What are the best books for a beginning student of Kaballah?
Just to get glims and impression of what Kabbalah is I would go for Rav Dr. Michael Litman as he is the most authentic Kabbalist who follows a long line of the most respectable authentic Kabbalist as BAHL AHSULAM RAV YEHUDA ASHLAG AND HIS SON AHRABASH RAV BARUCH AHSLAG(check out the link above whole information plus books for free)Kabbalah - Kabbalah Education & Research InstitutePLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A LOT OF CONFUSION CONCERNING KABBALAH SO ALWAYS IS BETTER TO LOOK FOR AUTHENTIC MATERIAL AND TO LEARN FROM A TRUE KABBALIST ONE WHO ATTAINED SPIRITUALITY!!the tricky part is: How do we know that this teacher is a real Kabbalist? right?! regarding this, I must say - follow your heart or trust your guts - the creator always show us the path where should or should we not be.Good Luck
What are the top best books to learn about karate?
Jordan, thank you for the A2A.Here is what I said in a previous answer…There are numerous interesting books on the history and traditions of karate. Here are a few I like:Bubishi: The ‘Bible’ of Karate, Patrick McCarthyKarate-Do: My Way of Life, Gichin FunakoshiOkinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques, Mark BishopTales Of Okinawa's Great Masters, Shoshin NagamineOkinawan Karate: Its Teachers and Their Styles, Jim SilvanKarate: Goju-Ryu by the Cat, Gogen YamaguchiThis Is Karate, Mas OyamaThere are a number of other great books, not necessarily about karate explicitly, that are wonderful reads for any martial artist. I agree with George Goldsmith that The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee; The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and the Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi are must haves.I also would read any of the books by Gichin Funakoshi. While I am not a shotokan stylist, I nonetheless own several of his books - they are wonderful reads regardless of style.
Which martial arts is good for beginners?
Any martial art that does live sparring (not pre-scripted) against an opponent who is actually resisting and trying to hit/strangle/kick you back.Without exception these arts develop real skill (and not show pony mirror moves) far quicker than the others. I’ve personally knocked out black belts from different styles with over 10 years experience who were really surprised that they couldn’t actually fight, because they hadn’t actually done much of it.A short list of arts that are more likely to be legit than bullshitBoxingMuay ThaiBrazilian Jiu JitsuSamboKyokushin Karate (and some other types, but Kyokushin is pretty consistent quality)Catch wrestlingSubmission grapplingOther styles can be good, but in my opinion these would be the consistently good ones. Anything else is heavily instructor dependent. If you get a good instructor, fine. A good instructor is one who has his students spar a lot and test everything.You see, you can’t actually learn to fight without fighting. I would have thought that would be obvious, but cognitive dissonance kicks in and people don’t even consider it. They tell themselves things like “I can’t spar, my art is too deadly, I might actually kill you with my super-secret ninjaness”. Which is bullshit.I sparred a buddy of mine last year who teaches another style. Took him down and submitted him, he said “but what do you do if I can eye gouge and attack the balls?” We tried again, and the same thing happened, except once I controlled him I was the one eye gouging him until he tapped. If you know how to fight on the ground you can eye gouge and ball grab a lot better than someone who doesn’t know how to grapple. Duh. It’s a lot easier and simpler for me to poke you in the eyes that choke you, I’m just doing that to avoid criminal charges.It doesn’t matter how long you learn for, if you haven’t done alive sparring/real fighting against a resisting opponent when it happens for real you will look like a raw beginner.
Can I learn martial art from books?
Again I will be the voice of reason saying you can.Just because someone learned martial arts in a gym does not mean you cannot learn martial arts if you have a book.Ken Shamrock the once Undisputed UFC champion taught himself martial arts through books. Yeah, a book.The ones I suggest are the Tao Of jeet Kun Do by Bruce Lee.Boxing basic books. By many authors (you can google some).Taekwondo Guides and books you can find at your local public library.And YouTube.You will need at least one other person willing to learn and train with you at the same pace, or even find someone who is willing to fight you at a controlled pace, (this person will usually be leagues better than you)What you need to do, is start learning philosophy and proper form. You can do this by training in front of a mirror and reading.Trust me there is no easy way to do this, however with patience and time you will become proficient at it.Will you be as good as a person who trains at a gym? Maybe not, will they learn faster? Yes.But can you learn martial arts through a book. Yes you can.I wish I kept my videos of my progress, but I have done the same thing.
Can a person learn martial arts from books alone?
It depends on exactly what your goals are and how good you want to be at whatever it is you think you can achieve.If by martial arts you mean fighting: no, you can’t learn fighting of any kind from a book. You need a coach to correct the faults in your moves; then you need partners of different kinds and a coach to constantly correct your faults. The word ‘constantly’ is relevant.If you mean learn a set of moves: yes you can learn some moves. You’ll be doing them badly, but you will be able to learn the moves. I know someone who did this with a book on karate in 1965. When they finally made it to a karate club, at least they knew the names of the moves. Everything else was wrong.This, then, is the same question as, “Can I learn brain surgery from a book?”. Of course you can. You will be the least competent and most ignorant brain surgeon around, but you will know everything that can be learned from a book. That would be about 3% of it, probably.Or - thinking about it - “Can I learn dancing from a book?”. Or singing. Or anything that involves skills that cannot be learned except by doing it with a teacher. How can you learn to sing from a book? Answer - it is completely and utterly impossible.Books on martial arts have tremendous value to the experienced student, the researcher, the historian, the seeker after more information, and the student who would like to widen their horizons. For a beginner they are a nice introduction that hints at what can be learned from a good instructor, and no more.What can I do to get fitter before starting to learn a martial art?Now this is a great question. It is sensible, and logical.If you want to ask it, as a separate question, you’ll get plenty of good answers. They will mention things like strength, suppleness, stamina. Things like working up to doing 3x3’s: a 30–40–50 tri-set of press-ups, sit-ups and squats, then repeat, x3. Some basic stretching. Work up to a half-decent time for 3 miles (run 3 miles in a good time).These things are worth their weight in gold when you start in a gym as a newbie.Learning brain surgery, singing, or fighting, out of a book?No.
Is Kenpo better than Karate?
For 7 years I drove 37 miles each way, 2 hours per class and 4 times a week. Passed my 2nd test and was asked to teach at the new Lake St. school location, and that's a 32 mile round trip. I have been learning and teaching the art of Kenpo Karate for just over 10 years now. Kenpo is an awesome self defense art with devastating techniques.
What are the best textbooks to learn Korean?
Once you’ve mastered the alphabet the next thing you need to do is equip yourself with a good quality textbook! Having a good resource to start learning with and continue learning with is a must! One thing to remember is that when trying to learn a new language effectively, you need to work on all 4 of the skills, reading, writing, speaking, and listening… Also a 5th one that I like to add is CULTURE! The Korean language is one that is extremely deeply rooted in culture, so having a resource that includes/ integrates a culture section into the textbook is a must.Textbook Series by Ross King of University of British Columbia!These are a great series to learn with, and easy to buy!!! (Amazon Links Below)Elementary Korean Textbook & Elementary Korean WorkbookContinuing Korean TextbookAdvanced Korean TextbookTextbook Series Used by almost all universities and colleges in the united states to teach korean…Integrated Korean Beginning 1 TextbookIntegrated Korean Beginning 1 WorkbookIntegrated Korean Beginning 2 TextbookIntegrated Korean Beginning 2 WorkbookIntegrated Korean Intermediate 1 TextbookIntegrated Korean Intermediate 1 WorkbookIntegrated Korean Intermediate 2 TextbookIntegrated Korean Intermediate 2 WorkbookIntegrated Korean Advanced Intermediate 1 TextbookIntegrated Korean Advanced Intermediate 2 TextbookIntegrated Korean Advanced 1 TextbookIntegrated Korean Advanced 2 TextbookIntegrated Korean High Advanced 1 TextbookIntegrated Korean High Advanced 2 Textbook