Tuttle Publishing Karate: The Art of Empty Hand Fighting: The Groundbreaking Work on Karate

A definite must have book for karate practitioners to have in their collection

Nishiyama sensei was 9th Dan black belt when he passed away in recent years. He is Kancho Kanazawa's senior by the way. One of my university club black belts say his sensei says it was the only time he saw Kancho bow to a sensei regarding as a senior :)Aside from that, Kancho once was not greeted by the attention and Rei/bow of the students in a club in Cork. Kancho proceeded to have them all sit in seiza and lecture them for the whole two hour seminar on Rei, respect, and reasons for it. What a fun story, one my instructor is fond of from hearing from his senseis.Back to the book. Can I compare this to Nakayama sensei's book? Well, they are similar in ways, but also equally inspiring. It covers the basic foundations of karate syllabus, albeit with the energy of a metal cut lean karate-ka in his prime. The Bruce Lee-like body we sometimes associate with Kanazawa's youth is shown here in Nishiyama's equal zeal for perfecting the body. Actually a young Kanazawa features in may of the photos :)Further into the book it covers various kumite techniques from basic, to freestyle, and these are a little different from what I saw in Kancho Kanazawa's "Karate Fighting Techniques" book, which is pretty much the whole SKIF syllabus bar the 25 or 26 Kata. Worth investing in for the variaion.Some may find it outdated for its references to women for taking karate to "improve their figures" but hey, I truly advocate that (add a little blush here and fond memories of getting own butt kicked). Or its small finishing sections in the back on self defense, knife defense, pistol defense, club defense. But hey, that was the way it may have been taught in the days when karate was first big in Japanese Universities.Any Karate-ka must have this in their collection, if not to be inspired for training, but to aspire to be like them.

Originally published in 1960 (republished in 1990) "Karate: The Art of "Empty-Hand" Fighting" is an early, straightforward "how-to" book of principles of Karate. It covers a short history of Karate; lays out a weekly work-out and training schedule; explains the various punches, strikes, blocks and kicks along with their applications; shows samples of techniques in combination; various defensive moves from the floor, in a chair, and other venues; and walks the karateka through the heian number 4 kata.It becomes quickly obvious that the material was pulled together long before Karate became commercialized in the West. All of the pictures are in clear, black and white photos. Sparring only takes up one short chapter and pictures the contestants without any protective gear. The main focus of the book is on learning the proper way to perform strikes, punches, blocks and kicks, and their martial applications. The explanations that accompany each chapter and every picture are sensible and lucid."Karate" is a basic, but useful volume. It will help the practitioner to have a sense of groundedness to one branch of the martial arts before the sports aspect took over. This would make a solid addition to any martial artists library. I highly recommend the book.

Questo manuale è riassuntivo di tutte le tecniche di karate non può mancare nella biblioteca di ogni appassionato..consegna Amazon al Top

Originally published in 1960, this book covers all the techniques that a serious Karateka student will need to know. From basic principles, through warm-ups and stretching, stances and posture to striking and blocking techniques. It also covers the use of Karate in self-defence, and briefly discusses equipment such as punch bags etc. The black and white photographs are superb, and are helped by having Senseis Kanazawa and Okazaki in them.There are two points that I think potential purchasers should be made aware of. Firstly this book does not discuss Kata at all. Secondly although it has a chapter on self-defence, this is not a book to buy if that is your main area of interest.Those two small caveats aside, this is superbly produced book, which I recommend.