Product Description

Most books on karate usually do not provide complete, detailed instructions and illustrations--the fundamentals plus the fine points--that readers hope for. This book fills the gaps left by others.

The late Master Masatoshi Nakayama, chief instructor of the Japan Karate Association, left this book as a testament. It reveals his great experience as a karate competitor and teacher, describing and illustrating in detail all the correct movements involved in the particular block, punch, or kick you want to perfect, as well as instructions--on combining blocking techniques with decisive counterattacks. Also included is a glossary of all Japanese karate terms and a guide to their pronunciation.

Because of the lightning speed of karate techniques, normal camera work often fails to record the action accurately. For this reason, many of the photo sequences found in Dynamic Karate were taken using a stroboscope with a flash time of 1/10,000 of a second, enabling you to follow each movement as it is actually performed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #269785 in Books
• Published on: 1987-02-15
• Original language: Japanese
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 308 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780870117886
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"... the best karate book in existence." -- Mark Groenewold, Karatethejapaneseway.com

"Detailed ... the fundamentals plus the fine points." -- Journal of Physical Education

About the Author
Masatoshi Nakayama carries on the tradition of his teacher, Gichin Funakoshl, the Father of Modern Karate. Long professor and director of physical education at Takushoku University, his alma mater (1937), he was chief instructor of the Japan Karate Association from 1955 until his death in 1987. A ninth degree black belt and a familiar face at tournaments, he was among the first to send instructors overseas. He is also author of the Best Karate series.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PREFACE

[slightly abridged and minus the original macrons]

This book is not intended to reveal any secrets of karate, because there are no mysteries involved in the study of this martial art. The purpose of this publication is to provide a textbook for the karate student based on the techniques I have acquired during my more than thirty-year study and teaching of the art. Fundamental techniques and movements have been thoroughly analyzed, categorized, and arranged systematically to serve as a complete guide.

My teacher, Funakoshi Gichin, changed the concept of karate-jitsu (literally, "Chinese hand techniques") to karate-do (literally, "empty-hand ways") in 1935, and published the Karate-do Kyohan. This outstanding book was primarily intended as a character-building source book, but it also explains the spiritual contents of karate, classifies the various techniques, and provides an evaluation of karate as a course of physical education. Feeling the need for a modern and complete manual, I have taken the techniques mentioned in my teacher's book and have spent ten years compiling a new text of fundamental techniques based on my teaching experience at the Japan Karate Association.

Another factor which prompted me to publish this book was the growing popularity of karate as a sport. This development is, of course, welcome, but training merely to win a match can lead to the deterioration of this dynamic and powerful art. The need to build true proficiency on a solid foundation, I feel, is more important than ever. I feel that karate should be viewed from a broad standpoint. From the point of its development as a modern martial art and from the physical education aspect also, the ultimate goal of karate should be the attainment of a developed moral character built through hard and diligent training.

Systematic and scientific training is also essential. Faulty training methods can result in acquiring bad habits or even in physical injury. However, the techniques which took years to perfect in the past can be mastered in half the time with a good training manual. Hard training is necessary to obtain proficiency, but thoughtless, unsystematic training will do more harm than good.

My experience in teaching students from Western countries after the war has also provided me with many valuable hints, such as the habit of seeking answers to questions from the fields of physiology and body kinetics. In this book I have tried to explain the execution of techniques based on these principles.

I realize that karate is difficult to master without a good instructor to teach the fine points. The photographs in this book provide step-by-step instructions to each technique and should be an adequate guide to help the student learn good karate. Common faults are also shown as a guide to what should not be done....

August, 1966 Masatoshi Nakayama

Customer Reviews

A must Have !
This book includes detailed description of almost every Shotokan Hand and Foot techniques. The techniques are executed by Nakayama Sensei himself and by such great assistant as Kanazawa Sensei, Enoeda Sensei, Ochi Sensei ... So to be short, the very best JKA Karate specialists demonstrate all the techniques of Shotokan Karate-Do with great detail and explanations. One point : there's NO katas in this book, but what the helle, there arae a lot of other books dealing with them specifically (have a look at the Best Karate Series also by Nakayama Sensei). Get this book and you won't regret it, for the beginner, the advanaced student and also the instructor.

A Great Training Resource For Any/All Karate Students
This is an excellent reference material for anyone who studies karate.

It covers kicking, punching, striking, blocking, countering moves, and even some training methods. Every page is full of pictures which show the technique "frame by frame." Each technique is fully documented and tips and training methods are provided.

As always, this book is not a "Learn Karate in Ten Easy Steps," nor does it contain unrealistic self-defense techniques (i.e. "What to do if you're attacked in a bathroom from behind by a female wearing a dress while the moon is full.") It is simply an extremely in-depth yet easy to understand guide to the basic moves of karate.

The book is flexible, in that it does not pertain to one style of karate in particular, and is helpful to a student of any rank. I don't study Shotokan, and some of the names were different than the ones I use (Japanese names are given also), but I could easily identify the moves by the pictures.

Although we call them "basics", basics often require the most practice and proper technique. I highly recommend this book to any martial artist who wants to master the fundamentals of karate.

Essential manual
This book is now 35 years old and is still the best handbook you can get on Karate. Nakayama has excellent photos and detailed descriptions of all the techniques. This book and Oyama's "This is Karate" and "Advanced Karate" are the three greatest manuals ever written on the subject.

The book contains no forms, so it is all techniques. But that's okay, as learning the forms from a book is just about impossible, unless you've had a lot of previous training or already know them and just need to remind yourself about a forgotten move. Nakayama's other books have the Shotokan forms, if you want them, and Oyama's books contain most of the Kyokushin Kai Goju forms.