Sports & Recreation : Martial Arts & Self-Defense

A fifth-degree black belt in the revolutionary martial art of aikido and co-owner of an aikido school in Mill Valley, California, George Leonard is, "the granddaddy of the consciousness movement" ( Newsweek ). Leonard is president of the Esalen Institute and founder of Leonard Energy Training (LET), a practice inspired by aikido that offers alternative ways of coping with everyday issues. In this book he applies ancient techniques, physical and spiritual, to the battles we wage every more...

Price: $15.00

Bill Bryson meets Bruce Lee in this raucously funny story of one scrawny American’s quest to become a kung fu master at China’s legendary Shaolin Temple. Growing up a ninety-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism. Expecting to find an isolated citadel populated by supernatural ascetics that he’d seen in countless badly dubbed chop-socky flicks, Matthew instead discovered a tacky tourist trap run by Communist party hacks. But the dedicated monks still trained in the rigorous age-old fighting forms—some even practicing the “iron kung fu” discipline, in which intensive training can make various body parts virtually indestructible (even the crotch). As Matthew grew in his knowledge of China and kung fu skill, he would come to represent the Temple in challenge matches and international competitions, and ultimately the monks would accept their new American initiate as close to one of their own as any Westerner had ever become. Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young man’s journey into the ancient art of kung fu—and a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China. more...

Price: $15.00

This book teaches you how to trigger the "flight instict" in a potential assailant, so that they run away and you beat them without becoming physical. more...

Price: $17.99

Bagua Daoyin emphasizes the perception and training of muscles (jin), bones (gu) and skin (pi), and combines elements of fitness, martial arts and medical science in order to promote harmony and balance in the body and mind. Master He, a fifth generation practitioner of the BaguaQuan line, sets out a programme of study underpinned by theory. He explains the development of Bagua Daoyin from a refinement of Daoist studies into a method of training the body and mind in which every external movement is echoed in the inner tissue of the body. Bagua Daoyin opens up the joints of the body and relaxes the muscles, encouraging an awareness of the body and posture at all times. With simple body movements, one can channel the hidden flow of Qi, or energy, and blood, giving a new lease of life to zones of the body that have lost their vitality and promoting a sense of tranquillity. This fully illustrated guide to Bagua Daoyin will be essential reading for Bagua and Tai Chi practitioners at all levels, students of martial arts and anyone interested in Chinese culture. more...

Price: $19.95

The story of Athol Oakley, one of the greatest wrestlers of our time, and the bloody world of wrestling in the early 1900s. Athol worked himself up from a five stone teenager to a 15 stone world wrestling champion, fighting in thousands of bouts around the world. more...

Price: $13.99