Customer Reviews

Aikido Techniques & Tactics (Martial Arts)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I know of this book and as an aikido instructor and practitioner, I can tell you that the techniques and movements demonstrated in this book are not original to the author. The names of the techniques used by the author are taken from a legitimate aikido style called Yoseikan Aikido. While the book says that the author has rank in the Yoseikan style, he is in no way associated with the Yoseikan organization and has never received any blackbelt ranking from the organization. I would be suspect of any claims made by this book.

...a bad example. Read these reviews. The ones that are negative are that way for a reason. The photos in this book display poor form. In one, you can't tell which person is actually doing the technique, it could go either way. I, too, would give it negative stars if possible. I would almost put it in my collection if only to serve as a perfect example of what not to do. As for the positive reviews, I can only offer a few explanations,
1) somebody paid them to do it
2) the author trying to fool you
3) someone who has no idea of what they are talking about
I've only been in the art for 7 years and am only ranked shodan but it is clear how bad this is.

Having discussed "Teijitsu Aikido" in the past with Gary Bennet, it's "founder", the author of this monstrous book, it became immediately apparent that Gary Bennett knows little, if anything about Aikido. Don't buy this book.

Having removed from his system all that makes Aikido a unique, flowing, graceful and effective martial art, Bennett succeeds only in reducing Aikido to "McDojo" trash.

Don't buy this book.

If you want to learn Aikido, this certainly isn't the book for you. To those already studying Aikido, a warning: looking at the garbage shown in this book and practising it could seriously damage your credibility as a martial artist.

Don't buy this book.

If I could give it zero stars, I would.

Don't buy this book!

This book is horrible!! I only have a shodan in aiki jujitsu, but I can tell you, this book is horrible!! The demonstrators of the techniques look stiff and posed. Many of the reviews complain that this book totally undermines the flowing nature of aikido. However, the martial art I practice is much more linear than traditional aikido yet we still manage to practice our techniques much more smooth and relaxed than the alledged aikidoka in this awful book. The book doesn't just demonstrate bad aikido...it demonstrates bad self defense!! Also, how come this author, if he only has a 3rd dan in Yoseikan promoted himself to 10th dan in his own style?!?!? Save your money and don't buy this book!!!

If you even consider this book you are making a mistake. The techniques taught in this book are simply dumb and dangerous. You would be safer jumping in front of cars on the highway that to try most of this inefficient style of Aikido (made up by the author by the way).

The author should be sued for misrepresenting Aikido. I gave it one star, because there was no ratings that gave zero stars...

A very dumb and inefficient book... stay clear!

First let me qualify my opinion of this book by saying that I am a forth dan student of Saito Morihiro Sensei. Upon seeing this book I was disappointed that any publisher had touched it. It is yet another of those books, produced by someone of limited skill, doing little more than depleting the World's forests. The techniques illustrated are ineffectual and clumsy, as is the explaination of them. It tires me to say more than please do not reward the author's self promotion and pretention by giving him your money.

One of the _worst_ books on aikido I have ever seen. Books like this make aikido seem like a joke.

The author "Grandmaster" Gary Bennet supposedly holds a "10th degree black belt," one that I can say was _not_ commisioned by the International Aikido Federation in Japan -- most likely given to himself (or by some random person off the street) to inflate his otherwise apparent inexperience in the martial arts.

The techniques shown in the book are shoddy, sloppy, ineffectual, and plainly wrong. The author, supposedly a grandmaster, only shows us how to lift weights and punch and block, leaving the bulk of the "aikido" techniques to his white belts (beginners) to demonstrate. Strange.

I wouldn't recommend this book to _anyone_ who is interested in aikido, even if I were paid $10 per book.

I concur w/ Alan Roberts of NZ. I looked over this volume in a bookstore. Although only 1st dan under Toyoda Sensei, I know enough to recognize poor quality, self-aggrandizement (10th dan, please) and a disservice to a wonderful, dynamic and compassionate art. If you want to learn aikido, go to a proper dojo, with a properly certified instructor and do it right, don't just read about it and feel you have learned the art. After all, mind AND body go together. If you simply must have a technical manual, "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere" is a much, much better choice.

The stiff, ineffectual techniques shown in this book, only faintly resemble aikido and miss the entire art of real aikido: fluidity. I returned the book under the premise of "false advertising" and do not recommend it to anyone.

The author of this book is a self proclaimed "grandmaster" who purportedly invented his own style of aikido. It is apparent from reading the description that the author actually possesses a limited knowledge of aikido techniques. And it is obvious from the photographs that neither the attacker nor the defender know what they are doing. The attackers who attempt to punch or kick look like they are off the street and have never thrown a punch or kick in their lives. The people executing the techniques do not exhibit the attributes of successful or skilled practitioners. Their stances appear stiff and awkward, their distance is incorrect for effective technique and there is no imbalancing of the attackers necessary for a successful execution. The sequences or photographs are ofter useless for following a description. For example a sequence showing a ikkyo-like defense against a straight punch shows 3 weak punches by a less-then-sincere attacker, and next shows the completing of the immobolization. How did he get there? The reader really can't tell. The description is general and rather vague and the photographs show the attack and the final form - nothing in between. Consequently the book has an artificial quality to it as if written by someone trying to explain a subject they know very little about all the while trying to convice the unwary they are an expert. Certainly a true "grandmaster" would be able to demonstrate techniques at a high level of proficiency or at least recognize a correct technique when he sees it. The martial arts is a largely unregulated buisness with its share of ...instructors and schools. Prospective students are usually not knowledgeable enough to judge a competent intstructor and need to be cautious to avoid decepetion. As an aikido instructor I am not impressed. I will tell my students that this book is just plain terrible and a waste of time.