. Therefore, I wrote this book explaining
ki, with several simple basic exercises on how to awaken, increase, and use the life energy.
Click to see the book at Amazon >>>
My Aikido Books
Click the images to see the books at Amazon (paid link).
Basic Concepts of the Peaceful Martial Art. The basic principles, philosophy and traditional budo concepts in aikido.
More about the book here.
How to do kogeki, the attack techniques. All the attack techniques in aikido explained, and how to do them correctly.
More about the book here.
Aikiken Sword Exercises for Aikido. The aikibatto exercises, practical and spiritual aspects of the sword arts, advice on equipment for training.
More about the book here.
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Aikido Menu
AIKIDO PRACTICE
AIKIDO THEORY
My Other Websites
Myths in general and myths of creation in particular.
The wisdom of Taoism and the
Tao Te Ching, its ancient source.
An encyclopedia of life energy concepts around the world.
Qi (also spelled
chi or
ki) explained, with exercises to increase it.
The ancient Chinese system of divination and free online reading.
Tarot card meanings in divination and a free online spread.
The complete horoscope chart and how to read it.
Stefan Stenudd
About me
I'm a Swedish author of fiction and non-fiction books in both English and Swedish. I'm also an artist, a historian of ideas, and a 7 dan Aikikai Shihan aikido instructor. Click the header to read my full bio.