Masters, Instructors, do you have a reading list for your students?

I have no such list of books. But I do require that all my students keep a note pad and take notes. I encourage them to stop me at any time and take notes, ask questions, ...etc. I will recommend a few books if asked to. I feel that them taking notes is more important as it is directly related to what we practice. Besides, there was only one book ever written about our style. It is no longer available.

Since you bring this up I also say this. I used to give the students a lot of hand-out sheets. I felt the information was important. After a few years, I found that no one was reading them. Many times i found them still in the dojo after the students left. Even those that kept them, did not study them on a regular basis. That was the whole point of giving them out. By making them take their own notes, they tend to read them and remember them. The notes they take are no for me to check. They are for them to remind them of important concepts such as those i recently posted in another answer I gave on Y/A.

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I don't have a required reading list per se, but I do have a recommended reading list. I think that there is a lot one can learn on their own about the martial art world through the literature of the masters both old and new.

The list:

The Root of Chinese Qigong \

The Essence of Shaolin White Crane -------- Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming

Yi Gin Ching/Shii Soei Ching (translation) /

The Bubishi - Patrick McCarthy translation & George Alexander translation

The Western Bubishi - Rand Cardwell

Death Touch: The Science Behind Dim Mak - Dr. Michael Kelly

The Enciclopedia of Dim Mak - Erle Montaigue and Wally Jay

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

The Book of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi

I have many more books which I would recommend, but these are the ones that are of a physical nature that are heavily pushed in my dojo.

We also do a note taking as you and pugpaws2 mentioned. Back in the day we used to have big Q&A sessions, which was always awesome. Now, since I only have a couple of students at a time, we will discuss something if the topic comes up during training.

Although I am not a master but instructor of several differnt arts,i would love the attempt to answer this question.

We do not have requierd reading on martial arts its self because its ussually incoporated into the lesson about history and ussage of the form its self.

the owner and Master instructor of the school is also a jouvinile Probation officer and what we do is all about the children so we do have handouts about bullies, strangers, abuse and a lot of times womens self defence.

We provide enough intell about the art forms itself that most of the time the students get passionalte enough to do the research without being told. Its funny when a 9 year old comes in with an extensive question about what he just read on the internet about the origin of the form/art they are doing.

I used to have a list but now that I am in Japan and most of my students are Japanese I am often asking them for suggestions..haha.

But I always taught and still teach that students should devour as much as they can. When I had a list before it was just to help people get started. There are so many books out there and so many bad ones that it is not fun to start out reading bad book after bad book.

A few that I have added to my personal favourites are:

The Book of Martial Power - by Steven Pearlman

Bushido - by Nitobe (I know he wasn't a real martial artist or bushi.. but it is important to read IMHO)

Two books I always recommend to students starting out are:

Karatedo My Way of Life by Funakoshi

(Oh no, I cant remember the title or find it....)

A big book by Bruce Lee. It has lots of details in it. The idea of a person looking so closely at their art is what I try to convey to the student by having them read this book. The details may be different for each style but the process is excellent.

As a result of a previous question about recommended reading materials for instructors, I have made some recommendations to my students.

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is Sun Tsu, the art of war.

But many of my students are children and cannot read or appreciate these book as an adult can. But I have recommended that my Taekwondo and Aikido schools consider recommending them.

I am interested in seeing what others recommend.

I have my students read most of the publications mentioned. I would just add a few.

- Moving Zen: Karate as a way to Gentleness by CW Nicol

- Five Years, One Kata: Putting kata back into the heart of karate by Bill Burgar

- Classical Kata of Okinawan Karate - translation by Patrick McCarthy

- Karate-Do My Way of Life by Gichin Funokoshi

- Hagakure: Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

- The Essence of Oknawan Karate

Not karate books but martial books as it were

- In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection - Massad Ayoob

- Defensive Tactics: Modern Arrest & Control Techniques for Today's Police Warrior - by Lauren Christensen

I have a number of books in my school in a book case that a student can sit down and take a look at when they are waiting for their lesson or class to maybe start if they are a little early or their parents are late picking them up.

Besides this I also keep a reading binder and have a number of articles about things in there that I require my students to read and are just short one or two page articles mostly. These articles are ones that I have ran across through the years that parallel with what I teach and emphasize in my classes with my students and so they just help to reinforce that. There are things in there about self-defense, training, Japanese technique and use of the hips in karate, preparing for a tournament, etc.

The Way of Kata

The Way of Sanchin Kata

The Gift of Fear

The Little Black Book of Violence

Cracking the Kata Code

Formal Judo Techniques

Aikido Basics

Basically students need a good grasp of the physical and psychological aspects of martial arts.

Not required, but I do have a list of suggested reading -- My Soke's books, On Killing by Dave Grossman, The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman.

There's one book, though, that I believe trumps all others in importance, and have given countless copies to countless people since I first read it, and highly recommend my students buy, borrow, or steal it: The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. Even though he seems very much against martial arts, his points on listening to that fear inside are so important and shouldn't be ignored.

I have a recommended list, out of which I select specific titles for individual students based on what I feel would benefit them most. Some of my favorites are:

Dancing Wu Li Masters... explores thinking outside the box using quantum physics and a touch of Taoist thought.

Bones of the Master... explores the bonds of Master amd Disciple, plus provides some insight into Chinese culture.

Beyond the Known.... explores a student's quest for mastery

The Kybalion... western hermetic philosophy

The Platform Sutra of Hui Neng... recounts the life and teachings of the 6th Patriarch of Ch'an Buddhism, who began as an illiterate monk and rose to enlightenment and leadership.

I also encourage them to search out and study artwork from China, especially from the dynastic periods. It's amazing what one can learn about martial arts from careful observation of ancient warrior in a painting. We all think we know how or why something is done, but looking at a snapshot from centuries past can shed light on our assumptions.