Lowry, Dave

Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 212 pages (2004)
ISBN: 1592285902

Recommended

This book discusses a variety of topics that relate to Japanese martial arts. It is evident from the writing style and the topics that are discussed that the author is attracted to and deeply involved in Japanese culture and martial arts. It seems that his involvement with Japanese culture allows him to conclude that westerners fail to truly grasp and understand the essence of the martial arts of Japan. The tone of the book suggests that the author attempts to provide the reader, which he assumes to be a Westerner, with information and a basic understanding of what Japanese martial arts is truly about. He organizes the information that he discusses into various chapters. For example, one chapter would be completely devoted to kufu, which is solving a quandary, and another might discuss igen, which is dignity. In all, there are fourteen different chapters which touch on various topics related to Japanese martial arts and our understanding of martial arts.

In the beginning of the book, he starts by discussing kufu. He provides a definition and various examples. According to Lowry, kufu is the way in which one finds his or her way out of a quandary by relying on their intuitive part of themselves. In essence, one must neglect logic and reason and embrace intuition. It is true that a lot of things can be solved using logic and reason, but Lowry does not believe that everything can. For the few problems that cannot, one must embrace kufu.

After devoting a chapter to kufu, Lowry then goes on to discuss the way in which a master must pass on his teaching to a student to keep to martial art alive. He illustrates the passing of knowledge by using the story of a particular master named Kagehisa. The following chapter acknowledges the importance of dignity in the Japanese Martial arts world. Other topics that he devotes chapters to are the importance of the present, unsheathing a sword, perseverance, the sensei, the importance of a name, the way of hardship, mythic origins of the ninja, creating kata, Japanese martial arts in the West, and the practice of kata. All of these topics and concepts are employed to allow the reader to understand, at a base level, what Japanese martial arts are truly about. Undoubtedly, a person who reads this book will not know all, or even a great amount about Japanese martial arts. In takes years of reading and studying to attain a good deal of knowledge about the topic. In any case, Lowry provides just enough information to the reader so that it is not overbearing, but makes sure that it is effective in providing a elementary level of understanding.

In truth, Clouds in the West was a fun and interesting book to read. I was familiar with a lot of the information that was presented in the book, and I am not a student of martial arts. What made the book interesting was the way in which Lowry presented the information. In most cases, he would start each chapter with a simple example or metaphor that a western reader could easily grasp. Then he would relate the example or metaphor to what he was actually discussing. It should acknowledged that such a task is not easy and to be successful at it deserves some form of recognition. In sum, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a basic understanding of various aspects of Japanese martial arts.

Annotated by: David Frazer (March 2007)

Help Us Raise Funds For 2010! The Taekwondo Club is embarking on another fundraising project for 2010 to send members to various events. Please consider initiating your Amazon order from our web site; the club will receive a small commission for every order you place. The club is planning to send members to collegiates, West Virginia, and possibly elsewhere.

Martial Arts: other martial art: Japanese Martial Art

Topics: history | philosophy |