[.ca] Moving Zen: One Man's Journey to the Heart of Karate (ISBN 4770027559)

If you love Karate and Zen, it's a must!:
If you love Budo (especially Karate) or if you love Zen, you will have (as I did) a great pleasure on reading this work of art! Maybe the expression of Zen in the arts is the best way to contact the alive spirit of this tradition, and I think this work gives a good view of this expression. Maybe Zen is moving not only in the practice of Karate, but also throughout the pages of this poem written in prose... Mr. Nicol is not only (as his japanese friend wrote to him, page 74) "looking to sky to making poetry"... He makes his poetry also with his feet quite rooted in the floor. The text is great, because, not claiming to teach us any particular thing, yet it teaches a lot... You have to know it: It's not a doctrinal book. It's simply as if you were an old friend of the author and he is glad to write to you to tell about his last adventures in a different land and culture, his experiences with Budo... If you like the matter, you will want to end a letter (a chapter - they are 13) and soon beggin the next... I would just recall that, as far as the matter Zen is concerned, we shall not consider particular behaviors of individuals as a certain expression of a "zen behavior", for it doesn't exist, at least as a crystallized formula... So, for example, the way Karate instructors deal with students weaknesses depends on their culture and on their own, it's not a formula in Karate-do... (Here I'm not saying Mr Nicol presented it as a formula!) Well, that's it: the only thing I can really resume for those who love the matter of this book is that it's really a classic... If you ever wanted to know the "philosophy" of Martial Arts, Budo, especially classical Karate, you must read it!!

a great book:
a wonderful look at karate, japan, and life. truly a beautiful book in the way that siddhartha is a beautiful book. i would recommend this to any person in the world.

One of the best martial arts book out there:
I read this book after a year of practicing karate, looking at what happened to Mr. Nicol it has certainly inspired me and help me examine why I am doing karate and what it all means to me. It's a must read for every martial artist especially for those of us who practice and follow Karate-do. This book is very easy to read as Mr. Nicol's writing style is clear and accessible.

Hard fists and a cold dojo:
Mr, Nicole tells about Karate from a Western viewpoint and how it was practiced in Japan after the war, but before it became mainstream in America. He recounts his interactions with the Japanese, some nice, some not so nice, and gives detailed accounts about his learning karate in the cold dojo with a wood burning stove as the only source of heat. His adventure is one that many of us envy but would not attempt, as he did and when he did. IN our current day of carpet on the floor, and three inch safety padding, Nicole's book provides a good account of what karate used to be like and should be like today.

A very good book for any level martial artist:
This is a wonderful book. It is very easy to read and is appropriate at any level. I have read the book several times and each time I find myself learning something new (or at least comprehending something I hadn't before). As the name implies you will not learn technique from this book, rather you will gain insight through one man's retelling of his story of growing in the martial arts.