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Karate and Karate-related Books available through Amazon.com
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| Fit & Well: Core Concepts and Labs In Physical Fitness and Wellness, Brief Edition (6th Edition) Text Only |
| Fit and Well, Brief offers an outstanding text and teaching package designed to help students incorporate fitness and wellness into their daily lives. It provides accurate, up-to-date coverage of the components of health-related fitness, as well as coverage of nutrition. It also gives students the practical tools they need to take charge of their wellness-related behaviors and adopt a healthier lifestyle. This book does not include journal or CD. |
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| Karate-Do: My Way of Life |
| Gichin Funakoshi |
| Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest secrecy and the present day, when it has become a martial art practiced throughout the world, is Gichin Funakoshi, the "Father of Karate-do." Out of modesty, he was reluctant to write this autobiography and did not do so until he was nearly ninety years of age. Trained in the Confucian classics, he was a schoolteacher early in life, but after decades of study under the foremost masters, he gave up his livelihood to devote the rest of his life to the propagation of the Way of Karate. Under his guidance, techniques and nomenclature were refined and modernized, the spiritual essence was brought to the fore, and karate evolved into a true martial art. Various forms of empty-hand techniques have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries, but due to the lack of historical records, fancy often masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers-and not only of their mastery of technique but of the way they acted in critical situations-the author reveals what true karate is. The stories he tells about himself are no less instructive: his determination to continue the art, after having started it to improve his health; his perseverance in the face of difficulties, even of poverty; his strict observance of the way of life of the samurai; and the spirit of self-reliance that he carried into an old age kept healthy by his practice of Karate-do. |
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| Karate-Do Kyohan: The Master Text |
| Gichin Funakoshi |
| Nineteen kata ("forms") of karate-the art of self-defense without weapons-are presented here in complete detail. They are the ones selected by the great master and teacher, Gichin Funakoshi, to give comprehensive training in Karate-do, the way of karate. Fully illustrated demonstrations by the translator cover not only every technique of the kata but also the fundamentals and applications: how to make a fist; the correct form of the open hand; preliminary training in blocking, striking and kicking; the seven stances; and sparring. The author presents, besides kata that he himself originated, beginning and advanced kata from both the Shorei school and the Shorin school, the former remarkable for their forcefulness and development of strength, the latter characterized by their gracefulness and lightning swiftness. This book, the most comprehensive and authoritative ever published, was being revised by the author shortly before his death in 1957, at the age of eighty-eight, and is translated for the first time. Through his advice on both practical and spiritual aspects of training, the master guides the student from techniques to the Way of karate. Complementing the English edition are illustrations of National Treasures from Kofuku-ji and Todai-ji temples in Nara and Master Funakoshi's calligraphy. Karate, whose value for the well-rounded development of strength, coordination and agility is scientifically validated, can be practiced at any time and in any place, for any length of time, by men and women of all ages, and requires no special equipment. It also fosters the development of spiritual qualities: courage, courtesy, integrity, humility and self-control. Gichin Funakoshi's karate books, the first published in 1922, are landmarks, for the development of this martial art in Okinawa was shrouded in secrecy, and almost no records of its early history, dating back more than a thousand years to the Shao-lin Temple in Hunan Province, China, exist. Karate-do Kyohan is a book that lives up to its title: it is in truth the master text for karate instruction at all levels and in all aspects of technique and character development. |
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| Karate the Art of "Empty-Hand" Fighting |
| Hidetaka Nishiyama, Richard C. Brown |
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| Complete Idiot's Guide to Karate |
| Randall G. Hassell, Edmond Otis |
| Randall G. Hassell, seventh-degree black belt, is a first-generation American to pioneer Shotokan Karate and Chief Instructor of the American Shotokan Karate Alliance. He has written, edited, or contributed to 28 books on karate and more than 100 magazine articles. Edmond Otis, director of martial arts at Riverside and chairman of the American JKA Karate Association (AJKA), is a sixth-degree black belt and one of the permier American karate instructors of his generation. |
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| Notes on Training |
| Tsutomu Ohshima |
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| Best Karate, Vol.1: Comprehensive (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| All the basic points of karate arranged systematically for effective learning, step by step--the parts of the body used as natural weapons, the stances, how to block, how to attack, introduction to the kata and to kumite. The fundamentals as presented in this volume, briefly but accurately, are the distillation of the author's forty-six years' experience in this art of self-defense. As well as setting forth the basic rules that must be put into practice when performing kata or applying techniques in kumite, this volume pinpoints the underlying physical and physiological principles of karate: source and concentration of power; stance, form, stability and technique; movement in all directions; basic and comprehensive aspects of training. |
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| Best Karate 2: Fundamentals |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| As well as setting forth the basic rules that must be put into practice when performing kata or applying techniques in kumite, this volume pinpoints the underlying physical and physiological principles of karate: source and concentration of power; stance, form, stability and technique; movement in all directions; basic and comprehensive aspects of training. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.3: Kumite 1 (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| In kumite (sparring) basic techniques are sharpened and body movement and distancing acquired through practical application. This volume explains the types and meaning of kumite and the relation between jiyu kumite and basic training in fundamentals. Demonstrated by instructors of the Japan Karate Association. As well as setting forth the basic rules that must be put into practice when performing kata or applying techniques in kumite, this volume pinpoints the underlying physical and physiological principles of karate: source and concentration of power; stance, form, stability and technique; movement in all directions; basic and comprehensive aspects of training. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.4: Kumite 2 (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| This book complements volume 3 of this series and, like the earlier volume, includes writings of masters of the martial arts to guide the student toward spiritual awareness and mental maturity. It places kumite in perspective, relating it to training as a whole. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.5: Heian, Tekki (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| Kata, the formal exercises of karate training, were the essence of practice in Okinawa and China, and are the core training method even today. Detailed here in 1500 sequential photos are the five Heian and three Tekki kata, mastery of which is necessary to attain first dan. Demonstrated by the author and Yoshiharu Osaka. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.6: Bassai, Kanku (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| Fully described and illustrated in this volume are the widely practiced Bassal and Kanku kata from the JFA recommended group. The student learns fast and slow techniques, the dynamics of strength, how to turn weakness into strength, changing directions, jumping and going to ground. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.7: Jutte, Hangetsu, Empi (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| Two kata from the recommended list: Gankaku-crane standing on a rock-a name descriptive of this kata, which has techniques for striking upward or downward with either hand while standing on one foot. Here are dazzling techniques for counterattacking with the back-fist or side kick. In the Jion kata there are many crisp, flowing movements, but within these calm, harmonious movements are strong, spirited techniques appropriate for mastering shifting positions, changing directions and sliding the feet. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.8: Gankaku, Jion (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| The three kata in this volume are on the Japan Karate Association recommended list and are notable for the sticklike use of the arms-Jitte, the circular movements of hands and feet coordinated with breathing-Hangetsu, and easy, agile movements, combined into continuous techniques-Empi. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.9: Bassai Sho, Kanku, Sho, Chinte (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| These advanced kata may be selected for testing above shodan level. The techniques in Bassai Sho, using sword hand, ridge hand and tiger mouth, make good defenses against stick attacks. In Kanko Sho are many counter-attacks to the upper level. Chinte has unique techniques, the rarely seen tateken, and is especially valuable for women's self-defense. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.10: Unsu, Sochin, Nijushiho (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| The kata in this volume are at the advanced level and may be selected for examination above the grade of shodan. In Unsu, there are constant transformations, signified by the name meaning "Cloud Hands." All parts of the body are used as weapons, with feints and provocations leading to unique combination techniques and multi-directional kicks. Sochin is characterized by a certain solemnity and imperturbability. Using a very stable stance, muscular power is built up slowly in many movements, instantaneously in others, leading to a keen sense of timing for continuous attacks. Nijushiho offers training in the unique back-hand block (haishu uke). It requires integration of varying strengths and speed, and mastery can be seen in a smooth and unbroken flow of movements. |
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| Best Karate, Vol.11: Gojushiho Dai, Gojushiho Sho, Meikyo (Best Karate) |
| Masatoshi Nakayama |
| The three advanced kata in this book are a challenge to the performer's level of maturity. From the smooth and flowing movements of Gojushiho Dai through the transformations in the equally long Gojushiho Sho to the serene and mellow Meikyo kata, both the techniques learned in the basic kata and more sophisticated tactics call on the deepest reserves of balance, coordination, timing and technical skill. |
