Reddit reviews Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police

"Angry White Pyjamas" is worth taking a look at if you're considering the Yoshinkan course. Just keep in mind that it's written to be entertaining, and it's somewhat one-sided.

As someone else noted, I believe that the police are actually trained separately.

Angry White Pyjamas is the title of an awesome Aikido book that's more about intense martial arts training than it is about Aikido.

I recently finished reading it. It's a good book, and the course seems rather interesting. Just realize that it's going to screw with you mentally as well as physically.

I concur with the other suggestions here (Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere and the Total Aikido series), and agree that aikido, like any physical art, is learned by doing. But, considering your previous experience, like to take this in another direction.

For an enjoyable exploration of the history and protocol of the dojo, try "In the Dojo" by Dave Lowry: In the Dojo: A Guide to the Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts https://www.amazon.com/dp/0834805723/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_4LAjxb1G1DTNG

For an entertaining, and actually true, bildungsmroman of a trio of Oxford students who find themselves in Tokyko and decide, out of boredom, to join the year-long intensive Tokyo police riot squad training program. This was Gozo Shioda's dojo, probably in the 1980's, and is an accurate glimpse of what training was like in the early days of the Yoshinkan style: Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police https://www.amazon.com/dp/0688175376/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_yNAjxb9VXJ7PN

You may also be interested in Aikido Shugyo, by Gozo Shioda, which describes his early days with O-Sensei, and his post-war experiences, along with some philosophical refections: http://www.shindokanbooks.com/shugyo.shtml

If you are looking for something meaty and practical, check out the excellent books by Marc Tedeschi, "The Art of Holding" and "The Art of Throwing" which are essentially jiu-jjtsu but form an extremy comprehensive catalog of practically every fundament technique in taijitsu regardless of the art or style: The Art of Holding: Principles & Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/1891640763/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_28Ajxb9YBNQDY and The Art of Throwing: Principles & Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/0834804905/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_T.AjxbZQZ76CK

Finally, I hesitate to suggest this one since it probably won't mean anything until you have much deeper immersion in practical aikido techniques (and it might be hard to find, being almost out of print), but it's a good compendium of aiki-jitsu style, the formative roots that predate aikido, and depending on your background and mindset might add some dimension: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-hidden-roots-of-aikido-9784770023278?cc=us&lang=en&

Have fun!

Good reading books:
https://www.amazon.com/Martial-Musings-Portrayal-Arts-Century-ebook/dp/B00F3GV7B2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480049500&sr=1-2&refinements=p_27%3ARobert+W.+Smith

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Scrawny-Lessons/dp/0688175376/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480049639&sr=1-1&keywords=angry+white+pajamas

If you want to learn to fight, go into a bar a few times and pick one. The best way to learn.

The term for live-in student in Japanese is "uchideshi". There are some places that offer an uchideshi program, both in and out of Japan, but before you consider any of these programs, I recommend reading Angry White Pyjamas (Amazon, Wikipedia).

You should be careful in selecting any program; there is plenty of room for cultural mix ups, either as a foreigner in Japan or in your home country with somebody who isn't Japanese.

I'm reading this one right now....it had an interesting beginning, and a slow and boring middle, but I hope the last few chapters get fun again. It's about an Englishmans experiences in Japan while enrolled in a tough Aikido class for policemen. It's worth a read, I'd say....just for fun.

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Scrawny-Lessons/dp/0688175376