Book Review: Advanced Karate-Do:
Concepts, Techniques, and Training Methods

The Cover of Advanced Karate-Do: Concepts, Techniques, and Training Methods

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Author: Dr. Elmar T. Schmeisser

Reviewer: Mark Groenewold

Date: November, 2002

This is a book that I have been meaning to review for a long time. But first I had to read it again and again to understand better what I was reading. Elmar Schmeisser is a serious brainiac who can crush my puny cerebellum without working up much of a sweat. His book, Advanced Karate-Do, is not for the weak-minded or timid, but ought to be required reading for anyone who has done karate for more than a few years and who wishes to run a club or train advanced students.

Dr. Schmeisser makes no apologies for the density of his text. He says that you should read tiny parts of it, a little at a time. Spread the book out over the weeks and months and savor each morsel. So, just like Charlie Bucket and his birthday chocolate bar, I have been reading parts and pieces over the past few months. Actually, this is my third time through, and I am still learning new things that are bending my brain.

This marvelous book covers a lot of territory:

• Hip Power
• Stance
• Focus
• Thrusting and Striking
• Kicking
• Blocking
• Linkage and Breath
• Timing
• Counterattack
• Styles and Methods
• Psychological Balance

As well as Appendices in Bibliography, Dojo Etiquette, Glossary, Class Outlines, Rank Test Requirements, and Kata: In-Breath Forms.

Unlike most karate books which you can breathe in, inhale, and digest, this text will take you a good month of Sundays to get through properly. There is just that much stuff. My copy is getting a little dog-eared and I am sure that I will be picking this text up again and again for the next several years. Dr. Schmeisser is someone who is a professional educator, has taught in universities for a number of years, and who has martial arts interests that extend beyond karate into aikido, judo, and kendo. He is also very much interested in tea ceremony and other Japanese aesthetic pursuits. He is also responsible for the preservation of the ISOK (see Research section for more details). If Dr. Schmeisser and I were in the Fantastic Four, I would have to be Ben Grimm, the Thing and he would be Reed Richards, otherwise known as Mr. Fantastic.

Highly recommended for advanced students, junior and senior instructors, and rocket scientists.

Flame on!

Mark Groenewold
Kanazawa, Japan
November, 2002

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