Honolulu: Thomas H. Makiyama/Old Island Books, 1960. First edition. 104pp; b&w photo-illus. Sewn in photo-illustrated wraps. Small chip to fore-edge of front cover, else very good.
Uncommon handbook on the Japanese martial art of aikido, notable as being one of the first such guides in the English language. Hawaii-born Thomas H. Makiyama (1928-2005) began his training in Japanese martial arts while stationed in Yokohama as a member of the United States Army in 1947; in 1980, he founded his own aikido system, Keijutsukai Aikido, as promulgated through the Keijutsukai Kokusai Renmei aikido federation, based in Tokyo. This guidebook, heavily illustrated with black-and-white photographs, outlines various defensive exercises. Of this self-published first edition, we find only five institutional holdings via OCLC, and no other copies in the trade at time of cataloging.
