Customer Reviews

25 Shoto-Kan Kata

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sugiyama Sensei has painstakingly crafted this step by step kata book for over 15 years, and I am aware of at least three iterations as he has refined it over the years. He worked closely with both top JKA international instructors and his own blackbelt students to ensure that each move in each kata is accurate. This is no mean feat considering the myriad of details in even the simplest kata and the variations found from club to club and instructor to instructor! In addition the text is written in English, Japanese and Spanish!

The result is a kata book that is comprehensive, including key graphic information on direction and timing of each move, as well as important details such as hip rotation or hand or foot placement. I have seen instructors refer to it on the dojo floor for details of a particular move in an advanced kata as well as beginners use it as the first step to learning a new kata. Although there are several other good kata books available, you are not going to find one that comes close to this single volume in value for the price!

Now Sensei... if you would please write a companion text showing some applications for each of the kata!

David Kaneda JKA Blackbelt

This is the best book on kata ever done. It will become the class kata reference for Shotokan because it simply outshines the competition as a reference book.

This is a book you NEVER see offered second-hand on Ebay! ;-)

excellent book.for any Shotokan Deshi(student) to a Soke(Grand Master). It can be used as a reference or a get-to-learn-your-katas book!The book also has tips on powering up your Ki(internal force).Also the book has the human animation instead of pictures. it shows u directons with arrows and how fast u should do them.it even tells how many seconds to focus after every step. It never gets complicated either. Forget Nakayama (with all due respect) this book will blow the cover off of any Kata teching book. Please buy this book if you are serious about learning Katas.

This kata manual has taken me through blackbelt. The illustrations show the moves, the timing line shows the speed and focus of each move. The number of kata represented, 25, makes this an excellent value. WHat may put some readers off is the use of japanese terms for various moves, but I find it fun to know. Also helpful is the translation to spanish.

Exacting detail, easy to understand, a must have for anyone who is serious about Shotokan kata. Your search is over. You aren't going to find a better quality or quantity kata book especially for this price.

My wife and I have trained in both Shotokan and Shito-ryu styles. Sugiyama Sensei's book is easier to follow than the more popular "Best Karate" series by Nakayama Sensei. It also provides commentary on how to perform the Katas not only in English, but also Spanish and Japanese. We're ordering copies for our Spanish speaking comrades here in Guatemala.

Sugiyama Sensei's 25 kata book is one of the most comprehensive book on Shotokan Katas on the market. It is very well illustrated and the explanations clear. This book definitely should be any student's library. No other book has all the system's katas in one text.

Kimio Nelson, 5th Dan Shotokan

Many people, especially beginners, have a problem picking up moves of a kata from somebody else (your sensei) performance. This book gives an excellent head start on most popular katas and enormously shortens the learning curve. Pictures in the book show exactly the right amount of details to minimize a confusion and emphasize moves and stances.

I opened a recent edition of this book and was astonished to discover a new chapter: Nishiyama's own Kitei!

The best kata book ever written just became absolutely unique.
BDC

This book is either an outstanding tome or a mediocre one, depending on what you're looking for. It's a thorough step-by-step description of the various Shotokan kata, an invaluable resource for karateka who are looking to remember the sequences of these various forms. It falls seriously short, however, if you're looking for insight into bunkai (applications) for the kata. In other words, you see all the motions but do not get any description of practical street-worthy applications from them (there's only so much you can pack into one book anyway; it's already ~ 300 pages). Soooo, as long as your expectations are clear and you just want documentation of the steps, it's well worth owning.

Contents include Heian (shodan, nidan, sandan, yodan, and godan), Tekki (shodan, nidan, sandan), Bassai (Dai and sho), Jion, Empi, Kanku (Dai and sho), Hangetsu, Jitte, Gankaku,Nijy shi ho, Chintei, Sochin, Meikyo, Unsu, Wankan, and Gojyu Shiho (sho and dai). The materials are logically organized in the order in which they are taught at the majority of schools. The illustrations are nothing special, basic yet serviceable. The instructions are also rather simplistic too, but when integrated with the illustrations the combination is sufficiently clear for most any practitioner to follow.

Great breadth of materials but not so much depth. Regardless, a great resource for Shotokan practitioners and karateka interested in that style.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Blinded by the Night, among other titles