Karate: A Step-By-Step Guide to Shotokan Karate
at Amazon.com
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| The Cover of Karate: A Step-By-Step Guide to Shotokan Karate |
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I ordered this book to see what other people were doing to introduce Shotokan karate to students. When it came and I pulled it out of the box, I was really surprised how beautiful this book is. This book is not your typical karate book. It is big! (22cm by 28cm). It is beautiful. And it has the feel of quality material to it. Very professional looking and snappy. As I pulled it out of the box delivered from amazon.com, I wanted to see if the contents were as good as the gorgeous picture on the cover.
The book is divided into three main sections: Beginning the Journey, Training, and Taking it Further.
The first section, Beginning the Journey, has a lot of useful information to people brand new to karate. The advice within is sensible and well organized. It begins with some nice words of encouragement from Kevin Healy and then has a very brief "Evolution of Karate" blurb of two pages. I would have just left that information out completely as it seemed to offer no more information about the roots of karate than any Shotokan club web site. From there, the section picks up considerably, and has information about the general ideas about karate, excellent advice about finding a good dojo, and covers some important things like dojo etiquette and ranking. Solid information for beginners to karate. Also, the bowing photo sequence is really nice too.
The part I liked most about the first section are the quick and concise notes about kime, speed, kiai, and breathing. Well done.
The second section, Training, is where this book really shines. Good advice about warming up, running (ever controversial in some martial arts circles but I am with Mr. Healy on this one--do it!), and strength training comes before the modeled photos. Lauren Healy gives an excellent demonstration for stretching out. Good work, even though the outside-leg stretch she demonstrates is one that would send my body into traction. One small point about knuckle push-ups (another thing which I too strongly advocate), please make sure to keep only the first two knuckles on the floor. Otherwise the wrist is mis-aligned and injury may occur. Other than that, good stuff!
Getting further on into the Training section, we first encounter the three fundamental stances in Shotokan: zenkutsudachi, kiba-dachi, and kokutsu-dachi. Kevin Healy gives absolutely excellent directions how to make these stances perfect. He is a great model for students and uses foot diagrams and "plum-lines" superimposed on the photos to show straight-forward stances and proper posture. Great.
Jason Ramsay and Lauren Healy do most of the modeling for the Punching, Striking, and Blocking lessons in this section. Although Lauren Healy has marvelous technique and ability, Jason Ramsay looks a little unsure in his stances and hip rotation in some of the photos. I would have much preferred to have had Kevin Healy in those photos.
The kicking chapter suffers a little as well in this regard. The model, Collette Whiteman, has good flexibility and foot formation in technique, but stances seem a little unsettled, and her weight does not seem to be where it ought to. For example, her jiyu-kamae has her upper body leaning back somewhat, although that might simply be the natural shape of her spine. It is hard to know for sure but it appears a little odd. Front kick looks unbalanced and if her front heel were to be caught, she would land on her melon. Side thrust kick looks good in the final pose, however.
Mawashi-geri, however, is a different kettle of fish altogether. Ms. Whiteman starts in her leaning-back stance and then her round-house kick seems to extend further than it ought to. In order to compensate for her upset balance, her bottom sticks out and her head it tucked in too much. I don't mean to be too harsh on Ms. Whiteman here. These things might also be part of how a club or school is told "this is how it is done". I have seen clubs here in Japan who train their students to do some simply awful round-house kicks. Ms. Whiteman's work is still quite recognizable. Also, Ms. Whiteman has good hiki-ashi (retracting leg), which is absolutely critical. Some clubs Don't even bother with that and just let the leg drop.
The Spinning Back Kick, as depicted again by Ms. Whiteman, is something which I had to marvel at. I had never seen the kick done this way at all. It is beautifully done and artful, but I wonder if any real torque can be generated in this technique as it is performed. Kevin Healy demonstrates this kick as part of a combination, and I can see that, but isolated as a single technique makes me wonder. I will try it myself on the dojo floor tomorrow night. Also, Ms. Whiteman, be careful with that pinky toe hanging out there at the end of your kick. I think it would hurt like blazes to get that snagged on a gi cuff.
Lesson Seven has some very nice combination work. Good drills and nice modeling by Kevin Healy and Lauren Healy.The Sparring section of Lesson Eight has some hits and misses. Again, Kevin Healy has good technique, but the other models, save Lauren Healy, seem out of place, have errors in their stances and technique, and look stiff where they need to loosen up (particularly in shoulders), and unbalanced when they need sharp rotation in their hips for shomen or hanmi.
The final section of the book, Taking it Further, summarizes a few things that are left out up until this point. The book quickly addresses Competition, Bag Work (another favorite of this writer), Makiwara, and Seminars. Nice comments. More sensible advice. Lastly, Kata is pasted in at the end. I suppose it has to be addressed somehow, but I think that the book didn't need to have Heian Kata shown at all. Simply addressing it and referring readers to the Best Karate classics would have sufficed.
This book also has included a Glossary and Index. Nice work on both.
All in all, the book is pretty good. And a nice place for beginners too. People new to karate starting out with Dynamic Karate by Master Nakayama, may feel overwhelmed. The tone and gentle approach in this book is a nice welcoming voice to novices in karate. More technical modeling should be sought for elsewhere. Besides the tone of this book, and some good modeling inside, I also like the size and feel of the book. It is well organized and beautiful to flip through.
Lastly, the author's wife, Jacqueline Healy models with Kevin Healy on the introductory pages and before the beginnings of sections. Both look great. I pause to wonder how household disputes may be settled in their household as both look equally ferocious.
Recommended for beginners to karate only.
Mark Groenewold