Customer Reviews

Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryu Uchinadi, Vol. 2 (Tuttle Martial Arts)

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

 

 

This book is mostly copies of already published articles by Mr. McCarthy, including:

Standing on the Shoulder's of Giants: The Mabuni Kenwa Story by P. McCarthy

An Outline of Karatedo (1934) by Miyagi Chojun translated by P. McCarthy

The Dai Nippon Butokukai by P. McCarthy

Karate-do: Development, Essence and Aims by P. McCarthy

The biggest tragedy of this publication is the lack of photos. I have seen several of Mr. McCarthy's publications in the past and he usually includes an excellent collection of old pictures. These are mostly absent in this text except for one place at the end of the Miyagi Chojun section where all the photos were just lumped together. I think that this was a problem with the the publisher, but unfortunately, this still effects the quality of the book and hence my rating.

Similar to volume 1, the book isn't the quality that I was expecting. The number of small typing errors is just too high. One read through and I found literally tens of errors of this kind.

Sticking to criticizing the articles themselves, I have to say, for the large number of references included in the text, there were a few that were missing that I think should have been included. There was no reference to lots of Aragaki material, including how Mr. McCarthy knew what kata were passed to Mabuni from Aragaki and how he knew that Aragaki brought the Unsu kata from China, or how we know that Aragaki corrected the Sochin kata that Mabuni originally learned from Itosu Anko.

The last article should probably be titled "An introduction to the new karate vocabulary" as Mr. McCarthy wordily states what could be stated in far fewer words. I get the feeling that as he publishes more and more, he feels the need to be wordier and wordier. Strunk and White had it right when they said "less is more".

Overall, the book is a little inconsistant in giving references, although I give it 3 stars because some of the information isn't available elsewhere without a lot of digging. I just wish it had been presented in a more formal and scholarly manner.

Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts: Koryu Uchinadi; volume one, ISBN 0-8048-2093-7, and volume two, work well separately but best when taken together. I will review volume two here separately from volume one so that one might make a better decision when it comes to purchasing.

For both the novice and advanced Karate-ka this volume will prove to be an indispensable reference. It contains a brief outline of Karate-do master Kenwa Mabuni's life, details on the influence of Southern Chinese fighting systems (particularly White Crane and Monk Fist styles and their use of Qin Na), and the process which led to the transformation of Karate into a system of Bodo. Of special note in reference to this is the minutes of a meeting featuring Karate-do notables which is reproduced in this volume.

For those practicing Goju-ryu Karate-do take special note of this volume for the text "An Outline of Karate-do" by O'Sensei Chojun Miyagi is contained in full in this volume. Those practicing Kyokushinkai and Isshin-ryu will also find this text of interest. Those in Shotokan-ryu will be surprised to read of the controversy that arose between O'Sensei Funakoshi and controversial Choki Motobu.

If what you want is Okinawan Karate-do technique none surpasses The Essence of Okinawan Karate-do by Shoshin Nagamine, ISBN 0-8048-2110-0 which compliments volume one. If what you are interested in is more specifically the history of Okinawan Karate-do and Kobudo get this book along with Patrick McCarthy's Bubishi: the Bible of Karate, ISBN 0-8048-2015-5.

This text has included a great amount of info on Shinken Taira and his great teachers. There also is a fantastic listing of Okinawan kobudo katas. Mr McCarthy has done a great job on history tracking on this topic

Names and Dates,thats about it,I must say I expected alot more from Patrick mccarthy this book was dissapointing to say the least nice cover though.Only hardcore historians might find this book a little use but for the rest look elsewhere.

Comming from Patrick McCarthy I expected a more elaborated work. I bought the book like most of the others assuming that there will be new or at least information related with Kobudo or in the other case important information about Karate or other Okinawan martial arts. This is not the case with this book. Although interesting it is not an outstanding job. It is a good addition to your libary specially if you are interested in expanding your vision about Okinawan martial arts.

It is hard to find accurate information on the history of the Martial Arts. Everyone has a slightly different slant on what they know or want you to know. However, this book has some profound information in it. I am not sure that any work of history can be without bias or simply have details lost in time but this book reveals some truths that are hard to ignore or refute. A little dry if you are looking for a book with action sequences but if you want to know how we got where we are today in Karate this book is a must read.

The author has spent many years studying the martial arts, both as a scholar and a warrior. His dedication to this search for truth shows in this book.

Nicholas Guinn
5th Degree Black Belt - Aikijutsu
4th Degree Black Belt - Shotokan Karate
GuinnMartialArts.com

This book has good writtings by some of the master's of Okinawan. I bought it thinking it was a continuation of Taira Sensei work (Espically since his photo is on the cover). This book is for those that are interested in all aspects of Okinawan history.

Nicely designed cover,but the rest,well a nice list of names and dates,too many pictures of maccarthy himself.I expexted a little more from someone with a reputation like mccarthy`s.Not very interesting except for the serious historian.There are a lot of pictures of kobudo sequances but no applications so whats the use in that?Somebody that has never practised the forms shown in this book would gain nothing from it.For the general reader look elsewhere as this is not useful unless you are seriously interested in history.