Serge Mol: Classical Swordmanship of Japan

[Cron]

Hi,

have a look at this: http://www.eibusha.com/Site/Books.html

Serge Mol finally completed his newest book, Classical Swordmanship of Japan: A Comprehensive Guide to Kenjutsu and Iaijutsu.



My copy will be shipped the next days. I´m realy looking forward to read it. The content seems to be very interesting!

Regards,
Michael Reinhardt

[ryoma]

The contents seem quite impressive. I have seen his books around for some time. What's the authors background actually?

[Shudo]

About the author.
Serge Mol is the author of the acclaimed CLASSICAL FIGHTING ARTS OF JAPAN: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO KORYU JUJUTSU, and is the first and only non-Japanese to have received the rank of menkyo kaiden in Enshin Ryu Iai, Suemonogiri, Kenpo and Yawara, or to have received menkyo in Hoki Ryu Juutsu.

Before specializing in classical martial arts, Mol also studied various modern budo including kendo, iaido and judo; he has dan ranking in iaido and judo.

Mol has lived and trained in Japan for several years as a direct disciple of Grandmaster Tanaka Fumon - one of Japan's foremost authorities on classical martial arts and special weaponry - and Grandmaster Nakashima Atsumi. In addition to more orthodox classical martial arts such as jujutsu, iaijutsu, kenjutsu, and bojutsu, the author has studied the use of various hibuki (secret weapons) and kakushibuki (concealed weapons). The author's relationship with these grandmasters and reliance solely on original Japanese materials - many of which are ancient, secret texts - make his work uniquely reliable.

Mol lives in Belgium and travels frequently to Japan for additional training and research.
Sean Halpin

[pgsmith]

I really know nothing about Serge Mol, and his books and practical knowledge may be fantastic, but anything connected with "Grandmaster Tanaka Fumon" is a bit suspect in my opinion.

[DDATFUS]

I found his book Classical Fighting Arts of Japan to be good-- not perfect, but well worth having on the shelf. His current book promises several pages on Jikishinkage Ryu, so I'll probably be getting that as well. I'll be very interested to see what source material he uses.

[Cron]

Try the other book by him, the "Invisible Armor" one.
Good stuff!

[Ron Beaubien]

I met Serge Mol in Kyoto a few years ago when he had returned to Japan for a short visit with his family. Although we didn't have much time to chat, I found him to be personable and sincere.

I really know nothing about Serge Mol, and his books and practical knowledge may be fantastic, but anything connected with "Grandmaster Tanaka Fumon" is a bit suspect in my opinion.

For readers who may not be aware, Tanaka Fumon has been discussed here on E-Budo before:

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20975

Although it is a long thread, it is well worth reading. Many of the ranks Tanaka Fumon had claimed to hold were certainly questionable.

For the record, I reviewed Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A Complete Guide to Koryu Jujutsu by Serge Mol, years ago. Although there were things I liked about it, I did find Serge Mol's book to be quite problematic due to questionable logic:

http://hoplology.com/reviews.asp?id=4

Although I have yet to see a copy of Serge Mol's Classical Swordsmanship of Japan, the table of contents are available online. Just at a quick glance, it appears that Serge Mol may have just repeated some common misconceptions from Japanese sources without actually talking to the practitioners themselves about the reliability of the sources he was using. For example, in his new book Serge Mol listed Hoki-ryu as belonging to the lingeage of Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu:

http://www.eibusha.com/Site/Contents3%20C.S..html

However, according to E-Budo's own Rennis Buchner, who lives in Japan, practices Hoki-ryu, and has amassed a considerable amount of documentation and scrolls on Katayama-ryu and Hoki-ryu, there is no historical evidence of such a relationship in the documents of the schools themselves:

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showpost...4&postcount=17

http://acmebugei.wordpress.com/2009/...u-iai-revised/

I do hope that Serge Mol's book will be much better than his previous books, but as for me, I think I'm going to wait until I can hold a copy in my own two hands and read through some of it before making any purchasing decisions.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Ron Beaubien

[Hissho]

Thanks, Ron, knowing your background that is a good recommendation.

[Shingan]

I also had a look at Classical Fighting Arts of Japan: A complete guide to Koryu Jujutsu by Serge Mol.
I was particularly interested in the Yagyu Shingan ryu Heiho, however as a practitioner of this tradition I found that some of the content in this chapter was inaccurate.
That aside, I did enjoy the chapter on the Tenjin Myoshin ryu and I reflected on some fond memories of Sato Sensei and Onodera Sensei.
I hope Serge Mol's next book is successful for him. Gambatte.

[poryu]

HI

I have the previous books he wrote and I do like his writing style.However since he went to private publishing the price of the books has doubled in price. i will get a copy for myself but none of my students will even consider it at all.

50 euros (about $70) for a book quite a bot over the top dont you think

[Cron]

Hi,

today I got my copy of the book. Just read the first pages and the Shinto ryu part, it seems to be a nice work done by Serge Mol.

Regards,

[George Kohler]

Anyone have this book to do a review?

[Rennis]

Anyone have this book to do a review?

I am working on one right now actually, although it might take me a while to finish it.

[Rennis]

Probably too involved detail-wise and too much hair-splitting for most people, but here is my review of the book HERE.

[Ron Beaubien]

Probably too involved detail-wise and too much hair-splitting for most people, but here is my review of the book HERE.

That is an excellent book review Rennis. Thanks again for taking the time to write it.

Your review really shows what a deep understanding, through personal practice and historical research using primary sources, is needed just to scratch the surface of these esoteric arts.

The detailed information on Hoki-ryu alone is priceless. Great stuff!

Regards,

Ron Beaubien