Tomiki Sensei’s Writings
Tomiki Sensei, in addition to being a superb martial artist, was also a man of letters and arts. Tomiki Sensei was a graphic artist of a high caliber and his calligraphy and brush paintings are highly sought after by collectors to this day. (A picture of one of his calligraphic works is below.)As a man of letters, Tomiki published numerous articles on Judo, Aikido, the relationship between the martial arts and Eastern religious and philosophical traditions, articles on the proper place of the martial arts in the modern world, and of course articles on the technical aspects of various martial arts techniques.
His masterwork is entitled Budo-ron, or The Theory of Budo. This book is widely acknowledged in Japan to be one of the the most significant 20th Century contributions to martial arts theory and thought. Unfortunately, it remains to be translated into any Western language. Below, however, please find links to two of Tomiki Sensei’s more influential essays. These, fortunately, have been translated.
It said in his Bio that after WW2, the Communists imprisoned him for three years, but that he used the time practicing his footwork and drawing calligraphy in the dirt.
ReplyDeleteThat says something about the deep vaue of such arts to the person, regardless of circumstances.
I gather you are studying Japanese -- perhaps it will fall to you to translate his book....
I AM studying Japanese, but due to work pressures, it's on the back burner.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that would be a worthy project.