Dynamic Karate - Softcover

Nakayama, Masatoshi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156836413X ISBN 13: 9781568364131

Publisher: Kodansha International, 2012

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

MASATOSHI NAKAYAMA carried on the tradition of his teacher, Gichin Funakoshi, 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 and to encourage the development of karate as a sport along scientific lines.

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Kodansha International
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 156836413X
• ISBN 13: 9781568364131
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 308