Recommended Reading

This list is regularly being updated. Some books may no longer be available in print.

We recommend shopping local and checking your local used bookstore. If you have any recommendations to add to this list, please let us know!

Listed by Author (First Name, Last Name), Title, Publishing Date, Location. 

Hermann Bayer, Analysis of Genuine Karate (2021, New Hampshire).

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Pyschology of Optimal Experience (1990, New York).

Shigeru Egami, The Heart of Karate-Do (1976, Tokyo).

Keinosuke Enoeda, Shotokan Karate: 5th Kyu to Black Belt (1996, London).

Emil Farcas & John Corcoran, The Overlook Martial Arts Dictionary (1983, New York).

Jose M. Fraguas, Karate Masters (Burbank, 2001).

Gichin Funakoshi, translated by Tsutomu Ohshima, Karate-Do Kyohan: The Master Text (New York, 1973).

Gichin Funakoshi, My Way of Life (1975, Tokyo).

Gichin Funakoshi, The Essence of Karate (2010, New York).

Gichin Funakoshi, The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate: The Spiritual Legacy of the Master (2003, Tokyo).

Randall G. Hassell, The Karate Experience: A Way of Life (1980, Tokyo).

Gennousuke Higaki, Hidden Karate: The True Bunkai for The Heian Kata and Naihanchi (2005, Tokyo).

Hirokazu Kanazawa, Shotokan Karate International Kata Vol.1 (1981, Tokyo).

Hirokazu Kanazawa, Shotokan Karate International Kata Vol.2 (1982, Tokyo).

Hirokazu Kanazawa, The Complete Kumite: Karate Fighting Techniques (2004, Tokyo).

Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder, The Way of Kata: A Comprehensive Guide to Deciphering Martial Applications (2005, Boston).

Richard ‘Biggie’ Kim, The Weaponless Warriors: An Informal History of Okinawan Karate (1974, Burbank).

Richard ‘Biggie’ Kim, The Classical Man (1982, Canada).

Dave Lowry, The Karate Way: Discovering the Spirit of Practice (2009, Boston).

Dave Lowry, Traditions (2002, Boston).

Steve McCann & Bernardo Mercado, Karate Everyone, 2nd Edition (2012, Winston-Salem).

Luis Bernardo Mercado, Tsuku Kihon 2nd Edition (2014, Bloomington).

Masatoshi Nakayama, Practical Karate Series (1963, Tokyo).

Masatoshi Nakayama, Dynamic Karate (1966, Tokyo).

Masatoshi Nakayama, Best Karate Series (1977, Tokyo).

C.W. Nicol, Moving Zen: One Man’s Journey to the Heart of KARATE (2001, Japan).

Hidetaka Nishiyama & Richard C. Brown, Karate: The Art of “Empty Hand” Fighting (Tokyo, 1959).

Masutatsu Oyama, Vital Karate (1967, San Francisco).

Mas Oyama, Essential Karate (1975, Tokyo).

Masutatsu Oyama, Mastering Karate (1966, New York).

Mayer H. Parry, A Basic Glossary of Bujutsu (1975, Scotland).

Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenace (1974, New York).

Peter Ralston, The Principles of Effortless Power (1989, Berkeley).

Peter Ralston, Zen Body-Being (2006, Berkeley).

Leroy Rodrigues, Classic Kata of Shorinji Ryu: Okinawan Karate Forms of Richard ‘Biggie’ Kim (2014, Bloomington).

Anton Schlatt, The Karate Dictionary (4th Edition, 2017, Germany).

Elmar T. Schmeisser, Ph.D., Advanced Karate-Do: Concepts, Techniques and Training Methods (1994, Missouri).

John Sell, Unante: The Secrets of Karate (1995, Hollywood).

Shojiro Sugiyama, 25 Shotokan Kata (1984, Chicago).

Shojiro Sugiyama, 11 Innovations in Karate (2005, Chicago).

Shojiro Sugiyama, Kitoh Karate (1994, Chicago).

Shojiro Sugiyama, Basic Principles of Karate (1991, Chicago).

Shojiro Sugiyama, Kumite-Gata (1992, Chicago).

Peter Urban, The Karate Dojo (1967, Rutland).

Kousaku Yokota, Shotokan Myths (2010, USA).

Kousaku Yokota, Shotokan Mysteries (2013, USA).

Kousaku Yokota, Shotokan Transcendence (2015, USA).