Karate-Do: My Way of Life

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Title: Karate-Do: My Way of Life
Author: Gichin Funakoshi
Publisher: Kodansha International
Copyright: 1975
ISBN 0-87011-463-8

I recommend “Karate-Do: My Way of Life” to martial artists of all styles.

Gichin Funakoshi, the author of “Karate-Do: My Way of Life” was instrumental in bringing Okinawan karate to the Japanese mainland and popularizing his martial art among the Japanese people.

Essentially, he devoted the first half of his ninety years to studying karate in his homeland of Okinawa. He devoted the second half of his life to teaching the art on the Japanese mainland.

Along the way, Master Funakoshi founded the Shotokan style of karate. Although, clearly, he was opposed to the development of various styles of karate and would be appalled to be called the founder of a style. He wanted Karate-Do to develop as a single unified martial art that would remain open to change and evolution.

“Karate-Do: My Way of Life” is his autobiography. In it he outlines his life, he summarizes his understanding of the spirit of karate-do, and he relates formative events in his life with their lessons for him and for you.

Gichin Funakoshi was an admirable man. His character and his book radiate humility, respect, responsibility, and gratitude. He was a man with a mission and he accomplished his mission; overcoming great hardships with the help of great friends.
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Link to the Special Report: "Karate-Do: My Way of Life - What All Martial Artists Can Learn From Gichin Funakoshi"

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Dawn of Empire

Title: Dawn of Empire
Author: Sam Barone
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright: 2006
ISBN 10: 0-06-089244-7

I recommend the novel “Dawn of Empire”.

There was a time, long ago, when the very first town built the very first sturdy defensible wall and for the very first time successfully prevented a marauding tribe for sacking a town.

“Dawn of Empire” is a very readable account of how Orak, a town in Mesopotamia, became the first successful walled city and the core of the first great empire.

It’s both believable and a fun read.

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Wikinomics

Title: Wikinomics
Author: Don Tapscott & Antony D. Williams
Publisher: Portfolio
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 978-1-59184-138-8

I recommend Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything.

Collaboration is going new levels through the use of Internet-based tools and by the attitudes and skills brought to the workplace by the Net Generation - the children of the baby-boomers. This is the thesis of Wikinomics.

Competitiveness will increasingly be determined by the ability to harness creative energies available through mass collaboration within the company and, even more so, from external sources.

The authors site many companies using one or more of the principles of Wikinomics: openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally. IBM, Proctor & Gambol, Goldcorp, Google, Sun Microsystems, and others provide concrete examples of mass collaboration. These organizations are finding ways to create value for their shareholders through mass collaboration while at the same time creating value for external customers, partners, academics, researchers, and other temporary collaborators.

The methods of mass collaboration include:

(a) Participation in joint “open architecture” development projects;
(b) Intentionally releasing proprietary intellectual property to the public domain;
(c) Publishing functional criteria and offering open monetary incentives to any developer who creates a design successfully meeting the functional specifications;
(d) Encouraging internal and external employee communication through blogging and wiki web sites.

The key to wikinomics is figuring out how an organization can open itself to the world or a significant portion of it, and generate a real return on investment. Clearly, the potential rate of innovation rises exponentially as the number of external collaborators increases. At the same time, the company gives up some of its valuable intellectual property rights.

Companies that find a way through this monetization maze supercharge their ability to innovate.

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Claws That Catch & the Looking Glass Series

Title: Claws That Catch
Author: John Ringo & Travis S Taylor
Publisher: Baen Publishing Enterprises
Copyright:
ISBN:

I recommend “Claws That Catch” and the entire Looking Glass series.

“Claws That Catch” is the 4th Looking Glass volume. The entire series to date is listed below. John Ringo authored the 1st volume and then teamed up with Travis Taylor for the next three.

The series originates in our time with a huge explosion on a college campus that opens a door to another place and contact with a decidedly unfriendly alien species.

Contacts with other species follow with alliances and technology transfer in classic space opera fashion.

I‘ve enjoyed all four volumes and I will certainly read the next.

Into the Looking Glass (Looking Glass, Book 1)
Vorpal Blade (Looking Glass, Book 2)
Manxome Foe
Claws That Catch

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