For the hardcore saberists...

[seanconnery]

http://www.samurai.com/5rings/

 

Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings

 

Given that so much of Jedism is based of feudal Japanese history I think this will be a good read.

[Lord Nodata]

Much of Star Wars is based on Japanese Culture. Its actually the reason that Yoda talks mostly backwards. If you translate Japanese sentences straight into English (Engrish ) then they come out sounding like Yoda.

[txa1265]

There was also some thread with ChangKhan from Raven - around the second trailer I believe - that got into Kendo aspects of dueling ...

[Riven_BW]

Very very true regarding the Japanese link. I am not Japanese, but I studied the language and culture for 8 years, including a year spent living in Kochi Prefecture where I trained in the EishinRyu school of Iaido. A lot of the Jedi precepts have some roots in Shinto, which believed everything had a spirit. Add up all these spirits in all things, and you've got something akin to the Force Book of Five Rings is a great read though. The trick to it is a lot of the things in it seem either uselessly vague, or blatantly obvious. You have to spend some time pondering the true meaning of Musashi's words to gain the real value from the book.

[enDless_Deliriu]

That puts three different references for jediism

 

 

The force and belief in it is a lot like Taoism

 

The Jedi themselves from feudal japan with Samurai

 

and Episode 1 seems to take a lot from Christianity (what with Anakin not having a father. I wonder if his mother was born without original sin like Mary...)

 

I've read most of the Book of FIve Rings before, it's pretty good. I also finally got a copy of Sun Tzu's Art of War, but I can't find it right now and am only about half way through.

[Kybus]

Copy of Sun Tzu on the Art of War:

 

http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html#01

 

Just for those interested

 

Later

[seanconnery]

It's cool when things from the book actually work when you apply them in saber battles. Anyone read the really really long book, Musashi? It's about his life blah blah blah...translated from Japanese. It's one hell of a read too.

[Mafia_Jabba]

uh...the force is with me young padawans.

[Trienco]

Originally posted by enDless_Deliriu

and Episode 1 seems to take a lot from Christianity (what with Anakin not having a father. I wonder if his mother was born without original sin like Mary...)

 

sorry to disappoint, but as far as i know this was already pretty 'old' when jesus came up and christianity was at least a thousand years to late *g*. much older cultures had myths about fatherless births and the hero dying and coming back to save his people from whatever.

 

but as gl was inspired by a lot of myths and they're all the same in a way, who cares *g*

[seanconnery]

Indeed. The Mongols had a myth (about Genghis Khan or his dad) involving a (semi)fatherless birth (the father was a god).