Karate: The Art of Empty Hand Fighting: The Groundbreaking Work on Karate

Nishiyama sensei was 9th Dan black belt when he passed away in recent years. He is Kancho Kanazawa's senior by the way. One of my university club black belts say his sensei says it was the only time he saw Kancho bow to a sensei regarding as a senior :) Aside from that, Kancho once was not greeted by the attention and Rei/bow of the students in a club in Cork. Kancho proceeded to have them all sit in seiza and lecture them for the whole two hour seminar on Rei, respect, and reasons for it. What a fun story, one my instructor is fond of from hearing from his senseis. Back to the book. Can I compare this to Nakayama sensei's book? Well, they are similar in ways, but also equally inspiring. It covers the basic foundations of karate syllabus, albeit with the energy of a metal cut lean karate-ka in his prime. The Bruce Lee-like body we sometimes associate with Kanazawa's youth is shown here in Nishiyama's equal zeal for perfecting the body. Actually a young Kanazawa features in may of the photos :) Further into the book it covers various kumite techniques from basic, to freestyle, and these are a little different from what I saw in Kancho Kanazawa's "Karate Fighting Techniques" book, which is pretty much the whole SKIF syllabus bar the 25 or 26 Kata. Worth investing in for the variaion. Some may find it outdated for its references to women for taking karate to "improve their figures" but hey, I truly advocate that (add a little blush here and fond memories of getting own butt kicked). Or its small finishing sections in the back on self defense, knife defense, pistol defense, club defense. But hey, that was the way it may have been taught in the days when karate was first big in Japanese Universities. Any Karate-ka must have this in their collection, if not to be inspired for training, but to aspire to be like them.

Originally published in 1960 (republished in 1990) "Karate: The Art of "Empty-Hand" Fighting" is an early, straightforward "how-to" book of principles of Karate. It covers a short history of Karate; lays out a weekly work-out and training schedule; explains the various punches, strikes, blocks and kicks along with their applications; shows samples of techniques in combination; various defensive moves from the floor, in a chair, and other venues; and walks the karateka through the heian number 4 kata. It becomes quickly obvious that the material was pulled together long before Karate became commercialized in the West. All of the pictures are in clear, black and white photos. Sparring only takes up one short chapter and pictures the contestants without any protective gear. The main focus of the book is on learning the proper way to perform strikes, punches, blocks and kicks, and their martial applications. The explanations that accompany each chapter and every picture are sensible and lucid. "Karate" is a basic, but useful volume. It will help the practitioner to have a sense of groundedness to one branch of the martial arts before the sports aspect took over. This would make a solid addition to any martial artists library. I highly recommend the book.

I began my Karate practice a few weeks ago, and Sensei Nishiyama's book is a tremendous supplement to the same. His instructions are lucid and illustrations extremely helpful. Sensei has beautifully melded the philosophical aspects with the physicality. This book is a must have for any student of Karate, and martial arts in general

This book has given a lot on basic techniques. This is very important for initial students as well as clearing the fundamentals in middle level students. It may not be attractive to Karateka with black belt or with advanced training but one must remember that, in life as well as Karate, basics are most important. The focus on Kata training is probably not highlighted but the details given for Kihon training are good and need to be practiced as described by the author. If, what is given in the book, is practiced sincerely even by advanced students, it may be a good refresher course especially for some who may be practising after a gap. I would therefore recommend the book for students of Kyu 9 to 4 and I think it could be prescribed as a standard textbook for the students of Karatedo

Very informative. Never did karate I believe if one reads and studies from this book it would definitely help there training. I have incorporated some of the basics with my heavy bag training

This is by far the best Shotokan book I have ever come across. It is masterfully put together with excellent photography. The text is objective, descriptive and covers both what and what not to do.

If you can only get one book on Karate(Empty hand) this is it! I studied Shotokan Karate from 1986 and continue to practice. I really wish I would have had this book when I started, it's the very best reference book I know of for Karate. They brake down every move in clear easy to follow photographs. This book shows every move in the system and some your school has lost and or doesn't teach. Striking points, vital points, stance, hand techniques, foot techniques, sparring, and throwing techniques, they are all in here. Just remember you need to start out with a good Instructor, a book can never replace the Instructor. Without ever having an instructor somethings might not be understood or be misinterpreted. I also remember my sensai(Teacher) wouldn't like you doing anything until he taught it, as he would say "It's hard to erase bad training", "You have to work extra hard to erase bad training and habits". I think he would just give me a hard time because I studied Kodokan Judo first.... All kidding aside I highly recommend this book.

I haven't studied Shotokan karate for over 20 years and wanted to get back into it. I ordered this book to remind myself of the basic techniques I learned way back when and got so much more, I wish had this book when I was studying back in the 80's. Although the photos are B&W and a little dated the book is clear and concise and has great detail on a wide range of techniques broken down into seperate body parts and subjects, such as posture, stances and so on. Conditioning is covered, including makiwara boards, and basic exercises and limbering up routines. As for kata, Heian no.4 is overed to give insight into what a kata is all about, if you want more detail on kata buy this book coupled with

I am happy to say that my order was processed & shipped in a timely manner. This book was a hard to find item, published in 1960, and I purchased one as a gift for my friend, who was my Shotokan Karate instructor, and one for myself. Back in the early 60's, this book was considered to be the 'Bible' for anyone training in the Shotokan style of Karate in the United States, and Hidetaka Nishiyama & Richard C. Brown put together an excellent textbook on the subject. When my friend/former instructor received this gift book, he sent me an email saying how 'elated' he was. Obviously, both of us no longer had the orignal books that we purchased back in the early 60's. It was a relatively inexpensive way to give my friend a gift that he considered as being priceless. And, both books - although used - were in very good condition with no personal writing, highlighting marks, or torn/damaged pages. A five-star experience for me.

Master Nishiyama a student of Gichen Funakoshi the father of traditional hard style karate in Japan called Shotokan, has preserved the Essentials techniques wherein dynamic forces are concentrated by certain stances, muscle focusing contraction, timming and breathing with reflex like speed. This is linked to the mass of the earth so that total force transfers into the apponent. I have studied many different martial arts under the name of karate, but, after 22 years only Shotokan karate has been able to mount such force to stop an attack with only one punch. In my opinion it is the only true karate where even a small person can stop a much larger opponent. William Nuesse MD Hidetaka Nishiyama was my chief instructor.

Nishiyama sensei was 9th Dan black belt when he passed away in recent years. He is Kancho Kanazawa's senior by the way. One of my university club black belts say his sensei says it was the only time he saw Kancho bow to a sensei regarding as a senior :) Aside from that, Kancho once was not greeted by the attention and Rei/bow of the students in a club in Cork. Kancho proceeded to have them all sit in seiza and lecture them for the whole two hour seminar on Rei, respect, and reasons for it. What a fun story, one my instructor is fond of from hearing from his senseis. Back to the book. Can I compare this to Nakayama sensei's book? Well, they are similar in ways, but also equally inspiring. It covers the basic foundations of karate syllabus, albeit with the energy of a metal cut lean karate-ka in his prime. The Bruce Lee-like body we sometimes associate with Kanazawa's youth is shown here in Nishiyama's equal zeal for perfecting the body. Actually a young Kanazawa features in may of the photos :) Further into the book it covers various kumite techniques from basic, to freestyle, and these are a little different from what I saw in Kancho Kanazawa's "Karate Fighting Techniques" book, which is pretty much the whole SKIF syllabus bar the 25 or 26 Kata. Worth investing in for the variaion. Some may find it outdated for its references to women for taking karate to "improve their figures" but hey, I truly advocate that (add a little blush here and fond memories of getting own butt kicked). Or its small finishing sections in the back on self defense, knife defense, pistol defense, club defense. But hey, that was the way it may have been taught in the days when karate was first big in Japanese Universities. Any Karate-ka must have this in their collection, if not to be inspired for training, but to aspire to be like them.

Originally published in 1960 (republished in 1990) "Karate: The Art of "Empty-Hand" Fighting" is an early, straightforward "how-to" book of principles of Karate. It covers a short history of Karate; lays out a weekly work-out and training schedule; explains the various punches, strikes, blocks and kicks along with their applications; shows samples of techniques in combination; various defensive moves from the floor, in a chair, and other venues; and walks the karateka through the heian number 4 kata. It becomes quickly obvious that the material was pulled together long before Karate became commercialized in the West. All of the pictures are in clear, black and white photos. Sparring only takes up one short chapter and pictures the contestants without any protective gear. The main focus of the book is on learning the proper way to perform strikes, punches, blocks and kicks, and their martial applications. The explanations that accompany each chapter and every picture are sensible and lucid. "Karate" is a basic, but useful volume. It will help the practitioner to have a sense of groundedness to one branch of the martial arts before the sports aspect took over. This would make a solid addition to any martial artists library. I highly recommend the book.

I began my Karate practice a few weeks ago, and Sensei Nishiyama's book is a tremendous supplement to the same. His instructions are lucid and illustrations extremely helpful. Sensei has beautifully melded the philosophical aspects with the physicality. This book is a must have for any student of Karate, and martial arts in general

This book has given a lot on basic techniques. This is very important for initial students as well as clearing the fundamentals in middle level students. It may not be attractive to Karateka with black belt or with advanced training but one must remember that, in life as well as Karate, basics are most important. The focus on Kata training is probably not highlighted but the details given for Kihon training are good and need to be practiced as described by the author. If, what is given in the book, is practiced sincerely even by advanced students, it may be a good refresher course especially for some who may be practising after a gap. I would therefore recommend the book for students of Kyu 9 to 4 and I think it could be prescribed as a standard textbook for the students of Karatedo

Very informative. Never did karate I believe if one reads and studies from this book it would definitely help there training. I have incorporated some of the basics with my heavy bag training

This is by far the best Shotokan book I have ever come across. It is masterfully put together with excellent photography. The text is objective, descriptive and covers both what and what not to do.

If you can only get one book on Karate(Empty hand) this is it! I studied Shotokan Karate from 1986 and continue to practice. I really wish I would have had this book when I started, it's the very best reference book I know of for Karate. They brake down every move in clear easy to follow photographs. This book shows every move in the system and some your school has lost and or doesn't teach. Striking points, vital points, stance, hand techniques, foot techniques, sparring, and throwing techniques, they are all in here. Just remember you need to start out with a good Instructor, a book can never replace the Instructor. Without ever having an instructor somethings might not be understood or be misinterpreted. I also remember my sensai(Teacher) wouldn't like you doing anything until he taught it, as he would say "It's hard to erase bad training", "You have to work extra hard to erase bad training and habits". I think he would just give me a hard time because I studied Kodokan Judo first.... All kidding aside I highly recommend this book.

I haven't studied Shotokan karate for over 20 years and wanted to get back into it. I ordered this book to remind myself of the basic techniques I learned way back when and got so much more, I wish had this book when I was studying back in the 80's. Although the photos are B&W and a little dated the book is clear and concise and has great detail on a wide range of techniques broken down into seperate body parts and subjects, such as posture, stances and so on. Conditioning is covered, including makiwara boards, and basic exercises and limbering up routines. As for kata, Heian no.4 is overed to give insight into what a kata is all about, if you want more detail on kata buy this book coupled with

I am happy to say that my order was processed & shipped in a timely manner. This book was a hard to find item, published in 1960, and I purchased one as a gift for my friend, who was my Shotokan Karate instructor, and one for myself. Back in the early 60's, this book was considered to be the 'Bible' for anyone training in the Shotokan style of Karate in the United States, and Hidetaka Nishiyama & Richard C. Brown put together an excellent textbook on the subject. When my friend/former instructor received this gift book, he sent me an email saying how 'elated' he was. Obviously, both of us no longer had the orignal books that we purchased back in the early 60's. It was a relatively inexpensive way to give my friend a gift that he considered as being priceless. And, both books - although used - were in very good condition with no personal writing, highlighting marks, or torn/damaged pages. A five-star experience for me.

Master Nishiyama a student of Gichen Funakoshi the father of traditional hard style karate in Japan called Shotokan, has preserved the Essentials techniques wherein dynamic forces are concentrated by certain stances, muscle focusing contraction, timming and breathing with reflex like speed. This is linked to the mass of the earth so that total force transfers into the apponent. I have studied many different martial arts under the name of karate, but, after 22 years only Shotokan karate has been able to mount such force to stop an attack with only one punch. In my opinion it is the only true karate where even a small person can stop a much larger opponent. William Nuesse MD Hidetaka Nishiyama was my chief instructor.

This book is more for an accomplished Karate student . There are just not enough examples to get anything out of this book.

I bought this book in the late 1960's, and re-bought it again. It was my "go to" book when starting Shotokan, and decades later, still gives me pleasure. My original had a cover like a tatami mat. I missed Nishiyama when he visited the University of Texas at Dallas decades later, but would have enjoyed seeing the author, as I think he embodied the JKA at the time.I call it the original Shotokan bible, because it came before (I believe) Nakayama's book, and others.

This book is a extremely useful reference as a companion to dojo training. I have found here most of the instructions my Sensei gave me in class, so I now have a source to recall their guidance

A must have book from a karate legend. Whatever your karate style, it will enrich your knowledge about karate’s technique.

My karate background as a gauge on my perspective: couple of years of Shorin-Ryu and seven years of Shotokan. An aspiring karateka if you will. Nishiyama Sensei's book touched upon many fine technical points about karate and can be readily appreciated by the training or trained karatekas. Many subtle points in the book reminded me on where to focus on attention to or where to fine tune. The book illustrates and provides correct techniques to training as well as suggests curriculum for different level of trainees. To that extend, it's a good reference book. As a book to present Nishiyama Sensei's teaching on karate, it's a wonderful book about the perspectives and techniques of a master karateka.

One of the best karate books ever!

I have owned a copy of this text since I started my martial arts journey in the 1970's. It is by far the best book written on the subject, covering techniques, history, and philosophy of karate that would apply to each style. Written in a readable way with plenty of pictures, it is in my opinion a superior text to Karate Do Kyohan. No true karateka's library would be complete without it.

I study Tae Kwon Do. Our style is based on Shotokan Karate. This book is excellent for the beginner, and for people who want to brush up on their techniques. This book shows how to properly use your hands with all the different hand punches, chops and stabs, and shows all the kicks that we use. It even has throwing techniques. I understand the author was a shotokan legend - this book, well worth every penny.

I can not do justice on this book. The positive reviews are correct. It is an old publication but is far better than what is on the market today. I wish I had purchased this book years ago when I started taking lessons. I would have been better prepared and probably performed much better quicker. The book is very detailed and reads very easy. Images and descriptions are the best that I have seen.

Probably what you would consider a classical work of karate. Written in the 50's era, it covers most of what is known about karate. The only real down side is only basic kicks are illustrated. It is not a particularly violent book, but, I would not recommend it for children.

This book has the most comprehensive guide to techniques have ever seen. I found a copy in my school library when I was doing research and was amazed at its details. Bought a copy offline for personal notes and such (little nitpicks that I learned from my sensei) recomend this for anyone who is really into learning the in's and outs of karate

This book covers all the techniques needed for Karate. Fundamental techniques such as, basics, proper way of exertion and contraction of power, kicks, throws, and defenses against a close opponent like knife attacks, pistol, and other methods. My favorite is the kumite and kata. I learned a lot you will too! :D

The best,the only book that Sensei Nishiyama wrote,a lot of photos and history.step by step on explaining of the techniques well worth the money

This books gives a little info on karate's history as well as types of fighting (competition, self-defense etc). It then goes into various techniques, exercise drills and different styles of clothing. A great reference book for a beginner to intermediate.

Excellent resource for any tradition of martial art. It spends a lot of time on basic stances, hand techniques and foot techniques (including blocking with the feet). Top quality photos (even from above) show good balance and technique. Even after studying the martial arts for over 20 years I found this book to be a wonderful refresher for me. A necessity for instructors to have on the bookshelf at their school.

A thorough book, one of the earliest English language looks at the martial arts. Good especially for comparison with Choi Hong-Hi's "Taekwon-Do".

I really liked this book. I'm a southern Shaolin guy looking for info on Karate and this book has plenty of training, techniques. The photography and layout are top notch.

very good book on Karate. came on time and as described.

This book is recommended reading for everyone even slightly interested in learning about an old elegant and effective martial art.

I have loved this book and how books use to be written. It is a very good book if you would like to learn from home with plenty of pictures and being hardcover is very nice. This is a classic and better in my opinion that the books of today on the style.

Love this book

This book is an all inclusive Book on Karate.... If you are looking for a book with excellent detail, perfect pictures, and descriptions then this is the book you want to order.. I wish every martial art book I have bought was formatted just like this one!

Master Nishiyama was lit when he wrote this book (I would say treatise on martial arts). The correct way to train and learn karate are presented with a simplicity and rich in detail refinements. The book is suitable both for beginners and graduates in the way of empty hands.

Turned out to be really awesome. Was a gift but I may just keep it hah. Even though it was older, the book was in perfect shape. Also had an awesome fabric like cover.

Very good!

Previous review correct. Picture Are shown Nicely and book relavent. If you only get one karate book, get ths one. Great to follow at home and very easy to read and understand. Position shown in multiple a led. Great book.

Best of its kind.

Informative book on Karate. I love this book. Doesn't adhere to any particular Karate style.

I've been studying Taekwondo for many years. This book offers all the fundamentals you need to know. confirms what I've learned and gives me great ideas to teach from.

good

Outstanding old school reference book for the history buffs and those of us that have trained with master Nishiyama. A must have in your collection.

very nice book

excellent, is an obligation for seriously practitioner of "THE ART OF EMPTY HAND KARATE DO" to read this book.master nishiyama was one of famous pioneer and legend of this art.

Great book

This book is a must have for any karate student! It's very helpful in teaching & showing proper technique.

Nishiyama Sensei is one of the icons in Karate. The book is simple, but profound. The photos are well place and illustrative.

Excellent. It is the book for all the person who practice martials arts.

Awesome book, has been very helpful to me as a beginning karate student. The photos are extremely clear and easy to follow.

It came early and looks very new, I love it for my kids. I can recommend this book very good.

Thanks every thing was good.

well written....great information for a Shotokan practitioner.

A more comprehensive book on Karate, I have not seen.

A great book that should be in every karateka's library. It has everything you need to know and practice. A good source of information.

Great book for beginners and Black belts

Very descriptive.

Good Deal

Excellent book!

First of all, I am not a verified purchaser because I bought my copy before Jeff Bezos was born. I studied Shotokan karate under Dan Ivan at his dojo in Santa Ana, CA when I was a Marine stationed at El Toro in 1962. One day Dan announced to his students that we would have a special visitor and introduced Sensei Nishiyama to us. He then conducted our lesson that night. What a thrill. After I was discharged from the Marines, I returned home to Las Vegas with a copy of his book. Sadly, the only martial arts dojos in Las Vegas were for judo. And the only way I could advance was this book. I devoured it. It was a trove of knowledge for me. I recommend it highly.

One of the first instructional guides on Shotokan Karate published in English, it remains a clear concise introduction to the art.

I've gone back to studying Shotokan after a gap in training of several decades. It's easier when you're 18, by the way. This book was a useful resource and overview when I started with Sensei Koyama (8th Dan, JKA) in 1968. It's a valuable resource now that I've returned to his dojo in Phoenix, Arizona with a somewhat creakier body. Sometimes it's easier to watch a dvd to get the idea of a technique. Sometimes it's easier to see sequential photos. And I don't know why; frankly, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The author of this book was the guy who Sensei Nakayama dragged with him when the JKA was demonstrating to the U.S. armed forces, and Sensei Nishiyama didn't disappoint the troops when he was asked to break various objects (mostly boards, some of which had been soaked overnight). He has indicated in other books that his striking surfaces suffered some because of the enthusiastic breaking he undertook for the cause of advancing Shotokan Karate. I recommend this book without reservations. It won't make you a karate master, or even a karate student, by itself. But on the other hand, neither will any book or dvd; you just have to bite the bullet and show up at the dojo near you (hoping that your prospective instructor survived the JKA instructor's course) and study. Relevant joke: a pianist had just finished playing brilliantly. A fan came up and said, "I'd give my life to play like that." The pianist replied, "I did." Shotokan Karate has a remarkably simple secret. First, you have to find an instructor. See my above suggestion. Then show up. That's the secret. You'll wake up twenty years later, ready to go to your 40th High School Reunion, and say, "How did I become able to do THIS cool stuff?" and you'll also say "Why am I so much skinnier, more flexible, stronger, and more coordinated than my high school buddies?" And that's pretty cool. This book is a useful addition to a life (or a year or a decade) of training (any training is good training). Just put it where you can refer to it often, because as you train, you'll see more useful information in this book; in particular, when Sensei Nishiyama steps forward for a punch, he loads up his hip for that punch. And whatever gets in the way will have a Nishiyama-sized hole in it.

As a student and teacher of Shotokan Karate for more than 40 years, this is the first book I have always recommended to my students to read and study along with actual training in a dojo. I believe this was one of the first karate books written in English that focused on Shotokan Karate. Though Master Nishiyama always rejected titles such as "Master" there was no doubt as to his influence of Shotokan Karate in the United States. This book has passed the test of time in that it is still one of the very best karate books ever published. This text covers the warm up exercises and all the basic Karate techniques. Though it is weak on showing kata; nevertheless, this book used in combination with actual training under a Shotokan Karate instructor will produce excellent results. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Shotokan Karate Self-Defense Techniques: Combat Karate for the street).

If you want a good basic technique reference, get this book; it's clear, simple, has good photos of excellent martial artists. If you want an introduction to some of the equipment used in Shotokan, get this book; it has good explanations on both use and construction of several tools for exercise and training, both standard and some more unusual. If you want a book on Karate as effective combat and/or self-defense, steer clear. While some of the applications and theories hold merit, some are extremely risky maneuvers. A gun to your chest is not a good time to try to find out if you are one of the few who can swiftly and accurately side kick a gun arm off line, and then close the resultant gap, all without taking a bullet. This is an excellent book on Shotokan as fitness, as sport, and as art: it is NOT a good book on dealing with physical assault.

I knew the men on the cover personally.Amazing karateka. Excellent book.

Karate: the Art of "Empty Hand" Fighting by Hidetaka Nishiyama and Richard C. Brown is the perfect starter book for any one wishing to learn Shotokan Karate. It describes all the stances, punches, strikes, blocks, and kicks. An explanation of the application of Karate techniques in self-defense situations is given. Briefly outlined is the history and principles of the art but what is indispensable in the book are the recommended schedules for the different training situations which make this book a perfect guide for the student and helpful manual for the instructor. After learning what is in this book I would suggest moving on to one of the books by Robin L. Rielly; either Complete Shotokan Karate, ISBN 0-8048-2108-9, or The Secrets of Shotokan Karate, ISBN 0-8048-3229-3. My only wish is that the chapters on Kumite and Kata would be expanded but that is why I recommend the two books above as well.

Nishiyama's book, along with Nakayama's "Dynamic Karate," are probably the best two books ever done on karate technique, regardless of style. If nothing else, this book is simply a classic, and should be on the shelf of anyone training in Shotokan karate. Nishiyama, before his passing last year, was probably the most widely respected teacher of Shotokan in the world, especially after Nakayama Sensei's death in the late 80's.

My edition of Karate: the Art of “Empty Hand” Fighting shows a photograph of a karate practitioner giving a flying side kick. The flying side kick is typical of many of the techniques you will find in this book, and many of the techniques you will learn in most karate studios: it looks impressive in a staged demonstration; it is unlikely to be effective in a fight. I feel blasphemous writing this. Karate: the Art of “Empty Hand” Fighting was my introduction to karate. I read it first when I was fifteen years old. Four years of karate training followed, interrupted by two years at a military boarding school. Back then I believed on blind faith that the techniques in karate were vastly superior to those of boxing. After one year of lessons I thought I could defeat a larger and heavier boxer in a street fight. I thought that if I continued to take karate lessons I would eventually be able to defeat a “West Side Story” kind of street gang armed with switch blade knives, clubs, and bicycle chains. Fortunately, I never had the occasion to learn how wrong I was. That final lesson would have been brief, and probably lethal. There are three things wrong with a flying side kick: it takes too long to execute; it lacks power; when you come back down to the ground you will probably be off balance, and easy to counter attack. Until well into the twentieth century karate training was restricted to calisthenics, punching, kicking, and kicking drills, punching a makiwara, (AKA padded board) and kata. Katas consist of a series of pre arranged blocks, kicks, and punches delivered against thin air. This has two shortcomings: it does not build the power that is necessary to make a technique effective; it does not prepare one to respond to unexpected situations. After the Second World War karate instructors developed free style sparing. This consisted of contests between two or more contestants who pulled kicks and punches short of the target. It is not enough to touch your opponent’s chin in a fight. You need to hit him hard enough to knock him out, stun him, or make him unwilling to continue the fight. Nevertheless, free style sparing does train one to respond quickly to unexpected situations. If you watch free style sparing matches you will see that many of the techniques taught in this book are not used. That is because they won’t work. For example, Chapter 8 teaches nine stances. The informal-attention stance is used at the beginning of a contest. The only other stance you are likely to see in a contest is a back stance. Chapter 7 teaches striking points and vital points. The only striking point that is effective for a hand is the fist. The spear-hand, which most Americans know as the classic “karate chop” leaves the fingers exposed to injury. After several months of karate training I broke several bones in the fingers of my left hand using the spear hand. In Chapter 7 far too many vital points are listed. Hitting your opponent on the top of his head will do your hand more harm than his head. Hitting him in the nose or the mouth will hurt him, and make him angry. Hitting him in the jaw, especially a straight punch to the chin delivered with sufficient power, can knock him out, stun him, or at least make him want to stop fighting. The only targets below the neck that are worth striking are the solar plexus, the kidneys, and the groin. A technique that appears in several kata, but never in a free style sparing contest is to block a kick by crossing your arms, and bending forward. There are two problems here: it takes too long; it exposes your face to a kick or punch. Beginning in the 1970’s a number of karate instructors began to invent protective equipment for full sparing matches. You can find these on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Martial-Arts-Headgear/b?ie=UTF8&node=3415261 here: https://www.amazon.com/Protective-Gear-25-50-Martial-Arts/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A3415211%2Cp_36%3A1253556011 and here: https://www.amazon.com/Headgear-Protective-Gear/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A3415261%2Cp_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A2776789011 Unfortunately, few karate instructors use them. Mixed Martial Arts contests are as close as you can get to a real fight and still have an athletic contest. Mixed Martial Arts contests serve as a laboratory for demonstrating which techniques in the traditional martial arts are effective, and which ones are not. Several years ago I read an article in a martial arts magazine I wish I kept. The author of the article compared the performance of people trained in the various martial arts, Eastern and Western. I was distressed to see that karate and kung fu came last. What seems to work best is a combination of jiu jitsu and Thai boxing. Thai boxing allows kicking. I have too much respect for tradition to dismiss the value of kata entirely. Nevertheless, if you are serious about learning to defend yourself, look for a studio where the emphasis is on full contact sparing using protective equipment, physical conditioning and punching and kicking a boxing heavy bag. Punching a makiwara, like I did, hurts the fists, so one is prone not to punch with sufficient power. The goal of punching exercises should not be hand conditioning as much as developing punching power. Look for a martial arts studio where the instructor and the students are good people that you like. The much touted “moral training” of karate only comes from the example of the instructor. There is nothing intrinsically moral in learning how to beat up an opponent. I am fortunate: my instructor was charismatic. He inspired us to become better people. A martial arts studio should teach the concept of acceptable levels of violence. Punching or kicking an opponent in the kidneys or groin is appropriate when defending oneself against a criminal. It is not appropriate when fighting a high school bully after school behind the football field, unless he kicks first. If I was a martial arts instructor I would tell my female students to use any technique and any available weapon to stop a rapist or a date rapist. I would tell teenage boy students: “If your opponent wants a stand up fist fight, give him one. Even if he has more natural talent than you do, you train. He does not. Don’t use kicking techniques unless he kicks first. His kick will probably be a straight leg kick with his right leg to your groin. That is easy to block with a downward circular motion of your right arm. Counter with a left round house kick to his right kidney. That will almost certainly end the fight. It might be a good idea to warn him after his first kick, and only counter if he kicks again. A roundhouse kick to the kidneys can cause serious, maybe permanent damage.”

I bought this book written by Hidetaka Nishiyama because I wanted to relearn his style of Karate after some 35 years away from the art. This book teaches one the basic Karate moves and accompanying philosophy the old fashioned way. Like learning the abc's one must start at the beginning and learn through repetition, building on a firm foundation and hard work. The illustrations are clear and straight-forward, the explanations are as clear as you can get in a written format. The progression of the student cannot fail to receive a good start with this manual.

This is the most complete instructional karate book I've ever seen. It came out in 1960 and has still not been improved on. The authors were disciples of Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of modern karate. There is very clear step by step and pictorial instruction on how to do all the moves of traditional shotokan karate, the original style out of which all the others grew. If you are attending a karate class now you will recognize your techniques in this book. The styles haven't changed that much in 40 years. There are probably more moves in this book than in your class. The book has 22 chapters. Some of the chapter titles are: striking points and vital points, stance, hand techniques, foot techniques, sparring, and throwing techniques. There are 40 pages of self defense moves.

i had this book for three years , still can not find a single book that even comes close to it. excellent book. more than enough illustrations, simple and straight forward to the point yet suffeciently explained, specially workouts, stances ,basic and advanced techniques. if you are looking for a book that saves you time , money and the effort of going through many other books i strongly recommend that you get "Karate: The Art of Empty-Hand Fighting by Hidetaka Nishiyama " the best single Karate book ever written

This is a great book for any student who is trying to polish their techniques a bit. Nishiyama's book is loaded with all the information you would need to refine your skills. It's rather lacking in historical and philisophical information (two things I enjoy studying and don't think any karate book is complete without), but it's nonetheless an excellent aid for practice.

This book should be considered a bible to all martial artist and students who are serious about studying the Japanese Style karate. It is very informative and still up to date. As an Instructor I find this book as a great source of reference.

Good information.

O livro detalha a visão sobre o karatê de Hidetaka Nishiyama. Suas palavras são claras e com bases científicas.

This book is by a great master and includes photos of masters that I have trained with. Will be a great addition to my collection. The seller was amazing. Extremely fast delivery. I didn't expect the book for another week.

Great book from a great man.

Questo manuale è riassuntivo di tutte le tecniche di karate non può mancare nella biblioteca di ogni appassionato..consegna Amazon al Top