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RvW
29th July 2006, 18:01
Does anyone know of the availability of the german translation of Tatsuo Kimura's book "Transparant Power"?

In his book "Discovering Aiki, my 20 years with Yukiyoshi Sagawa Sensei", page 23 he makes note of "Professor H. Popp, who invited me, also attended all of my practices in Germany. He is now an Aikido 6th dan. He is devoted to the path of attaining Aiki and also translated my book titled "Transparant Power" about Sagawa Sensei into German."

A google search didn't return anything on this, nor on Mr. Popp.

He also makes note of him conducting seminars in Germany. Is he still doing this?

Thanks in advance,

wreddock
29th July 2006, 20:41
Might help the search if you changed the spelling to "Transparent Power"

Just a thought :)

Nathan Scott
28th August 2006, 02:17
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RvW
29th August 2006, 15:44
Thanks Nathan for keeping attention on this book.

You said that you've "heard" the translation is completed. Do you know what audience this translation is meant for, internal use by a German Aikido and/or Daito Ryu community or for the general public?

Ron Tisdale
29th August 2006, 16:43
Is there an english translation of this book?

Thanks,
Ron

Nathan Scott
29th August 2006, 21:31
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Nathan Scott
12th May 2009, 21:40
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Benkei the Monk
13th May 2009, 23:28
dear Scott sensei,
can you tell us where the book could be bought?

Nathan Scott
13th May 2009, 23:59
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Hissho
14th May 2009, 05:47
That quote is spot on!

Joshua Lerner
14th May 2009, 20:48
Hi Nathan,

Who is the translator? It doesn't say on the webpage.

Thanks,

Josh

Nathan Scott
15th May 2009, 01:14
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morpheus
16th May 2009, 00:00
I look forward to scoring a copy of this!

Jeff

Nathan Scott
28th July 2009, 20:13
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jdostie
6th August 2009, 06:45
I placed my order yesterday and it went through. I got email confirmation shortly thereafter.

Nathan Scott
11th August 2009, 02:03
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Jose Garrido
12th August 2009, 01:11
Just placed my order and it went through without a hitch.

Jose Garrido

warren33
12th August 2009, 15:37
Arrrrgh, another book I'm very interested in but can't really afford at the moment :(

On that same subject (my wishlist) - does anyone know any other books by or about Yukiyoshi Sagawa in English?

Any help appreciated!

Jose Garrido
13th August 2009, 17:04
Just received my book today. To my surprise it was a hard cover and very carefully packaged. More to follow.

Jose Garrido

Nathan Scott
14th August 2009, 23:57
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warren33
17th August 2009, 10:06
Hi Nathan,

Thanks very much for the info, you've saved me from a lot of fruitless searching for things that don't exist! :-)

I knew of one interview on Aikido Journal - I'll have a look again for other articles.

The little I already knew of Sagawa Yukiyoshi, combined with the excerpts on the book's webpage, means it's one I make sure I get my hands on... :D

Best wishes,

Warren
Ps. Starbucks went out the window a long time ago! :) :(

kimiwane
17th August 2009, 16:35
Just received my book today. To my surprise it was a hard cover and very carefully packaged. More to follow.

Yes, a big surprise. This is a nicely made book and full of interesting material. NOT a how-to-aiki, but a HOW-TO think and research your own development. REALLY worth the money!!!

David

Arne Oster
18th August 2009, 13:09
The book is on its way here also. Looking forward to it.

Regards
Arne

Jose Garrido
18th August 2009, 22:53
Just finished reading the book. WOW!!!!

This is truly a great book on Daito-ryu through the eyes of a great practioner and his student. It gives a deeper insight into a way of thinking about AIKI. And into the practice of martial arts.

I will now digest it for a while and re-read it at a future date (soon).

I recommend it to anyone interested in Daito-ryu.

Jose Garrido

Nathan Scott
19th August 2009, 04:57
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Daito
19th August 2009, 10:01
Great book. I've read the very early translation years ago. However, this one is really well done, updated with many new notes, photos, and additional interviews with Sagawa Sensei's brother. Very well done.
Can't put it down.

Through this book we can see the depth of Sagawa Sensei's art, the attitude for real usage of Daitoryu in fighting (both, Sagawa Sohan and Takeda Sensei), the training behind the skill, and the importance of thinking instead of mindless repetition. This book is a treasure.

I'd like to publicly express my thanks to Kimura Tatsuo Sensei and all involved in translation and publication of this book.

I highly recommend "Transparent Power" to any serious martial artist, no matter what style. It may change your entire approach to Budo and/or Bujutsu you practice.

Paul Wollos

Louis I. Butto
26th August 2009, 01:03
Yes, I agree. This book is great. In fact, inspirational. It shows the spirit of a bujutsuka.


LB

Woody
26th August 2009, 10:53
Eagerly awaiting my copy!:D

morpheus
28th September 2009, 20:09
I have yet to pull the trigger on this purchase. How does it compare to Kimura Tatsuo sensei's previous book in English?

Thanks
Jeff

Kukan99
29th September 2009, 18:47
I have yet to pull the trigger on this purchase. How does it compare to Kimura Tatsuo sensei's previous book in English?


What previous book in English?

morpheus
29th September 2009, 20:16
Discovering Aiki: My 20 years with Sagawa Yukiyoshi

http://www.budovideos.com/shop/customer/product.php?productid=22067&cat=&page=1

Jeff

Nathan Scott
29th September 2009, 21:49
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morpheus
29th September 2009, 22:47
Mr. Scott,

Thanks for the information. I have a copy of Discovering Aiki and have read it a number of times. I was a bit leery of making a purchase thinking that the material would be the same.

Thanks
Jeff

Nathan Scott
17th November 2009, 23:15
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Grant Periott
13th January 2010, 07:15
I very much appreciate the material in this book, there are some controversial opinions expressed but I think that such a dedicated master such as Sagawa sensei is entitled to his opinions. The insights into Sagawa sensei and Takeda sensei are valubale to any dedicated student of the martial arts but particularly to all students of Aiki. This book will definately remain in my library!

Nathan Scott
4th May 2010, 06:58
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Rev
4th May 2010, 22:23
Quote:
“Bujutsu is not something that you’ll necessarily become good at after a number of years, nor is anyone else going to make you strong. You must tell yourself that you will never allow anyone to defeat you; then you must back up that conviction with training. It won’t do any good to simply repeat the forms of the techniques. They should be steeled with your intention to defeat your opponent. Ultimately, it boils down to a battle between souls. This is true no matter what you do. No matter how much a fainthearted person practices, when push comes to shove, he’s completely helpless. When it comes to actual combat, it’s a matter of cutting or being cut. If you’re timid you’ll be cut right from the get-go.” - Sagawa Yukiyoshi

Regards,

I have this book on the way as we speak. If the above quote is anything to go on, then I think I'll be pleasantly rewarded regarding the books content.

Let you know.

Wayne

Jose Garrido
5th May 2010, 11:47
As I stated previously. I really liked this book. It does inspire IMO people who have been training for a long time and beginners. I have recommended it to everyone in my group and they have not been disappointed.

I will probably start reading it for the 3rd time over the summer. I got something different from it each of the 2 times that I read it.

But once again this is just my opinion. :)

Jose Garrido

Kendoguy9
5th May 2010, 14:37
Hey Nathan et al,

I read the comments on Amazon.com a few days before you posted this. It sounds like they were expecting a step by step on every exercise Sagawa sensei did with photos and maybe even a DVD included, I dunno. I found the book to be useful for both its historical information as well as some of the insights you can gather about how Sagawa sensei trained. I'll be honest some of the pages where he just waxes on about who he beat and what judo rank they had got a little slow, but it does make his point well. It is very inspiring to read about a man in his 90's who trains harder then most in their 20's. Just reading about some of the tools he trained with such as iron pipes and large hammers should give a great deal of insight into what he may have been doing. The book is peppered with useful hints about how to train the body and the mind. Good book worth the $$.

just my thoughts though,

Hissho
5th May 2010, 16:29
Again, great quote. Is there more of this mental attitude stuff in there? Anyone know did Sagawa have any life/death fighting experience?

I would also point out that he seems to be speaking directly to the "will to prepare to win" versus the "will to win." The point about him being in his 90s and training harder than 20 year olds is telling.

We all want that will. Lots of us "think" we have it. But do we? Do we put the time in to get in physical condition? How is our flexibility? Do we gas out during basic warmups? Can we actually see our feet or does our gut hang over it?

The lack of will to stay in basic physical condition does not bode well for manifesting the will to fight that battle of souls. We can pretend it does, all the while chasing "internal power," but it doesn't.

Maybe that is the difference betweent the folks who do it as an interesting set of exercises, and those who are able to transfer it to the combative arena?

Nathan Scott
5th May 2010, 21:38
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Hissho
6th May 2010, 00:51
Facing a knife, and engaging, would definitely be the kind of thing I am thinking.

For lack of a better way of putting it, what he is saying in that quote (or at least in the translation), resonates of either direct personal experience - or something of that properly transmitted.

Steve Wood
6th May 2010, 04:20
Anyone know did Sagawa have any life/death fighting experience?
As one of my teachers once asked, what great fighters did he defeat? Same idea. My teacher also told me to ask that of the people who are engaged in discussions about someone better than them. Everyone is a Monday morning quarterback it seems. And a lot of people clamp their wagon to the star of someone whos skill they don't even have but who they want to be associated with. In other words, beware of these types of discussions. Its usually a trap leading to someones ego. Me, I take what clues I can but I avoid the sneaky discussions because I see the hidden agandas.

Steve Wood

Hissho
6th May 2010, 05:55
Its not at all the same idea.

At least not what I was getting at. What he says had a particular meaning - for me - that reveals either a direct personal knowledge of something, or that someone with that knowledge was able to convey the true meaning of it to him.

You mighta missed my hidden agenda....;)

jdostie
7th May 2010, 04:53
"Aiki is not myterious. It is based on real principle." (pg 144)

"Without Aiki, martial arts techniques are merely about power. Aiki reaally is mysterious, isn't it?' (pg 148)

A sensei if I ever heard one . . .


"A person who is rigid and tense is alraedy hopeless." (pg 154)
This discribes me pretty well - I hope I'm not hopeless.

Nathan, to your question, a lot of it seemed like self agrandisment - beating this person or that, resisting being thown down by Takeda Sensei, and also comparing his aiki favorably to Takeda's. On the other hand, I thought, if he's really that good, as I sometimes get the impression . . .
But all in all, what this book does is makes me want to train harder, and really want to learn aiki. Which I would guess is the real value of a book like this - at least to me.

jdostie
7th May 2010, 11:06
I didn't write that last message well. I wish there were an edit feature.

What I was trying to say was that I was surprised by the language used - which sounded - uh, very self confident - and Sagawa Sensei comparing himself favorably to HIS Sensei . . . without being rude, if I heard someone talking like that, it would most likely strike me as bragging. And then, to coin a phrase sometimes used - "It ain't bragging if it's true" or something like that.

Lots of cool stuff in this book. I didn't expect to find any technique - though, I will confess that at times it feels like he's on the edge of telling us "do this, or train this way - and you will discover aiki."

Can't sleep tonight, lots of stuff on my mind, and that doesn't make for good writing. Sorry if that last post didn't come off well . . .

Nathan Scott
7th May 2010, 20:42
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Eric Joyce
7th May 2010, 23:14
Hey guys,

In case anyone is interested, according to a review of our thread on Aikiweb by a "certain former member", our discussion here lacks any meaningful dialogue or any general level of understanding. If ya'll are tired of "guessing, wondering and misunderstanding the nature of the book", feel free to go over there and learn all about aiki from the experts! ;)

http://www.aikiweb.com/forums/showthread.php?p=257082

I know I've got a couple of quotes attributed to me that I didn't write. Anyone else? I guess this propaganda campaign won't end until the traditional arts all die out.

Hi Nathan,

I frequent the Aikiweb forum from time to time and I do find the information that is shared interesting. Still having trouble figuring out exactly what they are talking sometimes. The conversations usually start out fine, but soon turn ugly with some personal attacks which can be distracting when researching this information. Sometimes the arguments remind of the phrases “My kung fu is better than yours,” or “your kung fu is weak old man!” I didn't realize it was you that was being critiqued.

Nathan Scott
8th May 2010, 03:29
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Kendoguy9
10th June 2010, 19:34
Hello all,

I thought this might be an interesting place for this post. Nathan if you think it should go somewhere else please feel free to move it.

I know some people in the past three or four years have been going on about the tanren methods of Sagawa sensei. There wasn't much how-to in the book by Kimura sensei, but one of his fellow students Takahashi sensei showed a series of tanren methods in the June 2008 issue of Hiden Budo Magazine. I've never seen the issue myself, and to be honest can only read about 300 kanji anyway so it wouldn't have been much help. Well a French blog site translated some of it into French (a language I have a better understanding of). While struggling through the French my girlfriend showed me that Google can translate pages for me. It is a lot better than Babelfish and quicker too!

Anyway, the blog site has divided the article into smaller articles. Some of the photos are missing but you should be able to get an idea of how Sagawa sensei trained. It even posts his training schedule, and how many reps he did of each tanren. It shows two exercises that have been the foundation of my personal training (although I suck and am not even on the radar of great aiki-men) for a few years now; shiko and furibo. The shiko they show is different from both sumo and Aunkai shiko and is actually very challenging. The furibo method is also a little different from the Jikishinkage-ryu furibo methods but seem pretty good. There is also a sort of how-to on one of Sagawa sensei's aikinage that should give people a great deal to work with, as well as some aikikempo.

The Sagawa tanren articles are mixed between some stuff about Kukishin-ryu, Aunkai, Shingan-ryu and other random stuff but might be worth looking into.

One thing that these articles tell me is that the aiki Sagawa sensei did was the result of decades of very hard constant practice, and isn't something that can be learned in a weekend seminar or by the casual student in a year or two. You get what you put into it.

http://budoshugyosha.over-blog.com/

So anyway good luck training and becoming the next Sagawa (do some meditiation with it and you can become Ueshiba! :D).

Robert Wilkins
12th June 2010, 19:32
Having some very slight exposure to internal strength building solo exercises discussed in Transparent Power, I can tell you, albeit from an unskilled standpoint, that these exercises really do change how you begin to conceptualize and manifest your technique.

Again, I want to stress that I am IN NO WAY claiming, or am trying to give the impression, that I have any real understanding of what's going on with a lot of these exercises other than that they are designed to strengthen fascia and develop an explosive internal power. What I can say, is that my Aikido teacher has been training using these solo exercises, and that his technique has changed radically after doing so.

He also recommends Transparent Power VERY HIGHLY.

R A Sosnowski
4th March 2011, 21:25
Check out Amazon.com - translation published in August 2009.

R A Sosnowski
4th March 2011, 21:28
Transparent Power (English) (http://www.amazon.com/Transparent-Power-Tatsuo-Kimura/dp/1893447103)