Reading List

Below is the reading list for Black Belt testing. Students will read a total of four books. The three books (below) are required, plus one other book, which students must select from the list beneath the required books.

Updated: 10-7-22

Required Books

Beyond Self-Defense

AKT Combatives Reality-Based Personal Protection

Barry A. Broughton, PhD

Learn effective techniques for stand-up and ground defense with Beyond Self-Defense. Martial Arts Halls of Fame inductee Grandmaster Barry A. Broughton, PhD has applied his extensive training in the martial arts and years of practice in orthopedics and sports medicine to create the comprehensive reality-based AKT Combatives system (that goes Beyond Self-Defense).

Amazon

Comprehensive Anatomy for Martial Arts

DISCOVER ANATOMICAL VULNERABILITIES

GAIN THE ADVANTAGE!

A comprehensive dive into the anatomy and biomechanics of martial arts

Execute your techniques with surgical precision.
Develop faster strikes, more powerful kicks, more effective throws, and more efficient submissions.
From stand-up striking to grappling, and everything in between, enhance your skillset and capitalize on your opponent’s vulnerabilities.
Over 400 full color images & illustrations demonstrating accurate and relevant human anatomy and biomechanics.
More than just an anatomy book; each chapter includes Clinical Significance and Martial Arts Relevance sections that aid in improving techniques and in preventing injury.
Separate chapters on each of the human anatomy systems, how they interact, and their application to martial arts training. Includes the integumentary, skeletal, muscular, nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, lymphatic, genitourinary, and endocrine systems, as well as terminology, biomechanics, and pseudoscience in martial arts.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

The Art of War

Sun Tzu

“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.” The Art of War, by the Chinese general and philosopher Sun Tzu, is one of the most influential books of military strategy ever written. More than 2,000 years old, this classic of Chinese philosophy lays out a systematic, rational approach to tactics and strategy that leaders worldwide have applied not only to the military, but also to business, law, martial arts, and sports.

Amazon

Optional Books

Students must select one of the titles below:

Meditations on Violence

A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence

Sgt. Rory Miller

Experienced martial artist and veteran correction officer Sgt. Rory Miller distills what he has learned from jailhouse brawls, tactical operations and ambushes to explore the differences between martial arts and the subject martial arts were designed to deal with: Violence.

Amazon

The Book of Five Rings

Miyamoto Musashi

When the undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi retreated to a cave in 1643 and wrote The Book of Five Rings, a manifesto on swordsmanship, strategy, and winning for his students and generations of samurai to come, he created one of the most perceptive and incisive texts on strategic thinking ever to come from Asia.

Musashi gives timeless advice on defeating an adversary, throwing an opponent off-guard, creating confusion, and other techniques for overpowering an assailant that will resonate with both martial artists and everyone else interested in skillfully dealing with conflict. For Musashi, the way of the martial arts was a mastery of the mind rather than simply technical prowess”and it is this path to mastery that is the core teaching in The Book of Five Rings.

Amazon