Product Review

One of the most famous of the world’s arts, budo is also one its least understood.

Revealing a host of personal budo discoveries in his first book, The Art of Life and Death, Sleiman Azizi continues his exploration of the budo taijutsu art of grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi with Shadow Inspiration.

Stepping away from the clichés and stereotypes of the martial arts, Sleiman navigates over a decade’s worth of the grandmaster’s words, delicately drawing out insights into the non-philosophy that permeates a living budo.

Written as a form of gratitude to his teacher, Shadow Inspiration features poetry, anecdotes, essays and personal correspondence all interwoven within the fabric of the oral teachings of the grandmaster, bringing to life the depth of an ancient budo.

Through this, it is hoped that the reader will come to appreciate the living vitality of the budo art of Masaaki Hatsumi.