Koryu.com Book Reviews

Samurai Bulldog.
By Chibinosuke Dogizaemon.
Weatherhill, 1994.
ISBN: 0-8348-0305-4. 96 p. 6" x 6" paperbd.
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Samurai Bulldog, by Chibinosuke Dogizaemon (as told to Jeff Hunter and illustrated by J.C. Brown) is a short primer on Bulldog-do, the Way of the Samurai Bulldog. The book provides an excellent insight into the indomitable character of the Samurai Bulldog and the mental perspectives making him such a fearsome expert in the Arts of War and Arts of Peace. Furthermore, it explains the austere training by which the Samurai Bulldog and his human attendant are joined seamlessly in the Way of Collar and Leash.

The book is divided into two parts, the Arts of War and the Arts of Peace. Headings in the Arts of War include Secret Schemes, Bojutsu and The Ten Strategies. In the second section, the Arts of Peace, the reader is given an introduction to the more cultured aspects of these battling barkers, Bulldog Zen, the Samurai Bulldog in Literature and Legend, Bulldog Haiku, and The Book of Five Bowls.

The saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words" is well demonstrated in this book in that the sparse text is accompanied by beautiful ink brush drawings that illustrate the essence of the concepts, techniques, and varied strategies employed by these martial mutts. I recommend Samurai Bulldog as a gift for that "special sempai" in your life. One of the fine barks, er, books on Eastern culture from Weatherhill.

Meik Skoss