Taekwondo Tutors is largely about teaching taekwondo and living the taekwondo life. I write about taekwondo, and I love doing it. Most of the subscribers don’t know this, but I am also a historian. Recently, as an avid reader of history, I mostly focus on the facts. Occasionally, I make an exception.
The Young Samurai Series by Chris Bradford is one of those exceptions. Although it is meant for younger readers, it is still a thrill to read as a full fledged historian!
The Context
The Young Samurai series by Chris Bradford is one of my favorite books. It features a young boy from England named Jack Fletcher. He works on the rigging of the ship. Suddenly, an infamous ninja attacks the ship and it crashes into the coast of Japan. Jack washes up on the shore. Tragically, he is the only survivor with a navigation book called a rutter.
Jack is then taken in by one of the most famous historical figures in Japanese martial arts. Miyamoto Musashi. Miyamoto hears Jack’s story, and decides to take him under his wing. Then Jack is taken to Miyamoto’s samurai school. There, he learns the skills of the samurai and goes on some interesting adventures!
That’s the brief summary. I won’t go much further into the narrative; I don’t want to give away the whole plot! Instead, I will move to giving you my opinion on the novel(s).
Samurai (and Ninja) Knowledge
Chris Bradford knows his stuff. When he talks about Miyamoto Musashi, it becomes clear to me; Bradford read extensively about Musashi. Bradford’s characters’ behavior in the story line shows that he studied Japanese culture in the 1600’s carefully. What’s more, his descriptions of martial arts shows that Bradford trained in it himself.
More particularly, he seems to have read Miyamoto Musashi’s book, The Five Rings. Though he doesn’t affiliate the idea as much with Musashi, Bradford still describes the Five Rings in depth in his series.
Terminology and Technique
Chris Bradford definitely knows his terminology. In his books, he includes the actual terms for certain actions and objects. Bradford (and by extension, Jack) uses these to carry the plot along. He sets a list of definitions in the back of each book. This helps the reader follow the story with no difficulty. I have to say, this was very helpful at times.
When it comes to martial arts descriptions in books and movies, I am often highly critical of accuracy. I try not to be, but sometimes it can be just agonizing. Any martial artist who has seen certain cinematic fight scenes knows what I’m talking about. Bradford though? Props to him. His description is clear, exciting, and (to my mind) plausible. This is true for both the action and the historicity! Would I consider using it as a training manual or class text? No, of course not. It is still just a source of entertainment, accurate though it is.
The same goes for the martial arts training scenes in the book.* Though my own training is relatively diverse, I know little about Japanese martial arts. Most of my work is in Taekwondo and historical/traditional martial arts. Nonetheless, I was still able to follow all the action scenes. Bradford certainly does not skip over describing Jack’s training in either ninjutsu or bushido; nor the fight scenes! I suspect that any reader could understand what is going on without needing prior knowledge of martial arts.
Philosophical Accuracy
In my opinion, as readers are aware, philosophy is often under appreciated in martial arts training. The truth is, many people think it useless and find it boring. Bradford though? He successfully shows the benefits of the historical spiritualism and philosophy within Japanese martial arts. He also shows how it impacts the character, his development, and it’s integration into his own background.
Criticism
Okay, so I have talked very highly of Bradford’s book. Do I have any criticism? Well, of course! Those who know me personally know I am not one to go without critique. My main criticism is his size. His books are very engaging, but also quite thick. The first three copies I bought were hard cover (my mistake!). They were quite heavy and definitely added weight to my backpack! The remaining books I bought as e-books and paperbacks. Much better, much lighter. (Don’t worry, all the links are to the paperbacks!)
My overall view? If I had a numerical rating system, I’d give it a near perfect score! I rarely ever do that, but the Young Samurai was a truly exceptional series. Not only is it accurate, it is something I would recommend to anyone interested in the topic.
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*I will also say that, while they are accurate, some of the training methods are barbaric, abusive, and unacceptable in the modern context. I definitely don’t endorse their use at all.
This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. All martial arts techniques and exercises should be supervised by a trained martial arts instructor in order to prevent injuries and to ensure the proper technique is utilized. The information on these pages and videos is meant only to amuse, not replace, the instruction given at your martial arts classes. To properly understand these techniques, you need to learn them from a martial arts instructor who can provide you with an in-depth explanation of the technique, help correct your mistakes, answer your questions and detail how the technique should be utilized. In addition, all martial arts techniques and training should be used safely and responsibly. This post is, in part, funded by affiliate links to Amazon Associates. Part of the money from purchases made from those links go towards funding this blog. However, this post is not sponsored by Bradford or his publisher.
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