The Essential Karate Book is an informative, illustrated guide to the techniques, philosophy and practice of karate. With 20 chapters covering practically every aspect of karate, this in-depth reference will assist students and instructors as they plot their course through karate instruction, benefiting those at all levels. The Essential Karate Book contains 200 diagrams mapping out moves with 300 step-by-step photographs and companion videos, making it a comprehensive general karate reference for Western audiences. Readers of this karate guide will learn about: Stances, blocks, strikes and kicks Preparing your body through warm-ups, stretching, and conditioning through karate-specific exercises Kata grading and fighting (kumite) techniques and competition rules Martial arts weapons (kobudo), and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) applications The origins and history of karate Required behavior, clothing and etiquette, as well as the fundamentals of karate and the different styles that share them The Essential Karate Book is a must-have for any martial arts enthusiast, from beginners to black belts!

Explains the history, steps, and training of karate.

A well-placed kick can mean the difference between victory and defeat in a fight! This illustrated guide to martial arts kicks provides the reader with a wealth of information on 89 different types of kicks from various styles. This martial arts book features kicks from Karate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Kempo, Capoeira, Jeet Kune Do, and more. In a self-defense situation, there is no room for defeat. Readers will learn how to unleash a devastating barrage of kicks to throw their opponents off guard and leave every match in victory. The Essential Book of Martial Arts Kicks has one purpose: to help readers hone their kicking proficiency so that they can readily deploy the most powerful tool in the fighter's repertoire. It contains thousands of photos and diagrams to show readers exactly how to perform all of the 89 kicks inside this book. Packed with full-color photos, detailed diagrams and a companion DVD featuring 50 of the most powerful kicks, this book is required reading for every martial artist who wants to sharpen and expand their kicking skills. You'll learn all about: Front Kicks Side Kicks Roundhouse Kicks Back Kicks Hook Kicks Crescent Kicks And many more!

Introduces basic karate techniques and includes a history, warm-up exercises, and answers to common questions on self-defense.

Karate means "empty–hand," but the one who masters this book will never be empty–handed. In fact, he will be a master of the ultimate in self–defense, for here are the martial arts fundamentals, the basic katas and techniques as taught by Robert Trias, holder of the eighth degree Black Belt. These movements and techniques are vividly brought to life by more than six hundred striking illustrations, many of them picturing Master Trias and his aides and pupils. Along with the imposing illustrations are important charts not usually found in martial arts books of this kind. The charts show the fatal and disabling points of the body and the nerve centers–for karate can be a deadly game, and those who practice it must know well the significance of the term "killer karate." For student and instructor alike, this important manual will open new dimensions, new horizons, and in the give–and–take of life will teach the properly oriented how to give much more than he takes. It will give him a new interest, a new zest for living, with the confidence that he can move mountains. Above all, it will teach him that to master others, he must first learn to master himself.

A manual on the offensive and defensive use of karate weapons-- the knife, the yawara, the tonfa, the staff, the bo, the nunchaku, and the sai.