- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: Kodansha International Ltd (1 Jan 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 4770027591
- ISBN-13: 978-4770027597
- Product Dimensions: 26.2 x 19.6 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 857,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
A full exposition of the original form of karate, as developed by the Okinawan masters, is contained in this text. The fundamental and advanced moves are explained and illustrated and a guide to the undiluted and uncompromised character of this unique form is presented.
About the Author
Kiyoshi Arakaki was born in 1954 in Okinawa, Japan, the "birthplace of karate." Surrounded by highly skilled martial artists, including his father and uncle, he began his training very early. By the age of 13, he was a serious pupil of karate. He studied under a number of great masters, including Shoshin Nagamine, a 10th-degree black belt and founder of Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu. While learning his art, Arakaki visited a number of old masters in Okinawa to learn their karate secrets. He is now a 7th-degree black belt and a member of the World Karate Hall of Fame.
He came to the United States in 1977 and opened his own dojo in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1982. He combined bare-knuckle full-contact fighting methods with Koshiki fighting techniques to create his own style, Muso-Kai Karate. He has also trained and competed in Muay-Thai kickboxing in Thailand.
He is currently Founder and President of Okinawa Karate-Do Muso-Kai and American Koshiki Karate Organization. He has written a history of karate for a Japanese monthly karate magazine and has also authored numerous best-selling books on the subject. This is his first book on karate in English.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Tsuki (punching) is the core of traditional Okinawan karate. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tsuki (punching) is the core of traditional Okinawan karate. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques (Hardcover)
Summary: A book that will show you how to take the static movements of karate and change them into a dynamic self-defence art. I've been studying karate for some years now and this book has opened up my eyes regarding the theories of generating power and movement in the martial arts. This book goes right to the very heart of any self-defence system, the ability to move quickly and efficiently whilst allowing the practitioner to generate massive amounts of power. This is an excellent book, which is well illustrated and documented throughout and is a must have for any martial artist serious about using their art for self-defense. I can't recommend it highly enough.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well arranged Book, Compilation of Okinawa Karate Info...,
By Terry Tozer "TJSKA.com" (Reading, Bracknell, Brighton & Hove, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques (Hardcover)
I found most of the information here has already published in other books on Okinawa Karate. While there isn't a whole lot here that an experienced Karateka will find new, the information has been arranged well, and ascends in an ordered fashion so that the reader can understand one theory in the light of others mentioned previously.
Arakaki discusses principles common to most Okinawa styles, and offers advice on basic techniques. There is decent historical information, and photos of some of the old Okinawan masters which appear to have been "borrowed" from unaccredited sources (many of the pictures show cross-grain which means they were taken from other printed sources). As with most Kodansha books, this volume is a work of top quality. The printing, photos, quality of the paper and binding is top-notch! This is a great book for beginners starting out in Shorin-ryu Okinawa Karate, especially those who practice the style of the author, Muso-kai Karate. For those with more experience, you're probably not going to see anything new here, and might be better served to consider Nagamine's "The Essence of Okinawan Karate-do" for technical aspects, or Bishop's "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques (Martial Arts)" for history of various styles and the lineages of the various master teachers from karate's origins.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Secrets of the basics,
By Donald P. Jeffrey "sokesmk" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques (Hardcover)
I've seen good reviews and a bad review about this book. What the book is, is a manuscript showing you the technical aspects of the basics, the science of Karate if you will. This is somthing highly overlooked and in most parts of the world, lost. You can not become a good Karateka without mastery of the basics. Here the author teaches you what you have missed due to constent watering down of techniques as it is passed from master to student throughout the generations. Basics to Okinawan masters, secrets to us.Until now that is. keep in mind, this book as with all Okinawan Karate books is not designed for sport as much as it is (was) designed for combat. Time to review your basics and get them right with this book. 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well aranged Book, Compilation of Okinawa Karate Info...,
By C. J. Hardman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques (Hardcover)
I found most of the information here has already published in other books on Okinawa Karate. While there isn't a whole lot here that an experienced Karateka will find new, the information has been arranged well, and ascends in an ordered fashion so that the reader can understand one theory in the light of others mentioned previously. Arakaki discusses principles common to most Okinawa styles, and offers advice on basic techniques. There is decent historical information, and photos of some of the old Okinawan masters which appear to have been "borrowed" from uncredited sources (many of the pictures show cross-grain which means they were taken from other printed sources).As with most Kodansha books, this volume is a work of top quality. The printing, photos, quality of the paper and binding is top-notch! This is a great book for beginners starting out in Shorin-ryu Okinawa Karate, especially those who practice the style of the author, Muso-kai Karate. For those with more experience, you're probably not going to see anything new here, and might be better served to consider Nagamine's "The Essence of Okinawan Karate-Do" for technical aspects, or Bishop's "Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles, and Secret Techniques" for history of various styles and the lineages of the various master teachers from "way back when". 8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This book is full of "pet theories" and inacuracies.,
By Steven R. Barth - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Secrets of Okinawan Karate: Essence and Techniques (Hardcover)
Firstly, let me say that I have been a student and instructor of Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate for over 30 years now and have had many opportunities to train with Japanese and Okinawan teachers.
The best chapter of the book is his first chapter which deals with tsuki (punch). He does a fairly admirable job of explaining how the Shuri styles of Karate rely on relaxed, snappy, whip like body motion to generate energy into their techniques. From there, it goes downhill fast! Throughout most of the book he presents pet theories such as Imaginary Center of Balance, Imaginary Third Leg, Balance through un-balance and condones practices such as "falling into the punch" and "leaning the body towards the direction of motion". None of these concepts are substantiated by the teachings of any Okinawan instructors I have ever trained with. In fact, they go directly against them as well as against the principles of maintaining good posture, body alignment, and balance. He attempts to justify his theories by constantly reciting Newton's laws of motion but never really demonstrates how these quoted physical laws prove his theories. While attempting to quote modern physics principles he simultaneously disregards these same principles by stating that "the principles of Western body mechanics do not apply to Okinawan Karate." His thought pattern is very disjointed and he tends to get off-topic very easily. In many cases, the photographs which he provides are not successfully linked to any of the ideas which he is attempting to justify and could be discarded completely. The bottom line is that the vast majority of his ideas as presented in this book are not Classical Okinawan Karate principles but rather, his own un-substantiated theories which in fact go against authentic Okinawan teachings. |
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