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Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat

Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat
From Tuttle Publishing

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Product Description

Treasured for centuries by karate's top masters, Bubishi is a classic Chinese work on philosophy, strategy, medicine and technique as they relate to the martial arts. Referred to as "the bible of karate" by the famous master Chojun Miyagi, for hundreds of years the Bubishi was a secret text passed from master to student in China and later in Okinawa. No other classic work has had as dramatic an impact on the shaping and development of karate: all of karate's legendary masters have studied it, applied its teachings or copied passages from it.

This beautiful new hardcover edition features over 250 line drawings, photographs and calligraphy throughout. Along with additional commentary and a new foreword from Patrick McCarthy, the first person to translate the Bubishi into English, this book is an excellent addition to anyone's library.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #270761 in Books
  • Published on: 2008-10-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 256 pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

About the Author

Karate historian and authority Patrick McCarthy has spent over twenty years researching and studying the Bubishi and the arts associated with it. He is also the author of Ancient Okinawan Martial Art volumes 1 and 2.

Customer Reviews

Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat4
Bubishi: The Classic Manual of Combat

Patrick McCarthy's newest translation of the Okinawaden Bubishi (his 4th) is the best yet. Not only has he treated us to an updated translation, he has included information on a number of related topics: the Chinese origins of the text, its relationship to various systems of Okinawan karate, some of the various editions of the text in Okinawa, his own attempts toward translations of the text over the years and the editions he has produced in English, etc.

I found McCarthy's newest edition of the Okinawaden Bubishi to be well-researched, well-referenced, and a treasure trove on information regarding the title text and McCarthy's own extensive research into the origins of Okinawan karate. The only down side is his need for a good editor who can better organize the information into logical sections and a consistent method of Romanizing the various languages that he has to deal with in this marvelous piece of research.

For example, in PART ONE: HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY, McCarthy presents us with a superb history of karate in addition to a number of theories on the origins and evolution of the Okinawaden Bubishi. However, he allows his own historical monograph to run into a similarly titled, first section of the translated text. Consequently, it is difficult to determine where McCarthy ends and the translated text begins. This method of presentation is repeated in each section. A better editing job would have more clearly defined the sections of McCarthy's research and the actual text translation.

Following the textual translation McCarthy includes a substantial Bibliography, helpful glossary, and decent Index. The glossary section, entitled "List of Chinese and Japanese Terms", could also use an editor. Here and throughout the text, McCarthy sometimes gives terms in Japanese, sometimes in Chinese (Romanized in Pinyin), and sometimes he includes terms in English with the original Chinese characters but without the original sounds. More standardization and a clear distinction between Chinese and Japanese terms in the glossary would have made the glossary easier to understand.

In summary, I give McCarthy 4 stars for this one. The book is chock full of useful information but could be better edited and organized.

Unique5
This is a very complete book on martial arts, including history and a section on striking vital points. What impressed me most is that while there are hundreds of martial arts books with hundreds of black and white photos of two people in gis telling you what to do in self defense situations, this is not one of them.
Many of these start off with dozens of defenses for lapel grabs (You're very unlikely to encounter in the streets today) and then go into detailed step by step instructions. "Step out 45 degrees with your left foot, yada yada yada."
From pages 208 to 228 McCarthy has Okinawan style sketches of two combatants. In each there is a winning technique, losing technique, and instructional comments.
Here is an example:
Winning Technique:
Dropping to the ground and legs like scissors.
Losing technique:
Trying to catch a fish by moving hands in the water
Note: If an attacker is vigorously trying to grab you quickly drop to the ground and scissor his leg.

There are 48 of these self-defense diagrams and if a person learned just these they would have a pretty good self-defense 'arsenal'.

On that basis this book is excellent, and quite unique.

The Bible of Karate4
THis was one of the versions regarding this subject. It used it for a few references and have not had the chance to look through the whole book. It seemed like it is clear and fairly easy to follow in it's decription about Bubishi as a fighting manual. There has yet to be a totally comprehensive book about this subject because of the unknowns of the subject though Patrick McCarthy is one of the best in this area and makes his books readable and easy to understand. Much is left to interpretation which is good because this text should be used only as a reference and guide to draw one's own conclusions about Martial Arts and respected for the text it is.