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I just finished reading a book that I was pretty good and I thought I would share.

The book is titled “Mind over Muscle”.  It is a collection of the writings of Jigoro Kano that spans about 50 years from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. Jigoro Kano was the inventor of Kodokan Judo.

The book is divided into three main sections, “The Development of Judo”, “The Spirit of Judo”, and “Judo Training”.  The book concentrates on Kano’s reasons behind creating Judo, the origins of some of the elements, and the process of changing (ju)“jutsu” (skill) into (Ju)“do” (way).  He explains his ideas of the value of Judo outside of the purely martial aspects of the art, to include the social, moral education, and physical benefits.  

Being a collection of excerpts of books, lectures notes, and essays, there are some places where it gets a little repetitious.  However, it is well written overall and well translated.

Even though Kano was born at the end of the Meiji Restoration period, during the beginning of Japan’s modernization and industrialization period, the conclusions he draws and his descriptions of state of society and it’s probably future are very applicable to today.  Some things he says could not be truer if they were written yesterday.

If anyone is interested in borrowing the book let me know.

I just finished reading this book and completely agree with Howard's comments. It's a small book so there is no intimidating reading like you might find with a Tom Clancy novel (the later years). I dedicated an evening to each chapter which worked out well.

There was much repetition which could get a little boring but it also hammered home Kano's message of how Judo should be practiced. I found his vague examples to be cleverly presented as I caught myself forgetting that this book was written nearly 100 years ago. I thought he was talking about events of today. This says something for the agelessness of his concepts.

What caught me by suprise was his belief that Judo was not just a sport, but a way of life. Kano's explanantions and examples fit closely into my beliefs of life. I just never thought to associate it as Judo. Those reading this book can take it as lightly as the want or delve as deeply into the introspective as they feel. Either way, it's a good read.

Daryl