Reveals the origins and purpose of the art of shotokan. This book describes how karate was invented by the world's only unarmed bodyguards to protect the world's only unarmed king, the king of Okinawa, against Americans.

This invaluable martial arts philosophy handbook presents ancient wisdom for contemporary readers. Secrete Tactics contains brilliant new interpretations of fundamental works of strategy and martial arts tactics by Miyamoto Musashi, Gichin Funakoshi, Yamamoto Tsunetomo, and various martial arts tomes. It distills the important teachings on leadership, character and values found in those books. Readers will unlock the secrets of their art and of themselves. These and a dozen other essays on strategy, combat tactics, psychology, leadership, good character, and the exercise of power, make Secret Tactics an indispensable resource for students of Asian culture, martial artists, and corporate executives.

Lean the techniques, strategies and history of Japanese Shotokan Karate with this illustrated martial arts guide. Generously illustrated with over 700 clear photos, The Secrets of Shotokan Karate offers an in-depth look at the world's most popular martial art, with strategies, techniques, and drills to guide new students to proficiency and to help established practitioners excel. Sixth-degree black belt Robin Rielly provides a comprehensive guide to the fundamentals and theory of Shotokan, interwoven with relevant philosophy and historical context. This book offers expert instruction and a greater understanding and appreciation of the art. Topics covered include: basic physiological-psychological principles principles of physical movement elements of fighting sparring drills strategy kata

Introduction: My first book, Shotokan Myths, was published in 2010 and to my great pleasure it has received a lot of positive feedback from many readers. Some sent me emails and told me that this book gave them a different perspective to their training. One reader in Australia, Ms. Astrid Meid, called it her karate Bible which almost embarrassed me and here is what she wrote; "I have been using your book like a karate bible, I open any page and read from there, it has helped me to open my mind further as I try to understand and look beyond the meaning and continually question karate as such, in life, in spirit, and of course the techniques, I am find myself asking myself questions about technique applications and looking for any possible way to combat that technique, it is very good for me mentally. A great book, one of those that you can open any page, read just that page and then put the book down." Another reader from the UK, Ms. Moley Walsh, also gave me a very nice compliment; "I found this book to be the most educational karate book I have ever read. I found it extremely interesting and have learned so much more than I expected. I read this book in awe just by knowing that the information you have written must have taken you hundreds and hundreds of man hours to research to which you kindly decided to share with the rest of us karate-ka. It was a very enjoyable read and has given me plenty more to think about. All of your answers have turned into many more questions, but questions I never even thought about until now, and so this gives me even more to research. I thank you personally for the book and think that you have done an incredible job in putting all of this together. I do not have a bad thing to say about it. I was trying to see which chapter I enjoyed the most, but I don't have one, I simply could not put the book down." Those readers realized there were many "facts" and "truths" that were hidden or taken for granted and those subjects needed to be questioned. They said what I shared in the book made sense. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers who took time to read my first book as well as those who purchased this one which covers many other subjects that I could not put in my first book. My second book, Shotokan Mysteries, contains the following interesting subjects. Chapter 1. Funakoshi's New Techniques Chapter 2. The Mysteries of Heian Kata Chapter 3. Heian Bunkai Mysteries Chapter 4. Mikazuki Geri, An Extinct Kick? Chapter 5. Disparity Between Kata And Kumite Chapter 6. Why Uchi Uke? Chapter 7. Does Shotokan Lack Circular Techniques? Chapter 8. Straight Techniques in Circular Movements Chapter 9. Unstable Balance Chapter 10. Gravitation, Your Enemy? Chapter 11. Karate Master Chapter 12. Shu Ha Ri Chapter 13. Tenketsu Jutsu (Dim mak) Epilogue: The Last Samurai I cannot believe that three years have passed since the publication of Shotokan Myths. Many have been asking for my second book and I wanted to publish this much sooner but it took three years. Those were very busy years but also exciting and productive ones for me. Let me talk a little about myself and some of the experiences from my early days. During my early years of training I was like those readers who wrote and shared their karate lives with me. I was a diligent and blindly dedicated student who never questioned. When a sensei said jump", my response was "How high?" Of course, the only answer we could give to a sensei in Japan was "Osu". As I got older and had my own students, many questions came to mind. But I had no place to go or anyone knowledgeable to ask so I had to do my own investigation and research. For the first time I started to look into the history of Okinawan karate as well as the teaching of other styles. My interest expanded beyond Karate and my research went into Ki and various Chinese m

Pat McCarthy, a shorinji-ryu stylist and triple-crown winner of the North American Karate Championships in 1974, demonstrates 11 karate kata. A detailed history of Okinawan karate and biographies of 37 of its greatest patriarchs are also included.

My book contains grammatical mistakes, and for that I am deeply sorry. This is the first book in a series, which is intented to examine the links between Shotokan Karate and the three teachings - Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. The book deals with Heian Shodan (aka Pinan Shodan) and the rest of Heian katas. We can learn a lot from the Chinese origins of Karate. Daoism (Taoism) in particular has been forgotten in modern times, as a tool for understanding Karate and improving it. There are very practical conclusions that we can come to, using Daoism. In order to achieve that, we must develop a deep understanding of the Heian katas using Chinese philosophy. The book explains how Yin and Yang and the Five Elements (Wuxing) theories are connected to the Heians. We especially concentrate on the Wood Element, which is the element of Heian Shodan, and has profound implications on the kata. Topics from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are brought up, including the relations between the basic katas and the organs and meridians. Then we turn to Emotional Karate, and observe the psychological benefit, that one could derive from Karate. Karate can contribute to our mental well-being. And our state of mind, as proven, effects our body - including chronic pains. After understanding the distinguishing qualities of Heian Shodan, we can understand why it is a particularly good kata for releasing a repressed anger. As for other issues: Some techniques are presented, in order to improve the kata and our benefit from it. We also learn how other katas may recuperate Heian Shodan. A mathematical formula of the five Heians is suggested, with an application to Heian Shodan's movements. Other Shotokan katas are also mentioned - as well as specific Karate moves and stances. Finally, we warn about excessiveness, and explain how to prevent it. By the way, several interesting topics are discussed: the far and the relatively modern history of Karate and of other martial arts, our Karate ancestors and even Chinese and Japanese characters and words. In conclusion, although the book deals with Chines philosophy, it has many very applicable sides.

Shotokan Karate is one of the most effective forms of self-defense but it is this area that is most ignored in traditional Shotokan dojos. This modest manual is different from most Shotokan Karate texts because it focuses on the self-defense application of karate. Traditional Shotokan karate concentrates on three primary areas. They are basics or Kihon, Kata or forms, and sparring or kumite. The sparring may consist of five times sparring, three times sparring, one time sparring, semi-free sparring and free sparring. Self-defense training is seldom practiced and this manual hopes to fill that gap for students of Shotokan and other traditional styles of Karate. This manual covers the basic principles of self-defense, use of force factors in self-defense, simple and effective self-defense techniques to counter arm grabs, body grabs, choke attacks, punching and kicking attack counters, club attacks, knife attacks, gun attacks, ground attacks and multiple attacker self-defense techniques.