by Adele Westbrook (Author), Oscar Ratti (Author)
375 pages

Aikido neutralizes aggression and renders attackers harmless. By controlling body position and harmonizing their vital physical and mental powers, anyone (regardless of size, strength or weight) can fend off attacks using this sophisticated martial art. This classic text reveals the secrets which enable the stunning control practiced in Aikido.

by Founder, Jigoro Kano
264 pages

Judo, or the Way of Gentleness, an ideal form of physical exercise and a reliable system, of self-defense, was specially created from traditional Japanese martial arts. This book by the creator of Kodokan judo is uniquely comprehensive and the most authoritative guide to this martial art ever published.

by Sang H. Kim

Ultimate Flexibility is the book you’ve been waiting for. More than a collection of exercises or an explanation of technique, Ultimate Flexibility is a complete guide to stretching for martial arts, from the very basics of why you should stretch to detailed workout guidelines for every style and level of martial arts practice.

by Bira Almeida
181 pages

Capoeira weaves fighting, music, dance, prayer, and ritual into an urgent strategy by which people live, struggle, celebrate, and survive together. In this book Bira Almeida--or Mestre Acordeon as he is respectfully called in capoeira circles--documents his own tradition with both the panoramic eye of the historian and the passionate heart of the capoeirista. He transports the reader from the damn of New World history in Brazil to the streets of twentieth-century Bahia (the spiritual home of capoeira) to the giant urban centers of North America (wher capoeira is now spreading in new lineages from the old masters). This book is valuable for anyone interested in ethnocultural traditions, martial arts, and music, as well as for those who want to listen to the words of an actual mestre dedicated to preserving his Afro-Brazilian legacy.

by Gichin Funakoshi

Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest secrecy and the present day, when it has become a martial art practiced throughout the world, is Gichin Funakoshi, the “Father of Karate-do.”