LIBRARY

Welcome to Imperial Combat Arts free online library of complete Military and Taoist texts. 
Click on any cover picture to open a book.

THE ART OF WAR - SUN TZU

The Art of War by Sun Tzu was written in the 5th Century B.C.E. and is the oldest military treatise in the world. This epic book has shaped the face of all warfare and tactics in the world, and is required reading for U.S. soldiers to this day. ​The chapters of this book are each devoted to an aspect of warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics.

THE THIRTY-SIX STRATAGEMS

The Thirty-Six Stratagems ​was written by Wáng Jìngzé, a general of Southern Qi (479-502). These 36 Chinese proverbs are related to 36 battle scenarios from China's ancient history that illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, and civil interaction. This strategy book focuses on the use of cunning and deception in battle, and in the court. 

THE SIX SECRET TEACHINGS

The Six Secret Teachings by T'ai Kung​ is a military strategy book from around the 11th century B.C.E. T'ai Kung was a top general of King Wen and helped him overthrow the existing government with these lessons. The book includes six chapters: I. Civil Secrets, II. Martial Secrets, III Dragon Secrets, IV Tiger Secrets, V Leopard Secrets, and VI Dog Secrets.

IMPERIAL ARCHERY - LIU CHI

Archery Method by Liu Chi (Liu Qi) is from the 'Illustrated Guide to Archery Method" written in 1722 during the Ch'ing Dynasty. This book goes into all the details of traditional archery including stance, form, breathing, aiming, and releasing the bow. Also included in the school library is a page on mounted archery by Liu Chi, from the same text.

ARCHERY METHOD OF CH'I CHI KUANG

Chapter Thirteen of the ‘New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness’ is a chapter on Archery by Imperial General Ch'i Chi Kuang (Qi Ji-guang) that was written in the 1500's. Ch'i Chi Kuang wrote two of the most popular Chinese military strategy and training books. His work consists of records of lectures to his troops and commanders. 

ARCHERY METHOD OF HUANG ZHENG-MAN

Huang Zheng-Man's Archery Method is a book written in the late 1600's C.E. by Huang Bai-jia, a Neijia Instructor, who trained under the renowned archery master. This short book addresses archery stance, form, drawing, focus, and training methods, as well as gauging distance to a target, and using the proper draw-weight for your strength.

INCHWORM ARCHERY - KAO YING

The Inchworm Archery Method by Kao Ying  (Gao Ying) was written during the Ming Dynasty and was part of the "Traditional Martial Archery Study Classics" book. This illustrated book goes into great detail on the body mechanics of Kao Ying's preferred archery style. This includes drawing, reaching max draw, and the release of the arrow.

MOUNTED ARCHERY - LIU CHI

Mounted Archery by Liu Chi (Liu Qi) is from the 'Illustrated Guide to Archery Method" written in 1722 during the Ch'ing Dynasty. This horse archery manual was written to teach the riding aspect of archery with focus on soldiers from Southern China who were not as familiar with  horsemanship as their Northern Manchu counterparts.

MOUNTED ARCHERY - CHENG TZU-I

Mounted Archery by Cheng Tzu-I (Cheng Ziyi) was written in 1638 C.E. during the Ming Dynasty and is part of the Wu Pei Yao Lueh (Principle Outlines of Military Preparedness). This short book covers shooting from horseback, cavalry warfare, melee weapon for horseback, and how to pick up fallen arrows from the ground without dismounting.

MOUNTED ARCHERY - CHING HSI

Mounted Archery by Ching Hsi was written during the Ch'ing Dynasty as a 'Collection and Explanation of the Seven Military Classics'. This book discusses training horses for archery, the timing of shooting, how to control the horse, dropping the reins to take shots, and all other parts of traditional Horseback Archery for target practice and combat.

​​THE TAOIST I-CHING

The I-Ching or "Book of Changes", 3000 B.C.E., is a teaching of Taoism, an ancient teaching associated with the development of proto-Chinese civilization, believed to have inherited and transmitted the original body of knowledge from which derived all technological, medical, martial, psychological, mystical arts, and sciences of Chinese culture.

​THE TAO TE CHING - LAO TZU

The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu  was written 506 B.C.E. and is the most translated book in human history. The Tao Te Ching can be considered the core book to Taoism. This ancient text outlines a philosophy that stresses one’s connection to nature and the universe. You can find hundreds of variations of the Tao Te Ching.

​THE CHUANG TZU

The Chuang Tzu or Zhuangzi is a Taoist book named for its author Master Chuang that is considered one of the two foundational texts of Taoism. The Chuang Tzu is a large collection of humorous or irreverent stories themed on being one with nature and living a carefree and spontaneous life, free from the false ideas of the human world.

​THE GREAT LEARNING

The Great Learning by Confucius is a book written by a disciple of Confucius named Zengzi. Zengzi who lived from 505-436 B.C.E. wrote the introduction and exposition of the Great Learning after the death of Confucius. The Great Learning is a handbook in how to perfect oneself and become capable of transforming the world into a universal utopia.

​THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN

The Doctrine of the Mean or Chung Yung (Zhong Yong), is a text attributed to Tzu Ssu (Zi Si) the only grandson of Confucius. This classic text is about harmonizing oneself and finding balance with a superior state of mind that is not swayed by outside influence, and how to keep balanced no matter ones station in life, or in the event of great change.

GET TOUGH! - W.E. FAIRBAIRN

Get Tough was written 1943 by Capt. W.E. Fairbairn the father of modern hand-to-hand combat, who taught British Commandos and U.S. Soldiers from his classic manual on unarmed combat. Fairbairn designed these practical methods from Chinese and Japanese arts, plus years of training troops and watching criminals, thugs, and bandits.