Spirit of the Sensei: A Study of Japanese Martial Arts

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

During the past six decades, millions of North Americans have studied
some form of Japanese martial art. Andrew Bowerbank began studying
karate in the early 1970s. He is now a godan (fifth-degree black belt)
in the karate-do. His instructor, O-Sensei Masami Tsuruoka, is the
founder of Canadian karate.

Although Bowerbank is approaching the level of master martial artist in
his own right, he is still very much a student. A strong sense of
Japanese tradition permeates this book and Bowerbank repeatedly
acknowledges the influence Tsuruoka has had in shaping his own views of
karate. Spirit of the Sensei is aimed at martial arts students who
already have some understanding of bujutsu (a fighting system).

The first half of the book is a short history of the martial arts in
Japan and an explanation of the traditional ranking system from white
belt to tenth degree black belt. The second half is a collection of
essays by Tsuruoka students. Because these essays were not originally
written with an eye to publication, they are of mixed quality. All,
however, are readable and they include an interesting overview of the
broad range of spiritual values that the martial arts can provide.

The text is supported with dozens of photographs and illustrations.
Elysabeth Barnett’s sketches are especially effective in conveying the
sense of disciplined power that is at the heart of all martial arts. The
book concludes with a glossary of bujutsu terminology.