Aikido Strategy: Read Strategy Books

Strategy Books for your ‘unfair’ Advantage

Here is a list of Strategy Books that can give you the ‘unfair’ Advantage in life, your Aikido and maybe even in your profession.

For me strategy is the master plan to achieve the goal. A simple one sentence definition that requires knowledge, experience and guts to deliver.

Another simpler way of looking at strategy is answering this question. How do you get into a position so you can deliver a concentrated attack and prevail? Just to clarify. I didn’t say ‘win’, I said ‘prevail’. There’s a big difference.

Like the battlefields, there are politics and battles in a group or work situation. Only it’s smaller and a lot less bloody.

Think, Decide and Act Strategically

I’ve had many jobs and I am part of many social groups and circles. When a group of humans get together, the herd mentality kicks in. The herd mentality has many patterns. Herds of animals, a school of fish or 10,000 people in a concert behave in a certain way. Studying Strategy Books helped me see clearer and even stand out of the herd when I am in one.

My curiosity of strategy books started when I was a sankyu after keiko North Sydney Aikido. One of my sempais handed me a worn out copy of Sun Tsu’s classic ‘The Art of War’. With a clear directive ‘Read it and give it back to in 14 days’, I read the book and discovered many different ways to deliver an Aikido Technique.

Here is a list of Strategy books that I read.

All of them helped me in my Aikido, Life and Profession.

If you want to chat about the strategy books you can find us on Facebook. Like us there and we can start a thread about your questions.

Art of Way

by Gen. Sun Tzu Strategist Master

Conflict is an inevitable part of life, according to this ancient Chinese classic of strategy, but everything necessary to deal with conflict wisely, honorably, victoriously, is already present within us.

Compiled more than two thousand years ago by a mysterious warrior-philosopher, The Art of War is still perhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy in the world, as eagerly studied in Asia by modern politicians and executives as it has been by military leaders since ancient times.

As a study of the anatomy of organizations in conflict, The Art of War applies to competition and conflict in general, on every level from the interpersonal to the international.

Its aim is invincibility, victory without battle, and unassailable strength through understanding the physics, politics, and psychology of conflict.

The Book of Five Rings

By: Miyamoto Musashi Soldier, Samurai, Ronin, Author and Sword Saint (Kensei)

Miyamoto Musashi’s Go Rin no Sho or the book of five rings, is considered a classic treatise on military strategy, much like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War and Chanakya’s Arthashastra.

The five “books” refer to the idea that there are different elements of battle, just as there are different physical elements in life, as described by Buddhism, Shinto, and other Eastern religions.

Through the book Musashi defends his thesis: a man who conquers himself is ready to take it on on the world, should need arise.

Verbal Aikido – Green Belt: The art of directing verbal attacks to a balanced outcome

by Luke Archer

A comprehensive introduction to the art of Verbal Aikido: an effective and easy-to-use style of conflict management, based on the philosophy of the martial art. With three straightforward steps, make interpersonal conflict and verbal attacks a thing of the past.

The 48 Laws of Power

By Robert Greene

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills three thousand years of the history of power in to forty-eight well explicated laws.

As attention—grabbing in its design as it is in its content, this bold volume outlines the laws of power in their unvarnished essence, synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun-tzu, Carl von Clausewitz, and other great thinkers.

Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), the virtue of stealth (“Law 3: Conceal Your Intentions”), and many demand the total absence of mercy (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”), but like it or not, all have applications in real life.

Illustrated through the tactics of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, P. T. Barnum, and other famous figures who have wielded—or been victimized by—power, these laws will fascinate any reader interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control.

Mastery

Robert Green   Best Selling Author on Strategy

Mastery synthesizes the years of research Robert Greene conducted while writing the international bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power.

The 33 Strategies of War, and The Art of Seduction and demonstrates that the ultimate form of power is mastery itself.

By analysing the lives of such past masters as Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Leonard da Vinci, as well as by interviewing nine contemporary masters, including tech guru Paul Graham and animal rights advocate Temple Grandin.

Greene debunks our culture’s many myths about genius and distills the wisdom of the ages to reveal the secret to greatness. With this seminal text as a guide, readers will learn how to unlock the passion within and become masters.

The 50th Law

By:

50 Cent  Dealer, Husler, Rap Artist, Entrepreneur and Tribe Leader

Robert Green   Best Selling Author of Seduction, Power and Strategy

In The 50th Law, hip hop and pop culture icon 50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson) joins forces with Robert Greene, bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, to write a “bible” for success in life and work based on a single principle: fear nothing.

With stories from 50 Cent’s life on the streets and in the boardroom as he rose to fame after the release of his album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, as well as examples of others who have overcome adversity through understanding and practicing the 50th Law.

This deeply inspirational book is perfect for entrepreneurs as well as anyone interested in the extraordinary life of Curtis Jackson.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan

By: Inazo Nitobe (Author)

I believe that martial art without spirituality or philosophy is just thuggery. The warrior needs to have spirit and believe in something worth living for. This book is about the code of the Samurai. It talks about the virtues and five minds of the Samurai. If you live by this code, you become a better warrior and superior person.